newbie builder needs some advice!

[geordie12]

Hi All,

I've decided to have a bash at building my own PC and I could do with some assistence in making sure I get a motherboard, case and CPU that will fit together!

So far I am thinking of an Intel Q9450 processor and I want to include dual SLI Nvidia graphics cards. But the array of mother boards that support this are a little confusing....

Can anyone offer advice on the most appropriat motherboard to support this? I would also like a case that's not to large, but also quiet...I guess I am asking for to much there with dual SLI cards

Any help much appreciated!

Stew

 

[geordie12]

Probably around a thousand for the PC, I have a monitor so I don't plan to buy that.

The monitor I have is running at 1280x1082 and i was hoping that the SLI configuration would give me good performance for a long time to come while being able to cope with most top end games...are you saying that I would be better getting a single more expensive graphics card than a dual config? The card I was considering was the BFG GeForce 9800 GTX 512MB GDDR3.

The Antec looks like a nice case, I was just hoping to get something a little smaller, but I am not sure I am going to be able to do that.

Cheers for your help!
Stew

 

[geordie12]

ok I guess it's going to make sense to wait on the gfx card to see what the new ranges bring.

I've put this together as a starting point -

- Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case
- PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad-SLi PCI-E 750W Power Supply
- MSI P7N Diamond nForce 780i SLi (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard with Free Creative X-FI Card
- Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 LGA775 'Yorkfield' 2.66GHz 12MB-cache (1333FSB) Processor
- Kingston HyperX 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-8500C5 1066MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX8500D2K2/2G)
- Western Digital Caviar SE16 400GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (WD4000AAKS) (2x for raid 0)

Am I missing anything obvious? Am I picking something that has a much better alternative?

Cheers
Stew

 

[geordie12]

Thanks for the advice guys

I've done a bit more reading and I am gonna ditch the dual gfx cards and just go with a fast single card...probably an nvidia since I've never had great experiences with ATI....but I'll check out what's released when the new ranges come out and decide from there.

Assuming I do go for nvidia, anyone got any advice on a good mobo? I only kinda picked the MSI diamond at random from the ones Overclockers were selling.

Stew