[Brills]

Hey all! I'm in the market for a new PC and I've got a few questions. I'm hoping you guys can shed some light on some of them! My budget is around $900-$1000 but I've got the case, PSU, keyboard/mouse and 2x 1gb green HDs already.

1) To Quad or not to Quad - that is the question. I'm a gamer who also likes to multi task - should I go with a 3ghz dual core or a 2.5ghz quad?

2) I want to run 3 monitors - I'm looking at getting the GTS 260 superclock edition, can I just get a cheap (say 9400GT) card to put in another slot to run 3 monitors? The other option is running SLI/Xfire (for example, the X2 cards) and enabling/disabling for games. What do you guys think?

3) How much Ram should I get, and should I go for DDR3? I was thinking 6gb but I'm just not sure.

4) I've got a roomy P180 case with a good antec 650w power supply already - i'm assuming this will be good enough to run my setup, which will have a velociraptor and two 1gb green drives.

5) Do you guys have any good MOBO suggestions? Keep in mind I'll probably have to have slots for 2 vid cards.

Thanks so much in advance guys, I'm looking forward to getting my components ordered later tonight!

[Adhoc]

To answer your memory question, 6gb should be could, and for a dual or a quad you shouldn't need ddr3.
oh and

[jamesman32]

Originally Posted by Brills

Hey all! I'm in the market for a new PC and I've got a few questions. I'm hoping you guys can shed some light on some of them! My budget is around $900-$1000 but I've got the case, PSU, keyboard/mouse and 2x 1gb green HDs already.

1) To Quad or not to Quad - that is the question. I'm a gamer who also likes to multi task - should I go with a 3ghz dual core or a 2.5ghz quad?
The general census today is to go with i7, as it is new, and your budget allows it. This means you'll be getting a quad, if you so choose the i7 route, which I would strongly recommend

2) I want to run 3 monitors - I'm looking at getting the GTS 260 superclock edition, can I just get a cheap (say 9400GT) card to put in another slot to run 3 monitors? The other option is running SLI/Xfire (for example, the X2 cards) and enabling/disabling for games. What do you guys think?
Go with a GTX260, and the 9400 as you said. Unless you want to upgrade your PSU, dual GTX260's are not an option

3) How much Ram should I get, and should I go for DDR3? I was thinking 6gb but I'm just not sure.
6 GB of DDR3 is standard for i7 builds these days

4) I've got a roomy P180 case with a good antec 650w power supply already - i'm assuming this will be good enough to run my setup, which will have a velociraptor and two 1gb green drives.
This will be fine for an i7 build and a GTX260, just not 2 of them in SLI.

5) Do you guys have any good MOBO suggestions? Keep in mind I'll probably have to have slots for 2 vid cards.
There are a lot of X58 motherboards out. Good brands to look for include Gigabit, EVGA, MSI, etc

Thanks so much in advance guys, I'm looking forward to getting my components ordered later tonight!

[jediman]

1) I say quad up. gaming in the now, you might get a boost from faster dual cores (emphasis on might). Gaming in the future, the quad will be the way to go (especially if you are like me and don't upgrade very often).

2) I am still not impressed with SLI. If you can't afford to throw a hundred bucks out the window I don't think its the right choice because the benefits of it are still hit and miss, only the most hyped of games really see the best of it. You might think of getting a 9600gt for the second card in case you believe in the future of offloaded physics processing. I know it sounds hypocritical to push physics and not sli, but i believe sli had its chance and isn't going anywhere without new blood (read hydra), but physics chip could still happen.

3) as far as i can tell ram speed isn't a big issue if the system you want is ddr3 then grats, if its not, then grats as well. As for how much? how much do you use? Keep track and get that much. More is just wasteful. Maybe leave space for when you ever do want more (whether you predict ram prices will fall enough to make it cheaper to buy half density and fill all your slots or buy full density and fill half your slots).

4)650 sounds fine to me but you might wanna go ahead and add up the power of everything you are going to have in the end.

5)I guess you are going core2 or amd if you are debating dual vs quad? I skipped that generation so gotta wait for someone else.