My next planned build

RE III - Frankie

It won't be until about February next year, but these are the parts I plan on getting. At least by February Windows 7 will be out here. I plan also to have a water cooling system installed so it should look really wild.





Asus P5Q Turbo - CrossfireX motherboard.




8GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2




CrossfireX





Q8400





HAF 932






Creative X-Fi




SAMSUNG 500GB x2





Corsair Airflow RAM Cooler

Kizo

I think that there is a high probability that you'll change your mind till then.
(due to new parts, lower prices, etc)

kris23

those parts are hardly good by todays standards already..... by then they may be pretty worthless.... i wouldnt decide on anything until you actually have the money

__________________

isaak

That CPU will definately let you down by next year i think...Go i7! much more futureproof, but of course will have to change your mobo selection and possibly RAM.

DJ BIG T

i agree you should go with the i7 and ddr3 ram..

__________________

cozumel

It's always a bad idea to plan 9 months ahead what components you want. Things will change and new hardware will be available. Why are you looking to build such an old system? I built my rig toward the end of 2007 and the parts you are suggesting are not much newer technology. You will be able to get much better for around the same price as the components you have suggested...

__________________

BlueMak

I agree with what the others said about being too soon to choose parts now for something you are going to buy 9 months from now. A PC is not a car.

Also, ditch that soundblaster. More problems than it is worth it. Onboard audio solutions are 9/10 times very very good.

__________________

The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

OldBuzzard

What's with all of the 'hate' for Creative sound cards?

I've been using Creative cards since the SB16, and I have never, I repeat NEVER had any problem with either their drivers or software, and yes, before someone comes up with it, I've used them on more than one motherboard with a VIA chipset as well.

The WORST thing I've ever had to do was make sure that I had the sound card in a PCI slot that didn't want to share an IRQ with the video card. Other than that, it's been install the card, load the drivers and software, and use it.

Quite frankly, I think that people that have issues with Creative cards bring it on themselves by not following proper procedures (readmes/manuals are your friends) and/or using outdated drivers.

As for onboard sound being 'OK' 9/10 of the times, try running a good Flight Simuator with onboard sound vs a discrete sound card and see how much difference it makes.

__________________
When looking for a reason as to why things go wrong, never rule out sheer STUPIDITY

BlueMak

Well, my first SB card was the SB16 too. Ever since then I have owned and used every single card till the X-Fi Fatality of 2006. All of them had issues. Some minor, some major, but all of them. A good flight sim? So, all the games that I play are not good enough to make an informed decision, I have to try a "good flight sim"? Like what? Because I have used all that I can think of apart from recent versions of Flight Simulator and X-Plane.

Don't start throwing accusations like that. I know very well how to keep updated a sound card thank you very much.

SB cards are to be avoided they provide too little extra for the money and too many issues to worth the trouble. Unless you play the majical game OldBuzzard plays that makes the use of an onboard solution a very crappy one.

__________________

The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

cozumel

I personally think that the onboard sound that I have tried recently is far, far better than it was just 4-5 years ago and is of a high quality.

I have also used several Creative cards from SB16 to Audigy, never had any problems and have always been happy.

My current favourite is the Auzentech I have now which offered improved sound quality over my last Creative Audigy and recent on-board solutions I have tried.

Just to add, I personally think that having a sound card with it's own dedicated memory is the preferred solution for overall performance, depending on how you utilise your system. The hi-end Creative and Auzentech both have their own dedicated memory. I don't think the standard Creative X-Fi has it's own memory if I remember correctly.

__________________

OldBuzzard

BlueMak, I mentioned flight sims, since they need a LOT of CPU power just for the physics. Power that onboard video uses. ANY game/application that needs a lot of CPU power will ALWAYS run better with a discrete sound card which takes some of the load off the CPU.

YOU can try running MS Flight Sim X, or something like Far Cry 2 or Crysis using onboard sound if you want to, but I prefer to have my CPU working on the GAME, and not the sound.

