Quad Core system compatability

[chaosrik]

I'm hoping to get the following system:

Intel Quad Q9650
Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R
Nvidia GTX 295
4GB G.Skill DDR2 1066 (pc2 8500) RAM

Would this system be compatible and what Hard Drive (250-500gb) and Chassis (enough room and heat extraction) would you recommend?

Also what power supply could you recommend.

Thanks so much.

[Nickel020]

You definitely need a good PSU for that system, I'd get an Enermax Modu82+ 625W, that leaves you some headroom and gets you one of the most stable and quietest PSUs out there.
Other good brands are Corsair, Seasonic and PC Power & Cooling.

The system should fit fine into most midi towers, i quite like the Lian Li PC7 or PC6x cases:
Newegg.com - lian li, Computer Cases
Pick a midi tower case that you like^^

For a hard drive I'd get a Samsung F1 320GB, the WD 320GB are somewhat slower and I don't know about Seagate with all the failing drives from them around atm. 500GB models are a little bit slower since they use two 250Gb while the 320GB models use newer higher density 320GB platters which makes them a little faster (and quieter: less platters usually means quieter).

[Chucko]

I like the Antec 300 case, it's cheap and flows a lot of air.

I have been a fan of Seagate drives for years. The mechanisms have been very reliable in my experience. The current flap is about firmware that makes the drive inaccessible, but the data is unaffected. (Yes I know, that doesn't do you much good if you can't get to it!) I don't have recent experience with other brands.

Since this is a high performance system, I would be tempted to get the WD Velociraptor 300GB drive.

[Nickel020]

Another option is a SSD for the opertating system and the game you currently play and a normal HDD for the rest. OCZ is supposed to release the Vertex SSD in the next few weeks, which should perform very well and provide a noticeable speed increase over conventional HDDs without the problems that many people have reported that use current affordable SSDs.
If you want something right now and can afford it I'd get an Mtron 3500 32GB for about 200$ and a second drive for data. Vista needs about 15GB so you have 17GB left for 1-3 games. Loading times (in games, when booting Windows and when launching applications) should be noticeably faster even then when using a Velociraptor and it costs about the same.

@Chucko
I made the comment about Seagate because I don't know which drives are affected so I didin't want to recommend on that might be affected.

[Chucko]

@Chucko
I made the comment about Seagate because I don't know which drives are affected so I didin't want to recommend on that might be affected.

No worries, I understand completely. Who cares what the failure mode is, if your drive is emulating a brick?

I didn't want to recommend a drive I hadn't used. I had a couple bad experiences with the IBM (now Hitachi) "DeathStar" HDs a few years back and have stuck with Seagate out of habit. I haven't seen one fail yet, but I imagine it will happen some day.

[Nickel020]

I didn't want to recommend a drive I hadn't used.

Also why I recommended the Smasung over the WD 320GB, I have both here :) Transfer rates are similar but WD has a higher access time.

[chaosrik]

Thanks for all your help, i was thinking maybe -

WD Caviar Blue WD3200AAKS 320 GB - SATA Drive

Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2

LIAN LI PC-61 USB Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower

How does that sound and would the PSU be enough for the whole system ? (i've read somewhere that it is good for GTX 295)

[Nickel020]

The Corsair PSU will be fine, look at the total power consumption of a System running the GTX 295 here:
Gainward’s GeForce GTX 295 Reviewed :: TweakTown

The Corsair is a very fine PSU, in fact I use the HX 520 myself and I'm quite happy with it. You should get the HX 620 though, a little headroom is a good thing.

[Chucko]

I also have the Corsair HX520W power supply. I got it after reading several reviews of the Corsair HX series. I'm convinced the HX models are among the best on the market.

Check out this power supply calculator for a 2nd opinion on your power needs.