Need some advice on a gaming rig

[xmanii]

Couple options here, that I am looking at getting:

Case ( CoolerMaster CM 690 Gaming Tower Case Black )
Case Lighting ( Cold Cathode Neon Light Blue )
Power Supply ( 750 Watt -- Corsair CMPSU-750TX Power Supply Quad SLI Ready )
Processor ( [New !!] Intel® Core™ i7 950 Processor (4x 3.06GHz/8MB L3 Cache) )
Processor Cooling ( XIGMATEK Dark Knight 120mm CPU Cooling Fan System H.D.T. (Heat-pipe direct touch) technology )
Motherboard ( Asus P6T Deluxe V2 Intel X58 Chipset CrossFire and SLI Supported w/7.1 Sound, Triple-Channel DDR3, Dual Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0, Three PCI-E MB )
Memory ( 3 GB [1 GB X3] DDR3-1333 Triple Memory Module Corsair Value or Major Brand )
Video Card ( 2x ATI Radeon HD 4870 1GB PCI-Express x16 - running CrossFire mode )
Video Card Brand ( Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA )
Hard Drive ( 500 GB HARD DRIVE [Serial-ATA-II, 3Gb, 7200 RPM, 16M Cache] )
2nd Hard Drive ( 500 GB HARD DRIVE [Serial-ATA-II, 3Gb, 7200 RPM, 16M Cache] )
External Hard Drives [USB 2.0/eSATA] ( None )
CD/DVD Drive ( [Lightscribe Technology] Sony 20X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive Black )
CD-RW/DVD-RW Drive ( [** Special !!! ***] LG 22X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive Black )
Sound Card ( 3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard )
Speaker System ( [Black] Logitech X-540 5.1 Surround Speakers + Subwoofer )
Network Card ( Intel Pro 10/100/1000 Network Card )
Floppy Drive ( Mitsumi 1.44 MB Internal Floppy Drive Black )
Monitor ( None )
2nd Monitor ( None )
USB 2.0 Accessories ( Built-in USB 2.0 Ports )
Meter Display ( NZXT Sentry LX Aluminum Fan Control, Clock, and Temperature LCD Display )
Flash Media Reader/Writer ( 12-In-1 Internal Flash Media Card Reader/Writer Black )
Operating System ( Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate + [Free 60-Day !!!] Microsoft Office 2007(Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Access ....) 64-Bit )
Windows 7 Upgrade Coupon ( [*** Free Upgrade Coupon ***] Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit Edition $29 -$29(mail-in-rebate) = $0 )
Software/Game ( [Free Game] - H.A.W.X Free with purchase of Intel Core i7 system )
Software/Game ( [Free Game] - Halo 2 Free with purchase of Microsoft Windows Vista operating system )

