First Build, need advice

[Mr_Bojangles]

I'm trying to build a mostly gaming PC, but I plan on doing more than that, such as video editing and level editing. I want my PC to be largely flexible in what it can do. I am planning on running Vista 64. I will most likely be overclocking, to what extent, I am not yet sure. Nothing too extreme, to a point where some people still say "You could probably go higher", yet everyone still agrees its stable.

MoBo
ASUS P5Q-E 145$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131296

Processor
Intel Core2 Quad Q9400 2.66GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W 230$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115131

GPU
SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 224$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801

Ram
2 sets of mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 for 8GB total 96$ (total)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146731

Hard Drive
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive 80$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

Case
NZXT TEMPEST Crafted Series CS-NT-TEM-B Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 110$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146047

DVD
HP Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 30$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827140031

Fan
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler 37$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134

PSU
Antec Signature SG650 650W ATX12V / EPS12V 160$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371017

All totaled 1,113$

My budget is a little flexible, not looking to go much higher, but I can if it would be really worth it, and would be willing to go down if anything looks like its just not worth it for the price. I plan on in the future getting a second graphics card to crossfire, so I want to make sure my PSU will be able to handle that when the time comes.

I have a few questions. Does anyone know of a quality walk through of putting the components together? I have seen a few around the net, but for one reason or another, they all fell a little short of comprehensive.

I think I want a fan controller, if for no other reason than to just have one, but I'm finding very little information on them. Every where I look, I feel like someone is just trying to sell me something, so I'm a little skeptical of the information I am getting.

Thank you for your time, comments are appreciated.

Edit: Links fixed Edit2: Price update, Info update

 

[ZeGerman]

Dear Mr_Bojangles,

I think this list if very impressive and certainly shows that you have done some research. I do, however, have a few suggestions and recommendations for you that I think may be crucial in achieving a well balanced computer system.

Firstly, I would like to point out to you that it is not a good idea (this is my personal opinion) to spend your money on a low-budget quad core. This is simply a waste of money as you will need to aim for a more expensive model if you intend on getting performance for your money. In this case, I suggest chosing a mid-to-high range dual core which will give you the performance you will want for your money.

Secondly, if you are going to be running any graphics card in CrossFire or SLI, a 650 W power supply will not suffice. I recomment anything from the 800 W upwards from a solid manufacturer such as Corsair or Antec. This will ensure that your system is not bottlenecked later on when you finally decide to upgrade and it will also ensure that your current system has plenty of power to run at optimum conditions. However, your system should run fine with a single GPU setup with the preposed GPU.

Thirdly, I have not been a huge fan of any CrossFire or SLI configurations. The main reason for this is the prepostrous costs versus the performance gain. You are much better off investing your money in a single, solid, high-end card. Furthermore, there are other issues which come into play when running a dual GPU configuration, such as heat and software compatibility.

In my experience any level / video editing can be well and comfortably performed with the system that you are preposing or even less. As an example, I am running single core setup that is three years out-dated and I am still able to run Vista and all the latest games and level editors and what not. (BTW my GPU is a 8600 GTS).

Please consider these as simply suggestions.

Kind Regards
ZeGerman

 

[theramman]

On the DVD drive look at
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135187
Has less customer reviews but there all good and its a bit cheaper

BTW the graphics card is 224 now (im lookin at getting the same one

But here is the link to my page http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261410-31-first-build-suggestions

Like zeGerman said id just get a duel core till you can get a top notch quad
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115130

Well thats what im doing, so untill i really need the quad im kinda gettin one of the top duels

 

[Mr_Bojangles]

Thank you for the replies

So, would spending an extra 100 on a 3.0 quad core would be worth it? I would like this PC to be able to last me for a solid chunk of time.

Also, when I said crossfire, I mean way down the road, like in 2 years, when the price drops a bit. Would it just be a wiser investment to get a slightly higher end graphics card now, and not have to crossfire down the road?

 

[theramman]

Me if I had the money i personally would go and upgrade to the system is well rounded, but since i dont got the money(well have im just a cheap skate) lol and hopefully in the next year or so it will drop in price a little. But the one i listed is one of the yop intel quads

but and something i read with crossfire make sure when you do to have the same speed on them or the one with the higher speed will just downgrade to the lower ones

 

[kubes]

If you plan on spending anything more on this rig, I'd consider an i7 setup instead of going with the q9550 (3.0ghz quad). The reason why I'm saying this is because the i7 is the best choice for well rounded cpus currently. Benchmarks also show that the i7 dominates in vidoe encoding/editing which is something you noted in the OP you'd be doing.

Otherwise this the rig you have is pretty solid. If you do not plan on doing much overclocking maybe drop the asus p5q-e to the asus p5q pro verison. Save a few bucks there.

 

[Transmaniacon]

You might want to consider this power supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

It is cheaper than the Antec you currently have selected, is a top tier PSU, and will allow you the room to add a second HD4870 (650 is pushing it for 2 of those in xfire)

The only downside is its not modular, but I think the benefits outweigh a little extra time spent on cable management.

Edit:

Just noticed the price difference between Corsair's 750 watt and 850 watt is $10, go for the 850 watt.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009

 

[Outlander_04]

8 gig of RAM is a waste of money . Save a bit by using 4 gig .

In some situations the extra ram gives a small advantage , but in games it can reduce frame rates .

If money is the issue then consider using an AMD Pll 940 quad core . Its faster than the processor you chose and the total system cost will be lower as well . Gaming performance is great too .

