here is my build
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/ [...] tTitle=new
Its my first build ever and after some suggestions and research on my part, this is what i have settled on. Others have said its a solid build but i just want to be %100 sure before i drop the money on the rest of the build. I already have the antec case, hdd, psu, and dvd drive so changing those is out of the question. im the type to upgrade every 4-5 years but all my other computers were pre built. so im thinking with this ill be able to upgrade whenever i see fit. itll be used mainly for internet use and gaming. so does the build look legit to you? any recommendations on what to switch around?

Hi and welcome to the forums:

- Firstly if you choose to Xfire two 4870's later on in the builds life you are going to see very little improvement by using an X48 board over a P45 one, especially at 22" (fairly low resolution). Maybe a few frames per second. P45 is also considerably cheaper.

- Swap the X48 board for an Asus P5Q Pro.

- Swap out the Zalman cooler for an Xigmatek S1283 with retention bracket but only if you are planning to overclock the CPU. If you aren't planning an overclock you can stick with the stock cooler.

- If you are planning to game extensively on this machine I would recommend an E8500 rather than the Q6600. If you are image or video editing then take the quad.

Otherwise looks good.
Jeremy

ive been lurking here for the past few weeks but i thank you for the friendly welcome.

wow you even answered some of the questions i forgot to ask! the x48 vs p45 was in the back of my mind but i forgot to ask. i read elsewhere that the performance gain from using x16/x16 as opposed to using x8/x8 is in the %5-%10 range. is that true? imo that doesnt warrant the $100 difference between the x48 and p45. but i was also looking to hook this up to my 42" plasma monitor. how would that work out if i still went with the p45?

honestly, i chose the zalman cooler over the xigmatek simply for aesthetics. the xigmatek looks massive and ugly to me while the zalman looks very sleek and nice. i dont plan to overclock like a mad man and to be honest, i dont even think i need an aftermarket hsf

and as for the q6600 vs the e8500...i went with the quad to simply "future proof" my system. ive read that the e8500 is more suited for gaming and i will not do any video editing or anything that would utilize the four cores. but should i really go for the dual core instead of quad? i mean the difference between the two is ~$10 and for two more cores it seems worth it to me. but then again i have no clue about the processor world and how they work.

My 2 cents ...

Any Asus P5Q /-E /Pro etc. (P45 chipset) variant is a good and cheap choice... Just got mine 3 days ago and really like it. The only weak point of the chipset on it is 2 x 8X in crossfire mode for the PCIe16 compared to an X48 which is no big deal.

Memory with low CAS would perform better, worth it and cheaper than GSkill; like Patriot:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820220269

A Quad... is exclusively for 3D, video editing applz. and virtualization... A web or gaming machine won't get any advantage from a Quad over a Duo (E8600 for example) with a higher clock for a long time (who know what's coming with Windows 7 in 18 month from now lol). Even the Crysis engine or Supreme Commander don't scale a proper way with it. Graphics engines like Photoshop don't event get 50% faster either.

Get a cooler... (!) the last generation of Intel stock cooler is different and worth shXt. See this article:
http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,1784.html

Corsair is making great PSU... I recommend a 650watts if you want to give yourself space for improvment... The upcoming Nehalem chip only will require much more power (example).

i personally like zerotherm's butterfly cpu coolers...

I also agree with previous poster about little performance gain with crossfire with that 22" monitor...might as well get a cheaper motherboard

CPU- e8400
Ram- just get one brand
Power- get something like a corsair 750watt
Hard drive- western digital 640gb

thank you for the ram recommendation. but what if i were to use my 42" monitor? would i see an improvement with the x48 in crossfire? ill switch out the quad with a dual core, hows this one? or should i go for e8500? i dont really want to go over $200 for the cpu. and which p45 board would you guys recommend? theres so many! how about this DFI LP P45?

If you're lucky your 42" plasma or LCD monitor will be 1080P (HD...)
AND Any ATi 4870 or 2 x 4850 in Xfire can easily handle it as any monitor with a resolution of 1920 x 1200 and -. I do have a 24inch Samsung 245BW which HD and i do play everything with my 4870.

The E8500 is in the sweet spot for price/perfo since the price drop late july. Would be my choice as the others wrotte.

DFI are renowed as pioneers from the "enthusiast" point of view Asus is really reliable product All you need is do yourself a list of features u want/need... then writte down the models with some +/-. maybe you should toss any "deluxe/premium" and "SE/basic" series (from Asus) as they are either over-loaded with useless features OR missing quality components. Do you pan to get an eSata ext. drive? how many HD you plan to put into it? Do you have old PCI cards or periphericals...

Looks good. Only change I would make is drop the Zalman and get a XIGMATEK S1283 (+ bolt in kit).

You also might want to get a Corsair 750 or a PC Power & Cooling 750 if planing to CrossFire. If you arn't planing to CrossFire you are wasting your money on that X48 board.

my 42" is NOT 1080p only 1080i/720p and all that im looking for in a board is pretty much basic functionality. keep in mind im not a hardcore pc performance person and my knowledge is very basic. i like the included 7.1 hd audio ports and optical output for my receiver. id also like a board with wifi but its not really a necessity as i can just add that later. i am planning on going crossfire later on down the road when the prices of the 4870s drop.

adding another internal hdd or external hdd is very possible in the future. ive been seeing all this talk about "Raid" and know nothing about it except for it requires two hdd's and increases the read/write speed. i dont know how to do it but maybe after i get this up and running and stable i can read up on it and possibly consider it. also when going crossfire ill be upping my psu to a 750-800w. and the only thing that is salvageable from my last computer is a sound blaster live! 24bit pci sound card

btw...i really appreciate all the help you guys are giving me. this board moves way faster than the tech sub forums im on at the other forums i frequent.

Hi again,

Both series of HD from Seagate ( the 7200.11) or Western Digital ( the new "Black" drives) are excellent and will gives great performances under most situations... They gives above 100Mg transfer a second. I do not recommend RAID if your not that of a tech savvy. It's sometimes risky and you won't notice much except loading any game lvls... that's server solutions and geek stuff LOL... love that one

750 watts is already a huge PSU as your parts don't use more than 375-400 watts O.C.ed all at full load.

Maybe I would check for an Asus Sonar if you look for pure audio quality vs. the "old school" from Soundblaster... even I I have a X-Fi myself.

**Some X48 motherboards like the Rampage Formula and P5E Deluxe from Asus include a good soundcard so it might be a good alternative too. At least u get the value of the X48 chipset and a good sound upgrade in the package.

bump this with a quick question. are there any major differences between all the 4870s? they all seem to be the same price +/-$10. which one would you suggest i get? ive already chosen the visiontek 4870 but if there are better 4870s id like to know. thank you.

^That's a fine card. The difference is some come with aftermarket coolers or factory OCed.