£750 will it all work together?

[Scroffy]

Afternoon All,

Right, I'm about to splash the cash and go for the following system:

Case Antec 900

Mobo Asus P5Q3 Deluxe/WIFI-AP iP45 Socket 775

CPU Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16GHz (Retail 775)

Mem (2x1GB) Corsair TwinX XMS3, DDR3 PC3-10666 (1333)240 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 9-9-9-24

Graphics BFG GeForce GTX 260 OC 896MB PCI-E

PSU 620W HX Corsair PSU

I already have a 350GB hdd and soundcard

Now before I actually hand over the plastic, is all this compatible and will the graphics card fit ok on the motherboard and inside the case? Looking at pics of the mobo it looks like to graphics card will sit on top of the double-height sata connections ( see pic 5 for info: at nordichardware.com/Articles/?page=3&skrivelse=534 )

Thanks in advance.

[wzix]

looks good,

but from my short experience on this forum, there all about to query your choice of DDR3

[cougarslam]

firstly I would consider the ATI 4870 as it apparantely offers better bang for buck.

case + psu both good choices.

any reason for choosing a duo over a cheap o'cable quad such as the q6600?

[staffsMike]

Deffiantly do not get DDR3 unless you plan on extreme overclocking on water etc.. there is not need for it on you run of the mill air cooling.

Second the HD4870, it's a great buy

I would also buy a quad core or the lower E7200 (at least the E8400), the E8500 doesn't seem worth it.

[Scroffy]

Thanks for the info.

Second the HD4870, it's a great buy

Which motherboard version?
The 512 or the 1024MB?

[staffsMike]

512MB does very well on 1920 x 1200. 1GB version might be better, havn't actually seen a review of a 1GB version.

[Scroffy]

Deffiantly do not get DDR3 unless you plan on extreme overclocking on water etc.. there is not need for it on you run of the mill air cooling.

Again, thanks for the info.


If I choose the ddr2, I'll have to choose another motherboard.
Any recommendations?

I thought I was nearing a purchase too ...

[staffsMike]

Well if you like the idea of the P5Q deluxe you can get a DDR2 version

http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=818509

could drop to a P5Q-E
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=818508

Plenty of others too, the P35 based Abit IP-35 PRO is an awesome overclocker you just forfit, PCI-E 2.0, 8x crossfire and 1600MHz all of which wouldn't really be missed

[Scroffy]

Well if you like the idea of the P5Q deluxe you can get a DDR2 version


Plenty of others too, the P35 based Abit IP-35 PRO is an awesome overclocker you just forfit, PCI-E 2.0, 8x crossfire and 1600MHz all of which wouldn't really be missed

Again, many thanks.

There seem to be some BIOS issues with the P5Q Deluxe.
I guess a ddr2 p35 combo would suffice?

[alexp999]

Again, many thanks.

There seem to be some BIOS issues with the P5Q Deluxe.
I guess a ddr2 p35 combo would suffice?

What sort of bios issues. I'm running a P5Q deluxe. Its great highly recommended! Best mobo I have even owned.

[Scroffy]

What sort of bios issues. I'm running a P5Q deluxe. Its great highly recommended! Best mobo I have even owned.

I looked at a few sites and they reported some issues with early versions of the BIOS:

overclockersclub.com/reviews/asus_p5q_deluxe/22.htm

I guess that they are resolved with later issues?

Incidentally, what graphics card are you using and does it fit ok over the double-height SATAs?

[alexp999]

I looked at a few sites and they reported some issues with early versions of the BIOS:

overclockersclub.com/reviews/asus_p5q_deluxe/22.htm

I guess that they are resolved with later issues?

Incidentally, what graphics card are you using and does it fit ok over the double-height SATAs?

Yeah, no problems like that now that I'm aware of. We are on bios 0803 now. Which fixed the CPU temps being reported wrong. Its a really good bios on a really good board.

My 3870 clears the SATA ports fine. You do loose one socket though. Which is the vertically placed one as the graphics card sits across it. ( doesnt affect double height ones)

I'm picking up a 4870X2 when it comes out which should also fit fine. And thats longer than the mobo!

[Scroffy]

Yeah, no problems like that now that I'm aware of. We are on bios 0803 now. Which fixed the CPU temps being reported wrong. Its a really good bios on a really good board.

My 3870 clears the SATA ports fine. You do loose one socket though. Which is the vertically placed one as the graphics card sits across it. ( doesnt affect double height ones)

I'm picking up a 4870X2 when it comes out which should also fit fine. And thats longer than the mobo!

OK - I think you've made my mind up for me.
I'll go for the HD 4870 and the P5Q Deluxe.

Now to get started on the processor....

[alexp999]

OK - I think you've made my mind up for me.
I'll go for the HD 4870 and the P5Q Deluxe.

Now to get started on the processor....

You've made a good decision, lol. I'm picking up the q9450 soon but it all depends on your budget. I if was going dual core I would get this:

Intel E8400:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=736334

[aidanjt]

OK - I think you've made my mind up for me.
I'll go for the HD 4870 and the P5Q Deluxe.

Now to get started on the processor....

Q6600 [/thread]

Another point, stock up on as much RAM as you can, capacity beats raw memory performance. 4GB of PC2-6400 will improve system performance much moreso than 2GB of PC3-thingymajiggy and it's cheaper to boot, even 8GB of DDR2 RAM is feasable.

[Scroffy]

You've made a good decision, lol. I'm picking up the q9450 soon but it all depends on your budget. I if was going dual core I would get this:

Intel E8400:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=736334

£200 for the q9450 is a little high for me

I'll probably plumb for the 8400 at £116 and save the cash for another HDD - probably the barracuda as I've never had one fail. I guess 2 of those raided would produce decent speeds?