----------------------------------


or

Case ( PSI CycloneX Gaming Tower Case Silver/Black )
Case Lighting ( Cold Cathode Neon Light Blue )
Power Supply ( 650 Watt -- Casegears ECO-Element 80 Plus Certificated High Efficiency Power Supply SLI Ready )
Processor ( [=== Quad Core ===] Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q9550 (4x 2.83GHz/12MB L2 Cache/1333FSB) )
Processor Cooling ( [$10 OFF Mail-In Rebate] Thermaltake MaxOrb CPU Cooling Fan System Kit Silent & Overclocking Proof = Maximum cooling efficiency for quietness and performance )
Motherboard ( [CrossFire] ASUS Maximus II Formula Intel P45 CrossFire Chipset w/7.1 Sound, Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0, IEEE-1394, Dual PCI-E MB )
Memory ( 8 GB [2 GB X4] DDR2-800 PC6400 Memory Module Corsair XMS2 Xtreme w/Heat Spreader )
Video Card ( 2x ATI Radeon HD 4870 1GB PCI-Express x16 - running CrossFire mode )
Hard Drive ( 500 GB HARD DRIVE [Serial-ATA-II, 3Gb, 7200 RPM, 16M Cache] )
2nd Hard Drive ( 160 GB HARD DRIVE [Serial-ATA-II, 3Gb, 7200 RPM, 8M Cache] )
External Hard Drives [USB 2.0/eSATA] ( None )
CD/DVD Drive ( [Lightscribe Technology] Sony 20X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive Black )
CD-RW/DVD-RW Drive ( None )
Sound Card ( Creative Lab Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer )
Speaker System ( [Black] Logitech X-540 5.1 Surround Speakers + Subwoofer )
Network Card ( Intel Pro 10/100/1000 Network Card )
Floppy Drive ( Mitsumi 1.44 MB Internal Floppy Drive Silver )
Monitor ( None )
2nd Monitor ( None )
USB 2.0 Accessories ( Built-in USB 2.0 Ports )
Meter Display ( NZXT Sentry LX Aluminum Fan Control, Clock, and Temperature LCD Display )
Flash Media Reader/Writer ( 12-In-1 Internal Flash Media Card Reader/Writer Black )
Operating System ( Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate + [Free 60-Day !!!] Microsoft Office 2007(Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Access ....) 64-Bit )
Windows 7 Upgrade Coupon ( [*** Free Upgrade Coupon ***] Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit Edition $29 -$29(mail-in-rebate) = $0 )
Software/Game ( [Free Game] - Halo 2 Free with purchase of Microsoft Windows Vista operating system )
USB Flash Drive ( None )
MP3/MP4 Player ( None )
Video Camera ( None )
Headset ( None )
Power Protection ( None )

 

[Thanee]

I would, personally, stay away from any SLI/Crossfire solution, and just get a single, powerful video card (GF GTX 275 or something in that region).

I would also get Nvidia over ATI, because of better driver support, but ATI also makes good cards.

Also, RAM is cheap enough to just get 2x2GB dual channel (for the first), or even more.

Why is the 2nd HDD on the second one so small?

Other than that, both look good. With no price given, it's difficult to say more.

Ah, yes, make sure you get an upgrade option for Windows 7 (AFAIK that's possible currently, to get Vista with upgrade option to Windows 7, once it is available).

Bye
Thanee

 

[Gantros]

The first system sounds a bit better - newer and faster CPU, better power supply, more storage (also has matched hard drives so you can RAID them if desired). It's missing a sound card, but unless you're an audiophile you'll probably be satisfied with the onboard sound.

Graphics card choice is probably the most important factor for gaming, and should be determined by your monitor's resolution. If it's 1920x1200 or less, a single Radeon HD 4870 or 4890 with 1GB graphics memory should be sufficient; dual GPUs are usually overkill unless you're running at higher resolutions, and you can always add a second card later if you feel the need to upgrade. ATI cards are generally a better value than Nvidia cards right now, and I've never had any issues with their driver support. In fact, ATI releases new certified drivers every month with new features, optimizations, and bug fixes, while Nvidia doesn't follow any regular schedule (which can be frustrating if you happen to run into a problem).

I'd also recommend adding more RAM to this system... it's cheap and you'll be running a 64-bit operating system, so there's no reason to limit yourself to 3GB. Go for 6GB at least.

 

[ssampier]

I actually own a CoolerMaster CM 690.

On a letter grade scale I would probably rate it a B- (80/100).

Pros

There are tons of places to put fans. The front fan LED is blue.

No door to lose or break.

Basically tool-less. Bonus: no bag of screws to lose; all are hiding on the right and left side of the case.

Lots of expansion room for 3.5 hard drives and 5.25 dvd/cd drives.

Cons

Construction can feel cheap in some places. I broke the 3.5 cover. You probably don't need a floppy (I didn't need one either, but I figured for a few bucks, why not?) so this may not apply to you.

Holes in case bring in dust, a lot of dust.

Can be noisy, pick your heatsink and fans wisely. The stock fans are okay, not quiet or noisy.

The manual is mostly junk. It doesn't explain things very well. Support from Coolermaster was mostly non-existent.

When mounting the motherboard, you can remove the plastic cable runs. This was not clear in the manual.