Could anyone comment on this PC setup pls?

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bassport

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I'm trying to get a new PC system together. What do you think of this?

CPU:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300, Quad Core, 2.5 GHz, 2x3MB

Mainboard:
Asus R.O.G. Striker II Formula, nForce 780i SLI, Tri-SLI

RAM:
Corsair TWIN2X4096-8500C5DF, 2x2GB, DDR2-1066, DOMINATOR

HD:
Maxtor DiamondMax 21, 7200rpm, 320GB, 16MB, SATA-II

Graphics:
Foxconn 9800GTX-512N (G92), PCI-E x16, 512MB DDR3, Tri-SLI

PSU:
Thermaltake Toughpower 850 Watt Cable Managment, ATX, EPS



Should I get the 790i chipset? It needs DDR3 ram which are a lot more expensive and aren't really faster atm. nVidia releases their GT280 series next week which I'm thinking about buying within the next half year or so so a 9800 GTX is enough for the moment I think.

If I'm going for the nvidia 9800gtx and the 780i chipset (both nvidia) now and I'm buying the new ATI HD 4XXX card later will I be able to run it on a nvidia 780i board (I don't care about Crossfire)?????
 
It wouldn't be particularly worth going for the DDR3 RAM as of yet unless you can really afford it. The prices are ludicrously more expensive for speed that isn't notably faster.
 
Yeah from the research I've done, DDR3 totally isn't worth it for price/performance ratio.
 
By research, you imply that you underwent statistical analysis of it. I think a blind doormouse could tell it wasn't worth it. :p
 
My research is other peoples research.
 
Got the same motherboard with my new setup. My experience with it so far:

Pros -

Slick packaging
Lots of accessories
Superb sound option
Ease of use
Looks purty
Plenty of useful overclocking features

Cons -

Only 2 that I have discovered, but pretty big ones. I will go into detail:

1: Northbridge gets hotter than pompeii. If you want to overclock you WILL have problems. This is down to all the motherboard sinks relying on the standard Intel heatsink / fan, which is designed to direct air down and circulate outward to cool the board fins as well as the cpu. Using anything other than the Intel default heatsink/fan (or similar airflow design) will result in inadequate cooling of the Northbridge, even without overclocking - I had to remove my Freezer 7 pro because of this, which pissed me off. It runs fine but warm with the default Intel though, just a little noisier than I would like.

There are a couple of neat micro-fans supplied for the mobo fins, however these are only useful if you are using water cooling, otherwise moving air from another fan disrupts their efficiency and you will end up with an expensive sheet of melted cheese. No matter how cute they look, DO NOT use these with an air cooling setup and expect them to do the job, you will fry your board. I shit you not. Leave them in their cute little bags and glance longingly at them from time to time.

2: SLI is great, and the idea of quad GPU's is better than pron. But if you ever plan on sticking 2x 9800GX2's in there, forget it - the house bricks they are made out of are just too big, and the second PCI-E slot can't take it as it is set right next to a PCI slot that gets right in the damn way, unless you plan on severely taking a hacksaw to it.
Which I might later this year when the temptation to get another 9800GX2 is too much :E

Overall, this is a fine board though a little expensive considering it can't do what it is supposed to. If you plan on using it vanilla, you will love it. If you want to overclock, buy something else.
 
Maxtor? nooo
(Maxtor was bought out by Seagate but they are keeping the brand name around since they are cheap drives and they sell in volumes to those who don't care)

Looks good. ATI and Nvidia cards run on any board with the right slot (PCI-Express 16x). It doesn't matter that the chipset is Nvidia and the GPU may be ATI. However it does matter regarding which has support for SLI and Crossfire.
 
Personally, I'd wait for a 4xxxHD series of ATi to come out. It'd kinda suck to spend so much cash on a great dual-GPU card, just to have it overshadowed by a newer card. I personally have an ATI HD3870X2 Sapphire, and I'm very content with it. Pretty buggy drivers still though, lol, but I've heard the 9800's suffer the same driver fate. We'll just have to ride that out :)
 
CR0M said:
1: Northbridge gets hotter than pompeii. If you want to overclock you WILL have problems. This is down to all the motherboard sinks relying on the standard Intel heatsink / fan, which is designed to direct air down and circulate outward to cool the board fins as well as the cpu. Using anything other than the Intel default heatsink/fan (or similar airflow design) will result in inadequate cooling of the Northbridge, even without overclocking - I had to remove my Freezer 7 pro because of this, which pissed me off. It runs fine but warm with the default Intel though, just a little noisier than I would like.

There are a couple of neat micro-fans supplied for the mobo fins, however these are only useful if you are using water cooling, otherwise moving air from another fan disrupts their efficiency and you will end up with an expensive sheet of melted cheese. No matter how cute they look, DO NOT use these with an air cooling setup and expect them to do the job, you will fry your board. I shit you not. Leave them in their cute little bags and glance longingly at them from time to time.

