Specific technical questions on budget gaming build

[shane Falco]

Hey!

I have been really busy researching my build.I have a budget of $800 with tax and shipping.I could squeeze the budget a little,but I would still like to stay at $800.
My main uses are gaming,encoding,and downloading.24/7

Parts NOT needed!!

Case - Antec 900
Monitor- Have a 21" Dell,mouse,speakers,but need a keyboard.The one below is 24 bucks.I hope it doesn't suck!
Have XP Pro(Will switch over to Windows 7,after it matures.Plus the fact,I'm on a budget,and want the 800 clams going into parts.)

I wanted a good quad core chip with lower wattage,but at least 3gigs ,at a really cheap price,with free shipping.Hello Newegg and AMD.
My second choice was a midrange video card.I want to go with Nivdia,so I'll leave it that.Just my personal choice. I was going to go with a EVGA 9800GTX+,but these older cards use alot more juice,and seem to run hotter. The GeForce GTS 250 1GB 256-bit DDR3 is a rebraded 9800GTX,but there are some worthy improvements with these cards.Use less power,run cooler,and 1 gig of ram.The only thing I dislike is,the 9800 has a lifetime warrenty,but the 250 has a 2 year warrenty.On the upside, it's only 154 dollars,which is pretty sweet considering it will run almost any game.My hardest choice is the motherboard,and that is where I have questions,and need some advice.I'm a first time builder,but I hang out on pc forums.


AMD Phenom II X4 945 Deneb 3.0GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Processor

GIGABYTE GA-MA790GPT-UD3H AM3 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AM..... Combo deal 249.00


GIGABYTE GA-MA790GPT-UD3H AM3 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128398

AMD Phenom II X4 945 Deneb 3.0GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103696




CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified "52 Amps on +12V rail" $99.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139005


EVGA 01G-P3-1158-TR GeForce GTS 250 1GB 256-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - Retail $154.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130514


MIGHT NEED TO CHANGE RAM

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ $104.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231193


Steelseries Merc Black USB Wired Ergonomic Gaming Keyboard - Retail $24.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16823239008


LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 24X DVD Writer LightScribe Support - Retail $31.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106335


Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $69.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136320



Total cost= $736.00 without tax and shipping,

I forgot.I still need a after market cooler.Any help here is appreciated.There goes my budget.Its always something!


Build/Tech Questions?


I will have some issues starting with the hard drive.I just bought a Western Digital Blue,320 gig ,16 mb cache.I got it for $47 dollars 2 weeks ago.I didn't notice it was 16mb cache.I wish it was 32mb.Will it make a difference if I use this drive for a boot(the lower cache drive),and partition the 500 gig 32mb cache for gaming and storage.Man,when they say bare drive,they really mean it.It was just the drive and bubble wrap.No big deal I have a stash of screws and some cables laying around.

My second issues are with my case Antec 900 and the motherboard.I like reading the reviews on newegg because it helps think about potential problems.The motherboard I'm going to use GIGABYTE GA-MA790GPT-UD3H AM3 AMD 790GX

1.Front panel audio connector is in the BACK OF THE MOBO? from reading some reviews I might need to extend the length for good cable management.Are extenders a standard size to increase length. I don't want my the cable stretched like a guitar string to reach it.I wonder what else might be short.Who knows with case wiring.

2.It seems this board has had complaints of cold boot problems. It was suggested to get low power DDR3 for this board, standard power will cause BSOD or start-up hanging.Not everyone has this problem,but more than a few have complained.

One comment read...

With DDR 3 1600 ram it recongizes it as 1333 ram. I also found the timings were off. I was easily able to change to 1600 in the bios but the timings needed to be tinkered with. Using AMDs overdrive utility I was able to alter the memory timings and have a stable system. I also used AMD overdrive to overclock the processor.

Thats good to know!!I knew I could go in the Bios and change settings to correct ram,but was not aware of AMDs overdrive utility.That sounds like I can solve alot of problems.

If I go with the lower DDR3 1333 can I still overclock? I really dont want to overclock the ram.This is my first build.Ill be happy with a stable system,then I'll worry about frying my parts overclocking.


I read the northbridge gets hot on these boards.How do you add a fan on the motherboard to cool chips? Just wondering.I'm trying to cover my bases.


Any comments,suggestions,brow beatings or something I missed,are welcomed.

[triquee]

RE: an after market cooler...

I'm using a Cooler Master Hyper 212+ for my 1156 socket CPU.

The mount can be adjusted to fit an AM3 socket. Keeps my i5-750 running at 24-30C idle. I haven't burned in the processor or anything yet, but I have put some decent graphics/process stress on it and haven't seen it go above 42C with anything I've done to it so far. The cost for the cooler is about $35. Very good cooler for the price. I recommend it.