dodgyr

Hey guys,
I am in the market for a new computer. From my research to date, the following specs is what I am looking at. I would appreciate it if someone can go over it and let me know if they see any issues/conflicts with any of the hardware I have selected.
I am buying a new setup because I can get everything at roughly half price (small business incentive from the Australian Government).
I will be using it for photoshop, video editing, games. Not a huge big gamer, but do enjoy the occasional game. Have not played any of the latest type games (current computer can probably handle them, but have not had the interest to so far).

The specs are as follows -
CPU - i7 920
CPU Cooler - Noctua NH-U12P-1366
Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 (hardware suppliers here say that the Asus P6T has been experiencing a lot of hardware issues)
RAM - OCZ 6GB 3P1600LV6GK
Graphics Card - 2 x Gigabyte GTX275
Case - Coolermaster ATCS 840
Hard Disk - 3 x WD EVDS 1Gb (RAID 5)
Optical Drive - Lite-On IHAS324
Mouse/Keyboard - MS 8000 Entertainment Desktop
Network Card - DLINK w/less PCI-E
Monitor - Samsung 24" 2443BWX
Power Supply - Corsair 1000w Modular
TV Tuner - Hauppauge HVR2200
Fan Controller - Zalman ZM-MFC2 Fan Controller

I am also keen on customising the case. Anyone know of any modding supplies in Australia (pref. in Melbourne)? Specifically, I would like to put a windowed side panel in.
If you have had any issues or if you have heard anything bad about any of these products before, please let me know. Also let me know if you would personally use a different product to what I have selected and why.

Your help is much appreciated.

tagurtoast

i have friends who bought gigy gfx cards and they suck and there not refrence so u cant put aftermarket coolers on em and my friend has an cfx setup with 2 4870s and it wont let him do dual display but it will if he gets his friends 4870 and my other friends which arnt gigy so yeah just my say

dodgyr

I didn't realise gigabyte gfx cards were not reference ... assumed they would be being as they are regarded as the standard/no frills brand. I was going to go EVGA but seeing as those cards are clocked to max anyway, I thought I would spend less and OC this to EVGA level.
Now I am having second thoughts if I can't put aftermarket coolers on them ...

Any suggestions on which brand I should be looking at?

kinubic

looks like a solid build to me! but maybe change keybaord and mouse. u can get better ones than the one u got at that price. better cpu cooler maybe? megahalem?prolly better videcard brand?like evga,xfx,asus?

__________________

dodgyr

Which keyboard/mouse set would you get at that price?

I will look into megahalem, thanks!

Also what difference are there between the different videocard brands? From what I was able to gather from another site, they can all be OCed to roughly the same levels for vastly different prices (here in Aus, the price difference between a EVGA FTW and Gigabyte is $100 per card, yet the Gigabyte can be OCed to the same level as the EVGA FTW - which it seems cannot be OCed much more than it is).
If this is the case, from a price/performance perspective, the gigabyte will provide the same performance as the EVGA FTW but at $100/card cheaper.
Are there any other differences that I am not aware of?

dodgyr

Oh yeah ... will this setup be good for folding? I would also like to contribute my unused power to the cause ... and seeing as I didn't really need this computer anyway, I should be able to contribute quite a bit! lol

kinubic

personally i havnt had any experience with other brands. i know evga and xfx have good customer support if u wer to rma ur cards.for mouse and keyboard. ive always had a razer mouse and before that was a microsoft mouse lol! im guessing ul need atleast around 1800dpi for ur mouse and for keyboard anything shud be fine.unless u want all the macro fancy stuff and media controls.

heres a link that may help u choose keyboard and mouse

__________________

dodgyr

Thanks!
I already have a keyboard with the macro and media controls ... gotta admit, although the media controls come in handy (especially as this computer will prob sit in the tv room), I have never touched a macro key on this keyboard! lol
I was also gonna get a cheap and nasty keyboard for gaming especially those games requiring repetitive banging on 1 or 2 keys!

dodgyr

kinubic,
can I also ask how your HAF is going? Does it get dusty inside? I was tossing up between the two and one of the things that get me about the HAF is the lack of filters.

Karebear Killer

I put in another vote for XFX cards, had 5 myself and the first pci vrsion i bought still works after 8 years, out of the 5 one fan went bad, put a zalman cooler on and still works. Usually cheaper than other brands, and carry a lifetime warranty, just remember to register within 30 days.

Most big name brands you'll be ok with, but just like with cars, even great companys put out a lemon every once in a while.