how does this gaming pc look?

[dirkpitt]

I have an old GX280 pc with a 9700 pro card. It's time to finally upgrade!

So, here's a list of parts I'm contemplating purchasing. I'm wondering if it is overkill or not. Do I really need a MB with SLI, even though I'm only going to be using 1 card for a year or so until I get the 2nd? Will the 2nd even be available in a year as they need to be the same? Lastly, I cannot figure out which aftermarket fan to get for the MB. The choices are too confusing. I think I need a 4pin and I'd like one that blows air to the back of the case (not up or down), and one that doesn't need mounted from the back of the MB, as I think there are heatsinks or something on the back of the MB. Here's the crazy list - i'm not 100% sure it will all work together:

GIGABYTE GA-M59SLI-S5 Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard

AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Windsor 3.0GHz Socket AM2

COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 case

EVGA 640-P2-N825-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 video card

Western Digital Raptor WD740ADFD 74GB 10,000 RPM HD

Razer Barracuda AC-1 7.1Gaming Soundcard (don't know how much better this is to the onboard sound card)

SAMSUNG 18X DVD±R DVD Burner

OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI ATX12V 700W Power Supply

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

2 after-market quiet fans for the case

thank you for any help!

[Jester]

With the assumtion that you will want to to go SLI in a year. Also you didn't give a budget so I tried to stay close to the prices of the other parts with the exception of the mobo. The lower price of the psu helps that abit.

GIGABYTE GA-M59SLI-S5 Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard (go with the ASUS P5N32-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI (It's a little bit more expensive, but it is the 680i and it supports quad core should you choose to upgrade) Gigabyte is not a good gaming board)

AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Windsor 3.0GHz Socket AM2 ( Switch to Intel e6600. It's cheapter, and Faster)

COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 case (Good)

EVGA 640-P2-N825-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 video card (Good)

Western Digital Raptor WD740ADFD 74GB 10,000 RPM HD (With todays operating systems, and games I suggest either 2 of these or a 250gb seagate I really have never seen the benifits behind the raptors)

Razer Barracuda AC-1 7.1Gaming Soundcard (don't know how much better this is to the onboard sound card) (not needed if you go with the asus board. Do you have 7.1 Speakers?)

SAMSUNG 18X DVD±R DVD Burner ( switch to retail lite-on sata burner)

OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI ATX12V 700W Power Supply (switch to a Xcilo 650W)

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) (make sure you get the 5-5-5-12 timing not the 4-4-4-12)

2 after-market quiet fans for the case (not needed)

[LeftyAce]

Using SLI as a future upgrade strategy does not make financial sense. You spend more on the motherboard and powersupply up front, and then end up paying quite a bit for a pair of video cards....by the time you get the second card, the next generation will be out, and 1 next gen card will beat two last-gen cards in sli.....save your money and plan on upgrading a single card a little more often.

Also, by avoiding SLI you can use the ASUS P5B series of motherboards which are very very stable.

[Katreat]

I will second the motion for NO SLI. SLI is only really viable to get more performance above the top. If you have the money and really want the fastest video then two top line 8800s will likely beat out one. Other then this it has very little use. You will be money ahead just upgrading your video to a new generation card at the end of its life.

Based on that, the Asus P5B would be a great motherboard for your use.

Other than that, I agree with all of Jesters recommendations. Definitely go Intel if you are looking for performance at this time. AMD may get it together when their new chips come out, but at this time the C2D are definitely the performance leaders.

If you are not planning on overclocking you could save a little and go with Corsair value select ram at 667 speed. You don’t really need 800 for Intel unless you are overclocking.

Also, if you are not overclocking the stock heat sink and fan, along with standard case fans, will keep things cool enough and preserve all your warranties. The Intel C2Ds run much cooler than their AMD counterparts.

