New game rig

[Keeper]

I have a final comment.

the 4890 requires 2 x 6-pins and your PSU only has 2 x 6-pins, so no Crossfiring those, unless you get a new PSU.
the HX750W has 4 x 6+2pin so that one can though. (It's R100 more on my price list)

[edit]oh, and...
it's not modular, but it's got the pins for crossfire(4 x 8(6+2)pin instead of 2 x 6pin), 130 more watts, and also know that a non-modular 750W PSU kicks out more Power than a modular 750W

so if you not gonna x-fire, get the hx620, otherwise it's the HX750 for you.

 

[Deonlr]

Thanks a lot Keeper, I changed the order to the 750.

 

[Velaux]

i7 with 3GB ram is just wrong. I can't even think of anything the i7 is good at that doesn't require oodles and oodles of RAM.

 

[Keeper]

like he said, he's buying the stuff that are expensive to upgrade later (eg buying a 19" now and then a 22" later)

he can easily add another 3 x 1GB chips later on...

PS: on a 32-bit system a single program can never use more than 2GB's of ram anyway.

my system played almost any game i could throw at it on high settings at full resolution, with only 1GB ram....lol, 3 GB DDR3 is schweet.

but Velaux has a point though, ram is cheap so make it 6GB in the future - it's only right for a system like that!

I'm gonna get 8GB's this weekend for my own system (last mini-upgrade then my oeltrah-system is complete)

Deon, wanna VS my PC with benchies after your upgrade?

 

[PostmanPot]

I am waiting for final quotes, but at the moment it looks like this:

MSI X58 Pro
i7 920
Sapphire 4890 1GB (lol, came a long way from 4770, thx a lot for putting me onto PCInt killadoob )
Samsung 2333SW
OCZ PC3-12800 3x1GB
500GB Seagate 32MB x2
Corsair HX620

Any final comments?

Thanks again for all the great advice, really appreciate it.

How about this RAM? I can vouch for the seller - http://mybroadband.co.za/classifieds/showproduct.php/product/10291/cat/3

Stay away from the 32MB cache Seagates. I presume it's the 7200.11 model. Widespread failure. Make sure you get the new 16MB 7200.12. Or get Samsung or Western Digital.

 

[Velaux]

like he said, he's buying the stuff that are expensive to upgrade later (eg buying a 19" now and then a 22" later)

he can easily add another 3 x 1GB chips later on...

Fair enough, but if one is going that path a 4890 is kind of overkill, considering next gen cards should be out in 6 months.

Plus there's no price premium on the RAM (if anything 1x 3x2 is cheaper than 2x 3x1), and RAM prices aren't expected to go down anytime soon.

PS: on a 32-bit system a single program can never use more than 2GB's of ram anyway.

32-bit OSes are very obsolete. They shouldn't even be for sale anymore.

my system played almost any game i could throw at it on high settings at full resolution, with only 1GB ram....lol, 3 GB DDR3 is schweet.

I wouldn't want to play something like X3 on 1GB RAM . That was not an enjoyable experience. Regardless the i7 does nothing for gaming, and probably will continue to do nothing for many years. I'm assuming he wants it for encoding, photoshop, that sort of thing. In that case, RAM is important.

but Velaux has a point though, ram is cheap so make it 6GB in the future - it's only right for a system like that!

I'm gonna get 8GB's this weekend for my own system (last mini-upgrade then my oeltrah-system is complete)

Deon, wanna VS my PC with benchies after your upgrade?

 

[Ziym3]

i7 does nothing for gaming??? Crysis..LOVES CORES!!!

 

[Keeper]

nah, i'm with Velaux.

Crysis isn't even optimized for quad core properly, nevermind i7.
3D Card will give a better boost, along with lots of RAM.

look, of course and i7 is gonna be better than a dual core/quadcore, but not as much as a better gfx card or ram would.

for the money new intel chips cost i'd rather get a top notch 3D Card instead.....

 

[Deonlr]

Deon, wanna VS my PC with benchies after your upgrade?

LOL Keeper, sure I love to have my ass handed to me

How about this RAM? I can vouch for the seller - http://mybroadband.co.za/classifieds/showproduct.php/product/10291/cat/3

Stay away from the 32MB cache Seagates. I presume it's the 7200.11 model. Widespread failure. Make sure you get the new 16MB 7200.12. Or get Samsung or Western Digital.

