Opinions

Hey everyone!

I am currently building a gaming rig atm and have a few questions.

Case: Antec 900 w/ Silverstone 750w ST75ZF PSU
Cpu: Intel Q6600 Quad Core
MoBo: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3P (rev 2.0)
HDD: 1*WD Raptor 74gb (master)
1*Seagate 500gb 32mb Cache (slave)
RAM: Kingston 2gb 1066mhz DDR2 Ram
GPU: XFX 8800gt XXX 512mb video card
OS: Windows Vista Home Premium 32bit

1: Is 750w PSU large enough? Should I get an Antec PSU instead? I can get an Antec Truepower Quattro 850w for $100 more. Will the Silverstone fit?

2: Is it worth getting the GA-X38-DS4 MoBo instead? Which is better for overclocking? If I get an X38 should I get a ATI 3870 instead? It only supports crossfire not SLI. Or should I find a MoBo with SLI support?

3: Should I get the raptor? Is it worth the price? Or, should I get rid of it, upgrade to 64bit Vista and get 4gb of 800mhz RAM or splurge on 1066mhz RAM. I have heard Vista has driver problems and running 32bit game problems. Does the hardware that I have have drivers that support 64bit Vista? If I keep the Raptor, should I get a RAID setup?

4:Quad core worth it for the future?

5: Is the GPU I picked any good? Should I spend more on the same card (this one is $AU399). Is a 8800gts 512mb a better card in general? Or go with the 3870 option? Will the price on 8800 Ultra's come down when the 9800 is released? Worth the wait?

I already have a monitor btw!

Thanks guys!

 

1. simple answer: Add up the wattage usage ratings on each peice of hardware. Write that number down. For 'true' output of your PSU, assume it will be 80% of what the label is listing (the label is under lab conditions... heat/etc changes it's efficiency in the real world). If what you wrote down is more than the 80% of your PSU, then i'd get a more powerful PSU.

2. SLI/Crossfire is like the lottery: it's a 'poor tax' (bad analogy, but i hope you get the point). It isn't worth the money you put into it unless you are gaming at very high resolutions. Otherwise, it's a waste of money, in my opinion.

3. Does a couple of extra seconds loading windows or a game matter to you? Does a single-digit percentage increase in speed in a tach-test matter to you? Unless you are doing a RAID-0, a single Raptor will make very little difference.

4. For the future? Yes. But for now? No. By the time it will be 'worth it' to have quad-cores, what you have will be considered 'ancient'. You'd be better off going with core 2 duo and cranking the heck out of it. It'll put off less heat and be MUCH faster with current and most future apps (remember, most games/applications today and in the near future are still single-threaded. More than 1 core is a waste on them).

5. Try an 8800gts. If i'm not mistaken, it's much faster for less money.

 

OK well first off quads run cool and dont need to be "cranked" for performance
if you use pc for video encodes and stuff it will be faster, supreme commander is a game that can use al cores available and others will probably follow. SLI and CrossFire are ok but not my bag of beans. the 8800gt is cheaper AND faster then the 8800gts and is on the newer core which uses less power and ergo less heat. To me the raptor just isn't worth the price per gig. (just my opinion though) I use my quad for gaming and I love it

 

I have an amd6000+ and a 8800gts 640mb running on a silverstone 700w... it is a trooper... it puts up with whatever i throw at it, including running the vid & cpu pegged for long periods of time.