New gaming build

[KoMoDo]

hey guys,

so its time to get myself a new pc. my bro's coming home for a visit (he lives in the US and i live in Israel) so he'll bring the parts with him from newegg.

Heres a list, let me know what you think, im looking for as much bang-for-my-buck as possible obviously, and not going for the latest and greatest since that won't be too cheap now will it..

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - the hsf that comes with this CPU shall do? remember i got high temps here in israel

COOLER MASTER Real Power Pro RS-650-ACAA-A1 650W ATX Form Factor - this would work in Israel with the 220 V obviously right? just need the cable.

ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB

LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X

EVGA 512-P3-N873-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit - sort of expensive, worth it ?

CORSAIR XMS2 DHX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)


comes out around 850$

Thats it, i have a monitor, keyboard and mouse, and ill get a case here.. not worth bringing one all the way from the US.

Thanks in advance.

[The_Wiseman]

I'd recommend the Radeon 4850 (which has a some discounts with the p5q pro and e8400 right now) and the Western Digital WD6400AAKS (640gb hard drive).

Asus 512mb Radeon 4850 $187.99 $157.99 (after -$30 combo with p5g pro) and 127.99 after $30 MIR

Sapphire 512mb Radeon 4850 $174.99 $154.99 (after -$20 combo with e8400) and $134.99 after -20 MIR

Western Digital 640gb WD6400AAKS $89.99

The WD6400AAKS is outperforming the Barracuda's in benchmarks (both perform quite well though, so either's a good choice.) The Barracuda might pull ahead if the cache becomes more important in the future, though. So either way.

The 4850's getting a lot of recommendations around here. I didn't check the combo's and everything on the 9800 GTX though. Not sure about the power supply, I'll let someone else comment.

[KoMoDo]

wouldn't a 32 mb cache do better? i do prefer WD's HD's overall though.

regarding the gfx card - are you positive about the 4850? ill wait for more comments aswell. i do prefer getting an ATI card rather than an ASUS or Sapphire though

how are either one:

Sapphire 4850

or this:

XFX 9800 GTX

and this mem:
OCZ Gold

also - shouldnt there be any changes in prices or the likes in a month or so? i have until approx early Sep to order it so ill have it by then end of Sep.
p.s.: i will use Win XP Pro on this system, if thats still a possibility.

[vtfanmv5]

4850s definitely outperform the 9800GTXs.

There will definitely be price changes between now and September. The Nehalem processors are scheduled to release in September, so other CPU costs should drop across the board before then. Video card prices will also drop with the release of the X2 4800s in the next month or so.

By the time you are ready to buy, the 4850 1GB DDR3 may fall into a good price range for you. It's at $225 now.

[KoMoDo]

so you say we should postpone this post until the end of august or so ?

[vtfanmv5]

I definitely wouldn't buy it until as late as you can. Nothing wrong with deciding what you're going to get though, that's probably not going to change much.

[KoMoDo]

so hows the build so far? i still need to see about the gfx card, but i guess thats decidable by Sep 1st or so..
should also keep an eye on newegg combo's for the beginning of september i suppose.. is there a list of their daily combos around or so ?

[KoMoDo]

Alright fellas, the time has come to actually buy the pc (at a very good timing as it seems my current gfx card is totally screwed, ill post a thread about this with need of help soon)

Here's the component list - please let me know what you think, most bang for the buck etc etc..

CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - It's a ddr2 800 although the mobo im going with supports ddr2 1200, is there a huge difference? worth the money difference?

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - the hsf that comes with this cpu is sufficient for Israel's climate ?

OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI 700W ATX12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply - overkill? theres no 110v/220v switch on the back, i presume i just plug my Israel voltage cable in and itll adjust automatically?

ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

EVGA 512-P3-N873-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - what do you guys think? i know the 200 gfx series is out already but they're really expensive

LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R - i just need a simple DVD burner to read/write DVD's and CD's, and burn my ps2 backups at high quality - its out of stock atm so i might need to switch a burner, can anyone link me to another good one please ?

