Building a PC

Finally

Alrighty, this is what am planning on building. Is it going to be easily upgradable? I may add another graphics card in 2 years and upgrade the CPU. I noticed that the Asus P5Q has only one pci-e2.0 slots so was concerned about upgradability. Also will the PSU be enough for another card? That's about all. Any final words?


Intel Core2 Quadro Q6600
ASUS P5Q
Corsair CM2X2048-6400C5 - XMS2
Sapphire HD4850
Coolermaster CM690
Coolermaster eXtreme power 550w
500GB Serial ATA II
LG GH22NS30 - 22x
 
the mobo only has one PCI-Ex slot but you're worried about the PSU being enough for another card :confused: :D
 
SaiyanZ said:
Alrighty, this is what am planning on building. Is it going to be easily upgradable? I may add another graphics card in 2 years and upgrade the CPU. I noticed that the Asus P5Q has only one pci-e2.0 slots so was concerned about upgradability. Also will the PSU be enough for another card? That's about all. Any final words?


Intel Core2 Quadro Q6600
ASUS P5Q
Corsair CM2X2048-6400C5 - XMS2
Sapphire HD4850
Coolermaster CM690
Coolermaster eXtreme power 550w
500GB Serial ATA II
LG GH22NS30 - 22x
Click to expand...

That system should last you quite a while :) The PSU should be sufficient for your next graphics card upgrade as well.

Mephisto_Helix said:
the mobo only has one PCI-Ex slot but you're worried about the PSU being enough for another card :confused: :D
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm assuming he means the next card that he'll buy :confused:
 
SaiyanZ said:
Alrighty, this is what am planning on building. Is it going to be easily upgradable? I may add another graphics card in 2 years and upgrade the CPU. I noticed that the Asus P5Q has only one pci-e2.0 slots so was concerned about upgradability. Also will the PSU be enough for another card? That's about all. Any final words?


Intel Core2 Quadro Q6600
ASUS P5Q
Corsair CM2X2048-6400C5 - XMS2
Sapphire HD4850
Coolermaster CM690
Coolermaster eXtreme power 550w
500GB Serial ATA II
LG GH22NS30 - 22x
Click to expand...

Nice PC. ;)

Upgrading in a few years generally means buying an expensive board now. Is it worth it paying R1000 extra on the motherboard?

If you're wanting to Crossfire at some stage, then you obviously need to get a board that supports Crossfire. Preferably 2 x PCI 2.0 (16x + 16x) (pricey), although I've heard that 16x + 16x only makes a real difference when running at higher resolutions? Can anyone clarify? Otherwise you could look at a 16x + 4/8x or 8x + 8x or similar board.

If you're wanting to upgrade to DDR3 RAM then you should also look for a board that supports both DDR2 and DDR3. Again, pricey.

If you want Crossfire 16x + 16x and DDR2/DDR3, the following board comes to mind, for around R2700:

Msi X48C Platinum , cicru-pipe , dual channel PWM , on-board power/reset/clear cmos button , ATi coressfire ready , intel Quad-core / Core2 / Core2-Extreme / p4 / Pentium D ; intel X48+iCH9R , 1600/1333/1066/800 fsb , 2x dual channel ddr2-800 + 4x dual channel DDR3-1600 ( DDR2 and DDR3 can not be used together ) , 6 x s-ata2 with raid 0/1/5/0+1/10 ( 4 x internal + 2 x external ) , 1 x parallel ata133 , on-board ALC888 7.1 audio with optical S/Pdif out + gigabit lan + ieee1394a ; 3x pci , 2 x pci-e(1x) , 2 x pci-e 2.0 (16x+16x )
Click to expand...

Otherwise how about a DDR2 board with Crossfire 8x + 8x for around R2000?

MB-AP5QPRo 1,515 N ASUS P5Q-PRo , support crossfire-x ( 8x+8x ) , with EPU-6 ( Energy Processing Unit ) , 8-phase Power Design ; intel Quad-core / Core2 / Core2-Extreme / Celeron-L (800fsb) / p4 / Pentium D ; intel P45 + iCH10R chipset , 1600/1333/1066/800 fsb , 4x dual channel ddr2-1200 ( upto 3.08v ) upto 16Gb , 8 x s-ata2 with raid 0/1/5/0+1/10 , 1 x parallel ata133 , on-board ALC1200 7.1 audio with coaxial S/Pdif out + 1394a + gigabit lan ; 2x pci , 3 x pci-e(1x) , 2x pci-e 16x ( @ 8x+8x )
Click to expand...

