60 FPS in crysis at 1080p (1980x1080) is calling for a really intense rig. Your calling for either 295 SLI or 285 Tri-SLI. Also 16GB of RAM is a complete waste. 4GB (if dual channel) and 6GB (if tri channel) is more than enough for any application today.Deadly_Fatalis

He's right.

(Crysis Warhead)

I'm running a Q9400 oc'd to 3.2ghz, 4 gigs corsair dominator dual channel, evga 750i sli ftw, 2 gtx 260's in SLI and I'm getting around 40fps in 1980x1080 resolution on a 24" monitor. That is on GAMER settings, not enthusiest.

On enthusiest I see about 30fps - still runs pretty well and you don't notice screen tearing or jumpiness, but its still not 60fps.

60fps Crysis Warhead would require some major hardware. Probably core i7 and sli cards or 295's, etc...

Ok, i just upgraded my PC. I now have a Q9400 on a Gigabyte ep45 UD3P MB. Im using the stock CPU heatsink and Fan and only have the one main case fan besides that. Stock Intel thermal paste as well. Im getting CPU temp readings of 42-45 Celcius (107-114 F) on idle. Is this normal? Im not planning to OC it but it jumps up to like 55+ C when i run a game. Im already planning to get the Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste but i hear that just lowers the temperature by 5 or so degrees on avarage.

Are there other quick and cheap solutions to lowering the CPU temp? I don't have a lot of money so i don't feel like spending lots on a water cooling system or something.

Custodian405

Are ya saying a duo is goiing to be faster on games like WoW, Dawn of War, Empire, Civ, Crysis than my i-7 920?BOONE123

I took a look at that board on newegg and the reviews I thought were a red flag for me. I read through several and while Asus had a support team respond to many of them the fact that the board is having issues more often than not I think is reason for concern. You might be better off looking for another mobo. Asus is a great company and I used a P5NSLI mobo for 4 years without a problem (now i'm with evga). I think the reviews on newegg deserve some merit. Try to find another board that suits your needs, there are so many to choose from.

Do you have your heart set on AMD?

^^^ The cooler works just fine for me. I don't intend to overclock this very much. Even so, when i did oc it a bit, still was under 30c at idle and no more than 35 under load. That seems a good cooler to me 0.o...

I checked out your cooler - seems you do have one of the better ones out, but its not far off the one i got. In fact they are really close in temps, less than ~1 degree celsius in the tests. In the top 10 coolers yours was #7 and mine was #9... thats no absolute fail :) I give you marks for picking a nice cooler though. That website had nothing but good to say about it.

Testing - http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2333&page=4