New Gaming + other stuff system build.

[KyoZed]

Finally decided to get a new system.. Current system been off and on upgraded for last 6+ years. Looking to go higher end system with ability to upgrade when need. The main things I could use some advice on are the hard drive, and if this power supply is a good enough one for 2 of those vid cards in SLI. For the hard drive, I am at a loss between a SSD, a VRaptor drive, or Cavier black 1T drive. I only download tv shows at times to watch if i miss, dont rip dvd's or anything like that so not sure I need a high storage ability. I just want the best performance outta the system especially when I try and play games like X3-Terran Conflict. Any other help is also welcome.

Oh and I know this system is probebly a bit more power than needed, but I did want to go SLI for the future needs and I want to run 3 monitors sometime in the future too. Thought that the dual vid cards could help with the loss of fps in other monitors if i have multiple programs going, on multiple monitors.


APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Early May

BUDGET RANGE: $1000 - $2000

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, Multitasking, Programming

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor, Sound. Going to go for Windows 7 RC

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg.com, but willing to shop around if good rep.

PARTS PREFERENCES: None

OVERCLOCKING: Most Likely since will be a i7 920.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: Current is 1440x900 will upgrade to 1920x1200 sometime after build.

LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS30 - OEM 24.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136152

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail 119.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000HLFS 300GB 10000 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive - OEM 229.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136322

EVGA 896-P3-1265-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail 419.98 X2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130398

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ... - Retail 129.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ - Retail 179.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231225

XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler - Retail 39.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231225

Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail +
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.181245

ASUS P6T LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail 458.99 Combo Deal
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.181245

 

[Helloworld_98]

drop the VRaptor for a 1TB caviar black or an SSD, it will be just as quick or quicker, but also cheaper.

and swap the two 260's for a 4870 X2 since it saves you $20, or pay the extra, what $40 for dual 4890's.

 

[nerrawg]

If you want to go Nvidia I would go this route:
Either 2x 260s or 2x 275s, getting 285s is not good value for money

If you want to go for the 260s check out these cards - they are much cheaper than the one listed and are just as good:
XFX:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127430
MSI:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150361
PNY:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133270

If you want to go for an even more powerfull graphics solution check the 275's out:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130475

I don't personally think the NVidia cards are that good value for money, the 260 solution giving you the best value out of all of them. NVidia is however much better when it comes to performance in certain games (like Crysis and Flight Sim X), however if you don't plan spending all your time playing these you might be better served buying ATI. If you are only planning to play on 1920x1200 then I would save half of the money you intended on spending ($200-300!!!) and buy 2 4850's in crossfire for 220 dollars total. It is a massive deal on just this week:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102824
This setup will allow you to crank up the settings to max in every game yet designed at 1920x1200 res.
It also saves you wasting a lot of money

 

[nerrawg]

drop the VRaptor for a 1TB caviar black or an SSD, it will be just as quick or quicker, but also cheaper.

and swap the two 260's for a 4870 X2 since it saves you $20, or pay the extra, what $40 for dual 4890's.

^+1, great hard drive advice, but also I think you could save lots of money and get just as good performance with the before mentioned 4850 CF or go for gold and get two 4890's in CF - 4870X2 is a bit outdated, although if you can find it below $400 its an alright deal:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150349

otherwise if you have to have 4870s - go for this
2x http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102810
you will not notice a significant performance difference at 1920x1200 between this ~$300 4870 CF solution and a ~$400 4870 X2, because you wont need that extra ram anyway.

Another important thing to remember is that a complete next gen of cards are coming out in 9 months time with DX11 - why spend a lot now?

 

[KyoZed]

Definately good info will look into. What I dont want to do is spend only the bare minimum of what I need for what i want to run now.. But id like to be able to run the newer games as they come out with good quality.

Im not dead set on Nvidia. I have just mostly used them. 4400ti, 6200ti, 7950 etc.. lol

I originally was looking at crossfiring 2 4870's and not getting a 4870 x2 because i wanted the 3rd monitor port for whenever i get that 3rd monitor.

Oh and was reading the article on best vid cards for the money and dual 4870's or 260's seemed like what i wanted.

 

[Helloworld_98]

That wouldn't work because in CF mode you can only use 2 output's.

you need to disable CF to use all 4.

 

[KyoZed]

Ok, so basicly your saying unless i went higher than 1920x1200 i wont see a big difference for right now. Got that now i notice you linked a 512mb 4870, what if I went with a 1GB version like,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801.

Oh and thank you for info on CF mode.. Did not know that good to know. Course now makes me wonder how to do it.. but will figure that out

About HD think ill go with a 1TB Caviar black since most people seem to be advising that way. Not to sure on SSD's yet.. Besides capacity is too small for me current to really consider it.

 

[nerrawg]

If you are going to use 3 monitors then you need strong enough cards to run in a CF disabled mode like Helloworld_98 says. If you are just wanting to play all current games for the least amount of money I would go with the current new egg deal on the 4850 - it should be beefy enough. Use the saved money on the next gen of DX11 cards coming out in 9 months to a years time. If you want to see how it performs here is a great article that compares virtually every high end card solution on an i7 platform:
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3520
from this article I think it really shows that a 4850 CF is the sweetspot at 1920x1200, with playable framerates in all the games.

I assume you are not going to be playing crysis and using the other monitors at the same time - if you are you will need a stronger card than the 4850 to play at max setting because you lose CF. However if you only use the 3 monitors for work related apps - then the 4850 should suit your needs - because you can turn CF on while gaming -I'm not aware of anyone who uses a monitor for cysis and another for work at the same time - although this may happen

Of course I don't want to stop you from spending more if you want to. Right now 2x 4890s is probably the strongest you can get in dual cards - without spending a rediculous premium on the GTX 285

Otherwise if you are thinking about future builds and how much you should spend check out my article on this if you want:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/264181-31-best-bang-buck-spend-system

 

[nerrawg]

1 GB is a very good card - however if you run in CF you won't really need at 1920 x 1200, however if you move up to 2560 x 1600 you will notice the difference - I think this might be included in the bench marks on the previous article I submitted, if not I can find it and see if it really does anything more than 1-2 fps at 1920 x 1200, and $30 is a lot of money to spend on 1-2 fps - i think anyway