~$1k gaming rig

[Destinatus]

I mainly just use my comp for gaming and photoshop, I have everything but the tower. Please let me know what you guys think of this build. Also do you think there would be enough space in this case if I were to upgrade my video card later? They are getting pretty big. Sorry about all the links.

Case: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811129017
Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813131030
Video: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814130073
Power Supply: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817189003
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819115003
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820145098
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822148138
DVD Burner: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16827106050

EDIT: Oh yeah I was planning on putting this together right when the Intel chips drop in price.

[Cricket]

Your parts selection looks fine, but you may want to get a bigger power supply.

Not sure about the video card upgrade question. Are you worried about length or height?

:) Cricket

[Freakitchen]

Only thing I'd change is to get a SATA optical drive instead of a Retail one - the IDE controller on the P965 boards isn't so great.

The PSU you've listed is fine for that system. But if you're planning a video card upgrade, then it would make more sense, as Cricket has said, to get a beefier unit. Would recommend this - cheaper than at Newegg and with free shipping.

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=373100

With regard to your video card question, the P180 case is a large full tower. I don't think you'll have any problems with size.

[Destinatus]

Heh, thanks for catching that you guys, I didn't notice I picked out an IDE burner.

@cricket: I was worried mostly about the length of the card but I suppose there will be enough room.

@Freakitchen: That looks like a really good PSU, I think I'll go with that one. It's a bit more than the one I picked out but I didn't really want only 2 SATA cables anyway (in case I decide to add more HDDs or another DVD-ROM drive).

what do you guys think of this DVD Burner? It doesn't have any reviews currently: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106046

[Alaron]

LiteOns are good quality and they come with Nero burning software. Solid choice.

[Destinatus]

Hey I was wondering if you guys knew anything about the Samsung Spinpoints, my friend recommended this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152052
I also read somewhere that they have less platters and run quieter.

[Cricket]

In the past Samsung drives (hard drives and optical drives) were not very reliable and had high failure rates. Not sure if the current models are any better. I wouldn't buy or use one.

:) Cricket

[Destinatus]

I forgot to mention that I have a 24" widescreen monitor and so I run games at pretty high resolution, will the 7600 GT be able to handle that? Even though the video card is just a placeholder for a while, what do you guys suggest for a placeholder video card to get decent frame rates at fairly higher resolutions?

EDIT: do you think this would be a good deal for that?: EVGA 256-P2-N624-AR GeForce 7900GS 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 KO Video Card - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130056)

[jer888]

some midrange DX10 cards were just released, you may want to keep them in mind...

[Alaron]

Neither the 7600GT or the 7900GS are going to push pixels at a 24" native resolution. That is 1920x1200. You will still be able to use the monitor, but the games will play at a lower resolution, perhaps 1280x1024.

To play at 1920, you would need a very high end card.

[Destinatus]

@Alaron: Yeah I know. I've had this monitor for over a year now, its just been hooked up to a ****ty computer. Not the best choice I ever made, heh.

I've pretty much narrowed it down to these 2 and I'm having a lot of trouble deciding between them:

Sapphire X1950 Pro (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102061)
or
EVGA Geforce 7900 GS (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130056)

[Freakitchen]

I had the same decision to make when I was looking for a new video card recently. I was reliably informed by various sources that X1950 Pro is a better performing card than the 7900GS, so I went for the ATI and have been very happy with it.

The only caveat is the cooler on that Sapphire model, quite a few users on various forums across the web were complaining that it's quite loud, and often incapable of cooling the RAM chips well - causing lockups and crashes. For that reason, I'd suggest you go for a model with an aftermarket cooler - this HIS model for example.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161062