Concern of a new gaming computer

[butler273]

Alright so, right now I've gotten all the parts arranged that I want to buy and the mobo is the main thing that's holding me back. Currently, I want to get the ASUS p5k deluxe(not the k3)with the p35 chipset but I'm still wondering will it be supported by directx 10, I heard elsewhere that any motherboard with a pci-e x16 slot will support directx 10. I had my doubt's because I've only seen this one place and I wanted a second opinion.

Secondly, from what I've heard the radeon 2900xt(more at the price range I want), has it's ups and downs. I have had great experience with radeon cards and still I want to keep on the same road, any personal feelings on this card?

Also, overall what would be a good wattage power supply with the following

intel e6600 duo core,
ASUS p5k deluxe
Radeon 2900xt
ocz DDR2 PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Dual Channel Memory

[Nemz0r]

The P35 chipset will work fine with DX10, I am 99% sure, unless there is some glaring issue with it i've missed . As for the 2900XT, from what i've seen with the latest drivers it seems to be a nice buy. Equal to or better in most stuff than a 8800GTS, for the same price (640MiB gts).

The only concerns for it that i've seen are A) Noise level and B) Power usage. These two things to me, aren't really a concern, and i'll be getting a 2900XT in the next month or so.

As for PSU, i've been eyeing up the Antec 850W Quattro, it's probably overkill for a single 2900XT, but it has the 8pin PCI-E for overclocking, and gives you plenty of power for future upgrades. Plus it's a small PSU so it will fit in my Antec P182 nicely .

I guess you're upgrading for the nice onslaught of FPSs coming soon? (Crysis, Bioshock ). Games that tend to be highly pixelshaded do generally very well on the 2900XT, however Crysis has massively detailed textures etc, same for Bioshock -- I guess there will be ups and downs for 2900XT performance there: because of the limited texture back ends but powerful shader power.

Also, I see you're planning on a E6600, currently £140 at scan, if you wait till after 22nd July I think you'll be able to nab a Q6600 for somewhere between £150-£180 (my guess anyway), a small premium for future proofing .

Last thing, the 512MiB on the 2900XT might be an issue if you run at high resolutions -- I run at 1280x1024, so i'm hoping it's fine for that .

Sorry I couldn't give you any definitive answers -- i'm not so engrossed in technology as I used to be -- but hopefully someone will come along and give a few more pointers shortly .

[gha128]

PSU: Corsair 620W

[abeacock]

The motherboard is fine with DX10 - that's all based on the card you buy and that you have to run Vista to get it.

CustomPC mag has a full round up of gfx cards this month (including the 2900 I think), might be worth a look in your local ASDA or Tescos.

[Mad-Max]

PSU, you could go for something like a Corsair 620 or a Seasonic m12 600

Oh and as far as I know there are no problems with the p35 chipset and dx10

[NightshadowUK]

I might be missing something here but I'm pretty sure DX10 and which motherboard you have isn't something to worry about...

As for PSU, 850W = definitely overkill unless you plan on running SLi or Crossfire.

Also, PC6400 memory, I take it you plan on overclocking?

[Supershanks]

As for PSU, i've been eyeing up the Antec 850W Quattro,

is a good call have read Antec TruePower Quattro (TPQ-850) 850W modular power supply
not keen on the racing stripes but it looks like antec are back on form & the £120 is relatively cheap for an 850w psu.

Otherwise corsair will be fine.

I thinlk your ok with dx10. I think to some extent the mobo marketing hype can be deceptive, many mobos have been hyped as vista ready, quad ready etc., implying that similar mobos aren't, which isn't true . It just means we have to spend more time reading the small print

[Morvak]

My GA-P35-DS3R is flawless. <- Just look at My System. Great OC'er, stable, reboots and reloads previous settings during bad OC attemps, and runs great with Vista 64-bit OEM.