New Build - Advice Welcome

[CasheKicker]

Hi All,

Well the time has come to give my 3500+ system to my daughter and start on a new build for my self. I want to make a great system for gaming as well as give my self lots of room to LEARN how to over clock. I have most of my System picked out but I am down to a few choices that make the difference.

The biggest choice is going to be SLI or Crossfire

So this is what I have so far.

CPU - E8400
RAM - Crucial Ballistic 1065 , 2G Kit PC-8500
or - OCZ Reaper HPC 1065, 2G Kit PC-8500

MOBO - SLI Set up - ASUS P5N-D NF750I SLI
- XFire Set up - ASUS P5E IX38

HDD - WD RAPTOR 150G & WD Caviar 250G (already have the drives)

PCU - OCZ Gamer Xtream 850W (alredy have)

GPU - ATI HD 3870
or - EN-8800GT 512m

Antec 900 Gaming Case (Already have)

Cooling ? Freezer Pro7 or OCZ Vidicator 120mm

So when it comes right down to it am I better off with SLI or XFire setup

It my RAM choices the best? Which is better OCZ or Crucial?

Are my Mobo's the best overclocking picks depending on which setup I go with.

HELP. I can not make my final choices. I have never really overclocked before but feel I want to dabble and learn. I am sure I will have lots to learn in that department.

[enaberif]

Originally Posted by CasheKicker

Hi All,

Well the time has come to give my 3500+ system to my daughter and start on a new build for my self. I want to make a great system for gaming as well as give my self lots of room to LEARN how to over clock. I have most of my System picked out but I am down to a few choices that make the difference.

The biggest choice is going to be SLI or Crossfire

So this is what I have so far.

CPU - E8400
RAM - Crucial Ballistic 1065 , 2G Kit PC-8500
or - OCZ Reaper HPC 1065, 2G Kit PC-8500

MOBO - SLI Set up - ASUS P5N-D NF750I SLI
- XFire Set up - ASUS P5E IX38

HDD - WD RAPTOR 150G & WD Caviar 250G (already have the drives)

PCU - OCZ Gamer Xtream 850W (alredy have)

GPU - ATI HD 3870
or - EN-8800GT 512m

Antec 900 Gaming Case (Already have)

Cooling ? Freezer Pro7 or OCZ Vidicator 120mm

So when it comes right down to it am I better off with SLI or XFire setup

It my RAM choices the best? Which is better OCZ or Crucial?

Are my Mobo's the best overclocking picks depending on which setup I go with.

HELP. I can not make my final choices. I have never really overclocked before but feel I want to dabble and learn. I am sure I will have lots to learn in that department.

1) Don't bother with SLI
2) Crucial over Reaper
3) Noctua over Pro7 or Vindicator
4) IP35 Pro, P5K-E or Gigabyte board

[JD]

The ASUS P5E is based on the Maximus Formula (which I have) and it's the best motherboard I've had. So the P5E should be of similar quality/performance. If you plan to run 4x1GB of 1066 RAM though, that may be an issue as I see many people have issues with 4 sticks of Crucial on the Maximus.

Cooling, the ThermalRight Ultra 120 eXtreme with a Noctua NF-P12 (or 2 of them) is what I'd recommend. Although the Noctua NH-U12P would also be decent.

I believe the 8800GT is faster than the HD3870, but I'd get the 8800GT from EVGA or XFX myself as they have better warranty than ASUS.

I wouldn't bother with SLI or Crossfire, I've never used it even though my past 3 motherboards have had SLI support. And now my Maximus has Crossfire support which I doubt I'll use. Unless you have a 30" LCD or something where your running a high resolution.

[CasheKicker]

So you would put the 3870 over the 8800GT?

I have been leaning that way myself, but could you please expand? The reviews has the 8800gt winning hands down in most places for gaming.

[CasheKicker]

Sorry should have mentioned my Display. Currently 1 x Samsung 226BW 22" LCD and a 17"CRT but will be getting a second 226BW to keep my other one company. I love running dual display.

If not going Xfire or SLI should I look at steaping up to a 3870x2 or 8800 GTx , possibly wait until the 9800 comes out?

[Below_Cost]

I have been extremely impressed with the Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme. Absolutely one of the best purchases I have made in in a while.

[CasheKicker]

OK so I will revisit my Heat Sink for sure. The Thermalright 120 extreme looks promising by far. There is one other I readt to day on the Frostytech site that has 1st place to date for best cooling. The name slips me and the site appears to be down at the moment. I will post the other choice when I find it again.

[magictorch]

If you were thinking of SLI- I would put the money into a new 9800GTX which are supposed to be out in the next couple of months. Or I would go for the G92 GTS. I think its worth the extra dollars for that bit of extra power.

BTW did you see that the 4gb Mushkin Redline is only around $160 too (NCIX or DC).

I'm a bit "paranoid" about the P35's compatibility with the new 45nm desktop quads. The boards suggested are great- but this could prove to be a deal breaker. I have no evidence that Intel will make the chips incompatible but its just one of those feelings. Besides it makes for a great marketing pitch for their latest X48 due out at the same time!

[CasheKicker]

Man it is hard to make choices. I now have bought a E8400, soon to be in hand, next step is the mother board.

I am leaning towards SLI setup but can still be swayed the other way into a crossfire setup.

In any case I am beating my head on my desk trying to decide o a board. Everytime I think I have made up my mind I learn something else I want on the board.

So what I THINK I need is the following:
A Mainboard that supports the 45nm core both dual and quad (future upgrade to a quad), Raid suport, 1333 FSB, min 2xPCIe @ 16x TRUE SLI, 4 x DDR @min 1066.

of course the same details in a crossfire board would be acceptable.

Any one have anything to add, even more important a good OCing board that can do all this?

BTW did you see that the 4gb Mushkin Redline is only around $160 too (NCIX or DC).

Yes but I am looking to go 1066 and that price is only on the 800


P.S. - Yes SSWilson I am taking all your advise into consideration as well. Don't stop you have been a great help thus far.

[b1lk1]

SLI won't run 2 monitors. You have to disable SLI for that to work. If you have to have dual displays, the 3870X2 or the 8800GTX 768MB are your only 2 choices.