Or 16x + 4x for around R1700:

ASUS P5K-E/Wifi-ap , with WiFi AP solo , support crossfire ( 16x+4x ) ; intel Quad-core / Core2 / Core2-Extreme / Celeron-L (800fsb) / p4 / Pentium D ; intel P35 + iCH9 chipset , 1600/1333/1066/800 fsb , 4x dual channel ddr2-1066 ( upto 2.6v ) , 8 x s-ata2 with raid 0/1/0+1/5/10 ( 6 x internal + 2 x external ) , 1 x parallel ata133 , on-board AD1988B 7.1 audio with coaxial+optical S/Pdif out + gigabit lan + 1394a + wireless lan ; 3x pci , 2 x pci-e(1x) , 2 x pci-e(16x) ( x16+x4 for crossfire ) , 1 x PS2 only for kb
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
PostmanPot said:
Nice PC. ;)

Upgrading in a few years generally means buying an expensive board now. Is it worth it paying R1000 extra on the motherboard?

If you're wanting to Crossfire at some stage, then you obviously need to get a board that supports Crossfire. Preferably 2 x PCI 2.0 (16x + 16x) (pricey), although I've heard that 16x + 16x only makes a real difference when running at higher resolutions? Can anyone clarify? Otherwise you could look at a 16x + 4/8x or 8x + 8x or similar board.

If you're wanting to upgrade to DDR3 RAM then you should also look for a board that supports both DDR2 and DDR3. Again, pricey.

If you want Crossfire 16x + 16x and DDR2/DDR3, the following board comes to mind, for around R2700:



Otherwise how about a DDR2 board with Crossfire 8x + 8x for around R2000?



Or 16x + 4x for around R1700:
Click to expand...

I'd advise people not to spend too much money now, as they're upgrading into a dead-end street. Once Core i7 is launched and the Core architecture starts getting phased out we'll all need to take the plunge for a new motherboard, CPU and RAM when we upgrade again :o
 
The_Techie said:
I'd advise people not to spend too much money now, as they're upgrading into a dead-end street. Once Core i7 is launched and the Core architecture starts getting phased out we'll all need to take the plunge for a new motherboard, CPU and RAM when we upgrade again :o
Click to expand...

Indeed.

So would you leave SaiyanZ's PC as is? Perhaps a Crossfire mobo?
 
PostmanPot said:
Indeed.

So would you leave SaiyanZ's PC as is? Perhaps a Crossfire mobo?
Click to expand...

It depends on when he's upgrading again. If it's soon, then I'd probably say go for a motherboard that supports Crossfire, otherwise I'd suggest that he sticks to that setup until his next major upgrade. Happily his GPU can be upgraded in the meantime if he wishes :)
 
Was thinking of adding another HD4850 in a year or so if more power is needed. Will it really make a difference in performance/value if I get a better motherboard and PSU now for a possible 2 graphics cards later. Otherwise I'd rather just stick with what I got and just upgrade to a better "single" graphics card later. Which is the best path to glory? :D
 
SaiyanZ said:
Was thinking of adding another HD4850 in a year or so if more power is needed. Will it really make a difference in performance/value if I get a better motherboard and PSU now for a possible 2 graphics cards later. Otherwise I'd rather just stick with what I got and just upgrade to a better "single" graphics card later. Which is the best path to glory? :D
Click to expand...

If you intend on going Crossfire in the future then I would suggest going for a 650watt minimum PSU. Crossfire will give you a ±30% increase in performance, most noticeable at higher resolutions (24" and up). I'd say if you're gaming on 22" or less, it'd be better to go for a better single graphics card.
 
Sorry to bring up this old thread. I just noticed the date of the last post. It was this very evening 24/10/2008 that I met my girlfriend (now ex) of 6 months who I just broke up with a couple of days ago and now I go straight back to what I was doing then. Building up my PC! :) Just thought it's amazing how a girl can make you forget about playing games or spending big money on a pc. Things are finally back to normal :)
 
SaiyanZ said:
Sorry to bring up this old thread. I just noticed the date of the last post. It was this very evening 24/10/2008 that I met my girlfriend (now ex) of 6 months who I just broke up with a couple of days ago and now I go straight back to what I was doing then. Building up my PC! :) Just thought it's amazing how a girl can make you forget about playing games or spending big money on a pc. Things are finally back to normal :)
Click to expand...

I am sorry to hear about your girlfriend, good news that you are back to building your pc though! :-)
 
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