Gonna take the plunge...

[Arch80]

Well, after 5 years of single-core processing this is what I've come up with as my upgrade:

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 w/XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler and Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound

MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-MA790FXT-UD5P

RAM: 2x OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) - OCZ3RPR16004GK (8GB total)

Vid Cards: 2x XFX HD-489A-ZDDC Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5

PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-1000HX 1000W

HD's: 4x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM (striped array)

CASE: COOLER MASTER HAF 932

Disc Drive: LG Black Blu-ray/HD DVD-ROM & 16X DVD±R DVD Burner - GGC-H20L

Vista 64 Ultimate

Monitor: LG W2453V-PF Black 24" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Full HD 1080P

Full system will cost around $2300 on Newegg.
I will be playing as many games as I can throw at this setup. My big question is whether I have picked out a system that will A; last me a while, and B; work together nicely. Thank you in advance for your advice.

 

[RevengE]

Nice Build. Are you going to OC the 955? If not really you could get a 940 for cheaper and it wouldnt make much difference.

 

[pbmaster]

Wow, what an upgrade. Skipping dual core completely..nice! It will server you well, that's for sure. Do you really need that much RAM though? 4 GB does just fine for my gaming rig.

 

[RevengE]

Wow, what an upgrade. Skipping dual core completely..nice! It will server you well, that's for sure. Do you really need that much RAM though? 4 GB does just fine for my gaming rig.

4 GB is good enough for any gaming rig. I agree. Welcome to TPU.

 

[BradleyKZN]

Are you sure you want an lg monitor. Why not samsung maybe? And welcome to tpu

 

[Arch80]

Yes I plan on OC'ing the 955. I want to be able to listen to media player, ventrilo and play mmo at same time with no added lag from bottlenecked resources. I am a rookie though and will step back to 4GB if it's enough to do the job. I will look at Samsung, I enjoyed my last monitor from them. Thanks for the input guys.

 

[pbmaster]

I was able to play WoW with several addons, browse the web, listen to music, and do a variety of other things all fine on 3.5 GB(4 technically, but I was on Vista 32 bit). I don't even think I used much over 2 GB while doing that.

 

[Arch80]

Am I going overkill with the 2 vid cards too? I mostly raid in WoW but would like to try some of the games where crossfire is supported.

 

[pbmaster]

If you want to, go for it. Dual card setups are a lot more stable now than they were. WoW uses more CPU power I think, and since you're getting a quad core you're covered on that.

 

[Yukikaze]

That thing is going to be a monster.

But do you really need two HD4890s ? I am yet to find a good use for my HD4870X2 and I've had it for around 8 months now (Almost from launch day, replacing my 8800GT SLI).

 

[RevengE]

Yes I plan on OC'ing the 955. I want to be able to listen to media player, ventrilo and play mmo at same time with no added lag from bottlenecked resources. I am a rookie though and will step back to 4GB if it's enough to do the job. I will look at Samsung, I enjoyed my last monitor from them. Thanks for the input guys.

good to hear that you want to OC. My advise on over 4gb of ram is it's only needed if you video edit/photoshop etc. I had 6gb in my i7 rig I just sold off not to long ago, alot of games hate 6gb and I would get constant crashes in Fallout3, made it unplayable. Just a fair warning. Yes I know this doesn't apply to everyone I just had problems.

 

[RevengE]

Am I going overkill with the 2 vid cards too? I mostly raid in WoW but would like to try some of the games where crossfire is supported.

The only benefit you will recieve from this is a bigger Epenis. One 4890 will suit your needs.

 

[Yukikaze]

good to hear that you want to OC. My advise on over 4gb of ram is it's only needed if you video edit/photoshop etc. I had 6gb in my i7 rig I just sold off not to long ago, alot of games hate 6gb and I would get constant crashes in Fallout3, made it unplayable. Just a fair warning. Yes I know this doesn't apply to everyone I just had problems.

I am running 6Gb on my Q9650 with no issues in anything (Vista Ultimate 64-Bit).

My 12 gigs of DDR3 for my i7 build arrived this morning, I'll see if I run into any similar issues.

 

[Flyordie]

Thank you for buying AMD. You will not be disappointed.
Good Parts also.

 

[RevengE]

I am running 6Gb on my Q9650 with no issues in anything (Vista Ultimate 64-Bit).

My 12 gigs of DDR3 for my i7 build arrived this morning, I'll see if I run into any similar issues.

Intresting. Fallout3 was by far the worst on my system. I couldn't get outside of the vault without it crashing into windows. Also I couldn't play alot of older games..not a big deal, I do however love older games too so it was to me.

 

[Yukikaze]

Intresting. Fallout3 was by far the worst on my system. I couldn't get outside of the vault without it crashing into windows. Also I couldn't play alot of older games..not a big deal, I do however love older games too so it was to me.

I have my OC'ed P4 for any older games. At 4.2Ghz and with the HD3850 AGP is deals with anything old well, so any incompatibility issues aren't a biggie for me, but my Q9650 never had any problems with older titles. Sounds like some weird incompatibility issue or driver pain your rig is experiencing. Then again, a Core i7 is a very different beast from the Core 2 Quad (And anything else, for that matter), so I might be having these issues right around the corner and not even know it yet.

 

[Arch80]

I should have mentioned that I intend on getting a 30 inch monitor later this year. Will a single 4890 be able to handle the higher resolution?

 

[RevengE]

it's gone now, I'm building a PII rig.

 

[RevengE]

I should have mentioned that I intend on getting a 30 inch monitor later this year. Will a single 4890 be able to handle the higher resolution?

My guess is yes. If your worried save some more cash and grab a 4870x2, newegg has been dropping prices on them lately.

 

[nemesis.ie]

The resolution of the new monitor (and nothing wrong with LG's stuff that I have seen) was not mentioned.

If you plan on getting a 30" (2560 x 1600) the 2nd card might be nice, but you can always get one to start with and see how it goes, plust you might want to go DX11 in the autumn so save the cash you would spend now on the 2nd card and extra 4GB until then.

That said, I'm running a 4890 in my (dual core C2D 4GHz) box on a 30" and there are some titles that would really benefit from the 2nd card at full res.

Finally, Windows 7 is out soon and you can test the RC for free for a year (and it has DX11 of course), so why not throw that on and then if you like it, buy it later? That should save some initial outlay and upgrade pain/money?

 

[Sejanus47]

I also suggest dumping vista 64 bit and getting a free copy of 7. I installed it over the weekend and I fell in love with it right away. Loads faster than vista 32 bit and today I bought another 2gb of ram and my system is even more responsive. I haven't had a single issue with 7 which is surprising considering the silly bugs I had with Vista when I initially bought it. That's not to say that I'm not a fan of Vista. Also may I suggest you look at MSI's 790FX board? It is highly rated and has a few more features over the GB board you selected. Although anything made by Gigabyte is gold in my eyes . Heres a link to that board if you are curious - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130223

 

[Arch80]

Resolution of the LG monitor is 1920 x 1080. I'm going to wait for DX11 cards until next year, perhaps Summer 2010. I am not ordering until Wednesday so I will check back on this thread until then to see if there is something else I am missing. Thanks again for all the help ppl !

 

[Hayder_Master]

welcome to TPU
nice chose , but there is a option about one card which 4870x2 , i know 2x4890 is better performance but 4870x2 can run anything at maximum setting , less power , less price , less heat in case