New Build: Gaming/graphic editing rig

[callmeseuss]

I am looking forward to gutting my current build and putting together a sweet new rig. First, however, I thought I might seek some advice from this forum. The new build is as follows: EDIT -- I already have an ATX case that I'm sticking with, as well as a sound system, monitor, and mouse/keyboard.

Motherboard - ASUS M3N72-D AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA nForce 750a SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

CPU - AMD Phenom 9850 2.5GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 2MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Processor - Retail

Video - XFX PVT98GYDLU GeForce 9800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

RAM - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retai

Audio (Carry over from old system) - Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Value SB0400 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail

HD - Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM and Seagate ST3640323AS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Power - Rosewill RT750-135-BK 750W ATX12V v2.2 SLI Ready Power Supply - Retail

Questions:
- Is the 750W power supply going to be sufficient?
- Do you have any suggestions for hardware that would be more compatible with each other (i.e. better performance due to the hardware working together more efficiently)
- Advice on overclocking this rig
- Might seem like a stupid question, but how much difference am I going to see with this rig compared to my old one: AMD 3000+ (2.2Ghz), 2GB DDR RAM, same sound card, 7300GT 512mb video, 3x IDE Hard Drives
- Any other general suggestions?

[minsonngo]

First thing first.

You should DEFINATELY invest in a better POWER SUPPLY. Rosewill PSUs are rubbish.

[callmeseuss]

Really now... well that's good to know. I've been running my current rig on that Rosewill for about 5 months now with no issues at all. Any suggestions?

[minsonngo]

This is a good one to consider:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139001

[minsonngo]

Originally Posted by callmeseuss Really now... well that's good to know. I've been running my current rig on that Rosewill for about 5 months now with no issues at all. Any suggestions?

That's the thing with lower end PSUs... it may work from the start or it may not... IF it does work from the start... the question is WHEN will it cease to work and what other parts will it take along with it when it does go OUT.

[callmeseuss]

I'm thinking this one instead, more power:CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail

[minsonngo]

Good choice. Same price between the one you picked and I picked... but your choice has more power. Good eye!

[callmeseuss]

Ok, two questions I really want answered.

Do you all thing (with the corsair linked above) that I will have enough power for this rig + enough to overclock and SLI a second card?

Any other opinions of this setup???

[Hippo08]

Originally Posted by callmeseuss Ok, two questions I really want answered. Do you all thing (with the corsair linked above) that I will have enough power for this rig + enough to overclock and SLI a second card? Any other opinions of this setup???

Yes, you should have enough power to power the rig + a second card. The overclocking will probably much more of a question of cooling rather than how much power the 750 will provide for you.

What I think you should think about is getting just one nice video card. Its generally accepted and tested that the newer bigger/better cards are much faster/efficient/usable than two SLI/Crossfire video cards. Sometimes in SLI you only see a 20% difference by adding the exact same card with SLI whereas you can find much better performance from a single card.

I feel that you will feel a big difference from your past computer. Depending on what games, you may not. But graphics editing I think you will really start to see your computer shine. The extra RAM/better vid card/quad core(for multitasking) you will see big improvements on all parts of your computer.

Is it worth it? That is all up to you. If you really feel like your computer is lacking, then it probably is worth it. Right now is a great time to upgrade considering everything is moving up an industry standard. (Duals > Quads) (DDR2 > DDR3)

[minsonngo]

The 750 watt PSU will be able handle running the two video cards in SLI + overclocking. Reviews on the card have current users with similar setups running it fine on 750 watts.

[callmeseuss]

Originally Posted by Hippo08 Yes, you should have enough power to power the rig + a second card. The overclocking will probably much more of a question of cooling rather than how much power the 750 will provide for you. What I think you should think about is getting just one nice video card. Its generally accepted and tested that the newer bigger/better cards are much faster/efficient/usable than two SLI/Crossfire video cards. Sometimes in SLI you only see a 20% difference by adding the exact same card with SLI whereas you can find much better performance from a single card. I feel that you will feel a big difference from your past computer. Depending on what games, you may not. But graphics editing I think you will really start to see your computer shine. The extra RAM/better vid card/quad core(for multitasking) you will see big improvements on all parts of your computer. Is it worth it? That is all up to you. If you really feel like your computer is lacking, then it probably is worth it. Right now is a great time to upgrade considering everything is moving up an industry standard. (Duals > Quads) (DDR2 > DDR3)

Thanks for the reply! I'm going to look into what might be one "really good" video card to work with this system. I'll probably stay with nVidia given the AMD setup and the board i'm using, but do you have any suggestions? Something to add would be that this rig will currently run me about $750 and I'm trying to keep it under 800 if I can. So that doesn't leave much room to work with, but if the card is REALLY worth it I might consider pulling out the extra cash.