Kat

[Kilauea]

Originally Posted by Jester CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) (make sure you get the 5-5-5-12 timing not the 4-4-4-12)

Sorry, this may be a little off topic, but why do you suggest going with 5-5-5-12, I thought 4-4-4-12 was better ?
Sorry for my ignorance, I'd just like to learn

[glc]

Tighter timings are essentially ignored by the Core 2 Duo architecture. The CAS 5 is cheaper and actually more stable on Intel P965-based boards.

[dirkpitt]

[QUOTE=Jester]With the assumtion that you will want to to go SLI in a year. Also you didn't give a budget so I tried to stay close to the prices of the other parts with the exception of the mobo. The lower price of the psu helps that abit.

GIGABYTE GA-M59SLI-S5 Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard (go with the ASUS P5N32-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI (It's a little bit more expensive, but it is the 680i and it supports quad core should you choose to upgrade) Gigabyte is not a good gaming board)

Thanks for the advice everyone. Jester, why is Gigabyte not a good board? I'm looking at the Asus you recommended and it doesn't get very good reviews. Actually I can't find an Asus board that gets that good of reviews - seems like they all have their problems. That's why the Gigabyte board looked so promising.

Ok, so my budget is around $1500 give or take. I am planning on getting good 5.1 speakers. There aren't any good 5.1 audio cards (at least not on newegg) so I thought I'd get a nice 7.1 audio card as they seem to be standard and then use the 5.1 speakers.

Also, I am NOT into overclocking. I don't really care about it.

I don't need the best gaming rig - so I don't really need an SLI MB. However, it looks like the asus mb that were suggested are all SLI anyway, so I'm confused there a bit. So, I guess here are my "requirements", in this order:

1. a case that is no taller than 19". It is going to be inside a large desk (unless it doesn't stay cool, I'll have to take it out anyway). I really like the look, size and cooling capabilities of these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129021
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811103010 (too high, but I might not put it in my desk)

2. a MB that can fit in either direction (upside down). That first case has the MB in upside down. I couldn't do that with the Gigabyte case because of the heatsinks on it. I don't care if it is intel or amd - just want a machine that can support FPS games for the next few years. Quad core support would be nice and maybe just 1 SLI 16x slot for the video card. Also needs to support 1 IDE device (my 2nd hd). I'm not very MB savy (tweaking bios etc). I just want something that works well and is not too much of a hassle to get going.

3. good CPU - newest one out or close to new (6400 amd or e6600 intel)

4. good PSU - 600watts?

5. 2GB ram - Corsair. Someone mentioned I don't need the 800 unless I'm overclocking. Does that mean the asus mb doesn't support 800? I'm confused on that.

6. Video card - the one mentioned above in my post - 880GTS

7. The rest of the stuff mentioned above - 74GB 10k rpm drive. I read that it does make a difference with a faster drive for games and the os, so I'd like that. I have larger ide drives in my old computer that I might just use as the secondary to store data.

8. I do like good sound and the reviews on these MB make it sound like the quality just isn't there on the integraded sound cards. I don't mind spending more for a good sound card. Makes a lot of difference playing games!

9. quiet fans - don't mind spending a few more bucks on quiet fans, including an aftermarket CPU fan!

Thanks for all the advice on SLI. I'll save $$ by not getting a 2nd card. So can anyone help with figuring out exactly which MB and RAM etc? There's like 15 different ASUS boards.

[dirkpitt]

Also, why should I get the lite-on over the samsung (newegg reviews are good for both) and as well the XCLIO 600w over the OCZ 700w PSU (which has a large # of high ratings on newegg) compared to the XLIO. I love the advice, don't get me wrong. I'd just like to know why so I can make more educated decisions in the future.

thanks!!

[Alaron]

Unless you need some extra features, such as Firewire, Wifi or onboard video, the plain Asus P5B works fine for most people. Asus is a very high quality manufacturer, their boards tend to be the most stable and have the least amount of issues. Gigabytes are "ok" but the quality can be hit or miss.

Your board can support faster ram, but the best match for performance is DDR2-667. Anything higher will get diminishing returns in performance.

