New Build ... Revised!

[pturula]

My main goal is to build a solid gaming rig, nothing overly pricey but good enough so that it lasts 3+ years before i build another one.

Below are the parts i want to get, keep in mind that dvd, cd, burners, case, and PSUs are going over from my old rig...

Motheboard - ASUS P5E LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX
My main reason for this is its PCIe 2.0 Support, just thinking into the future.

CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66GHz
Im not much of an overclocker, i want the cpu to run well stock.

RAM - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2
It's pretty cheap for 4GB so ill take it.

Graphic Card - Text EVGA 512-P2-N757-TR GeForce 8600GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16
Now im not 100% sure this is the card i want, seems like a good one but plz link better ones if you know of any.

HDD - Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10,000 RPM 16MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
YES i am fully aware that there are other regular 7200RPM drives that perform almost as well and even better in certain scenarios, but i dont need the extra storage i got 1TB as it is in externals.


That'll do it ! Please feel free to criticize all you want, as long as you give me a better option LOL!

Thanks to all who post !
~pturula

 

[MegaVovaN]

Do you game? If so, WEAK WEAK WEAK video card!

IF money is concern get P35 chipset and 8800GT.

extremely expensive MOBO, buy $100 mobo now, when "future" comes, buy another $100 mobo and sell your old one.

 

[pturula]

can u link plz...

 

[MegaVovaN]

Read 40 other threads on here...I and others linked plenty there.

Whats your budget? Read THIS and edit first post with information! (Budget, what will you use for, etc)

 

[pturula]

<Mainly Used for :
World of Warcraft, CS, CS:Source, TF2 - possible new future games.

<Price Range:
give or take in the close vicinity of $1,300

<Manufacturers:
Gigabyte, Asus, Intel, ATI or nVidia, Corsair, Crucial

<Parts from old rig :
keeping .. DVD/CD burner, WinXP Pro(32), PSU, Case

Below... revised with a diff mobo and graphic card.



Motheboard - GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX

CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66GHz
Im not much of an overclocker, i want the cpu to run well stock.

RAM - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2

Graphic Card - BFG Tech BFGE88512GTOC2E GeForce 8800GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0
I read 2.0 is backwards compatible so this should work fine right ?

HDD - Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10,000 RPM 16MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM

 

[DSF]

Better looking list now. What about the other parts of the build...any idea what you're looking at as far as Case, PSU, etc?

 

[pturula]

Im keeping those from my old rig, ive got a nice Thermaltake Kandalf Aluminum Case, and a sweet PSU where the cables are unpluggable from the PSU unit itself so it prevents cable clutter.

 

[MegaVovaN]

How many Amps on +12 rail(s) on your PSU? If you can't find those give us the model of PSU.

Good choice of motherboard (Gigabyte).

Don't know about RAM, you can do with 2 of these to be cheap (but no overclocking probably):
http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=T8UB2GC5

Raptor...good drive if you can afford it. If you want to save $$, go with regular 500GB drive.

You picked VERY expensive 8800GT. It can be had for ~$240 in HOT DEALS forum (DO NOT buy from DELL though!! They won't ship).
Other card you may want to look into got more oomph but less bang for the buck is 8800GTS v2 (one with 512mb memory).

 

[pturula]

I like the RAM you posted DSF acutally posted that same chip on my last post a few days back...
I'll definatelly look around for an 8800GT or GTS for a cheaper price.
Im not 100% sure what the Amps on +12 rail(s) on my PSU is atm, im at work but ill post this once i get home.
Thanks to you all for the help.

 

[pturula]

I cant read the info on my PSU without having to take it out.... so i looked it up online,
here is the link to is Ultra Xconnect PSU 500Watt.

Do you think that will be enough for the parts listed above ?

 

[MegaVovaN]

+28A on +12...hmm, should be enough IMO.

 

[DSF]

Yeah you'll be fine.

 

[pturula]

Awesome guys ! thanks for all your help.

BTW .... im not 100% sure which RAM im gonna go with, i think im leaning towards the SUPER TALENT as opposed to the G.SKILL.
and im going to go with another graphic card that DSF reccomended to me a few days back ...

http://www.newegg.com/product/...p?item=N82E16814150253

Once again thank you all ! I shall let you know how this bad mamajamma performs !

 

[pturula]

Hmm you guys think it's worth getting HDD Heatsinks ?.
i've never had a 10,000RPM HDD, im not sure how hot those get lol.

