$1500 gaming build checkup

[Drix]

I put together an Intel on Newegg, and wanted to check to make sure it looks good to everyone else. This is my first gaming build. I will eventually use it for graphic design. If anyone can think of a way to trim the price without triming performance, that would be nice.

PHILIPS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with 12X DVD-RAM Write Black IDE interface (ATAPI) Model SPD2413BD - Retail $33.99

APEVIA X-CRUISER-AL Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail $69.99

HITACHI Deskstar T7K500 HDT725050VLA360 (0A33437) 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $139.99

Hanns·G JW-199DPB Black 19" 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail $169.99

EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail $349.99 $30.00 Mail-in Rebate

LG Black E-IDE/ATAPI DVD-ROM Multi Read Drive Model GDR-8164BK - OEM $17.99

Creative Sound Blaster SB0570 Audigy SE 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - OEM $27.99

XION Supernova XON-600F14R-201 ATX 600W Certified Power Supply - Retail $119.99 $30.00 Mail-in Rebate

Logitech Media Elite 967559-0403 Black USB + PS/2 Wired Standard Keyboard - Retail $24.25

Logitech MX518 2-Tone 8 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB + PS/2 Wired Optical Gaming-Grade Mouse - Retail $39.99

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400C4 - Retail $154.00 $50.00 Mail-in Rebate

ASUS P5N32-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $209.99

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 - Retail $225.90

Subtotal $1,584.05
Shipping +$53.17
Rebates -$110
Grand Total $1527.22

[Alaron]

I have some suggestions.

If you don't plan on doing SLI right away, stick with one card and use the Asus P5B motherboard instead. Plenty of bang for the buck.

To go with a Core 2 Duo, you only need DDR2-667 if you're not overclocking.

Swap your optical drives for SATA LiteOns that come with burning software.

Swap that Hitachi hard drive for a Seagate 7200.10 series drive. Much higher quality.

Finally, Xion power supplies are junk. Swap it for a quality unit, such as the Corsair 520HX: http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produc...uctCode=373100

[Drix]

What if I want to do SLI down the road? Is it not a good idea to get another of the same cards and install it a few years from now?
If you can't tell, I'm fairly new. Can you tell me how overclocking works? How do you do it? What are the pros and cons?

[Alaron]

The thing about SLI is that waiting seems like a good idea, but looks are deceiving. Many people plan on adding a second card down the road, but as history as shown us, new video cards will be released in the meantime that will outperform the previous generation in SLI. Indeed the original 6800 series in SLI was outdone by one 7800 card and again the 7800s in SLI were outdone by the new 8800s.

And on top of that, one powerful card, such as the 8800GTS you have is plenty of power to drive games for a long time, even with high resolution and detail. So save some money now with a one card setup, and upgrade one card down the line when it really counts.

As for overclocking, you can learn about it from the sticky threads in the Motherboards/Processors/Overclocking forum. The quick definition is to push your system beyond spec for better performance. Personally, its not worth the hassle and your system will be zippy as it is.

Hope that helps.

[Drix]

Ok, A few things.
After looking over the General Hardware forum's recomended PSU's, I switched out my PSU with this;
Antec NeoPower NeoHE 550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply - Retail $109.99 -$40(mail in rebate)

I switched my opticals for Lite-On. I couldn't find one that was SATA and had burning software.

About the hard drive. I looked at the Seagates. Why is there a 500gb for ~130 and another for ~200? whats the diffs?

Now for the motherboard. Meh. Theres like 13 different P5B's. Which would you suggest? And I should stick with the same video card?

[Staren]

Here is a link to the optical drives you'll want to look at:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...nd&Order=PRICE

The video card is perfect. I wouldn't change that for the maker and price. The P5Bs are actually pretty easy once you know what your looking at. It's just extra features as you go up. The P5B-E adds firewire ports to the standard P5B. The deluxe gives you a second PCI-E x16 slot to run more then 2 monitors and a second LAN port, and the top end one adds bult-in WiFi. The cooling system changes a little as well, but that only really matters to overclockers.

[Drix]

Can I get a P5B that has WiFi without all the extras? I don't think I would use Firewire. Speaking of which, what is Firewire used for? Would it be a plus to have with my gaming PC? It would be nice to have WiFi, since I have a Wii and was considering getting a wireless router for a while now.

[Alaron]

The only P5B with Wifi is this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131028 But I would just get the P5B plain and add a PCI Wifi card down the road when you get a wireless router. Probably cheaper.