Thats it, am i missing anything? hopefully i got myself a good build - comes out at around 772$ without shipping and a dvd burner

[KoMoDo]

hows thid dvd burner?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...L0A-_-27151173

edit: and this PSU, 650W should do, no ?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...L2D-_-17139005

[shadowpr]

List looks good.

Try this dvd burner: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106265

And I believe either one of those psu's should work.

[KoMoDo]

are you sure about the burner? the Samsung one i linked is cheaper and seems more popular

Anything else fellas? more comments if possible, i plan on doing the purchase tomorrow

[Alaron]

Looks fine to me. The DDR2-800 is the best match for your processor. The stock Intel HSF is fine for cooling. You can always add a case fan if your room is extra warm.

I'd go with a LiteOn burner, it comes with software.

[KoMoDo]

what software? i have nero and the likes, dont think i need that.

is Samsung ok for burning PS2 backups? if it is i think we're set pretty much.. the only thing im missing is a case which ill get here in Israel.

i could appreciate a few more comments to make sure im doing a wise build..

also,which PSU should i get ?

[Alaron]

If you have burning software, thats great. Just a suggestion. I like the quality of LiteOn drives. Haven't used Samsungs lately.

Either PSU will be fine, their is no price advantage either way. They both support the higher voltage for other countries and are solid brands. Flip a coin.

[KoMoDo]

ok i think im going for the 700W since theres a lot more reviews on the thing (although its only 74% on 5 stars rather than 81% on the Corsair one so we'll see )

ill go for the Liteon burner you recommended then.

Am i officially set then? it just seems so easy and tidy if i set it up everything correctly ? xD

what about the gfx card - best bang for my buck? im planning on playing all the latest games for like 2-3 years to come at "High" and 1440x900 (if they support widescreen), should this card suffice for a few years, then i might upgrade (hopefully pci-e will last a while.. im still on AGP here)

[KoMoDo]

alright guys, this is basically the last chance to do any changes, its been almost 2 weeks since i made the newest build aswell and since my bro told me his flight's delayed for a few days he can do the order as late as tomorrow. so i have until tomorrow evening (around 30 hours from now) to make the buy.

so please, if you can tell me if any changes are necessary here, like any new combo deals or lower prices on components (like new gfx cards or so), please let me know since i obviously want my build to last as long as possible and be the most bang-for-my-buck

edit: btw i wanted to add i was looking at the store which im planning on getting a case from, and i found some good cases.. what do you think of the NZXT Apollo ? looks pretty sweet and not all that expensive here

Thanks in advance, appreciated

[The Village Idiot]

The list looks Ok, I have the 600watt version of the power supply you're planning to get, nice to look at and runs well. As for the cases, i've had excellent experience with NZXT, they have high build standards, and are one of the best visually to look at. They don't go over the top. I have a NZXT Hush Classic and that works great.

As for the graphics cards, you're always going to pay a premium for the latest technology. I think the 9800GTX+ is a great card, it runs quite and cool, which is probably ideal for you as the ATi cards have been having heat issues apparently.

[KoMoDo]

sounds good

i got 2 questions about the PSU:
1. theres no voltage switch on it.. will it automatically convert to 220V (Israeli voltage) ?

2. in the newegg pictures, is the PSU upside down? for some reason the fan is up and that doesn't make much sense

Thanks

[The Village Idiot]

Mine automatically adjusts to the right voltage. So I imagine yours will do the same.

Yes it's upside down, some cases have the PSU at the bottom. Regardless you'll have it pointing the other way up . They've just put it that way up so that it's on a smooth surface. You can see the fan protector grills are slightly raised, if the put it the other way up they wouldn't be able to show off the fan and it would be slightly unstable That doesn't matter once you've screwed it inside the case.

[KoMoDo]

alright.. im set and rdy to go then. Cheers