 

[DSF]

For what it's worth, when I bought that card it was $10 cheaper and came with a free Company of Heroes game. Since I didn't own Company of Heroes, that was a decent deal for me. XFX is a good company, but I don't think I'd spend $290 on an 8800GT when there are better deals. Here are some other ones I'd look at that would be a little bit more cost-effective:

For example, if you don't own CoH, here's an 8800GTS, a little bit faster than the 8800GT for $319 after mail-in rebate. Comes with the game, so it works out to about the same price after rebate (when you include the value of the game) as that 8800GT for a slightly better card.

Or you could get this 8800GT from EVGA, another quality company, for $269. It's not overclocked like the XFX one, but even at stock speeds the 8800GT is a good card, and you can always experiment with overclocking yourself.

Another option, since your games aren't particularly demanding at the moment, is the 256MB version of the 8800GT which performs pretty well. The 256MB version runs between $200 and 220. The only thing is that it falls behind the 512MB competition (both 8800GT and 3870 if I recall correctly) at high resolutions with AA and/or AF cranked up.

 

[pturula]

Right now im running on a p4 3.0GHz with 2GB of Corsair XMS RAM with ATI X800pro... Which at the time of purchase was insanely fast, CS runs at aronud 80fps, source 35-45fps, and TF2 aint so good either but my world of warcraft craps out at 10fps in very busy areas like battlesgrounds or crowded cities.
I hear alot about Crysis, so im itching to try that game and i hear its a pretty demanding one as well...
is the speed increase of http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814150261 worth the extra $$ ?

 

[Doclife]

I would replace the motherboard and RAM with these:

MOTHERBOARD: GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R Rev. 2.0 $127

http://clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=A4830711

Bigger north bridge heat sink, has 8 USB ports in the I/O back plate, better on-board sound chip (the audio quality is superb on this motherboard compare to the DS3L). Make sure you buy Rev 2.0 and not Rev 1.0 motherboard.


MEMORY: Transcend 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory $86

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820208353

I'd used Transcend before and never giving me any problems. You're wasting money on the GSkill DDR2 1000 RAM. DDR2 800 is more than enough speed in your case since the E6750 is running at 2.66GHz (333 Mhx x 8 = 2.66Ghz), the maximum RAM speed is 667Mhz (333Mhz x 2) if you don't overclock.


HD: You're paying a lot for the 10,000RPM HD for very little gain in performance, if any. Higher roration speed on the HD will generate more heat, wear and tear. Thus, the life expectancy would be lower than the 7200RPM HD. A dead HD is the last thing you would want to see.

 

[pturula]

As for the motherboard, i dont really need all those USB ports, and i run a 5.1 surround sound with my Logitech Z3 and my Soundblaster Audigy Gaming series sound card. So i dont think spending that extra 25'ish bucks is worth doing, but thanks for helping out. I've never really read anything about Transcend chips... im not sure if they are any good, even from newegg only 6 ppl bought it and although all gave it a 5* rating im gonna do some reasearch before i go with it, but yea the price is incredibly cheap!

 

[Doclife]

VIDEO CARD: EVGA E-GEFORCE 8800GT 600MHZ 512MB 1.8GHZ DDR3 PCI-E Dual DVI-I HDTV Out Video Card $233

http://www.ncixus.com/products...4/512-P3-N801-AR/eVGA/


If you like the factory overclocked then you might want to look into the Palit sonic 8800GT $254

http://www.ncixus.com/products...t%20Multimedia%20Inc./

I myself ordered one and waiting for it to come.

 

[DSF]

As long as shipping isn't excessive, that EVGA 8800GT Doclife found on ncixus is a pretty good deal. For what you're doing, I'd get that over the 8800GTS, especially if you're not particularly interested in Company of Heroes.

 

[pturula]

I like company of heroes i used to play Medal of Honor a few years back, it was fun... this can only be better

 

[DSF]

Well Company of Heroes is a real-time strategy game, not a first-person shooter like Medal of Honor. But yeah, it's a very fun game.

 

[pturula]

Hey DSF, whats your take on the Transcend RAM posted a view replies back ?!

 

[DSF]

No personal experience with it, but I haven't heard anything bad about it, and it's specced to run at 1.8V, which is a good thing.

Speaking of RAM, Doclife is right. DDR-1000 is overkill unless you get a deal on it that makes it as cheap as DDR2-800. Whatever you get, buy something that is designed to run at 1.8V.

 

[pturula]

Awesome ! well i guess that does it ! my wishlist shall become my shopping cart very soon !

Thank you all for your help with everything !