If you don't plan on overclocking your cpu much, get this memory instead: Corsair 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 800 PC2 6400 (86.50$ - 20$ MIR)

CPU: Intel E8400 3.0 Ghz 190$

Hard disk: Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 100$

Power supply: Corsair CMPSU-650TX 650W 110$ - 10$ MIR

Sound card: Creative Sound Blaster SB0570 Audigy SE 7.1 30$ (you might want something better, sound has never been too important to me)

Cooling:
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler 27$
Scythe SY1225SL12M 120mm "Slipstream" Case Fan 1200 RPM 9$ to cool your hard disk

And you need a DVI-D male to DVI-D male dual link Cable to connect the monitor to the video card.

Hello, I have a Q6600 at 2.4 and 2gb ram with a ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 1GB. Do you think I Should get another ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 as I can support 2 cards? and What sound card should I get because I need one for gaming but which will also work on the front ports of my antec 900 so I can use my headset/mic? and is it worth it updating to 4gb as I have 64bit vista? also can someone help me find a good monitor for gaming 20-22"?Coughs

No i don't think you should get another HD3870X2 when the HD48xx series has arrived. Either wait for the HD4870X2 or get 2 x HD4870, if you can afford it.

Yes it's worth adding 2 GB of RAM, especially for Vista.

As for a monitor, the Samsung 2253BW and LG L226WTY-BF are very good. They're both 22".

Most likely the 8.7 catalyst drivers coming next month (8 for 2008 and 7 for july) will fix the PowerPlay feature. PowerPlay lowers the core and memory clock of the card at idle to get lower temperature.

And once Rivatuner supports the HD48xx series (soon I hope), you can increase the card's fan speed at idle and at load. Right now the fan runs at around 15-20% IIRC at idle and not much more at load, so that's why the card is hot. But the 4870 is a dual slot card so it's not as hot as the 4850. Another reason why it's hot is because they applied cheap thermal paste on the chip. The 8800GT runs hot too but there wasn't a big fuzz about it because it was released during the fall.

As for an aftermarket cooler, i'm not sure if the Arctic Cooling Accelero S1 can be placed on the 4870. I know it fits the 4850 fine.

I'd like to support the Canadians over in Markham, Ont. instead.Domobomb

:lol:

The length of the card is 9" or 9.5".

HD4870 because it's faster than the 260. See for yourself:

Tech Report
Anandtech

HD4870 > GTX260

2xHD4850 = GTX280

2xHD4870 > GTX280

HD4850 > 9800GTX

Enough said.

Cool chart, seems like a good idea. Just out of curiosity, how did you calculate the final grade?

denter21

By cherry picking benchmarks that favor nvidia.

It's almost as good.

chandlerr_360

And costs at least 150$ less than a 9800GX2. ;)

There's still the $70 price difference between the hd4850 and the 8800GT, which I doubt is even overclocked in this benchmark.

Swiftstrike5

A lot of people bought a 4850 for 150$ at Best Buy last week (25% discount).