Curse

isildorbiafra · Mar 21, 2008, 02:13 PM // 14:13

Please post your opinion on the system i am about to purchase.

Do's and donts would be much appreciated

Intel Core 2 Duo,Boxed, E8400, Socket 775
OCZ OCZ2RPR800C44GK,4096MB, 800MHz, 2x, DDR2, PC6400
Apacer 15-in-1 card reader
Hard Drive: Samsung SpinPoint F1,7200RPM, SATA II, 32MB, 750GB x2 RIAD0 conf.
Motherboard: GigaByte GA-EX38-DS5
Graphics Card: Club3D Radeon HD3870X2,DDR3, PCI Express x16, 1024MB
Monitor: HP w2207h 22" Wide flat panel
Casing: Antec P182, Black
OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit
Cooling: Scythe Mugen “Infinity”.
Sound Card: Creative X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty PR
DVD Burner: Lite On LH-20A1S, Serial ATA150
Power: Zalman ZM750-HP,750Watt

jamesrt2004 · Mar 21, 2008, 02:32 PM // 14:32

good apart from the power supply!!!!

Corsair HX 620 would power that perfectly and a lot better then the zalman

check johnnyguru in google he has a power supply review site and will give you info about everything

apart from that you look like you've got a nice rig!!!

although Id probably go for Thermaltake Ultra then the Infinity for cooling

Jamesrt2004 - from XtremeSystems

isildorbiafra · Mar 21, 2008, 02:44 PM // 14:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamesrt2004

good apart from the power supply!!!!

Corsair HX 620 would power that perfectly and a lot better then the zalman

check johnnyguru in google he has a power supply review site and will give you info about everything

apart from that you look like you've got a nice rig!!!

although Id probably go for Thermaltake Ultra then the Infinity for cooling

Jamesrt2004 - from XtremeSystems

Thank you for your suggestions. However i chose a 750 power supply because it makes adding another graphics card possible. I'm afraid a 600 or 650 wont pull the weight.

I will however reconsider buying the thermaltake ultra.

Cyb3r · Mar 21, 2008, 02:53 PM // 14:53

For the powersupply either go for the gamexstream's from OCZ (they're great got a 750w version in mine for a couple of months and i can't complain at all)

Or if you got enough money go for the Enermax Galaxy line (they're quitte expensive, but give enough power to skyrocket any current pc, they don't even give an itch with 3 way SLI or Quad SLi, so go figure)

Dark Kal · Mar 21, 2008, 02:55 PM // 14:55

Quote:

Casing: Antec P182, Black

Antec P182 has a fan on top of it's casing which actually does cause an increase in noice you'll hear from your system. Also Antec's custom fans are quite noisy even on low I'd suggest changing them. I never liked the gun metal black that case has that's why I opted for the P180 it has the perfect black I've always wanted. All in all I'd opt for a different case since the fan on top really does allow a lot of the noice to go through (covering the top fan makes an noticeable difference in noice) and the custom fans are quite noisy. Otherwise a perfect case (if you like the greyish gun metal black).

Pasha the Mighty · Mar 21, 2008, 05:13 PM // 17:13

An alternative would be the corsair 750TX. It has enough connector's power two gtx's (so it has 4 connectors)

Why_Me · Mar 23, 2008, 12:38 AM // 00:38

You've got a crossfire board, you can get three normal 3870's for the same price as one 3870x2, far superior, and 3870's don't draw much power, so most of the previously mentioned power supplies would work.

The xigmatek hdt-s1283 cpu cooler will give the performance of a thermalright ultra 120 extreme, at half the price.

Admael · Mar 23, 2008, 12:59 AM // 00:59

I'm envious of your system, it sounds like it'll be one hell of a beast.

I don't think you can get *three* 3870 for the price of one 3870x2, maybe two. But I do recommend the Ultra X3 800W for a powersupply and mushkin PC8500 ram.

Your board can accommodate DDR2-1200 standard, right? (even tho 600 FSB is unreal, too fast for real world) It wouldn't hurt to go for the 1066 by mushkin, you can tone it down to 800MHz and 3-3-3-6-1T timings, or keep the high bandwidth at 1066MHz 4-4-4-12-2T.

Pasha the Mighty · Mar 23, 2008, 08:43 AM // 08:43

LOL just noticed it, I was thinking that your rig looked familiar, and then saw that you were dutch too. Did you take the tweakers.net rig?
Anyway, I would recommend corsair's twin2x8500c5d ram. They've got built-in heatsinks and you can get fans for them. The stock timings are 5-5-5-15, but it shouldn't be too hard to get those down to 4-4-4-12

isildorbiafra · Mar 25, 2008, 11:42 PM // 23:42

Yes i am indeed Dutch and got it from tweakers. Thank to all for you suggestions. And by the way i waited and decided to go with the 9800 x2 it outperforms ati's dual core by a mile.....lucky me! Now i do own the fastest graphics card around. Feels good.....but i'm afraid not for long for this is a never ending race. And its people like us that keep the system in place.

I Dont Do Coke · Mar 26, 2008, 02:04 AM // 02:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by isildorbiafra

Yes i am indeed Dutch and got it from tweakers. Thank to all for you suggestions. And by the way i waited and decided to go with the 9800 x2 it outperforms ati's dual core by a mile.....lucky me! Now i do own the fastest graphics card around. Feels good.....but i'm afraid not for long for this is a never ending race. And its people like us that keep the system in place.

Mind the AA on the 9800GX2... It's got little to no support for AA with the 174.53 drivers, and will actually perform worse than ATI's 3870X2, even in Crysis which is NVIDIA-biased, when it comes to performance with AA on. Nothing we can do but hope NVIDIA releases better drivers.

Quaker · Mar 26, 2008, 03:22 AM // 03:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by isildorbiafra

Please post your opinion on the system i am about to purchase.

The speed increase from using RAID0 is negligable and, of course, if either drive fails, you lose everything. You'd be better off using one HD for the OS & apps and the other for backup. Or, better yet, use a 160-250gig for the OS plus apps, and use two 320-750gigs in RAID1 to store (&backup) your mp3's, mpeg's, etc. data.

I'd go for 32bit Vista just because the drivers are better and there are fewer problems with compatability. (and not a whole lot of difference in performance)

Unless you plan to overclock it (which I never recommend), the stock cooler would be fine, and standard 800MHz DDR2 is fast (and cool) enough.

Pasha the Mighty · Mar 26, 2008, 07:21 AM // 07:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quaker

and standard 800MHz DDR2 is fast (and cool) enough.

Can't hurt to get faster memory if you can afford it and your mobo supports it. That's one thing less you'll have to upgrade later.

Surena · Mar 26, 2008, 08:53 AM // 08:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quaker

Unless you plan to overclock it (which I never recommend)

With the potential of all these CPUs today it's not wise not to overclock unless you want to save energy.