Need Advice on first time build

[dafonz]

Was looking for a little bit of advice that could steer me towards a specific mobo to buy for my first time build.

I have been looking at Intel quad cores, because they are good value for money for the performancehttp://www.tomshardware.co.uk/chart...ers good prospects for upgradability? thanks

 

[dafonz]

Also, not too fussed about O/C ability, since I'm not very experienced in that aspect.

 

[aevm]

GA-EP45-UD3P, GA-EP45-DS3R, Asus P5Q Pro.

 

[dafonz]

Thanks, I looked at that and it seemed perfect for me. Seen it for around £100 so going to buy that sharpish.

Also, I have been thinking of running my new rig on a 32" or 37" flat screen TV, and not sure.
What sort of gfx card should I get so I can run on this size of screen but not lose out on quality? Any help on this matter from people who run their computers on big screens or others would be appreciated. cheers

 

[aevm]

Those TVs usually run at 1366x768. That's a low resolution, compared to a typical 20" monitor (1680x1050). It shouldn't be a problem for any modern graphics card.

Now, if you get a really good TV, with 1080p capability, things change. On one of those you can play at 1920x1080 (or lower, if the video card(s) can't handle that much). A HD 4870 1GB card can handle that resolution all right, for example. A GTX 260 Core 216 would do it too, a little better in some games and a little worse in others.

 

[aevm]

Hmmm, the forum GUI won't let me edit. I messed up in my previous post. You are looking for a board with two PCI-E slots and upgradability. OK, if you get a P45 board then you need to stick with ATI cards, no GTX 260 for you. You can use two HD 4870 cards on a GA-EP45-UD3P, but not two GTX 260 cards.

Also, maybe we should talk about PSU requirements too. For example Corsair makes a great 650W PSU that can handle two HD 4850 or HD 4870 cards all right.

 

[dafonz]

I think I would buy just the one HD4870 at the moment, and then maybe buy another when games really start to utilise dual card power. I reckon the games I play at the moment could be handled by one HD4870, namely COD4 and sometimes Crysis.

Been looking at Arctic Power 700W, http://www.ebuyer.com/product/124927/show_product_overview
Had good reviews, although just realised only got 1 PCI-e connector. Not sure if it's ok to use an adapter, rather than just get a more expensive PSU.

 

[aevm]

Ideally you'd get something with two PCI-E 6-pin connectors and two PCI-E 8-pin connectors (or (6+2), even better). You'd need a lot of adapters there to Crossfire. Also, I don't know anything about that brand, sorry.

BTW, here are some lists you may find useful.
http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/permalink/369181/323050/ShowThread.aspx#323050

http://game.amd.com/us-en/crossfirex_components.aspx?p=3#ATI Radeon™ HD 4870

 

[aevm]

Actually, that requirement for 4 PCI-E connectors including two with 8 pins is kind of tough. This one matches it:

Corsair 750W 98 pounds
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-011-CS

There's also a PC Power & Cooling 750W on the same site, for 103 GBP, out of stock. That's the PSU I have myself

 

[dafonz]

So heres what i have so far...

Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 2.33GHz Socket 775 1333FSB 4MB Cache

ASUS p5q pro

HD4870 512MB (x2 at some point in the future)

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA

Corsair 750W PSU

Compucase 6XM1 Full Tower Gaming Case

Any suggestions...
Also not sure if i will have to buy a version of vista. Currently got xp pro sp2 on my HDD that i was just going to use

 

[aevm]

You don't have to buy Vista. You can use XP Pro. I assume it's the 32-bit version. You will see at most 3.5 GB of RAM, and you will play in DirectX 9 mode (i.e. less eye-candy), but it will work.

When/if you add that second video card get Vista Home Premium 64-bit.

Speaking of RAM, 2GB is acceptable on XP but not really on Vista. Even on XP in fact it's probably worth adding 2GB more, even if 0.5 GB won't be accessible because of the 32-bit OS. Here's an article on this topic:
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2008/07/08/is-more-memory-better/1