Help with a new setup for ~$2200.

[Yrrol]

Hi!
I’m in big need of a new computer and would like some help from you!

Budget: ~$2200 and I would be happy if it included a good 22-24” monitor.

I have been thinking on: E8400 (clocked to 4ghz) with Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme, Patriot 2x2gb 8500 ddr2, Asus Rampage x48, Anteq p182 with corsair 620hx, and perhaps a EVGA 8800GTX 768mb 384-bit. And some nice and quiet fans. Perhaps a Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000 32mb 750gb but it seems noisy.

I will use it for: Gaming & Photoshop. And it should end up being pretty quiet, could end up with having it on during sleep.

Q1: Should I really go for the old ddr2?
Q2: Should I buy graphic cards from the 9series and perhaps get 2 in sli(correct?)?
Q3: What CPU would be slightly better then E8400, perhaps a quad would be better?
Q4: any recommended Photoshop and gaming monitor? 22-24” wide, no TN panel but perhaps S-PVA, no ghost and other bad things. Perhaps an Enzio.
Q5: might I consider another motherboard? What’s the best now these days?


Thanks! :up:

[zanzabar]

u should look at the corsair 750tx i like it better than the hx but its non modular

and u might want to look at the dfi x48

[Yrrol]

Thanks

Okay. DFI x48, it's a ddr3 board, which ddr3 are recommended?
Foxconn is releasing a new board now, I think, isn’t Foxconn even better then DFI?

I did hear that Intel is going to release a new cpu; Q9450 which will be everyone’s new favourite. Will it be soon, should I wait?

What’s the most popular 22-24” monitor these days?

Would it be worth to wait a little and get a 9800gtx videocard, or is the older cards better?

[L'enFer]

Foxconn is releasing a new board now, I think, isn’t Foxconn even better then DFI?
What a new Foxconn motherboard do you mean? I read a review of the X38A and it's useless for overclocking, but it has a good layout and some features that makes it very attractive.

[Milos-stancene]

Thanks

Okay. DFI x48, it's a ddr3 board, which ddr3 are recommended?
Foxconn is releasing a new board now, I think, isn’t Foxconn even better then DFI?

I did hear that Intel is going to release a new cpu; Q9450 which will be everyone’s new favourite. Will it be soon, should I wait?

What’s the most popular 22-24” monitor these days?

Would it be worth to wait a little and get a 9800gtx videocard, or is the older cards better?

Samsung Syncmaster 245B 24 Zoll TFT Monitor
http://www.amazon.de/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000PJ074A/interactive0192-21

[motopen1s]

I recently updated monitor (from 19"). Thought about either getting 22" or 24"


At the end I've got the one in my sig.


Reasons:

1) 22" are still considerably cheaper then 24" (~100+ Euro cheaper in Germany for somewhat similar monitors in terms of futures and perfomance)

2) I wanted to get the best possible for gaming :) ... I know - maybe (most likely) a good 2ms 24" would do the trick. But - having the best possible in this area (0 input lag) would not hurt, right? ^^

3) Talking about graphics card, it seems that g92 based cards (which pretty much all have 512mb onboard) begin to strugle in some games when resolution is higher then 1680x1050 (or 1600x1200) and AA&AF cranked up.
That is 22" will make it possible to have more 'eye candy' in some games, then 24" with its native 1920x1200 resolution. Also, with an overclocked g92 (GTS?) and 22" you should get better framerates then on 8800gtx with 24" on same graphic settings (well, check out online tests to make sure what for a perfomance you are actually aiming at).


Thats was my reasoning when choosing new monitor. Now - I am really really happy with it. Though, 24" should be definately right size to work with (simply more space).


Monitors that I was choosing between

22":
1) Samsung(s): SyncMaster 226BW / SyncMaster 226CW (Did not like the design of SyncMaster 2232BW - so it was out of equation)

2) Iiyama(s): ProLite E2201W-B1 or ProLite E2201W-B2 (was hard to find the difference between the two. B2 has the ability to turn on dynamic contrast ration - and I see it definately as a +, though most time I am using my with DCR off)

3) LG Electronics Flatron L227WT


24":
1) Iiyama ProLite B2403WS (seems like a nice gaming screen with some drawbacks)

Well, I looked at 24" market (and what is available in Europe), but since quit fast I decided that 22" will be right choice for me - I didnt spend time looking at 24" segment.


I just saw that you do not want TN panels... hmm... well - all I can say is TN is enough for me (viewing angles and such), same goes for colors - but, I do not work in photoshop. Also - getting Eizo screen (22" since 24" will definately not fit into your budget I think) - will set you back a lot with $ (and you will have to compromise on other parts). Though, what it seems from the tests however is that even with TN panels, you can get very good results after using a good colorimeter. Check out some online tests about it! (for example: http://www.prad.de/en/monitore/review/2007/review-iiyama-e2201w-part10.html )


Q1: I would go for DDR2 (cost less & --> can get more of it... As for me, I think 8gb of RAM (overkill) for like 200$ run @850MHz 1:1 --> resulting in 3.4 for q9450 with 4-4-4-12 timings is better value then 2-4gb of DDR3 that will show somewhat better results in benchmarks and maybe couple of fps in games)

Q2: I am not quite decided myself on this one :) - but I am in fact thinking about getting a 9800gx2 now ^^ (though seems like the most rationale and $ saving option would be to go for 8800gts 512 and overclock it)

Q3: you have to decide what do you want to do with it and how much you want to spend for it (q9450 will be more expensive then e8400 if you will want to get it, not q6600). I personally think that q9450 @3.4 will not limit gaming experience (and who knows, maybe higher 24/7 clocks will be possible), but in a same time - 2 more cores will not hurt for sure (still remeber how I loved to go from 1 core to 2 back in time).

Q4: ....

Q5: I purchased my already heh :)



That was my subjective opinion, hope it will help you to build your dream system ;)