new pc advice

Rapp

Rapp

Rapp

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Joined
6 Dec 2008
Posts
61
Hello

I’ve been thinking of buying a new machine for some time now as was going to upgrade early January as I should have the money to spare by then.

Here is what I was thinking of getting:

Intel core 2 quad Q950 2.83Ghz (FSB 1333MHz)
Asus motherboard with cross fire
Powercolor ATI Radeon HD 4870 1024MB
Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache
Samsung 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter
Zalman GS1000 Gaming Cases
4GB DDR3 RAM

I could do with some help choosing a power supply as I’m not sure what size I will need to power the system, but I would also like one in powerful enough in case I decide to upgrade to two graphics cards, and add in any more hard drives.

Also if anyone can suggest a good motherboard it would be appreciated, I would like an Asus as I’ve used these before and they are always packed with lots of nice features.

Thanks for you help
 
Last edited:
Well i recommend the asus P5Q3 Deluxe (as i have one too and it's amazing) :)

PSU i'd say :Corsair TX 750W ATX2.2 SLI Compliant PSU (as you said incase you want to upgrade) :)

And i can confirm that this ram works fine iin this board : Corsair 4GB DDR3 DHX 1333C9DHX Twin3X (2x2GB) (TW3X4G1333C9DHX) :)

-----------------------------------------------------------
If you not thinking of going DDR3 then maybe go for the P5Q Pro :)

Overall you have a nice spec there m8 ;)
 
The P5Q3 Deluxe does look very good although if I was to upgrade to cross fire setup it would be at x8 rather than x16.

Do you know any good processor cooling fans which will fit onto to P5Q3 Deluxe??

Would the Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 650W be powerful enough if I was to upgrade at some to two HD 4870 1024MB in cross fire??
 
I've just found the P5Q3 deluxe in the clearance section of OCUK for £91.99 seems a bit cheap to me would that just be returned items people didn't want or what?
 
Swi1ch said:
A lot of spec me threads recommend the Q6600 over the Q9550. £100 less and easily overclockable to 3ghz.
Click to expand...

Only better if you can get one second hand really. Go for the higher cache and cooler running cpu, it will be easier to overclock higher.

As for other components I would personally recommend the DFI motherboards or the ASUS P5Q-series boards. As far as PSUs go, Zalman HP series are very good, if expensive, but I've heard a lot of good things about corsair PSUs as well. To be safe I'd go for a 700W + PSU if you want 2 gfx cards, but that's just my own personal opinion.
 
The Arctic Cooling Freezer XTREME CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/AM2+/AM2/939) is a good cooler for (£32.19 inc VAT).

But the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775)

Is also a very good cooler and only (£18.39) :)

Also like you siad you might want to cross,Then i deffo recommend the 750w m8 ;)


Overall Performance - Crossfire
PCIe x8x8 vs x16x16---------------------fps Percent
HD2900 XT (512 MB) CF PCIe 1.0a x8x8 1190.1 100.0
HD2900 XT (512 MB) CF PCIe 2.0 x16x16 1335.1 112.2
HD3870 (512 MB) OC CF PCIe 1.0a x8x8 1163.8 100.0
HD3870 (512 MB) OC CF PCIe 2.0 x16x16 1312.8 112.8
HD3850 (256 MB) OC CF PCIe 1.0a x8x8 981.4 100.0
HD3850 (256 MB) OC CF PCIe 2.0 x16x16 1128.6 115.0

Crossfire Individual Performance - Call of Duty 4

PCIe x8x8 vs x16x16 fps Percent
HD2900 XT (512 MB) CF PCIe 1.0a x8x8 779.2 100.0
HD2900 XT (512 MB) CF PCIe 2.0 x16x16 904.8 116.1
HD3870 (512 MB) OC CF PCIe 1.0a x8x8 747.3 100.0
HD3870 (512 MB) OC CF PCIe 2.0 x16x16 870.9 116.5
HD3850 (256 MB) OC CF PCIe 1.0a x8x8 593.0 100.0
HD3850 (256 MB) OC CF PCIe 2.0 x16x16 710.5 119.8


Crossfire Individual Performance - Doom 3

PCIe x8x8 vs x16x16 fps Percent
HD2900 XT (512 MB) CF PCIe 1.0a x8x8 107.7 100.0
HD2900 XT (512 MB) CF PCIe 2.0 x16x16 112.9 104.8
HD3870 (512 MB) OC CF PCIe 1.0a x8x8 106.7 100.0
HD3870 (512 MB) OC CF PCIe 2.0 x16x16 112.6 105.5
HD3850 (256 MB) OC CF PCIe 1.0a x8x8 104.1 100.0
HD3850 (256 MB) OC CF PCIe 2.0 x16x16 109.0 104.7


Individual Crossfire Performance - Half Life 2 Ep. 2

PCIe x8x8 vs x16x16 fps Percent
HD2900 XT (512 MB) CF PCIe 1.0a x8x8 223.2 100.0
HD2900 XT (512 MB) CF PCIe 2.0 x16x16 234.4 105.0
HD3870 (512 MB) OC CF PCIe 1.0a x8x8 219.8 100.0
HD3870 (512 MB) OC CF PCIe 2.0 x16x16 239.3 108.9
HD3850 (256 MB) OC CF PCIe 1.0a x8x8 212.3 100.0
HD3850 (256 MB) OC CF PCIe 2.0 x16x16 231.1 108.9


Individual Crossfire Performance - World in Conflict

PCIe x8x8 vs x16x16 fps Percent
HD2900 XT (512 MB) CF PCIe 1.0a x8x8 80.0 100.0
HD2900 XT (512 MB) CF PCIe 2.0 x16x16 83.0 103.8
HD3870 (512 MB) OC CF PCIe 1.0a x8x8 90.0 100.0
HD3870 (512 MB) OC CF PCIe 2.0 x16x16 90.0 100.0
HD3850 (256 MB) OC CF PCIe 1.0a x8x8 72.0 100.0
HD3850 (256 MB) OC CF PCIe 2.0 x16x16 78.0 108.3


going from x8 to x16 for Crossfire really only offers a tangible payoff in higher resolutions.
 
The Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler has got some very good reviews and is a lot small so I think I will get.

Just need to look out for a good motherboard on offer in early Jan hopefully there won't be another price hike before then

thanks for the info about the crossfire really not a huge amount of difference in them
 
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