Gaming/recording build

[windsleeper]

I'm building a pc that will be used for gaming and music recording/editiing. Total cost $1,000 or under.

Here's the specs:

Cpu: $188 Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz 6MB L2 Cache
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115036

Motherboard: $145: ASUS P5Q-E LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131296

Hard drive: $65 Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148288

PSU: $140 Antec NeoPower 650 Blue 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371010

DVD: $28 LITE-ON Black 20X DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106265

Memory: $25 (after $30 rebate) ORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145184

Video card: $260 EVGA 896-P3-1267-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked Edition 896MB 448-bit GDDR3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130400

Sound card: $95 Creative 70SB088000004 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Express 1x Interface PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829102024

I have a good case I'll be re-using (lian li) and Windows XP will be the OS. Monitor, keyboard, mouse all to be reused.

Any concerns or better/cheaper parts? Do I have the right memory speed @800? Is PSU adequate? Am I going the right route with the Core 2 Duo?

Any advice always appreciated.

[shadowpr]

Looks good.

Only thing I would change is the creative sound card. I personally don't like creative anymore and would suggest anyone go with a different brand.

[strjms72]

this type of computer you must have a big lcd monitor (minim 21'').

[windsleeper]

Originally Posted by shadowpr Looks good. Only thing I would change is the creative sound card. I personally don't like creative anymore and would suggest anyone go with a different brand.

Any particular suggestions for a different sound card?

[tomtoon]

Usually on-board sound is ok.

You should stick with it and see if it's ok for you, if not then you should come back and ask if your not satisfied

[not important]

Same as tomtoon. Onboard sound is quite good now and you can always add a card later if you want.

[windsleeper]

The idea of scrapping the sound card has me thinking about tossing a few more $'s into the rig to go up to the Core i7. If I did the build would be this:

Cpu: $295 Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115202

Motherboard: $220: MSI X58 Platinum LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130216

Memory: $84 Crucial 3GB (3 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148244http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148244

Hard drive: $65 Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148288

PSU: $140 Antec NeoPower 650 Blue 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371010

DVD: $28 LITE-ON Black 20X DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106265

Video card: $260 EVGA 896-P3-1267-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked Edition 896MB 448-bit GDDR3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130400

Total comes to $1092.

I'd normally go with an ASUS board, since I have had good experience in the past with them - but it's $80 more for the ASUS X58. Is this MSI board any good?

Also, is a 650 PSU enough? Between the CPU and the Video card, I think I'll be sucking down major wattage.

Looking up the wattage range, I found this $40 cheaper than the 650 watter I originally proposed.

$100 after rebate CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139006

Thanks for all the help so far. Any additional input would be great.

[Masaki 7-11]

So far I've had no problems with using MSI motherboards, I've built about a half dozen computers using them, my oldest being three years old and still working, while my newest MSI motherboard is the P45 Platinum (in my sig). 650W should be enough for your rig, take a look at using this one instead though: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371015 (same brand and good quality, but a lot less expensive)

[Force Flow]

Originally Posted by not important Same as tomtoon. Onboard sound is quite good now and you can always add a card later if you want.

I have yet to be satisfied with onboard when it comes to multimedia. It's fine for the average user, though.

[Masaki 7-11]

Originally Posted by Force Flow I have yet to be satisfied with onboard when it comes to multimedia. It's fine for the average user, though.

I think it depends on the type of onboard, SoundMax(ADI) onboard for example has much better quality than Realtek or Sigmatel.

[Force Flow]

Realtek is one of the ones I'm never happy with. I haven't worked with any boards that had SoundMax on them

[windsleeper]

Originally Posted by Force Flow Realtek is one of the ones I'm never happy with. I haven't worked with any boards that had SoundMax on them

I just went to the MSI web site. The X58 MSI board uses the Realtek audio chips. The advice is probably still sound. Try it out. If I don't like it, can always buy a sound card down the road.

[Force Flow]

I stick with Intel and Asus for motherboards...that could be why

[windsleeper]

Originally Posted by Force Flow I stick with Intel and Asus for motherboards...that could be why

The way I figure it now, is if I save $80 now with the MSI board, that's $80 I can use later to buy a sound card. If I buy the ASUS board, and don't like the sound, I've got to buy a card on top of the higher price for the ASUS board.

[windsleeper]

Followup question on memory with the x58 board.

Under Windows XP, Am I better off with 3 sticks of 1 gb memory, 2 sticks of 2gb memory or 3 sticks of 2 gb memory (some of which wouldn't be used because of the 4 gb XP limits)? Not pricewise, just performance-wise.

I'd normally assume 2 sticks of 2gb, but the ddr3 memory is sold in packs of 3 and I'm not sure if there's something optimal about having a set of 3 sticks.

EDIT: Also, if I went with 3 sticks of 2gb, does XP use 2/3rd of each stick, or does it use the full memory from 2 sticks and just ignore the third one?

[shadowpr]

If getting a 32 bit os, I would get 3x1gb sticks.

[Chris Linder]

I used this motherboard for my DJing system. A bit pricey but the sound card on this thing is sick. Out of this world , it picks up every detail of sound when I create beats and scratch.
Throw an ATI 4850 on there with a 32 inch screen and you got yourself a recording studio.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131284


Good luck

[windsleeper]

Thanks all for the assistance. Now I just have to survive Christmas and the next round of layoffs so I can feel stable enough to spend the $'s.

On the bright side, in a month everything will be cheaper!

[mplsmelo]

This sound card:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829121120

Always available on Ebay for $50-$80.