Hello guys, finally getting my own first computer. Already had a few comments on it, but I'm just going for it anyway =) (smilie's don't work..?). I dont have my own screen or anything so I need to get it all, here are the things I'm getting:

Case:                           Cooler Master CM 690

Motherboard:             MSI X48C Platinum 1600FSB/ DDR2-800MHZ DDR3-1600MHZ/ 2x PCIex16 2.0

CPU:                          Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450

CPU Cooler:               Zalman CNPS9700 LED    

Graphicscard:             Sapphire Radeon HD4870     

Hardrives:                   2x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250 GB 8.5 / 16 / 7200

RAM:                         Corsair DIMM 4 GB DDR2-800 DHX Kit CL4/4/4/12

Soundcard:                 Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Pro Series

PSU:                           Thermaltake Toughpower CM 750 Watt

DVD-Drives:               LiteON SOHD-16D2S

DVD-reWriters:         Samsung SH-S223F

Mouse:                        Cyber Snipa Stinger

Keyboard:                  Ideazon Merc Gaming Keyboard

Speaker set:                Logitech Z-2300 2.1Speakerset

Screen:                        Samsung SyncMaster 2232BW 22inch 2ms

Headset:                     Creative Fatal1ty Gaming Headset   (stereo)

OS:                             Windows Vista Home Premium 64Bits

 

I'm ready for all your comments =P.

 

LCP_Tinsley [BF 1]

 

 

Tinsley:

ATI Radeon 4870   

Reviews show this card to run extremely hot - Your case has a good design but be weary of the the temperature your card is running at - it appears any tuning programs are not yet compatible with the chipset.

Tinsley:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450

this is a solid cpu but I'm not sure if you really want to go quad core unless you are doing other tasks on your computer. Not many games utilize it and I haven't seen much coming down the road - i'd ask other oppinions on this one but you might find better performace on a faster duo core for the same price.

Other than that from my knowledge things look pretty solid - i found small issues with the motherboard but the customer service seems to take care of their customers. Have fun with that sucker - let me know how it runs

 Quad core doesnt hurt, plus im sure many games will be jumping quad soon.

He thanks for the feedback!

I wanted to go with value for my money and to be future proof for a while. I went with the Quad Core, because its firstly the best affordable Quad core (more then the Q9300 because it has a 6mb cache memory and the Q9450 has a 12mb cache memory), secondly its very overclockable, on air it can easly go to 3Ghz, wich will make it similar to the Q9650 wich is over 800 dollars and lastly its more future proof then a dual core.

And you are wrong about the Ati Radeon HD4870 on how hot it runs. I think your confusing it with the 4850. The 4870 has a dual slot cooler wich brings it to around 60 degrees celcius and the 4850 has a single slot cooler wich runs at around almost 80 degrees. So I'm not worrying about that to much.

 ATI Cards are build for video more then games, tbh i wouldnt get the 4870..look at 8800GT or GTS, and if u have the money 9800GTX

Lol kitsune do you think I didnt do my home work on that. The 4870 out performs the 9800 GTX and the new 9800 GTX+ and it is on par and somethimes better then the newest GTX260 of NVIDIA. Even the 4850 is better then a 9800GTX. At the moment there isnt a better price/performance card then the 4850 and the 4870.

Yes got an email saying its being send to me !!

These are the comments i was reffering too Tinsley - sounds like you know how to handle your equipment so shouldn't be a problem.

"You have to make sure you adjust the speed of your fan. No Problems so far and love the fact that you can use aftermarket cooling. Just as long as it is compatible with a 3870 you will be fine.
Adjust the fan speed or go with aftermarket cooling."

It does run warm, this is true. Easily remedied by upping your fan speed (throttled too slow from factory in my opinion, all makes are this way). Drivers are still in thier infancy

The fan only runs at 20% so the card will heat up fast 80c.

Hot. I repasted the heatsink and sped the fan up to 45%. Before the fan was running at 23% and at 80C on the desktop! At 45%, the temp is 50C with game play of 62C. This is in a room that stays 22C.

Temperatures can go up pretty high, up to 85 degrees Celsius.

Hottest card I ever owned.

