Hardware advice needed

[Frederik Mundey]

Hey guys.

I got myself a little issue that I just can't decide on.
Currently I have the following:
Intel Core2Due E8400 3.0Ghz running at 3.6Ghz
Gigabyte P35 D3SL motherboard
Asus GTX 460 1GB TOP
4GB DDR800 ram
Gigabyte Superb 550W (450W) PSU

I got the following from a good friend:
Intel Core2Extreme QX9650 3.0Ghz
Asus Maximus Extreme Motherboard
Asus Radeon 4870X2 (Dual gpu card)
Soundblaster Fatal1ty soundcard

I'm going to be taking the Asus motherboard, Core2Extreme and the Asus GTX460 for me and give the E8400 with the Gigabyte board and Asus 4870X2 to my wife.

All I still need is a case, power supply, ram and hard drive.
I have decided on the Coolermaster CM690 II Advanced case (R796.86)
I still don't know what power supply to get.
I can get a Raidmax 730W modular psu for R751.26.
The other brands just seem way too expensive.

Another issue is the ram. The Asus board uses DDR1333(but it seems to be overclock-able to 1600 and 2000)
I can get Trancend Value ram or Corsair value ram for a good price (R453.72 for 2x 4GB DDR1333)
Can the price increase of 100% for gaming ram be justified by 100% increase in gaming.

Unfortunately money is very tight or non existent.
So I come to you guys, my fellow gamers and pc enthusiast for your input and knowledge.

Thanks in advance.

[simon]

If money is tight I wouldn't go for the gaming ram if i were you. The normal ram is more then enough. However you must really love your wife to give her the 2 4870's as they are quicker then the 460

[Techead]

dude, I always used to be a fan of the "gaming memory" but its all complete waste of $$$

read this and be informed

good choice on the case btw I got one and I love it, such an awesome case

wrt to PSU, I cant really say. Im a corsair PSU fanboi, but they are quite pricey :erm:

I would say make sure its rated then you should be ok?

[Frederik Mundey]

The GTX460 is DX11 where the 4870X2 is just a DX10.1 card.
I saw on Toms hardware that the 4870X2 does get much higher FPS in almost all the games and the 3D Marks score is also slightly higher than the GTX460.

Please note that the Radeon is 1 Card, 4870X2 and not 2 4870's in Crossfire.

Thanks HTC_Guy. The Coolermaster case just seemed the best value for that price.

I can see that there are not a very big difference between ram speeds or brands.
I guess that puts my mind at ease about the cheap value ram.

I just wonder if the 730W psu will be enough.
I guess it will be as currently I'm running a 550W.

[kerbyross]

By the way ..
the hd4870x2 is a better card than the nvidia gtx460
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...ce,3018-7.html

I own one , it was a R9000 card when it came out , its a beast.

[kerbyross]

Heres a comparison between the two.
the Hd4870x2 wooped the gtx460's butt:
http://www.hwcompare.com/8246/geforc...on-hd-4870-x2/

[Techead]

snip

that 4870x2 is indeed a beast of a card. quite a bit quicker than the 460.problem is it runs dx10 only, sucks power and runs HOT!

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/174?vs=180

550W more than enough if you going the 460 route, but I reckon that 4870x2 will need something bigger. not sure though, not really my area of expertise.

[Frederik Mundey]

So you guys will advise me to put the 4870X2 in my pc and give my wife the GTX460. The 460 is still under warrenty and there is the little DX11 vs DX10.1 issue.
I used a power consumption calculator on the ASUS website yesterday and I need 600W for the GTX460 and 700W for the 4870X2.
So I guess that Raidmax 730W will do the trick.

[simon]

I can see that there are not a very big difference between ram speeds or brands.
I guess that puts my mind at ease about the cheap value ram.

Sorry, also forgot to say, I have 2 X 2gb Kingston basic ram. Each cost under 200 bucks and they run very nicely. Obviously can get it a lot cheaper elsewhere but the ram is cheap and does the job very well.

[Techead]

So you guys will advise me to put the 4870X2 in my pc and give my wife the GTX460. The 460 is still under warrenty and there is the little DX11 vs DX10.1 issue.
I used a power consumption calculator on the ASUS website yesterday and I need 600W for the GTX460 and 700W for the 4870X2.
So I guess that Raidmax 730W will do the trick.

unless you running like two DVD-RW and 4 HDD's... everything adds up. Just keep that in mind