Final Build - Gaming System

[Archetype]

Hello again folks;

Posted a week or so ago with a preliminary build, and after taking your advice into account and reading much, much more material I have come up with a final build for my new gaming PC. The system is designed mainly for gaming. I play a lot of F.E.A.R., World of Warcraft, Battlefield 2, etc. In the past I have played more graphic-intensive games then World of Warcraft, and will be moving to a newer one ASAP (E.g. Chronicles of Spellborne, which I have heard will be graphic intensive). Other then that I use it for the standard University tasks such as word processing, burning DVDs, downloading software, etc.

The parts of my old computer that I will be cannibilizing will be my;

1. 19" LCD Monitor
2. Wireless Mouse/Keyboard
3. HP all-in-one Scanner/Printer/Copier

The final build that I have come up with is;

Case: Apevia Black X-Plorer ATX Mid-Tower Case

PSU: Corsair CMPSU-520HX 520W Power Supply 120MM Fan

Mobo: ASUS P5B ATX LGA775 Conroe 965P

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Dual Core Processor

HDD: Maxtor 200GB 7200RPM Ultra Internal Hard Drive

HDD2: Comstar Platinum USB 2.0 320GB External

RAM: Corsair Value Select PC2-5300 2X1GB DDR2-667

Pri Optical: Philip's 16X Internal DVD Rewriter

Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE PCI 7.1

Video Card: EVGA GEFORCE 8800GTS 640MB

Speakers: Logitech X-530 5.1 Speaker System 70W

OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic Edition


Let me know what you think, thanks!

[Alaron]

Pretty good list. I have just a couple suggestions.

Switch the hard drive for a Seagate 7200.10 series SATA drive. They are strong performers and have a long waranty.

Check to see if that DVD Burner comes with software. If not, LiteOn Retail drives come with Nero.

You may consider purchasing Windows XP with a Vista upgrade coupon. We have been recommending that folks hold off on Vista until the bugs get worked out and SP1 comes out. If you do want Vista, look at Home Premium, Basic doesn't have many of the "Vista" features.

[Archetype]

Thanks a lot for your quick reply. I have read a lot about the Seagate 7200.10, but never really thought it would make much of a difference. I guess I need to do a bit more reading on hard drives, and will definitly look into that bad boy.

As for Windows XP w/ an upgrade coupon... excuse my ignorance, but how exactly does that work? Aftering buying Windows XP the user can upgrade at anytime by paying what Vista costs minus what the person paid for XP? I could not really find much information about it, and what I did find was generally negative about buying XP w/ a coupon (hence why I am asking here for the positives).

Thanks again.

[Alaron]

You purchase Windows XP with a Vista Upgrade Coupon. Then when you want to upgrade to Vista, you fill out the coupon and send it in to Microsoft, along with a small amount for shipping and they send you Vista.

The only catch is that the version of XP you buy determines what version of Vista they send. XP Home becomes Vista Home Basic, XP Pro becomes Vista Business and XP Media Center becomes Vista Home Premium.

[LeftyAce]

I can't comment on the XP upgrade....but I've got a question about the external hdd you've got listed. I can't find it on newegg, so I'm wondering how much you're paying for it, and if it would make more sense to get a second internal drive and an enclosure to put it in? Apricorn enclosures come with backup software, and you can get them with both USB and eSATA interfaces (eSATA = as fast as internal sata)

[Archetype]

Appreciate the clarification on the Vista upgrade, that is a great way for Microsoft to release their new OS. As for the external hard drive, I purchased it from Future Shop for $149.99, and it was $80 off. This is up in Canada, and obviously in Canadian dollars.

[LeftyAce]

Ah. you made out well then. Sometimes it's cheaper to put the two parts together yourself; in this case not :-)

[bd1886]

Was reading a while back that the upgrade needs to be submitted by the end of March. Don't know if that info is still current or correct though.( No time for a shake out if it is the case.) Did see it from more than one source though.