Time for a new computer - Second Build

[ChrisZ]

Today my 9800 XT finally gave out after several years of daily service. I decided it would be best to build a new rig as mine is becoming obsolete for many of todays new games. Also, at 3.5 years old I would not be surprised if something else died.

I am an avid WoW player (which doesn't require much in terms of a computer), but I would like to be able to play Bioshock, CoD4, Crysis, and Starcraft II in the future at a good frame rate. I usually multitask with AIM/firefox/ventrilo up most of the time along with games.

I threw together a build today. I am definitely looking to spend less than $1500, but as close to $1000 as I can without cutting corners. I tried to pick out components with high customer satisfaction. I believe they are all compatible, but I could be wrong.


Case: COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-WW Black/Silver Aluminum Bezel, SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119077

PSU: ENERMAX Liberty ELT500AWT ATX12V 500W Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817194003

Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80562Q6600 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115017

Motherboard: Intel BLKD975XBX2KR LGA 775 Intel 975X ATX Intel Motherboard - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813121060

RAM: Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model BL2KIT12864AA804 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820146565

Video Card: EVGA 640-P2-N825-AR GeForce 8800GTS Superclocked 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130080

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148262

LCD: SAMSUNG 226BW Black 22" 2 ms (GTG) DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824001096

CD/DVD: LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with 12X DVD-RAM write and LightScribe Technology Black E-IDE/ATAPI Model LH-20A1H-185 - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106055


I have a mouse, keyboard, speakers, and headphones all ready to go.

I figured this was the best place to go to perfect the cost/effectiveness ratio of my build. What are your suggestions to try to get the build closer to $1000? I was thinking of switching the quad to a duo and maybe changing out the motherboard, but again those aren't areas I am familiar with. Also, is 500W enough for a single card setup such as this one?

Thank you for the help

[shadowpr]

For a basic MB, look at the P5K.

Also, get the evga 8800gt instead. It performs better and costs less.

For the DVD burner, get a sata retail.

You might save money if you get corsair xms ram instead.

[wammy_bar]

500 watts is enough for that card

[pam123]

Antec Sonata III comes with an excellent 500 watt power supply and a rebate that drops it's price down to $90.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129024


The 22" Samsung can be dropped to a 19 "
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824001088
$169 after the rebate.

I really think you should keep the processor, it's going to future proof you.

The motherboard looks like serious over kill, support for 3 video cards and it's Crossfire so your nVidia card is not a good choice for it.

Do you have any plans for multiple video cards?
If you don't then chose a board with one video slot .

[ChrisZ]

I do not currently plan for multiple video cards, so I switched to:

Motherboard: ASUS P5K-E LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131225

Video Card: EVGA 512-P3-N802-A3 GeForce 8800GT Superclocked 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail (Free Crysis Game Included)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130306

I believe with that mobo and card I would still have the option of throwing in another one of those cards.

I would like to keep the 22 inch LCD. I originally just planned on buying that LCD about now, but then the video card died.

I checked out corsair RAM but did not find any cheaper than what I had listed.

[pam123]

I agree about the 22" Samsung (If my budget had had more room last month it would have been my first choice.) but just keep in mind that there is a decent, though smaller, alternative.

Read through this, about the chipset quirks of that board : http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=189431

What it means for you is that, with care, the board is still a good bet and you'll know how to avoid the problem.

[ChrisZ]

I was browsing around for other mobo options. It seems that just about every board has reviews saying how nothing was working, it died, had to mess with BIOS forever.. etc. I am tech savvy, but not a computer expert. I know how to plug everything in, fix a few problems, and use google to solve others, but that is the extent of my computer magic. As long as a computer is working, I never look at hardware.

How about this guy:
ABIT IP35 Pro LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813127030

Or is the P5K-E that I picked out still recommended? In terms of motherboards, I just pray that they work when I take them out of the box and that they perform very well.

Any suggestions or links to your top stable motherboard for my purposes would be fantastic. Right now its my biggest issue, along with getting one of these EVGA cards in stock on newegg to order.

[glc]

Yes, the P5K-E works VERY well as long as you use SATA hard drives and optical drives.

The Abit will have the same quirks.

[Barbrich]

ChrisZ, I am in the same situation as you. I don't know which MB to use.


glc,
can I use two hard drives and two optical drives with the P5K or P5K E ?

[glc]

Yes, the P5K has 4 SATA ports on the Intel ICH and the P5K-E has 5.

[ChrisZ]

Hey!

I chose the P5K-E mobo as suggested. The parts came in today and I put together the computer. Finally got it wired and booted it up.

I can get into BIOS and such fine, but the DVD drive will not read my xp disk and says that it can not see the boot device. I tried going to BIOS and setting the lite-on to primary, but nothing happened and upon reboot iI got the overclocking failed message. I tried pressing F8 and booting from the dvd drive and same problem. I tried looking at:

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=189431

that you recommended. I am not sure exactly what is going on in the thread though. I didnt quite follow what was being said. I did try disabling JMicron in BIOS as mentioned at the bottom of the thread, same problem still exists.

I have 1 SATA hard drive and 1 IDE cd-rom as I listed in the parts list above, so I believe those were compatable. IDE = optical, correct?

Ideas?

[ChrisZ]

Ah I popped in the ASUS mobo cd just for kicks and that booted up. I think it might have been my not so legal copy of XP that is a few years old and might have been scratched up too badly. I might head out and pick up vista tomorrow.