2: SLI is great, and the idea of quad GPU's is better than pron. But if you ever plan on sticking 2x 9800GX2's in there, forget it - the house bricks they are made out of are just too big, and the second PCI-E slot can't take it as it is set right next to a PCI slot that gets right in the damn way, unless you plan on severely taking a hacksaw to it.
Which I might later this year when the temptation to get another 9800GX2 is too much :E

Overall, this is a fine board though a little expensive considering it can't do what it is supposed to. If you plan on using it vanilla, you will love it. If you want to overclock, buy something else.
Click to expand...

Wow. That sounds pretty sh**ty tbh. I wanted to hook up a nice silent Zalman fan on the CPU because I hoped it would improve the cooling. I'm not really into overclocking, but who knows... I may do it when I realise that Crysis 3 doesn't run as smooth as I hoped in 2 years...

What other motherboards would you recommend? I had a look at the MSI P7N Diamond.
 
That was my second choice board, there is a good review and comparison here -
http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/msi_p7n_diamond/

But the poor bios put me off. Compared to the heat issue of the Striker II, in retrospect I probably coulda lived with that a little easier.

In general, the two are pretty much neck and neck in terms of overclocking problems, but they both handle Crysis about the same - which is to say, very well indeed.

What should swing it is the cooling - it is much better than the ASUS, and there is more room around the CPU for a big, quiet sink.
 
Beerdude26 said:
Personally, I'd wait for a 4xxxHD series of ATi to come out. It'd kinda suck to spend so much cash on a great dual-GPU card, just to have it overshadowed by a newer card. I personally have an ATI HD3870X2 Sapphire, and I'm very content with it. Pretty buggy drivers still though, lol, but I've heard the 9800's suffer the same driver fate. We'll just have to ride that out :)
Click to expand...

I'm sorry but, your new/latest card/component (Or anything gadget you ever buy) will always be overshadowed by newer card/component or gadget before you even leave the store.
We got caught up in tech-wars between giant manufacturers and there's noway of getting ahead of them.
If whatever you bought can do the task you bought for that should be the only thing you cared.

Good Luck.
 
If you are thinking about picking up a new card within a year, why buy the 9800GTX? Why not buy a card that is maybe half as expensive but almost as good? (9600gt, 8800gt, 8800gts)

Although I agree it is smart to look at the new cards as they come out. The 8800GTX and Ultra have been out for a long time and the 9800GTX does not surpass them really. Point being, that developers have had their hands on that kind of performance for a long time and I bet they can't wait to push their games to new limits.
 
Krynn72 said:
A 9800gtx isnt just "good enough for the moment" its "the best there is for the moment"

You make it sound like the 9800gtx is a modest purchase.
Click to expand...

Well, like Asus said: What I find most frustrating is the fact that all graphic cards, all chipsets... every bit of technology was released a year ago (and I'm talking about 780i, 9800GX2, 9800GTX etc.) because everything that's "hot and new" now is just a redone version of the same old from last year with a new name and a few more clock rates...

@Asus: The price difference between the 9800 and the 8800 isn't that huge. It's around 40$ where I'm buying. And I reaaaally want to be able to play Bioshock / STALKER / Steam Mods without dropping framerates all the times.

I'd rather buy a 9800GTX now which I can SLI after half a year or buy the next-gen card within a year. Is that stupid?
 
I have a modest 8800GT and all those games play fine for me (well, STALKER did involve some major tweaking but it is a very, very strange game performance-wise) at a pretty high resolution of 1680x1050. BioShock especially impresses me with a nearly constant 60fps. But it does seem money is no object to you [insert envy] so you may as well buy the best possible. But remember buying the best possible will only make you angrier when STALKER inevitably lags.
 
I was turned away from the 9800 and thrown a 8800GT, and that card is rather rocking. If you want to save some money, hit that up. Unless you're not really caring about price, then get the 9800 :p
 
I'd rather buy a 9800GTX now which I can SLI after half a year or buy the next-gen card within a year. Is that stupid?
Click to expand...

Sounds like common sense to me. It's impossible to keep up with new hardware as it is redundant almost immediately. Besides which, games over the next 2 years will be few and far between that need such high end requirements to run them as Crysis does. When that does happen, Captain SLI will save the world. At least two more times, with that rig, which will still be faster than the newest hardware at the time.

Me, I will either buy another 9800GX2 in a years time, or ditch the brick and go with 3x 9800GTX's, like you - the prices will have dropped by then.
 
Remember when the 6800GT (AGP) ruled for years? Now buying a card isn't that simple anymore, and even if you get the one you think is over the top, make sure you don't leave the store because a newer more over the top card will show up.

I don't think anything will top Crysis soon, and as long as your card launches and plays Crysis with no lags then that card is perfect for you, no matter what fancy letters and digits the card is named after.
Thank god we have reviewers out there who have done the hard work for us. Keep up the researches and read about the components you like to buy, then play with the prices vs. performances and decide.

Good Luck.
 
bassport said:
And I reaaaally want to be able to play Bioshock / STALKER / Steam Mods without dropping framerates all the times.
Click to expand...

:LOL:

My X1950Pro was running Bioshock perfectly fine. I don't think you need to look at a 9800 unless you're looking at Crysis or possibly Far Cry 2
 
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