Upgrading from 7 year old comp! Did research, still have Q's, answered sticky Q's

[GrimWarrior]

Hello all!

Yes, I've been using a 7 year old comp. (Athlon XP 1800+ ) I've added a bit of ram and changed out the graphics card once, but that's been it. Also, getting rid of my 21" CRT and getting LCD's.

Here's my answers to the sticky questions:

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
This pc will be a heavily used, multi-tasking computer. I'm pretty much all over the place. Right now my main focus is on building a business making websites, advertising, marketing, etc. There is a lot of multi-tabbed web browsing/reading/writing, I'm also looking into shooting some movies and pics (yes, pr0n) - and will be slightly editing them. (I don't plan to get into heavy photoshop or video editing, just enough to suffice). I will be doing a little bit of gaming, but really I'm trying to stay away from getting heavy into it. I am looking forward to playing some games I missed out on while my pc was crap, and current and upcoming games. (Assassin's Creed and Diablo 3 when it comes out). I will be using 3 24" LCD monitors for all my multi-tasking/editing/research/etc

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
a rough max of $2,500, but closer to $2,000 would be better. Tax and shipping included. I would like to keep the actual computer parts closer to $2,000 because I figure the UPS would bring that closer to the $2,500.

3) Where do you live?
New Jersey, USA. Yes, I have to pay Newegg tax.

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
Everything basic except monitors, keyboard, mouse. This means: cpu, case, ram, mobo, vid cards, etc.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
No parts re-used. Need all new.

6) Will you be overclocking?
I would like to. I never have before, but with the Q9550 chip I want to get, it seems relatively easy? (just increase FSB - yes I've already bookmarked a few OC'ing guides) It is NOT absolutely necessary though.

7) What size monitor do you have or plan to have?
Three 24" LCD monitors. (1920 x 1200 resolution)

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
As Soon As Possible! my old comp is really hampering my activities, and I NEED to have a backup solution in place! (my current comp has a 60gb hard drive, no backup!)

With those answered, here is what I've researched/picked out so far:
(and the short of it is - I need help picking a case, video cards, and a mobo. Beyond that, just making sure the other parts are good)

CPU Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 - $319.99

HSF XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 + Retention Bracket - $36.99 + $6.99 = $43.98

RAM G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 - $69.99

PSU CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W - $119.99

HDD Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s - $79.99 x 3 = $239.97

CD/DVD burn/read LG Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW , 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW, etc - $23.99 x 2 = $47.98

Arctic Silver 5 - $5.99

Operating System Windows XP Pro SP3

Subtotal: $987.88
Tax: $70.47
Shipping: $18.85

Total so far: $1,077.20

Still Need:
Case ~ $250 - Has to be full tower to fit modern video cards, couple of hard drives.
Mobo ~ $250 - one of my concerns is being able to fit the Xigmatek in the "front to back" position so that it blows air directly out of the back of the case. I'm not sure I'm into the whole top case blowhole thing. Would be nice to have Esata port. If wifi is included would be nice, but not necessary. It looks like they have USB wifi receivers now?
Video cards ~ $500 - I need 2 video cards to run 3 24" monitors at 1920 x 1200. I've always been an Nvidia fan. Not entirely opposed to Ati I guess though. Was looking at:
EVGA 512-P3-N874-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ Superclocked Edition 778mhz 512MB - $209.99 x 2 = $419.98 (and there is a $30 MIR on each also)
I wouldn't be opposed to 512MB 4870's I guess - which would be better for my use/video editing..?
(don't know what I'm going to do for sound yet. Probably just use onboard sound and a pair of headphones for now. This isn't included in pc build budget for now.)

Those are rough estimates, but I feel those are realistic estimates. That adds roughly another $1,000 to the build, putting me right around where I wanted to be. (there's 1 $20 MIR for the power supply not included in the total)

Why Win XP and 4 gig of ram? - yes I know about the issue. I'm not ready to move up to Vista 64 bit, there are compatibility questions with software. I like Win XP. I can easily move up to Vista 64 in a year or two if I feel things have improved. Want to stick with Win XP for now. - Question about the whole 4 gig thing. I know that you are supposed to subtract for your video card(s), that is why I was wanting to go with the 512MB video cards. Does it subtract this from the possible working ram all the time, or only when the video cards are using that MB for gaming? (so it would for the main video card running my main screen, but not for the other one running the other 2 screens?)

Do you see any problems with the parts I've picked out so far? Thanks for reading and for suggestions!

EDIT - I should mention this is my first comp build. Are there any cables or miscellaneous stuff I'd need to pick up that you can think of? I was thinking of getting one of those ESD straps, but my main concern is getting all the hardware in and going to put it together only to discover that I don't have some cable.. that would suck!

 

[elleana]

Its a pleasure to help people like you - detailed post, done most of the legwork, thought through what you need and just have a few questions at the end.

Case - You don't really need to spend $250 on a case, and airflow can be swapped around to your liking depending on your fan placement. A lot of it comes down to individual preferences, and YMMV. I'd suggest a couple of choices:

Coolermaster RC-690 - Decently roomy, good cable management, lots of fan slots, decently cheap. Screwless installation is a big plus if you're going to do self assembly. Huge thread somewhere on what people have done to theirs, really good read. My personal case, love it!

