$1200 Gaming Computer

[Rikash89]

Hey all. I'm a first time builder looking to put together a computer to game on the 46" 1080p LCD tv that my roommate is picking up. I've helped friends build their computers but haven't built one myself so I'm checking to ensure the parts I'm planning on picking up are compatible. Max budget is $1200.

Case:

Antec Nine Hundred

Motherboard:

ASUS p5Q Pro

Video Card:

SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 4870

Power Supply:

PC Power & Cooling 610W EPS12V

CPU:

Intel 3.0Ghz Wolfdale e8400

Memory:

CORSAIR 4GB (2x2gb) ddr2 800 ram

Hard Drive:

320gb Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 Perpindicular recording

Optical Drives:

Lite-On DVD-Rom
Lite-On DVD Burner

OS:

Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit

A few questions I have:

1. Will overheating be a problem for this system with stock cooling on the parts listed above? Should I look at picking up additional case cooling?
2. Will I need a different drive to burn both CDs and DVDs?

Thanks for all your help!

[chuck4456]

I'd just get one drive, the DVD burner and invest in a good CPU cooler.
Which one to use totally depends on if you plan on overclocking or not. If your not overclocking, or just going to bump it up a little, the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro is both affordable and effective.
Check my Hardware Specs. All of the coolers that I have listed are highly effective for overclocking.
A+ on the other items on your list.
Good luck.

[liambl]

With an Antec 900, the stock cooling will be fine. If you use an aftermarket CPU cooler, it will void the warranty. Get this PSU. $10 more will get you this faster and larger HDD.

[chuck4456]

Originally Posted by liambl With an Antec 900, the stock cooling will be fine. If you use an aftermarket CPU cooler, it will void the warranty. Get this PSU. $10 more will get you this faster and larger HDD.

Either one of those PSUs will do just fine. The PC POWER&COOLING S610 has a much better and longer track record, but the Corsair he has listed is a good one.
As long as the CPU is kept cool, you won't have to worry about warranty problems because it will (most likely) never fail, at least not to a heat issue. The cooler that comes with the E8400 is a literal POS and not even worth being used as a paperweight.
If you're going to be doing some intense gaming, then you need the self-assurance that the CPU is staying cool.
Get a decent cooler.

[Moose on the Loose]

Originally Posted by chuck4456 The cooler that comes with the E8400 is a literal POS and not even worth being used as a paperweight.

That's the first I've heard about this. For normal day-to-day use it should be fine ?

[liambl]

Looking around the internet, the stock heatink should be fine, especially witht he huge ventilation of the Antec 900. It is smaller than previous Intel heatsinks but the E8400 is a new 45nm low power CPU.

[Masaki 7-11]

I've worked on a computer with an E8400 and stock heatsink with a basic case (One 120mm exhause fan only) and it was running at 90C idle, so it may be an issue. Once you are able to get into the bios, take a look at the temperatures for the processor, and if you are getting over 50C, it would be a good idea to get an aftermarket heatsink. Although getting an aftermarket heatsink may void your warranty with Intel, I believe that you can still return/replace then processor through newegg for a year (anyone know exactly?). Usually running your processor at a lower temperature will extend the life of the processor.

[liambl]

90C!?!? Isn't that near the core shutdown temp? I can't imagine it running that hot on stock cooling.

[The Village Idiot]

Intel provide the necessary equipment to keep the CPU running at a safe level, they won't want burnt out CPU's being returned in half a year because the stock fan isn't powerful enough. I don't have any experience on the new stock fan, but all I know is i've always trusted Intel with stock cooling. The new 45nm design is probably why it's a lot smaller.

[Masaki 7-11]

Originally Posted by liambl 90C!?!? Isn't that near the core shutdown temp? I can't imagine it running that hot on stock cooling.

I got called in to get the computer fixed since the computer was shutting down due to heat being too high (load temperature was getting above 105c and the computer then shut down). The ambient temperature in the room was 20C and there was about 12 inches (40cm) of clearance in the back and a few meters of clearance in the front of the case.

The heatsink was all aluminium, was about 1 and a half inches tall (about 4-5cm), was in full contact with the processor and had thermal paste, it was branded as Intel and the fan was about 80mm and ran around 1500-2000RPM. When compared to my stock intel cooler that came with the Celeron E1200, it was smaller.

The computer was built by a company based in Canada and may or may not have used the stock heatsink/fan, but it was properly installed. The best thing to do once you have the computer up and running with the stock fan is to check the temperatures in the bios and make sure that they are under 50C, if it is over 50C, then there is a good chance that the processor could overheat and cause problems, in this case an aftermarket heatsink would be a good idea.

Regarding the E8400 I was working on, I managed to first reduce the idle temperature of the processor to 50C with a Pentium D stock Intel cooler, and down to 35C later using an AC Freezer 7 Pro. The computer also had a 9600GT with a single slot cooler running in the computer which could have contributed to the increase in temperatures.

[Rikash89]

I think the plan is going to be to order an after-market cooler and thermal paste (Arctic Silver) in the event that it is running too hot on the stock cooler. I'd prefer to avoid voiding the warranty but if it's running hot then I'll go ahead and toss it on. If it's not, I'll have an extra after market cooler sitting around for use.

Took a look at the 500gb drive and I'll be upgrading to it. I will also be dropping the Dvd-rom.

I was browsing the forums and heard mention that 64-bit Vista has issues installing if you load with all 4gb of ram. Should I just be using 1 stick of ram until it installs and then add the other stick after?

Thanks for your help thus far.

[Rikash89]

Ended up getting everything listed above except for the Video card and OS. A buddy had a copy of 64 bit XP he let me have and offered to pick up the additional $150 to upgrade the card to a HD 4870 x2. I didn't put up much of an argument.

Everything went together without a hitch and it booted fine on start-up. I got 3 additional fans with my case (since there have been concerns about the installed fans, so I put that on the side vent. I wasn't having CPU cooling issues so for now the aftermarket cooler is just sitting around.

My CPU was idling around 35 degrees C and around 45 under load. The video card was having some issues after several hours under load (crysis at maxed settings) so I went ahead and upped the fan speed... that took care of the problem. Thanks all for your help!

[Rikash89]

A few updates. If you take a look at this thread you'll get an idea of my problems. I just wanted to update this thread in case anyone who was helping out earlier had any further suggestions.

Thanks a ton.

[Alaron]

__Moderator Note__

Rikash89, I'm going to close this thread to make sure responses for your latest thread go there. We don't want to confuse the troubleshooting process with answers in two places. Thanks for understanding.