You really do not need a 10k hard drive. The Seagate 7200.10 series are very fast and reliable. Plus they have a much better GB/$ ratio.

We recommend using the motherboard's onboard sound at first. Try it out and see how well it works for you. You can always pick up a sound card later.

For a system with a single 8800GTS, the Corsair 520HX power supply is a great match up.

The Retail LiteOn SATA burners come with Nero burning software. Plus LiteOns are generally better quality drives compared to Samsungs.

[Katreat]

1. Case is a personal thing. Most new cases will work with your system as long as you have a quality power supply.

2. The Asus P5B is not an SLI motherboard. It is the most highly recommended motherboard for a C2D build because it uses the most up to date chipsets and is easy to work with. Asus quality might not show up in Newegg reviews, but if you read any industry reviews you will quickly see that year after year Asus is rated at the top for quality and performance.

3. The Intel C2D destroys anything from AMD at this point. Not only do they perform better, they also run cooler which basically eliminates cooling problems that you face with AMD and Pentium chips.

4. The corsair 520 is highly recommended. I personally don’t know that much about PSUs but all the experts on this site like it for quality and reliability. Really, any quality PSU will work. The important word here is quality. A 520 watt quality unit like the corsair will out perform a 700 watt bargain basement brand. Just be sure to choose one of the “good” PSU list.

5. If you are not overclockinig there is little need to use faster ram. DDR2 667 is fast enough. You will not see a performance gain because the RAM will step down to run at the speed of data from your MoBo/CPU. If you are using AMD then faster ram is necessary and DDR2 800 is recommended.

6. Great card, its big though so read newegg reviews and try to see if someone has used it with the case you choose. The GTS is about an inch longer than standard cards and the GTX is a couple of inches longer.

7. The new Seagate’s are very fast and you get a lot more bang for the buck. But nothing wrong with the raptors so follow your heart.

8. I would disagree but maybe my ears where destroyed by too much rock when I was young. I think what people are saying is that it is very easy to add a sound card so you should give on-board sound a try first and save a few bucks. Most of the people I know try it and never wish for more, but maybe that’s because I play mainly with headphones so sound is less important.

9. Choose a case with big fans and they will create much less noise. The bigger the fan, the slower they turn. Changing them out is pretty easy also and there are so very quite after market fans available. As for the CPU just remember that changing the fan voids the warranty. I personally think the C2D fans are very quite but again that might be another result of too much rock music in my youth.

Kat

Edit: I think you put a lot of emphasis on newegg reviews. I love newegg reviews, but you need to understand that they are just a buyer saying they like it or not. Most buyers do not even post. The recommendations you get on this site are based on personal experience and industry reviews. Asus, Lite-on, Corsair, etc are recommned because they have a history of very high quality and performance. Sure, you can buy a Samsung burner and might have a great experince, but their actual record shows that you will have a much higher chance to have a problem. So they are not as highly recommended.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by Katreat Not only do they perform better, they also run cooler which basically eliminates cooling problems that you face with AMD and Pentium chips.

Actually, the current AMD processors run pretty cool and I haven't heard much about heat related problems with them.

Cricket

[dirkpitt]

okay, after everyone's help, I've revised my list. I'm still not quite sure about the MB (how do I know which one to get out of all the P5Bs?) and the ram, someone suggest 5 5 5 15 something but I couldn't find Corsair ram that also went with the MB I selected with that timing. The one I picked said 4 4 4 12. I picked the SATA instead of IDE lite-on, hope that is ok? I'll check out the onboard audio before getting an audio card as suggested.

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model

ASUS P5B-E LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard

CORSAIR ValueSelect 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Desktop Memory

CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 520W Power Supply

LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

EVGA 640-P2-N825-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SUPERCLOCKED HDCP Video Card

Logitech THX Z-5300e 280 Watts RMS 5.1 Speaker

Antec 75003 120mm Case Fan - Retail - for the case's side fan

thanks for the help - you guys are great!!!!

