Final Version of Build, Ordering Soon

[Mikepsyche]

I'm looking to order the parts for my new build soon, so that I can assemble it and be kicking butt over Christmas vacation. I think I've posted versions of it before, but this is the final one. If possible, I'd like some final feedback before I order the parts (hopefully tommorrow).

CPU: i7 920

Motherboard: Gigabyte UD5

RAM: G. Skill 3 x 1 GB 1600

GPU: HD 4870 1GB


PSU: Corsair 650W

Case: Antec 1200

Monitor: Acer 22" Widescreen

Planning on getting the Thermalright Ultra 1366 for my 920, and OC'ing to at least 3.2 (probably 3.5). I also want to get two fans for the extra slots on the Antec 1200.

The GPU decision is between the 4870 1GB and the GTX 260 C216 at the moment. I'm leaning towards the 4870, as I believe it's the more powerful card individually. However, if I want to Xfire or SLI, the C216 scales better right? Except, there's no real reason to go multiple GPU at my res anyway, 1680 x 1050 - I think I'll be fine with the 4870 1GB. Also, are the drivers that bad with the 4870? That's the only con for me right now, since I should be able to take care of it's hotness by speeding up the fan/ Antec 1200's airflow owns anyway. Anything wrong here?

I'm thinking another possible choice with the mobo is the EVGA x58. I pretty much think any x58 mobo ATM will be fine with features and overclockability (I only want 3.5GHZ at most), I think I'm just stuck on PCI bandwidth right now. The EVGA is just as good as the Gigabyte in terms of that, any other reason I should go with either?

 

[Michowski]

Definatly 4870. I got the 512mb version on a 24" with 1900x1200 resolution and only game I dont have maxed out settings with fps over 70 is crysis. All other games are 70+fps.

CPU looks good, memory I would shoot for 6 gig if you can. What OS are you running? Not sure on the MB, but im a fan of asus personally so I dont have any knowledge on yours.

 

[Prototype]

Get an ASUS P6T Deluxe.
Get the Corsair 750TX so you can Crossfire in the future and not having to worry about the PSU.
Will you have enough money to afford a 24" monitor?

 

[Mikepsyche]

Yeah, I think I agree with you about the 4870. Hope the extra 512 mb isn't a waste at my res. They say future games will utilize it with shaders and stuff.

Does maxed out include AA with you? That's a reason I'd like to go ATI, they scale with AA better.

I don't think I'll need the 6 gigs, and if I do, I'll upgrade some time down the road. At the moment this thing is about $100 too expensive.
EDIT: Actually the G. Skill 1333 RAM at 7-7-7-18 looks good. 6 Gigs for only $34 more. I could do that. would 6 Gigs 1333 beat 3 gigs 1600?

Forgot about the OS. From the beginning of this build (about June), I'd been thinking I'd do XP 64 bit. This was partly because of all the "OMG VISTA IS SO UNSTABLE IT SUCKS LET'S ALL BUY MACS" hype. And because I thought Vista was unnecessarily pretty and took up too much performance for nothing I need. I just think my PC might run faster with XP, and I want 64 Bit so that I can use over 4GB of RAM if I want. Is Vista instability pretty much dissipated now? Still costs like $100 (Vista 64 Bit Home Edition - I don't want/need Ultimate), while I'm pretty sure XP is like $30 now.

By the way, thanks for the response.

 

[Mikepsyche]

Get an ASUS P6T Deluxe.
Get the Corsair 750TX so you can Crossfire in the future and not having to worry about the PSU.
Will you have enough money to afford a 24" monitor?

No, 24" is pretty much out the budget right now, which was supposed to be $1300 but is $1400 now I guess.

Yeah, maybe I should get the 750W just to be safe/upgradeable.

The reason I was thinking Gigabyte or EVGA rather than ASUS was that they have a 16x/16x/8x PCI bandwidth, so I would really never have to worry about GPU bottlenecks, Xfire or not. The ASUS P6T has only 16x/16x/1x or 16x/8x/8x (which is still good I guess, and I guess it makes no difference for me since I'll only have the one card - even if I had two, no difference). Does this not matter?

EDIT: Looks like the Corsair 750W is $120-100 (650W $100-70). This is better than expected, maybe I'll get the 750 just to be safe.

 

[chesirecat1701]

well I must say the 4870 is a beast but if considering a gtx 260 216 this is the ticket Newegg.com - XFX GX260NADBF GeForce GTX 260 Black Edition Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
this card has won my heart over (; and will put it's foot on the 4870's throat, a first for nvidia lately
and as far as vista goes, i've had never had any issues with my 64 but install. In fact the worst i get is a few AVG's warning over weak viruses which is my fault for using limewire too much. XP will take up less ram and boot quicker but once booted i've noticed little difference between benching 3dMark06 and vista vs xp, plus as cheap a RAM is now the space vista takes isn't a huge deal

 

[Mikepsyche]

Yeah, it struck me not too long ago that I was set on XP, while it may not be the best choice.

Does anybody know the cheapest I can get XP 64 bit vs. Vista 64 bit?

Was that link I had to the google shopping results for XP viable?