__________________
When looking for a reason as to why things go wrong, never rule out sheer STUPIDITY

BlueMak

Perhaps you need to get a better CPU then if you found the onboard solution causing problems with running games with onboard solutions.

While I don't have FSX (you can always send one as a gift to me if you like), I do have Far Cry 2 and Crysis and play them just fine with my setup at max settings. I don't know what this hatred for onboard solutions is, but, meh.


cozumel, the X-Fi Fatality had onboard memory, don't remember how much, I think 64MB but I could be wrong.

__________________

The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

cozumel

Yup, the Fatal1ty does have 64MB of X-RAM but the OP posted a picture of a PCIE model and that does not have any dedicated X-RAM and imo does not provide enoughperformance for the money spent. I would stay with onboard rather than buying the PCIE model as the onboard does offer good all-round performance without the extra financial cost.

__________________

BlueMak

If that is correct (I didn't bother to look at the pic), then it would be an even worse choice. Good eyes.

__________________

The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

Bolletje

By the way, that Corsair Mem cooler isn't worth the money. If heat is really a issue you can better install some more fans or a different CPU-cooler (which also affects mem temp).

Tipstaff

Seeing as how people are pointing out the choices, here's my run down:

By February next year you won't be able to find LGA775 processors except for old stock. Intel has pretty much slowed down production for pretty much all their 775 products, instead focusing their time on i7 and the upcoming i5 and i3.

If you can afford it, go i7. If you can't, go i5. Intel has made it clear that they intend it to be an enthusiast product, and will most likely keep it strictly for Extreme processors. Building an i7 system currently can be a pretty expensive venture, and way more so if you have to buy an Extreme processor. What you may find is that the i5 will suit your needs just fine, and if so it will be way cheaper to build a system around it instead.

What I'd suggest is to budget for an i7 system, and refine your parts list as the year goes on.

__________________

RE III - Frankie

Thanks for the info guys. It is much appreciated. I will keep my eyes out on the new stuff and also consider my choices, but I should tell you what I'll be using this system for. Games yes, overclocking no. I believe that the Q8400 is good enough for "me". And conbined with two current high end gpus should still rock the socks off of high end games by february.The thing about cpus today is that even the lower spec ones still bottleneck high end gpus. EG: When I overclocked my E7300 and ran a FEAR test using a sort of recent 9800GTX+ the gpu would bottleneck the CPU at 3.6GHZ. I believe the Q8400 conbined with two HD4890's would work out right on target for me. The reason I want an X-Fi is because ever since I had a soundblaster card I've always felt that gaming was just a whole lot more better.

Hang guys! This is the wrong Forum! This is a mod build so should go overclocking and modding? Who's running this outfit?

Mac Daddy

If you wish me to move it to that forum I will do so you indicated no overclocking in your last post. Looks like a standard build to me your call.

Who is running the outfit isn't the topic of discussion here you chose this forum originally.

__________________
"My mom said the only reason men are alive is for lawn care and vehicle maintenance." - Tim Allen

Zardon

moved back to overclocking and modding due to thread starters request. I hope to see some overclocking in this thread now, especially after all this fuss !

I fail to see the issue, especially when you could have posted later on in the overclocking forum when you get around to overclocking it. You just posted pictures of a shopping list basically.

kris23

there really should be some OCing going on here....or actual MODDING if you know what it is... just sounds like someone asking about hardware to buy...

so unless youre going to show us some OC scores, case cooling mods, volt mods or any kind of actual system mod then this shouldnt be here.... even if your system is actuaklly modded, unless you're talking about it, it shouldnt be here....

back to the hardware discussion.... as for the dual 4890s.... why? the GTX 275s are the same price to slightly more but offer a load more performance... i do recommend an X58 based i7 system for nvidia cards but that may be too much for you....

i guess if you wait for i5 like i am and then buy after you see what it has....

i also recommend the auzentech cards over soundblaster as the reviews showed them to produce sound alot better than their creative counterparts..... try looking at the X-fi Forte

__________________

Tipstaff

Something else to consider is the i9 processor (32nm, 6 cores, 12mb cache) coming in the first quarter of 2010. Thankfully it runs on the same socket, 1366, and the same chipset, so if you buy an X58 board you will (or rather should) be able to run the i9 processor too.