[Jester]

Check the Quality Vendor List for that particular board. You can find it on the product page linked off of newegg. I would link it but they are undergoing site maintenence now. Everything else looks good.

The SATA was the right Choice. Last I heard the things that you had to do to the P%B boards to get IDE to work was a pain.

Check the Ram and you shoudl be happy with that system.

What are you looking at for Monitor, Mouse, Keyboard, Speaker, and OS?

[dirkpitt]

What are you looking at for Monitor, Mouse, Keyboard, Speaker, and OS?[/QUOTE]

monitor - 226bw Samsung
speaker - listed (logitech 5.1 setup)
keyboard/mouse - not sure but I want at least a wireless mouse
OS - XP 32 for now...

[dirkpitt]

I've decided on this motherboard because I believe the onboard audio is better than the ASUS P5B-E version:

ASUS P5B LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel

under features it says "Notice: Only DDR2-800 memory supporting JEDEC approved 1.8V operation with timings of 5-5-5 or 6-6-6 is supported on Intel Desktop Boards based on Intel 965 Express Chipsets."

For the life of me I cannot find Corsair ram that fits this description for this board. Any ideas? I can go with 667 like suggested above in this thread, but when i ran the memory configurator on newegg's website, it didn't list any 667 for this board, only 675, 800 or 1066. I checked Asus's website, and maybe i'm retarded but i haven't found a spot where it lists the ram available for each board.

Jester, you originally suggested this MB - ASUS P5N32-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i (under the assumption I was going for SLI). So even though I'll only run 1 video card, is the 681i chipset make this a better platform than the P5B for gaming, faster etc?

sorry, i'm such a noobie, but I very much appreciate you guys helping me out!

[glc]

The 667 Corsair Value Select is known to work well with the P5B at stock speeds and with mild overclocks. If you want 800 speed, the Corsair XMS is known to work well as long as it's the CAS 5, not CAS 4.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145590

No, for single card operation, the P965 chipset is better than the 680i.

[dirkpitt]

You guys rock! I purchased all the parts as suggested and have the pc together. Maybe someone can help me with the final steps. (I have yet to turn it on.)

1. I only have 1 sata hd and 1 sata dvd drive installed - no floppy drive. How do I go about flashing the bios? From Asus website looks like i need a floppy or can i do it from usb memory stick?

2. Will the MB recognize the sata drives or do i need to install the drivers - somehow - ?

3. I'm assuming I need to manually tweak the memory settings as I did get the 800 and the mb manual says something a bit cryptic about manually changing this.

thanks - i'm almost there!!!

[LeftyAce]

1) Why do you need to flash the BIOS? It's generally not necessary.

2) MOBO will recognize the drives.

3) Leave the RAM settings to Auto.

[dirkpitt]

[QUOTE=LeftyAce]1) Why do you need to flash the BIOS? It's generally not necessary.

Seems like it is suggested on Asus's website for the MB. Also I've read that the MB doesn't recognize the core 2 duo chip (just core duo) unless you flash the bios - but don't know if that's true.

Last question - the fans are connected directly to the PSU for power and they have a physical switch for speed settings (low, med, high) - does this mean I can't control the speeds for each fan through XP via an application?

[LeftyAce]

Check the bios version...the p5b I just built with recognized the C2D just fine.

If you need to flash it, you'll need a compatible cpu. Any old cheap celeron will suffice.

Double check the motherboard manual for bios flashing procedures.... I believe you can use a flash drive, but if not, any old floppy from another computer will do.

If fans are connected directly to the PSU, you will not have control over them through XP. Honestly, I haven't had the urge to control mine through software anyway......

[dirkpitt]

cool thanks. Also would you recommend I create 2 partitions for the HD, 1 for OS and 1 for games, or does it not really matter? (speed wise)

[Staren]

Originally Posted by dirkpitt cool thanks. Also would you recommend I create 2 partitions for the HD, 1 for OS and 1 for games, or does it not really matter? (speed wise)

Wouldn't really matter speed wise, but it would make keep up and reinstalls easer.