 

[silverh20]

Also, if you're planning on video editing, I'd recommend you go with a RAID 0 array, it is much faster to have two hard drives striped together than one big hard drive by itself,and where youre doing video editing you especially need the speed.

 

[xthekidx]

If you don't care about the color of the PSU, get this one, its top tier quality at an amazing price, at least as good as the corsair and will allow xfire.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341011

For the purposes you stated, You definitely want a quad core system I would say the Q9550 or Q9650 would be good choices, if you decide to go the i7 route, you have to pay for an x58 mobo and DDR3 ram, which probably isn't worth it at your price point. You need to spend about $1500 for an i7 build to be worthwhile IMO. If you have the money, I would go for the Q9650, it will be worth the extra cost when it comes to encoding and editing.

Are you open to the idea of overclocking? If you are, then I suggest getting the S1283 Dark Knight cooler to go with this setup. You could then push your CPU to much higher speeds, probably 3.8 or higher and get more for your money that way, in which case you would probably be fine with the Q9550.

 

[xthekidx]

Outlander's suggestion about the PII should also be considered, PII does quite well in games, however not quite as well in video editing and that sort of thing. It would be a very good option for your though if you can't spend the money on the Q9550 or Q9650.

 

[cadder]

So, would spending an extra 100 on a 3.0 quad core would be worth it?

Probably not worth it.

If you can overclock, then a Q6600 can get you plenty of speed, or a Q9400 if you can buy it at the right price and spend a little more time overclocking it. If you don't overclock then a stock E8400 or E8500 would get you a lot of performance.

 

[Onus]

The Antec Signature 650W PSU is easily adequate for Crossfire or SLI.
The Corsairs that Transmaniacon linked are top-tier PSUs, but the Antec Signature probably needs to have a new tier above that created just for them (see reviews at www.jonnyguru.com). Any of them would be good choices.
The RAM you've chosen is excellent; that's what I've used in my recent builds. I'm not sure you'll get much benefit from 8GB over 4GB, although you are running a bloated OS, so it may be worthwhile.
You've chosen a nice case, and that is a huge personal preference item, but you may wish to also consider the Coolermaster RC-690 or the Antec 300. Either would be cheaper. Sorry no link, but if you want a window, I know you can buy a side panel with window for the 690 ($30?).

 

[silverh20]

8 gig of RAM is a waste of money . Save a bit by using 4 gig .

In some situations the extra ram gives a small advantage , but in games it can reduce frame rates .

Where did you hear this crap about 8 gb ram? I'd like a source cited as to how more ram makes less fps in games, because i couldnt find anything about it and GTA IV loves to eat up my 8 gb ram despite being a 32 bit app. Nowadays RAM is so cheap, why not get 8 gb? Many applications, like the OP would use, benefit from extra RAM very much so. 4 gb isnt bad, but do your research before you make claims about 8gb setups.

 

[Mr_Bojangles]

Thanks for all the replies! Its appreciated.

Alright, on the topic of the processor, it comes to
Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 Wolfdale 3.33GHz at 270$
Intel Xeon E3110 Wolfdale 3.0GHz dual core at 200$
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 3.0GHz at 339$
Intel Core2 Quad Q9400 2.66GHz at 229$

I would still like to get the Intel Core2 Quad Q9400 2.66GHz, but this thread seems to have a couple of conflicting views. I dont think I want to get the top of the line in either dual core or quad core, because it seems you pay more for those last few megahertz. I do intend to overclock, but probably not by a lot.

On the subject of PSU, I would like to stick with the antec signature line, I have heard many, many good things about them.

 

[xthekidx]

Don't get a dual core if you plan on video editing. Best bang for your buck there is the Q9400. But if you don't want to overclock that much then I would get the Q9650, or the Q9550.

 

[ZeGerman]

Please keep in mind that computational abilities of a CPU should not just be measured by how many Hertz it is capable of performing but also by the amount of L2 cache available to each core and if you compare an e8400 with six mb shared between two cores versus a e9400 with six mb shared between four cores, then I would think the choice is pretty obvious.
Also, in my opinion there is no point to purchasing a processors if what you want out of it will require instant overclocking.

Kind Regards
ZeGerman

 

[xthekidx]

Please keep in mind that computational abilities of a CPU should not just be measured by how many Hertz it is capable of performing but also by the amount of L2 cache available to each core and if you compare an e8400 with six mb shared between two cores versus a e9400 with six mb shared between four cores, then I would think the choice is pretty obvious.
Also, in my opinion there is no point to purchasing a processors if what you want out of it will require instant overclocking.

Kind Regards
ZeGerman

Yes the cache is important...but are forgetting that there are twice as many processing cores in the Q9400? That more than makes up for the difference in cache available to each core lol. In apps that do not use all the cores, such as most games it is better to go with a dual core, but for multitasking, video editing/rendering, media file conversion...ect quads are always better. The E8400 does not rival the Q9400 in computational abilities. You are putting too much weight on the importance of available cache size. Cache is helpful, but not as important as the speed of the processor, and how many processing cores it has.

 

[cadder]

Q9400 is available right now at microcenter for $179.

 

[xthekidx]

Q9400 is available right now at microcenter for $179.

In-store Pickup only I know I was stoked about that too until I tried seeing how much shipping would be...and they won't ship the damn thing! If you happen to live close to a microcenter branch then good for you, as for the rest of us...back to newegg

 

[cadder]

Sorry. I knew they had some items that were limited to in-store pickup only, but I didn't think others were limited.

 

[Mr_Bojangles]

Bump

The more the merrier, please and thank you ^_^