High-End Built Questions

[Yser]

Hi, I have questions on the following built.
Brand/Model and Price with shipping are included.



My goals are as followed:

Duration: 2+ years with possible minor cpu/gpu upgrades at year 2-4.

Main use: Vista 64 Ultimate. Multiple applications. Dual channel HDTV/Video viewing/projection. Voice transcription. Photoshop. Macromedia. Web Design. Media Center.

Game: Not required at the moment, but I'd like to be able to play advanced games in the future like StarcraftII. At that point, I might invest in SLI.

Video: Would a single 8800GTS (G92) be able to handle HDTV at 1900x1200 ?

GPU Cooler: I'm not planning to do additional GPU cooling. Do I need to? I don't plan to overclock my GPU. If I OC it to 670MB, do I need a Thermalright HR-03 GT GPU Cooler? Would that be sufficient, or do I need water cooling?

Cooling: I hope for a silent PC. Plan to OC my Q9450. I will do some house moving with my PC in the near future, so I'm not too fond of water cooling. Do I need other cooling means like: memory, northbride, hard drive ?

And is there any potential problem - spacing, incompatibility?

[Big Al 15]

Honestly dude, you don't need a 790i. Most people don't but they like to say they have the best. You won't ever need to go SLI, it's a huge marketing gimmick and doesn't yield sufficient performance for the price. For what your doing, an 8800GTS G92 is fine, but you could probably get by with an 8800GT. A Q6600 would be enough for you, but if you want the 9450 be my guess. An M-Audio sound card would suite you just fine, the Fatality series is way over priced in my opinion. My guess is you have some money to spend but that doesn't mean you have to buy the most expensive parts you know what I mean.

[Yser]

The image doesn't come out right. Included here again:

[Khalil]

That motherboard is nothing but trouble. Go with Asus and save yourself a hassle. If you are going to be using a lot of applications I would stick to Vista 32. Vista 64 has major compatibility issues with a lot of software out there. The Core2Duo E6850 will more than handle anything you want to dish out on it. If you have money to burn then never mind. If you really want a high end build go with an 8800 Ultra video card. I have never heard of Akasa power supplies I am not suggesting they are bad however I would stick to a Seasonic or FSP for such an expensive build. I would stick to stock heatsink and fan if you want any kind of warranty on your Intel CPU.

[Caskey_100]

I don't think you really need 1000 watts of power. You would be able to get by with 750. Go with a Corsair PSU they are nothing but the best that is on the market right now.

You may not need SLI right now but I would say 4 years from now it will come in handy to have since 64 - bit based applications and gaming will start to take hold of the market.

I also would definatley reccomend the Fatal1ty series. I have a Creative Audigy Sound card and my sound seems sharper. Can only imagine what it could sound like on that card. Just be sure to have good speakers for the card (lol)...

I second the fact that you should go with Asus over EVGA in terms of a motherboard. Asus is a more safe, reputable, and just better brand of motherboard.

[liambl]

Misread.

[Katreat]

I still cant read your list so will throw out some comments blindly….

If going Vista most people do fine with Home Premium. Ultimate for the most part just gives you a lot of stuff you wont use unless you have a business.

From what it sounds like you are using this computer for I would not recommend OC’ing. This sounds like more of a production build and you will want it as stable as possible.

If not investing in SLI from the get go you would be better off choosing an Intel chipset board, like the P35 or X38, and just upgrading your GPU when you decide to start gaming. SLI is a make the best better path, it just does not make sense as an upgrade path because you are upgrading to old technology.

As for video card and HDTV I would recommend you doing a bit of research. The Nvidia 8800 and 9800 series of GPUs are designed for gaming. If that is not your primary interest you might find a much better card for HDTV and a much lower cost.

If you like silent you would be better off sticking with stock heatsinks and not OC’ing the system. The alternative is to go water cooling with all of its problems. Most aftermarket coolers (air) are designed for max cooling and are not quiet.

All of the Nvidea chipsets run hot. For a non-OC’ed computer with newer CPUs that is not a big issue but if you are planning on a OC then you should probably check out some OC’ing forms and see if it becomes at issue at higher speeds.

As I stated, I cant read your list on my crappy monitor at work so cant make specific comments on your chosen components. If you are planning on a very large monitor then SLI can really be helpful with resolution problems. I would not recommend the 790i (someone else posted that so I assume that is what you list) because it is DDR3 only and DDR3 is just not needed yet. I would hold off on DDR3 until Intel release there new socket later this year. It is doubtful that the current stable of 775 socket CPUs are going to get much faster and that is what it will take to really use the potential of DDR3 ram.

Kat