Thx for the tip but I'm paying R995 for the RAM new.

I am torn between the Seagate and the WDs, I can't get consensus on reviews online, thx for the heads up, back to the WDs then

i7 with 3GB ram is just wrong. I can't even think of anything the i7 is good at that doesn't require oodles and oodles of RAM.

This is why more RAM is not on my mind atm. The machine will be purely a game rig.

 

[PostmanPot]

I am torn between the Seagate and the WDs, I can't get consensus on reviews online, thx for the heads up, back to the WDs then

The new Seagate 500GB 7200.12s are fine, and cheap.

 

[ponder]

I am torn between the Seagate and the WDs, I can't get consensus on reviews online, thx for the heads up, back to the WDs then

The 500GB Seagates are fine (7200.11 only when flashed), especially the newer 7200.12 models. The 1TB+ Seagates are dodgy if you ask me.
Nothing wrong with WD. WD & Seagate are basically the only drives I buy.

 

[Mypro-D]

Thx for the tip but I'm paying R995 for the RAM new.

Holy SMOKES!!!
Thats Cheap

Thanks Postman for thinking about me hehe.

Ive got the Seagate 7200.10's and 12's and have had NO PROBLEMS.
As everyone has said though, you stay away from those .11's hehe.

Good luck!

 

[Deonlr]

If I may sidetrack this for a sec, what do I do for an operating system now. I don't want to buy Vista with 7 a few months away, is the RC of 7 sorted out with drivers for the graphics cards?

 

[iDOL]

Win 7 RC1 should do for now.

I am doing the same. Running Win 7 64 bit on my gaming rig.

I have Vista Ultimate on my other rig and run Windows Home Server to backup.

Unfortunately this version can't backup my 64bit OS

 

[Deonlr]

The dealer has a supply problem with HDs, will it be a problem putting a 16MB and a 32MB cache drive in raid 0?

EDIT:
Settled on 2x Seagate 7200.12 500gb 16mb cache

 

[dudewotevr]

I have a final comment.

the 4890 requires 2 x 6-pins and your PSU only has 2 x 6-pins, so no Crossfiring those, unless you get a new PSU.
the HX750W has 4 x 6+2pin so that one can though. (It's R100 more on my price list)

[edit]oh, and...
it's not modular, but it's got the pins for crossfire(4 x 8(6+2)pin instead of 2 x 6pin), 130 more watts, and also know that a non-modular 750W PSU kicks out more Power than a modular 750W

so if you not gonna x-fire, get the hx620, otherwise it's the HX750 for you.

The HX620 does actually have enough 6-pins for crossfire, it even has an extra 2-pins for crossfire with cards that require 2x 8-pin each.
I know cos my HX520 does.
Just saying, ..and the modular versions are capable of supplying well above their rated wattage too..
Save R100 and have better airflow with easier and neater cable management!

 

[Deonlr]

Final System:

MSI Intel X58 Pro (R2294) (ComX)
i7 920 Processor (R2962) (PCInt)
OCZ PC3-12800 Plat 3x1GB Kit (R995) (ComX)
2 x Seagate 7200.12 500GB 16MB (R615ea) (PCInt)
Corsair TX750W PSU (R1769) (ComX)
Samsung SW2333 (R2050) (PCInt)
Saphhire Radeon HD4890 (R2734) (PCInt) (thx killadoob )
Antec 300 Case (R951) (ComX)
Creative Inspire T6060 5.1 Speakers (R1109) (ComX)

Total price including courier charges R16,716 (@BelAl)

Orders placed, I should have it by Thursday/Friday.

Thanks again for all the info and advice, I ended up with a 100% better system for the budget thanks to everyone here.

 

[dudewotevr]

Deadly!

 

[Keeper]

i'm getting my ram and new mobo on saturday - wanna see if my system can hold up to that i7 & DDR3 Rig....lol, probably won't, but still wanna see....

that's if you're still interested?

 

[Deonlr]

i'm getting my ram and new mobo on saturday - wanna see if my system can hold up to that i7 & DDR3 Rig....lol, probably won't, but still wanna see....

that's if you're still interested?

Sure thing, I'll PM you when I have it running.