advice on rig

Hello to all,
I just discovered this site a few days ago, so if this belongs somewhere else, you have my apologies.

I am deciding on upgrading my computer within a month or two (can wait longer if necessary), and would like advice on choosing the parts. My goal is to make a rig that will last me a couple years in the game industry.

Actually, I will be upgrading my current computer (now a year old), but replacing many important parts, so it will be like a new rig anyway.

So here is the situation: I have around a thousand dollars to upgrade, give, but not take, one to two hundred more dollars.

Current parts I have right NOW pending for excecution/replacement

Intel P4 2.8e -yes I know, I made the wrong choice for a "gaming" rig, just wasn't as knowledgeable or smart a year ago.
1 GB "Generic" RAM -brand isn't too good, but it is semi-functional (well, actually its corrupt, so it will be replaced)
Soyo P4VTE -another not-too-good part, but selected impromptu for reasons too long to discuss
ATI Radeon 9800 PRO 120mb -it was the best one out there a year ago for ATI, but again, bad selection (or timing) since ATI came out with the x800s a few weeks later

I also have a Hitachi 160 GB HD and a good (I think) optical DVD drive, so they can be kept. The list also does not include case and PSU, although my current PSU will be replaced due to the upgrade (see below).

1 year and a week of research later...

AMD Opteron 144 -OK, so far I have come to the conclusion that this is the best "potential performance" chip. With results of 3.0 ghz aircooled, it seems that this is a must. But where oh where can it be found? Also I would like to choose the specific CABNE stepping, which seems to be the best overall.
Good CPU Fan -So far, I have no idea what fans are good and bad, could you guys point me in the right direction?
DFI LanParty SLI-DR Expert -I've been hearing about how good these things are at overclocking, and given my eventual goal of a 3.0 Ghz OC, it is also seems to be an essential component. Problem is, I can't seem to find any "expert" editions of the SLI-DR right now, or is the regular DR just fine?
BFG 7800GTX -Ah, the holy grail --my most expensive part. Again, I hope I saved about a thousand dollars on the CPU, so more money can be poured into graphics, essential for gaming. So, is this good? or should I wait for further ATI or Nvidia cards?
Antec 550W PSU -an offshoot of SLI capability, I think its a good choice, no?
Corsair 1GB (2x512) XMS RAM -Good memory. Unforunately, I don't know much after that.

Ok, I think I've covered everything. hmm...actually it will cost me a bit more than I expected, I think.

The reason I am not building a new computer is because I don't have the extra cash for spending on HDs and optical drives, cases and fans.
I am pushing my limits already.

Alright, so what do you guys think?

Thanks, edma2

to the forums!!!

Yes, welcome to the forums. As for the parts you chose...

AMD Opteron 144 - I don't really know that much about optys. I've heard they're good but you'd be better off asking someone else about this.
Good CPU Fan - IMO a Thermalright SI-120 would be one of the best for you
DFI LanParty SLI-DR Expert - You should be fine with just the regular DR. But shoot, SLI? You must be rich or something...
BFG 7800GTX - This is the best card out right now. I've heard the X1800XT from ATI will be better (release date is early november), but it won't support SLI on nVidia chipsets like the nF4 as far as I know. Just make sure you get a good enough CPU or it'll bottleneck your video card (like I said I don't know much about opterons)
Antec 550W PSU - Sure, go for it.
Corsair 1GB (2x512) XMS RAM - I've heard the DFI Lanparty doesn't like Corsair, but that it's favorite brand is OCZ. Go with the OCZ Platinum Revision 2. It has great timings, and on top of that it has a platinum heatsink (lol)

Good luck

Nexus Realized said:

to the forums!!!

Click to expand...

that looks like a nice setup

So SLI seems to be overkill? I always thought it would be cool to have it as an upgrade option, but now I'm considering a single ATI x1800XT with an Ultra-D...since a second GTX upgrade is way too far in the future (no, I'm not rich). I also heard the x1800XTs are mad overclockers.

I would like more info on Opterons, please.
Yes, I've read as many threads on this as possible on multiple forums...specifically, I want to know about the different steppings and if they make that large of an impact on the OC potential itself.

SLI isn't worth unless you want the best right now...the whole upgrading later is kinda dumb because you could sell your current card and with that cash and the cash for a new one you can have a single better card (and draw less power, have less hassle, save more on the Mobo...not have to worry about your favorite game working with SLI).

Not too up the opto's though.

to the Forum, Edma2.
The system is looking good. I second the OCZ suggestion. Also, the best CPU fan is the Delta 3 blade. You can check them out at here.
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/delhigper.html
Good luck with the new rig.

As for the fan....well good and bad isn't night and day because the fan....I.e. that delta fan that pushes 220cfm...sounds great right! WHAT? I can't hear you...I have no idea what you said....SPEAK UP!

lol, running just one of those fans is putting your getting up there with OSHA safety standards for wearing protection (IIRC 80db is mandatory...and 70db is recommended)

just checkout the db and CFM rating of a fan. pick a db rating that's comfortable...if you don't know, 35-40 is typical, 20-25 is near silent....and they do add to be louder (i.e. 2 fans of 30 db sound like 33db...there's a formula for it, but it's not too important unless you have a lot of fans that are the loudest together...i.e. if you have 1 40db fan and 5 30db fans it's not gonna be much louder than 40....but if you have 6 40db fans it could be around 45 or so db)

Definetely don't go with that Antec PSU. You can get the Forton AX500-A for about $80ish from actbuy.com. But if you plan on using SLI or adding other things in the future, I'd recommend being safe with the OCZ Powerstream 520W for about $110ish from most places.

I'm more of a nVIDIA fan, so I'd say go with the 7800GTX. Some reviews show that the X1800 would be better, some say the GTX would be better, hard to say as of now.

Thanks people.

I thought Antec PSUs were good...guess not, but thanks for the other suggestion.

Yeah, OCZ sounds good for now.

As for the video card, I think I'll wait until the 7800GTX 512 MB comes out, and check out the benchmarks.
If I do not go dual cards, what would be a good mobo for some single card setups, even while retaining a good OC potential.
I heard the Ultra-D is better than DR at OCing, confirmation?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136159

get this board and if in the future you want to add a second gpu all u need to do is a little pencil mod and u can get sata 2 i think

Turtle Shell said:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136159

get this board and if in the future you want to add a second gpu all u need to do is a little pencil mod and u can get sata 2 i think

Click to expand...

yep

Antecs used to be good, but now considering the amount of stability people require for their PSUs, Antecs aren't recommended for the enthusiast user, plus you can pay almost the same amount for a much better Forton PSU.

I doubt the 7800GTX 512MB verisons will be all that great. Comparing the 6800GT Ultra 256MB and 512MB verisons, there aren't too much of a difference. The extra onboard GPU ram may only be useful for video encoding or something like that.

Well I heard something about nVIDIA releasing another verison of their GTX that's better then the 7800GTX, something about 7800GTX GO? I forgot what's it called, well that may be the 512MB verison your talking about.

Alrighty then,
Now I've been thinking about the x1800XT and its mad OCing abilities. Should I get one of these (as soon as it comes out) with a crossfire board? Is it even possible to use Xfire with one ATI card, and would there be any benefit with one ATI card? (sorry if it sounds stupid, but right now I don't know anything about xfire)