Need opinions on new computer build and wireless network

[aru]

hi guys, like the title says, i'm starting to put together a new system since my old 5-6 year old computer just died. I'd appreciate some constructive criticism on the components i'm looking at. I'm going to be using it as a gaming and 3d modeling/rendering machine.

Case: Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129021

PSU: 1000W Antec (probably dont need this much, just a combo deal from newegg w/ the case) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371012

MoBo: Asus P5E3 Deluxe http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131218

CPU: Intel quad Q9400 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115131
should i step up to q9450 for the larger cache, superior stepping(supposedly)?

HS&F: artic cooling freezer 7 pro http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835186134

RAM: 2GB DDR3 1600 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...Tpk=geil%20240
i'll be using 32bit xp, would it be worth it to go to 3-4GB?

Video Card: evga 9800gtx http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...512-p3-n878-ar
i've heard newer ATI cards have been quite good, i've had some pretty bad experiences with them in the past and am not really considering them now unless you guys think they are overwhelmingly better than Nvidia

HDD: 750GB Samsung spinpoint f1 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822152100 i want to set up a RAID configuration so 2 of these
is it possible to make an exact duplicate of my current HDD over to the RAID hdds?

i'll be stealing the dvd drive and keyboard and mouse from my old system

i've also been thinking of upgrading my wireless set up from 802.11g to 802.11N
i'm looking at the D-Link Xtreme N Gaming Router http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...aming%20router coupled with a D-Link DWA-556 PCIe network adapter http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...18&Tpk=dwa-556. i've heard mixed reviews about the router, but the fact that it prioritizes gaming traffic seems like a very nice feature.

i'll appreciate the feedback

[Shuemue]

Get a Q6600 or E8400 and overclock it, yes buy 4gb of ram and get an ATI HD4850 or HD4870

[durst]

Get a 45nm cpu, they are faster, run cooler, and have a higher bus/clock speed, such as the cpu's you have listed, those are 45nm, E8400 is good if you don't need a Quad though.

Windows xp can only use a maximum of about 3.25gb of ram, something to do with the 32 bit limitations, alot of info on google search about this, honestly 3 gigs of ram should be more than enough, if you put 4 in all 4 gb wont get used.

Heatsink fan choice is ok, although if you want a really good one, cant go wrong with a zalman cooler, these things are sick, keeps a E8400 @4.2ghz around 40c idle, thats a 1.2ghz overclock on air.

I'd have to agree the ati cards do perform a little better than nvidia in xp and vista both, i had 2 8800 cards both caused issues in ffxi with the graphics, same in vista as well, no matter how many drivers i tried the problems never went away, went away instantly with a ati card.

The router looks pretty damn cool, but ill be honest, i recently purchased 2 d-link routers for my family's networks, both ended up dying within a month of purchase, Linksys routers are great, ive had one for the past year with no problems ever with it.

Everything else looks good though, the antec 900 case will help keep stuff cool and looks awesome in the dark with blue led fans, samsung makes good hard drives, if you want a faster hard drive(10,000RPM) look into a western digital raptor, they are a bit costly though i will warn ya, although a 7200rpm hard drive will do fine for everyday use.

[aru]

thanks for the responses

shuemue, what is the reason behind recommending those processors? is it because of their price/preformance or do you have another reason?

durst, which zalman heatsink are you talking about? they all pretty much look identical to me. as for the router, like i said before, all i've found were mixed reviews. one guy will say it's the best ever and the next guy says he has to reset it every 5 minutes. makes it tough to make a decision on it especially considering the combined price of the router and it's adapters.

as far as the video cards, do you guys know of any good reviews that pit the one i'm looking at against the ati's? do they just preform slightly better or is there a significant difference? i stopped playing ffxi so i'm not really concerned with its compatability issues.

do you guys think it's worth it to upgrade to vista x64? the applications i'm going to be using for work are going to be ram hogs (photoshop for presentation boards, autodesk revit, 3ds max, plus any gaming in the future), should i go to vista x64 and grab 4+GB of ram? is vista still buggy or have they worked them out?

[Shuemue]

Yeah, those processors both give excellent bang for your buck and OC pretty well.

That cooler is fine, I'm using it, but if you're going to do a heavy OC you want a Tuniq Tower or Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme

[Epical]

A few different links for the people needing convincing to get the 48X0 series:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...Card,2011.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...ison,2007.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...4870,1964.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...4850,1957.html

And something on the new 46X0s...

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3405

[Shuemue]

Also, if you still play FFXI, ATI is a no-brainer for Vista.