As for Firewire, if you dont have any devices that use it, I wouldn't worry about getting a motherboard that has it. And like before, you can add a card in later if you need it for something.

[Drix]

Ok, Plain P5B it is. Now, what about the hard drive? Why are there different prices for the same amount of storage? Is it worth the extra money for the same storage?

Thanks for all the help by the way. I just realized that I haven't thanked you guys once, after all your help. I don't want to seem ungrateful..

[Alaron]

For 500GB hard drives, Seagate has two versions. You want the first one, the 7200.10 : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148136

The second one costs a bit more because the 'ES' line are for servers and are supposedly built for more frequent use.

[freakitchen]

The P5B-VM has on-board video, which is obviously unnecessary as you're buying a dedicated video card. It will actually offer you slightly less options than the standard p5b, as it's only a Micro ATX board.

[Drix]

I will get the cheaper one then, thanks for the info.
How does this mobo look? ASUS P5B-VM LGA 775 Intel G965 Express Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $114.99

[HarshWinter]

P5B-VM has onboard video, get the plain p5b for $120.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131030

[Drix]

Thats what I meant.. :| (feeling dumb)

[Drix]

So, this is what we are looking at for a final build so far.

LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black SATA Model LH-20A1S - Retail $39.99

APEVIA X-CRUISER-AL Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail $69.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3500630AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $129.99

Hanns·G JW-199DPB Black 19" 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail $169.99

EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail $389.99 ($30 mail in rebate)

LITE-ON Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model SHD-16S1S-05 - OEM $17.99

Creative Sound Blaster SB0570 Audigy SE 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - OEM $27.99

Antec NeoPower NeoHE 550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply - Retail $109.99 ($40 mail in rebate)

Logitech Media Elite 967559-0403 Black USB + PS/2 Wired Standard Keyboard - Retail $24.25

Logitech MX518 2-Tone 8 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB + PS/2 Wired Optical Gaming-Grade Mouse - Retail $39.99

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400C4 - Retail $147.00 ($50 mail in rebate)

ASUS P5B LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $119.99

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 - Retail $225.90

Subtotal: $1473.05
+Shipping: $47.29
-Mail In Rebates: $120
Grand Total: $1400.34

[HarshWinter]

Looks good, but you only need 667mhz ram unless you overclocking. (with 667 you can overclock a little bit) and dont need a sound card, i would suggest trying the p5b's onboard sound first. The antec power supple should work fine, but i have been hearing really good things about the corsair 520hx.

ps: onboard basically means built into the motherboard. This usually isn't as good as a separate piece of hardware, but is free and can easily be switched later.

[minsonngo]

As HarshWinter already mentioned... you don't need the XMS2 modules... go with DDR 667... and go with the ValueSelect line from Corsair here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145098


The Antec PSU you picked out is good. Don't worry about changing it if you don't want to.


And I think your wasting your money with the sound card... the onboard one is even better and will suit your needs just fine. Invest your money in a good set of speakers if sound quality is your forte.

[Drix]

I can't thank you guys enough. I really appreciate all the help. I think I will drop the sound card and look for some speakers. Thanks to everyone that helped out.

[minsonngo]

Good luck on the new build and I hope all goes well! Your going to love the entire building process and enjoy your finished product.

[Drix]

At the last moment, I decided to get 4gb of ram. I chose this;
Patriot 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
I figured it was fine since I was suggested to get DDR2 667, and already ordered it. I didn't think about it 'till now. I'm getting nervous. Please relieve my worrys, and tell me it is compatible, and it will all turn out all right.

[minsonngo]

The only problem you will have is the OS not utilizing all 4 GB of memory...


32-bit versions of Windows will only utilize about 3 to 3.2 GB of memory.

If you want to utilize the full 4GB... you will need to get the 64-bit versions of Windows.

[Drix]

Okay, I'm not tooo terribly worried then. I can upgrade the OS later down the road, can't I?

[minsonngo]

Yes you can.

[Katreat]

Originally Posted by minsonngo The only problem you will have is the OS not utilizing all 4 GB of memory... 32-bit versions of Windows will only utilize about 3 to 3.2 GB of memory. If you want to utilize the full 4GB... you will need to get the 64-bit versions of Windows.

I thought that was an XP thing, is the vista 32-bit still limmited to 3 GB?

Kat

[doubledragon5]

Yes, the only version to utilize the full 4gb is a 64 bit Vista or Xp..