Final Check on Budget Gaming Build

[coreywhite]

Hi, I posted a month ago when I was considering my first build. Now, the holidays have come and gone, and I've got the money to actually go ahead with it. I've bought a couple of components over the last month when I found good deals, but most of the PC has yet to be purchased. I'm hoping you all can help me with last minute compatibility checks and suggestions for any changes. This PC will be used mainly for gaming. I have a new 20" widescreen 1680x1050 LCD monitor (a Samsung 205BW), so the goal is to be able to play games at reasonable settings and good framerates at my monitor's native resolution. My budget is not really flexible, but let me know if there's a cheap upgrade that would make a big difference.

Already bought:

Case: Lian Li PC-60USB B2 Silver Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Power Supply: Enermax EG651P-VE 550W


Considering buying:

Motherboard: ASUS P5B Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - $126.99

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6300 - Retail - $184.00

RAM: CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Desktop Memory Model VS1GBKIT667D2 - Retail - $107.99

GPU: SAPPHIRE 100189L Radeon X1900GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 VIVO HDCP Video Card - Retail - $149.99

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - $94.99

Optical Drive: LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with 12X DVD-RAM write and LightScribe Technology Black E-IDE/ATAPI Model LH-20A1H-185 - OEM - $39.99

Keyboard: Microsoft Curve 2000 B2L-00002 Black USB Wired Ergonomics Keyboard - Retail - $14.99

Other: BELKIN F8E093 Anti-Static Wrist Strap - Retail - $5.49

Subtotal: $724.43


Other thoughts:

I know you all typically suggest a retail Lite-On burner because of the bundled software, but they're mostly out of stock and I have an old copy of Nero that's always worked fine for me.

I have a retail copy of XP Home that I bought for my previous PC (which is old enough that the OEM it came with was Windows 98). There's no reason I can't use that with my new PC, is there?

I'm going to pull the floppy drive out of my old PC, and I already have a nice mouse.

Thanks!

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by coreywhite Considering buying: Motherboard: ASUS P5B Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - $126.99 CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6300 - Retail - $184.00 RAM: CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Desktop Memory Model VS1GBKIT667D2 - Retail - $107.99 GPU: SAPPHIRE 100189L Radeon X1900GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 VIVO HDCP Video Card - Retail - $149.99 Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - $94.99 Optical Drive: LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with 12X DVD-RAM write and LightScribe Technology Black E-IDE/ATAPI Model LH-20A1H-185 - OEM - $39.99 Keyboard: Microsoft Curve 2000 B2L-00002 Black USB Wired Ergonomics Keyboard - Retail - $14.99 Other: BELKIN F8E093 Anti-Static Wrist Strap - Retail - $5.49 Subtotal: $724.43

Looks good to me.

Originally Posted by coreywhite Other thoughts: I know you all typically suggest a retail Lite-On burner because of the bundled software, but they're mostly out of stock and I have an old copy of Nero that's always worked fine for me.

As long as it's a retail version you shouldn't have any problems using it with another burner. But if it came with a burner then it may be locked to that burner and you won't be able to use it with another.

Originally Posted by coreywhite I have a retail copy of XP Home that I bought for my previous PC (which is old enough that the OEM it came with was Windows 98). There's no reason I can't use that with my new PC, is there?

Only if you still aren't using that older computer. Can't install XP legally on more than 1 computer.

Cricket

[newbuilder14]

Looks excellent to me as well, good luck.

[flanzig1]

If your budget allows, may want to bump the ram up to a 2gig kit (2-1gig sticks). Newer games today are ram hungery.

[glc]

If it's an older version of Nero - whether OEM or retail - it may not recognize the new burner. I personally would not take the chance and I'd get a retail drive.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106043
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106050