build analysis please

[Squidward_not_squidward]

hi,

after several false starts financially I am ready to go with money in the bank.

Im currently running a pentium 2.8 system and its seriously on its last legs.

so here:

my plan:
future proof as much as possible: buy a crossfie compatible board but only one GPU with room for expansion later on.
HTPC case so I can operate in the front room instead of my dungeon.
big chunk of ram because of game developers being what they are.
tv card to replace play tv on my ps3.
SSHDD for OS, HDD for storage.

use: gaming and htpc

can you see any glaring problems? Places im spending money needlessly? mismatched components?

thanks,

Squiddy

 

[Squidward_not_squidward]

edit: cheers for the spec above.

ok cool.

i spent many months researching my old p4 system and as a result everything is nicely rounded right down to the bandwidth.

This admittedly was thrown together with no real knowledge of the current market and as such i am not surprised to hear it is rubbish - was just looking for a starting point i guess.

if i binned the htpc case and ran the system out of a full size atx case using the full size atx version of the mb would that be any better?

I put 4gb of ram in my p4 and at the time i got sneered at for running "far too much". Hindsight has proved me correct on that so Id really like to find a tri-channel setup that would allow the 12gb ram setup.

also OCZ is crap? Things really have changed

Ill have a mooch see what i can come up with in terms of a larger case build, thanks for the time anyway.

 

[Squidward_not_squidward]

first thanks for replies - when i was more heavily involved in pc hardware these kind of threads ground my gears quite a lot so thx for the patience heh.

I do admittedly want the best of both worlds - I guess thats more where i see the modern PC market working best.

im interested in making a system that could ultimately take 2(3?) GPUs. I would like to start with one then over the next 2 - 3 years add the remaining GPUs into the system as next gen. games demand.

i have spent many months moving almost all my media onto portable HDD and this is my motivation for the HTPC part - im there in terms of data now i just need a PC to do the other part!

ill check back into this thread tomoro off for an indians!

 

[Squidward_not_squidward]

morning

quick check in before i head out into sunny england!

this is where im at now, thanks for all your advice.

At this point my only remaining issue is which cooling solution to use. Id rather stick with air or passive but im not sure passive will cut it once i load a game up. Im thinking something with variable fan speed control.

I also like the idea of having 2 speed profiles so ill be doing that.

*edit: wrong HDD in picture, details.

 

[Squidward_not_squidward]

thank you all for your time and advice, the order will be going in before the end of the week.

I hadnt made a final choice with regards the case but I like the silverstone models thrown in here.

I will spec up the two cooling solutions offered up in terms of fit but im really happy with what i have.

Ill throw a pic of the finished product in here sometime in the next 2 - 3 weeks when its built.

cheers!