Now its time for my build...

[Madclergy]

As the title said I am trying to put together my build, earlier this year I got advice on putting together a budget computer for my dear sweet mother (which she didn't even use, *shakes head*) and found that the advice was very helpful. Now its time for round two. But my budget is a little higher, about 1200 dollars. So after doing some looking on newegg I think I may have found a good configuration for that price (actually about 70 dollars cheaper, which if figure for shipping and handling ect), so without further adeu

Case
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16811129021

MOBO
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16813131045

Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16814143071

PSU
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16817371002

CPU
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16819116253

RAM
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16820231121

HDD
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16822136062

Monitor
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16824014129

CD Drive
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16827106040

Subtotal: $1,123.92

Now, with all that said i am wanting something that I can poor money into over a long period of time for upgrades without having to upgrade any of the main pieces, mainly I can add more RAM, a second pci x16 video card of the same type for SLI, and eventually I will add a sound card.

Anyways, Any advice would be appreciated (and I guess I should mention that I am building the rig for intense MMO gaming)

Madclergy

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by Madclergy Now, with all that said i am wanting something that I can poor money into over a long period of time for upgrades without having to upgrade any of the main pieces, mainly I can add more RAM, a second pci x16 video card of the same type for SLI, and eventually I will add a sound card.

The build looks okay but you can't do SLi with that motherboard. And I'm not sure about that brand of RAM working with that motherboard. Most here have used Corsair ValueSelect DDR2 667 RAM successfully with that motherboard. And I would just get a SATA DVD burner instead of a combo drive. A DVD burner can read and burn DVDs and CDs.

Cricket

[Madclergy]

The build looks okay but you can't do SLi with that motherboard. And I'm not sure about that brand of RAM working with that motherboard. Most here have used Corsair ValueSelect DDR2 667 RAM successfully with that motherboard. And I would just get a SATA DVD burner instead of a combo drive. A DVD burner can read and burn DVDs and CDs.

No sli with that board? Might I ask how this information is obtained? I don't know what to look for when searching for motherboards that will tell me if I can do SLI.

And is there a site you can point me to that will tell me the nifty information about what ram works with what motherboard or is it just hearsay and hit and miss?

I dont' really need to burn CD's, just not something I do anymore but is this what your talking about?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106072

[freakitchen]

Would highly suggest an Intel Core 2 Duo processor - the Pentium D line is pretty much discontinued now, and you get MUCH more performance for your money with a C2D. Yes, they're more expensive - but it's not a component to skimp on for a gaming system. For me, the

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115015

To offset this price increase, you might consider going for the standard ASUS P5B. Dual video cards are not an option with this board, but I'd say that this is almost purely a marketing gimmick. Two cards are almost always outperformed by one newer and more powerful card.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131030

I wouldn't get the video card you've chosen at the moment - I see little point in spending lots of money on a Direct X 9 card when DX10 cards have been released. Two options here - a cheaper 'placeholder' video card, which will get you by until the full range of DX10 cards have been released by BOTH Nvidia and ATI. OR, buy a strong nVidia 8 series card now. For the former, my recommendation is a 7600GT

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130062

And the latter...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130082

Re. the RAM - most DDR2 RAM is compatible with a DDR2 board, the trick is to buy the right speed, and the right brand. The stuff Cricket recommends works really well with the P5B series boards, at the right price. You should get a 2x1GB kit to enable dual channel RAM operation - the P5B has 4 slots so that would still leave you the option to upgrade to 4GB later on:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145098

Look at a larger capacity hard drive - 250GB / 320GB is in the 'sweet spot' for price per gigabyte. The second DVD Writer you link to would be fine

[LeftyAce]

A word on the CD/ DVD burner: Pretty much all diagnostic/recovery software comes as bootable CD Images now (floppies have basically disappeared). So the ability to at least burn a cd can be very useful........adding DVD support is an increase of less than $10, and gives you the option for the future.