Q9450, 9800GX2, 8GB DDR2 MOBO PLEASE?

shaffaaf: Hi and thanks for your input. Yes I am in the UK. I have not bought anything yet. I am 100%certain the Q9450 will be used and everything else will work around it. I was going to include the 9800GX2 as its pretty much 2 cards sandwiched together and very fast therefore no need to go down the avenue of having to get a 780i which I have heard is not that impressive and poor at overclocking??

I think I am going to wait for the GTX280: http://www.vr-zone.com/articles/Detailed_Geforce_GTX_280_Pictures/5826.html
It looks very nice.

"the CPU you want will be good for 3.6 minimum (so long as you didnt get a crap chip)" sorry I dont know what you mean by that do you mean I should re-consider the Q9450?

My budget is £2000

Please feel free to fill in the blanks

Case
Hard-Drive (2 x the fastest by 1TB) Maybe even a Samsung F1 not to sure what the best HDD is.
Graphics Card (GTX280)
Sound Card
Power Supply
RAM (8gb of the fastest DDR2 please)
Motherboard
Processor (Q9450 quad)
OS (XP 64 or Vista 64)
Fan

Many thanks in advance.
P.S If i did invest in a DDR3 board which one would you recommend to go with the GTX280 and is the P45 worrth waiting for?

 

Telling FSX he can expect 3.6 out of the Q9450 is also irresponsible, as to make that level, a lot of Q9450s have to be run at unsafe voltages, not just the odd one if you get unlucky.

As far as the rest of the build goes, waiting for the GTX280 is a sound idea, but you should stick with DDR2 RAM.

 

Thanks sammorris do you think the GTX 280 will be more powerfull and faster than the 9800GX2?

 

As I suggested earlier, it's relative. For the games that don't work with SLI well, the GTX280 will be vastly superior. For the ones that work very well with it, there might not be much of a difference. Overall the GTX280 will be a better buy.

 

Thank you, I am going to wait for its launch in that case. If I did buy DDR3 what other top of the range boards could I get apart from 780i? Maybe even DFI?

Thank you again Sir.

 

it's kind of a moot point, because you shouldn't, but some X48 boards take DDR3. If the DFI's one of them it'd be a good choice, but DDR3 is not something I would change my mobo choice for, because simply it's overhyped and ineffective right now and will be for some time to come.

 

i meant, as long as you dont get a crap clocking chip (a small percent chance) then i t wont clock that far, but nearly all will.


if you are going the Nvidia route, then go for the p45 over the X48, as the p45 is a cut down of the x48 with regards to crossfire only.

on the x48 crossfire runs 16 16, where as in the p45 itll run 8 8 .

as for a spec, hows this for a DDR2 spec?

That will be about he price for a GTX280 so i put the 9800GX2 there for price only.

the CPU becuase the FSX is heavily reliant on it.

 

if you want an nvidia chip, and DDR3 please use the 790i ultra chipet mobos. or for intel use the x48.


and sam, ALOT of the Q9450s are hitting 3.6, with under 1.35V

 

sammorris: Yes I agree I was just wondering how good the boards are. Also I just read in that link (http://www.vr-zone.com/articles/Detailed_Geforce_GTX_280_Pictures/5826.html)that the card does not come with a HDMI port built in unlike the 9800GX2, does this mean I wont be able to play games in HD or I cant put an HMDI cable into the back of the card?

shaffaaf: Very nice build, thank you which one of the Hard Drives would I use for the OS?

Thanks again.

 

FSX: neither - the card comes with an adapter for an HDMI cable, so you can still use one. The 9800GX2 just makes it a little easier - you can play games in HD on both cards, and use an HDMI port. Oh, and use the Velociraptor for the OS.

Shaff: So you'd give one 1.35V? I wouldn't have the courage myself - that's a good 130mV increase over stock, considerable even for a 65nm chip.

Also, an EVGA card shaff? Yes I know it's not real, but for knowledge's sake, I'd stick with BFG or XFX.

 

Thank thats intresting about the HDMI. We'll I have learned a lot thats for sure. I can deffinately say then from the 4 I was going to use the Gigabytes are out the window. Down 2 cards then

ASUS Rampage Formula X48: http://www.awd-it.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=3691

or

DFI Lanparty UT X48-T2R: http://www.awd-it.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=3811

Going to wait till the launch of the new nVidia Graphics card as well and see what people say. I really want the DFI as it looks beautifull and that insane heatsink sticking out the back is just crazy. The ASUS Rampage looks like it also has had numerous good reviews and easy to overclock. SO I think at least between the 2 they are safe bets to being good boards . I hope

Thanks again.

 

I personally would go with the Asus - there's more to motherboards than a pretty heatsink. Also, I edited my previous post - not sure if you saw or not:

 

Yes I saw that. OK thanks for the advice I will use that for the OS. I agree with you on the heatsink and by the looks of things the BIOS is meant to be complicating because there is too much info, even for professionals. So I am going to try and find some reviews of the ASUS Rampage Forumla online.

Thanks again.

 

velociraptor for OS liek sam said.


sam i have mine at 1.4 right now, i pushed it to 1.5, but the extra 300MHz, IMO wasnt worth it, so i didnt push it. it did stable prime for 4 hours, and did multiple tests of 3dmark (CPU test)

 

oh and sam, yeah i wasnt recomending the card not the maker of it.

IMO BFG > XFX > EVGA

 

You have a Q9450? TIime to update the sig methinks...

 

noo i meant my 65nm E2140.

casu u said its big eevn for a 65nm part.

but my stock is 1.3, and i have been fine a 1.5

 

and you like the new sig?

 

I do actually yes, much more professional. That voltage for a 65nm chip is fine, but I wouldn't go higher. 45nm chips can barely take any overvolting before their longevity is significantly impacted though.

 

If I overclock the Q9450, would it be in a stable and ok state to put into another motherboard in the future OR would I have to set it back to its original speed? Sorry for such a novice question.

Thanks again.