lots of questions gpu/cpu

hey guys, found the deal of my life going to get it today,

Core 2 Quad Q9650 @ 3.0 GHz
8GB Corsair Dominator GT memory
Asus StrykerII Extreme (ddr3 ram)
2x Western Digital Velociraptor (300GB)
2x EVGA GTX285 Video
Thermaltake 1000W PSU
Thermaltake Armor+ case
Thermaltake SpinQ cooler
Logitech Z-5500 Digital 5.1 surround speakers

ok so i paid 800$...yea i know pitty about the cooler....

i run around on the buy sell adds a lot, now i got some questions with this one.

1. would it be a good idea to get rid of the gtx285's and go for sli gtx460? or sli amd 6850's? or would one gtx 470 be good enough?

2. also does one really need 8gb of ram like does anyone ever actually use that much in games?

3. also the q9650 would it be better to get an i5 750 (theres one on used market for 40$ off the base price of 214 here in canada) or would i not even notice a difference?

4. also... the 2x 300gig raptors, i own a Ocz SSD solid2series 60 gig (space is not an issue), which would be faster, im guessing the ssd?


5. and, i leave my computer on 24/7 it is NEVER turned off, think the power supply is ok for those cards with always on computer?

6. i also own an antec 902 case, along with this Thermaltake Armor+, which one you think would be better or should i just go by looks?

games i play are like dirt2, need for speed shift, diablo 3 if when blizzard ever decides to get off thier lazy ..... and get it finished already. and street fighter.

i think with two 470gtx, you'd run into bottleneck problems on your q9650
two 460gtx 1gb would be really nice

8gb is really overkill, but i dont see any problems with keeping them unless you run into stability problems overclocking

you would need a new motherboard, which would defeat the purpose of buying that whole computer in the first place

dunno about the raptors, but some games perform better on the raptors than on ssds. os should go on the ssd, and storage on raptors

should be fine

armor might be better for temps, but im just guessing on that. its definitely a lot bigger and will be easier to set up dual gpus/psu etc

Yea the i5 750 is a lot better than the Core 2 quad because it is a discontinued platform, better to get the more recent one.

Depends what you plan on playing, the 2 x 285s should run pretty much everything you throw at it, it just doesn't support directx 11.

That is a really good bargain buy =)

ok thanks guys

#1 the 285s should be fine, but consider running 1 good card over 2 not as good cards. You should be able to get a 480 for the price of 2x 460s and a tad extra cash. THen down the road you don't have to sell 2 cards to upgrade.. you can just get a nother 480 and call it a day.

#2 unless super multi-tasking 4gb should be plenty. Most games don't even touch 3gb.

#3 i5 cause the dual is discontinued platform

#4 ssd hands down.. like night and day even with the vraps in raid0 the ssd blows it away

#5 I haven't heard much talk about thermaltake, check my sig for links to good psus.. and even if you had 2x 480s, 1k psu is overkill and then some. You should be able to save some cash and dial that down to a 750 (try corsair/seasonic)

#6 case is personal preference, but i think i'd go with the 902.. just my personal take!

If you can get a Q9650 for a great price its still a good buy.
Look at these benches of a Q9550S
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/quad-core-cpu,2499-5.html

The problem is its on a LG 775 MB platform.
That system for $800 is good deal.

thanks guys, love coming to this site, i tell everyone about it.

turns out im selling pretty much the entire computer, except for the power supply and the ram, canada computers had 110$ ddr3 1800 ram on sale for 50 bucks so thats going straight into the computer.
which leaves me with the 8gigs of dominator gt 1866 ram with fan. (this is what the ram is by the way found out)

and i also just so happened to spot a lga 1156 evga 121-lf-e652-kr p55 board for 99 normally 165. (read bad but good dont know what to think) tomshardware has a guide here..on 8x vs 16x pci-e so im guessing with like 2x260gtx you wouldnt really notice a difference.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pcie-geforce-gtx-480-x16-x8-x4,2696-17.html

http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=26_583&item_id=027552
oh there it is heres the ram
Patriot Extreme Performance Viper ii Sector 5 4GB for 50bucks canadian
http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=24_311_312_613&item_id=025605

i dunno i guess im a sucker for deals but money seems to be going up instead of down.


about the GTX480 yes i understand what your getting at, but on the other hand, on the used market selling a high end card is rather difficult and an even bigger loss, the mid range ones go like hotcakes, so in the end it would be cheaper to go with 2x260's sell them off later one by one and upgrade. for example with these 580 /500 series cards, the 480's are gonna pop up a lot but most people are not going to offer nearly what you would want.

I went from a GTX260 to a GTX460 and it is worth it just because it runs a lot cooler and quieter. The GTX260 was the nosiest card I ever owned, worse than my 8800GT. I would try and stick with newer GTX4xx series or 6xxx cards than to go to GTX2xx or 5xxx cards.