Antec three hundred - Cable management here isn't as good, but (IMO) has a slightly 'cleaner' look. I wouldn't recommend its elder siblings, the nine hundred is a huge dust magnet.

Mobo - P45 chipset is where the action's at right now. Any particular preference for manufacturers? You can't really go wrong with the ASUS P5Q-Pro. I personally feel included Wi-fi on mobos is more a gimmick than anything, you'd be much better off buying a USB/PCI adapter to match your wireless router.

HSF placement is basically up to you, because you can orient it any of 4 ways to blow whichever way you want (upwards or backwards)

Video Cards - This is where it gets slightly more complicated. You don't need a geewhizbang video card to run your third monitor, basically anything that can produce a signal will do. Better to buy a top of the line video card for your main video card than split it equally. The GTX 260 is the sweet spot for nVidia cards right now, somewhat more expensive than the 9800 GTX+ you have in mind but hey, you won't need two! Any other PCI-e video card will work for the second slot.

Hope this has been helpful. Good luck with your new build!

 

[GrimWarrior]

elleana, thanks for the quick reply, and compliment! I get heavy into research at times, but I've just spent way too much time on this. I need to get it done and built and back to work!

About the $1,000 for the case/video cards/mobo - those where just rough estimates that I hammered out dividing it up somewhat equally/realistically. They aren't hard and fast numbers to spend on each component.

The reason I was looking at getting two of the same video cards, is I spent a lot of time researching multiple monitor setups and such, and I found this was the most recommended because of driver issues/conflicts, and especially when I upgrade to Vista 64 bit it's needed. I think mostly it would just make me feel safe that they where both the same and there would be no problems.

Thanks for the case suggestion. I've looked at the RC-690 already, especially after I saw someone updated one of their build threads here with pictures of it afterwards, and showed it easily accomodating a modern large graphics card and having room to spare for the hard drive cage. As for the Antec 300, I didn't even look at mid tower cases because I figured they wouldn't have enough room inside for the vid cards, and also for cable management issues. I'm not bothered one bit at all by a large case.

Thanks so far!

 

[Dangman]

Does it subtract this from the possible working ram all the time, or only when the video cards are using that MB for gaming? (so it would for the main video card running my main screen, but not for the other one running the other 2 screens?)

It'll subtract from the possible working RAM at all time. So you'll probably see anywhere from 2.5GB to 3.5GB of RAM depending the video cards.

Its a pleasure to help people like you - detailed post, done most of the legwork, thought through what you need and just have a few questions at the end.

QFT. Always a good thing to see.

Any other PCI-e video card will work for the second slot.

Not quite true with Vista. IIRC, with Vista you can only use on video card driver. Which means that you cannot use an ATI and Nvidia card in the same system. You have to use two Nvidia or two ATI cards if you want multi-monitor support. Might be wrong about that though

Now to some mobo recommendations:
Gigabyte GA-EP43-DS3L Intel P43 Motherboard - $87
MSI P45 Neo3-FR Intel P45 Motherboard - $110
Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3R Intel P45 Motherboard - $120
Asus P5Q Pro Intel P45 Motherboard - $140
Biostar TPower I45 Intel P45 Motherboard - $152
DFI Lanparty DK X38-T2R Intel X38 Motherboard - $185
Asus P5E Deluxe Intel X48 Motherboard - $220
DFI Lanparty DK X48-T2R Intel X48 Motherboard - $220
Gigabyte GA-EX48-DS4 Intel X48 Motherboard - $225

Just to help you out: All of these motherboards have PCI-E 2.0 which may be useful for future GPU upgrades. If you don't need RAID, more than 6 SATA ports and only need semi-decent overclocking, check out the DS3L. If you need 8 SATA ports, RAID, 4 PCI slots, and legacy ports, then get the Neo3-Fr. If you don't need more than 6 SATA ports but want RAID, firewire, a second PCI-E x16 port, a second gigabit port, support for 16GB of RAM, optional eSATA, x8/x8 Crossfire, and great overclocks, then get the DS3R. If you like the DS3R but need 8 SATA ports, want an onboard pre-installed fast booting Linux setup, just support for 8GB of RAM, and don't need a second gigabit port, get the Asus P5Q Pro. If you want a motherboard with excellent overclocking capabilities above all else (feature wise), go with the I45. If you want Crossfire with full x16/x16 bandwidth, get the Lanparty DK X38. If you have cash to burn, need x16/x16 Crossfire, and don't give a damn about getting the most value for your money, get the Asus, DFI, or Gigabyte X48 motherboards. Do note that the Asus website can be slow sometimes.

I also concur with elleana's case recommendations.

 

[Alai]

Personally, for mid or full towers, I treasure the P182. You should check it out. And if the Newegg deal is still going on, it is $100 with free shipping (going to have to pay tax tho).

 

[The_Engineer]

I wanted to chime in on your hard disks, with as much cash as you are putting down in this direction I would highly recomend 2x HDD's in raid 0 for your OS. If you are concerned about drive failure a third drive, 1TB in size, can generally be had for ~130 AR these days and you can 'back up' to this disk, and image of your OS partition. It isnt really a true backup but protects against the failure of one of your two OS drives.

As for motherboards, I just wanted to chime in that I really enjoy my Gigabyte DQ6. I know there are newer boards out there and I would be heavily weighted for any of the gigabyte all-solid-caps boards that are offered as I have never had a board be as rock solid as this guy is.