Seems like if you up the fan speed you will be fine or maybe have a higher quality heat sink if it comes to that. Card looks like a beast though Look forward to hearing how it runs. Congrats man - have fun with it  

 well 4870 mite out perform them but then u have 9800GX2 and then GTX280

First on Kitsune,

Ok they are better, but still the GTX280 costs 529 euro's and the GX2 atleast 400 euro's. The 4870 costs 239 euro's, and it performs like a GTX260 for 339 euro's in some situations. 2 4870's in crossfire costs 478 euro's, That will out perform the GTX280 wich costs atleast 529 euro's. So for the money I could not get better when going with ATI.

And Huzardi, I dont realy know what you mean by this, The 4870 and the 4850 wich I was talking about run at (1st) around 60 and (2nd) 80 degrees. Or do you mean that you have a 3870 wich runs pretty hot and how you fixed that? Lol feeling a bit confused .

Edit: Yay tracking my package and the driver is on its way!

Edit:

Got everything a few hours ago, but my PSU has much scratches on it so I called and ordered a new one, I will send this one back and will get my money back for that one.

Rest seems fine

 

Tinsley:

but my PSU has much scratches on it

WEAK SAUCE! Nothing more frustrating then getting all those items only to have the powersupply of all things be damaged - you can game it up without a quality sound card and wait for the new one to arrive -but the psu

Its just tipical.... atleast something has to go wrong . Oh well a new one hopefully comes in tommorow, wel thats what the salesman sayd. So its all gonna work out fine . And its my very first computer that I'm putting together so I'm gonna use the article Spyke posted!

 

*Motherboard: Are you sure you will need all connectors and extras that "deluxe" motherboard has?  you could save money going for a middle-class one. (i.e. like MSI P45 Neo2-FR)

*CPU: Intel Q9300 processing power is nearly the same and cheaper than Q9450, even Q6600 is good option and more cheap.

*CPU Cooler: Intel Coolers included with retail processors are good enough and silent. 

*Hard disks: Seagate 500GB 7200.11 series with 32 MB cache is only a bit more costly than the 250GB models.

  *Soundcard: it could give you lots of problems even on Windows, does not support DDL encoding, nearly zero Linux support, if you are interested in that things buy Asus Xonar D2 card instead.

*Mouse: you should consider Logitech G5. 

Motherboard:

X48 Chipset, 1600 FSB, 2x DDR2-800MHZ, 3x DDR3-1600MHZ, Crossfire Ready. Costs: 199 Euro's It has all the goodies that a 790i has and a top of the line ASUS motherboard, for 100 euro's less expensive. I took this one because its future proof with CPU's speeds and RAM speeds and it has 2 PCIx16 2.0 slots wich is nice for an upgrade later on. I couldnt all this (as far as I know) with cheaper boards. And it fitted my budget

CPU:

Q9300 is slightly lower clocked, but the thing that made me get a Q9450 wich is around 20 euro's more expensive is that the Q9300 has a 6MB Cache memory and the Q9450 has a 12MB Cache memory. And it fitted my budget

CPU Cooler:

The Zalman CNPS9700LED is at the moment the best in Cooling and Silend Performance then anything else of CPU coolers that are affordable for a human. It will run cooler and silencer for a way longer time then any stock one.

Soundcard:

The soundcard is Vista ready, comes with Vista Drivers and it has better sound Quality then the Asus Xonar D2 Cards because the Asus ones simulate EAX sound the Creative ones (and Auzentech) bring real EAX sounds. The one that I got and is already here at home just like everything else was 117 euro's and it came with the Creative Fatal1ty Gaming Headset. The Asus ones are atleast 150 euro's as the Auzentechs.

Hard Drives:

The ones that I bought where 44 euro's a piece and the other one you mean where 65 euro's (at the shop where I got most of my stuff). That didnt fit my budget and these perform also very nice so this is enough for me.

Mouse:

I choose the Cyber Snipa Stinger because it has integrated buttons (left, right), 5 programmable buttons, weights, ergonomic design for right hand, DPI switches wich go up to 3200 DPI wich is more then a G5. This one is just one step higher in every espect then the G5 and it costed 41,50 euro's.

 

LCP_Tinsley [BF 1]