First build. $700 gaming

[ci_vic]

Hello, I'm looking to build my first computer. I have a budget of $700 and I gearing it toward gaming. Through research I found that the only things I can salvage from my old rig is my optical drives (Lite on DVD rom and Lite on DVD writer).
Here is the power source that I have
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817171018

here is the case that I have
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119137

I figure that cooler master is on the list of good power sources. The power source and case isn't part of my old rig and I plan on using them in my new build.

Well here is what I have picked out and why. I'm putting why because I would like to know if my way of thinking is wrong.

MOBO
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16813131022

I picked out this one because I hear that ASUS is the best MOBOs you can get. I decided against SLI or crossfire because I don't see any real advantage of having 2 video cards when you are on a budget.

CPU
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16819103759

I really want the 6000 but I want to know would I need the extra power in my CPU. Doesn't the video card play a bigger role then the CPU when it comes to a gaming rig?

RAM
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16820145034

I hear this is the safe bet because AMD is picky about the RAM you pair with it. Besides the mail in rebate is a killer deal. I checked it against the MOBO i picked out and it's good to go.

HDD
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16822136037

I'm flexable with this because I believe I could get by with a 180G, or should I just go for this one?

Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16814130291

I'm looking at this one because GeForce looks like the fav. I do have a few questions about Video cards. I can't find the 8800GT that everybody is talking about. Is the 8800GT better then the one I have listed here and how much dose it cost? I'm looking to have graphics that look like the 360 and playstation 3 or better. Is that possable by only spending around $200 on a video card? The most graphically demanding game that I have is Oblivion IV. Other games that I like is the need for speed series, WOW, FFXI, and some other new games. I would like to play the games at max setting. Another thing I want to accomplish with this build is to not have to upgrade for atleast 3 years. That's all that I can think of right now. Any suggestions are welcome. Thank you for the input. By the way I plan on going Vista (not included in the budget because I can get this for Christmas.

[wildfire]

I HIGHLY, suggest that you don't get that piece of junk $25 PSU. Get a 450 Corsair for great quality and power.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139003

I'd suggest you go for Intel, a Core 2 duo CPU. Speed matters from a CPU but now it matters a lot on how they are built. like a Core 2 duo 2.2ghz could whip a AMD 2.6ghz.
So I'd say go for a Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66ghz. $200
Take a look at these charts. http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu_2007.html
Here it is http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115029

Since I suggested to go intel, choose this motherboard. Asus P5K P35, $130. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131180

Good ram choice brand but I'd suggest getting cheaper ram that's only $46 after rebate, Corsair XMS2 Cas Latency 5. [The ram you chose had 2.1 voltage and I think that ppl here said that you want 1.9volts or lower]
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145590

Good HDD choice but you could get a Seagate 250gb hard drive that would only be $65, $15 cheaper than your WD one, Seagate hard drives are known to be reliable and have a 5 year warranty. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148261

If you're going to get a 8600GTS, your WASTING OF YOUR MONEY!
If you wanna budget your gaming, go for a 8600GT that would be a bit slower or get 8800GT that would give your absolute best bang for your buck.
Get an 8800GT or 8600GT but don't waste your money on an 8600GTS that has just little gain over 8600GT.
Look at these charts http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html .
[8800GT is better than its more expensive brother, the 8800GTS 640MB and 320MB. The charts show that 8600GT is at 40FPS, 8600GTS is at 50FPS and the 8800GTS is at 100 FPS but the 8800GT is better than the 8800GTS so I'd say it would hit 110 FPS]
I'd highly suggest this. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130303

This is like a scale of the 8600GT, 8600GTS, 8800GT.
|-------|---------------------------------------------|
8600GT at back, 8600GTS in middle [Kind of], 8800GT at end.
8600GT = $100 8600GT = $200 8800GT = $290

The best video card would ahve to be the 8800GT

[glc]

The Coolermaster is not THAT bad a PSU.

[ci_vic]

ok I have updated my list a bit and here is what I got

MOBO
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16813131180

CPU
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16819115029

Video card
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16814130303
(I was wondering if the XFX version of this card is just as good as the EVGA version?)

RAM
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16820145590

HDD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148262

I don't plan on overclocking and I would believe that this is a set up that wouldn't need to be updated for at least 3 years. Of coarse over time i will be looking into getting a new monitor. With this set up should I be looking for another fan? I have 3 fans that came with the case. Thank you for the feed back.

[The Village Idiot]

XFX are just as good as EVGA if not better from experience. Plus they usually come with 2 life time warranties, meaning if you sell it on, that person also regains the warranty of the card. Could be good if you wanted to sell it. That aside it's usually just down to the core clock speeds that they have set.

[wildfire]

What PSU or case are you getting?
Your build seems fine to me.
there are just basically 3 major differences between evga and xfx in my mind.
XFX has double lifetime warranty, as in you can sell it and that person can recieve the warranty.
Evga has Step up program, I think it's within a month, you get to change your video card to a higher video card if a newer one gets released and you only pay the difference, and you remail your original one back.
Evga are clocked at a bit higher clock speeds like by 50mhz.

[glc]

I'm apprehensive of XFX simply because they are an ECS/PC Chips company.

[ci_vic]

Originally Posted by wildfire What PSU or case are you getting?

I already have a case and a PSU
PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817171018
I decided to stick with the one that I got. Although there are better ones, alot of people that I talked to says that coolermaster doesn't make bad PSU (not the best but not bad)
Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119137
Thanks for the information. After reading your suggestion about switching to Intel I went back to do some more reserch and found that Intel is better then AMD. The Intel setup will be cheeper when I upgrade (less parts that I have to change up).
I know I will be running Vista for my OS.
If everything looks good I will go ahead with the build in a few months (hopefully I could get some of the parts for Christmas so I could fit an LCD monitor in my budget. I know I should get one that has a response time of 5ms or lower, but I haven't started looking for one yet or learned about them yet.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by ci_vic PSU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817171018 I decided to stick with the one that I got. Although there are better ones, alot of people that I talked to says that coolermaster doesn't make bad PSU (not the best but not bad)

Yeah, Cooler Master power supplies are not that bad...the trick is to get one that has way more wattage than you actually need. That way you won't push it to the limit too often. That's where Cooler Master PSUs tend to fail, when they're near or at the limit for too long.

Cricket