__________________

RE III - Frankie

There's no big deal I just wanted attention! never mind. thank you again. It's back now I can rest. Ok. The reason I chose an Asus MB was because this gigabyte one I have now doesn't let one overclock unlinked from the RAM which is a real pain for me that's why I chose that one plus because it's a Turbo MB nad has CrossfireX which combined with two ATi Radeons like the ones I have chosen overclocked which they are (factory) should really give me some real numbers. I chose the CPU because it has more cache than the one I currently have (twice as much) and if I ever overclocked it then I would get some really good numbers on that one as well. The ram is only 800MHZ, but being 8GB worth shouldn't bother me at all. Plus it's overclockable. If I ever clocked that one I'd probably push for nothing over 1066MHZ considering the experiences I have had with RAM probs before. I just love the coolmaster case. It's a 932, not 922 plus it has room for liquid cooling which I plan to have installed for me which will save me the fuss. I haven't decided on the cooling system yet and I was going to leave that up to the guys as well. The graphics cards I chose because I'm not going for a high end CPU because like I mentioned earlier there is no need for it. The little ones still push the big numbers especially with two HD4890's in Crossfire. I chose XF-i because I love soundblaster cards and if I could buy one I would. I chose the RAM cooler so my memory is nice and chilled (all 8GB). Overall I am pleased and satisfied with the choices I have made and any and all speculation is welcome as well as expected even though I am not writing a book!


Thanks Zarden for hearing me and I hope that when the system is built and modded out with all of it's customry that it flies as much for real as it does in my hopes and dreams. Thanks! Bye!

Mac Daddy

Exactly!

Frankie I would looks towards the i7 platform and consider the Auzentech cards as Kris mentioned.

Bro I will leave this here but I feel it belongs more in the Hardware section

__________________
"My mom said the only reason men are alive is for lawn care and vehicle maintenance." - Tim Allen

kris23

as far as i know, no motherboard outside the Nvidia chipsets support unlinked memory clocks. every intel chipset has always been linked

__________________

kris23

i have to ask.... if you are not going to overclock, why spend big money on water cooling?

__________________

cozumel

It would seem pretty pointless to me. If you're not overclocking just save yourself the money and time on water cooling and put the money into higher-end components.

__________________

stewox

Hello, kind of new here, but quite familiar.

I planned my first custom PC from scratch 1 week before I ordered it. As soon as I ordered new quad 45nm were out , I called the shop straight to order the new one instead

About the stand alone sound cards it's very mixed , I would buy sound card if I had extra money , but I don't even get a basic idea what slot to use( now the PCIE is bad?) ... then the all famous gaming crashed that are caused by sound card drivers and stuff. So very mixed stuff, I have no idea to leave or to buy or how the heck I am going to get some better sound quality. Is there a Ultimate sound card guide thread somewhere?

Problem is, I have no idea how sound sounds in X-fi soundblaster compared to ex. realtek HD 7.1 audio that's on my ga-p35-ds4 mobo. Ther's got to be a sample to differentiate somewhere, youtube?

Ehm about what this thread is , buying or OCing your call , the topic started with buying , so I went with buying:P

Tipstaff

I asked this of a friend of mine one time, and his response: "It may be a waste to you, but to me, it's f***ing quiet. I can even have it rendering through the night in my room, and I don't hear a f***king thing."

I have to admit gaming on his rig is a joy. All you hear is the game, which makes for a way better gaming experience.

Now, his swearing, on the other hand....

__________________

kris23

a passive cooler is still better though.....

and cheaper

__________________

kris23

hey stewox,

i recommend getting a sound card with PCI-E as it has alot of bandwidth....

from experience, i say that a soundblaster X-fi is equivalent to the recent Realtek solutions. for the best sound though the Auzentech X-fi solutions are probably the best

__________________