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Building soon please look and suggest

1889 Views 21 Replies 18 Participants Last post by mcnabney, Feb 15, 2008

rahimlee54

Discussion Starter · Jan 25, 2008

I am going to be building a computer with my tax refund I believe, this will be my first build and I am trying to keep the price around the $800-$900 range. I am trying to make a pretty decent gaming rig to play CSS and other older FPS games on as well as run a nice 20fps on crysis

. These are the components I am looking at:

Processor - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz $219.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115037

Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L (Intel P35) $93.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128059

Ram - CORSAIR 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 $119.00 before rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145184

Video Card - EVGA 512-P3-N802-AR GeForce 8800GT Superclocked 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP $269.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130319

Sound Card - X-Fi XtremeGamer $80.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829102006

Hard Drive - Seagate 7200.10 250GB, 16MB cache, SATA 3Gb/s, perpendicular recording
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148262

Case - CoolerMaster Centurion 534 $49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119106

Power Supply - FSP 450W $57.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104954

DVD Burner - Lite-On 20x SATA DVD +/-RW Dual-layer $37.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106072

I am kinda on the fence about upgrading my PS and there is a really good deal going on a 700 W cooler master PS but I dont want to order it and have it sit in the box and when I get ready to use it it be dead so I hesitate. Any suggestions on better Ram or if I should go with a full size case. I do not know which OS I am going to run if I am going to stick with XP or jump into vista but I may be able to get a copy of that from an old college professor, so that will probably decide it. Any ideas that would increase the performance without destroying the budget or substitutions that would help keep it stable would be welcomed. Total $929.93 without rebates.

Thanks

Rahimlee54

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1 - 20 of 22 Posts

WaveyD4vey

· #2 · Jan 25, 2008

as usual....get a MUCH bigger power supply...i wouldnt get anything less than 700 watts personally just to be on the safe side...and yes id go with a full size case...Lian Li makes some nice ones!

hdtv00

· #3 · Jan 25, 2008

Another person wrong about some super psu needed lol. It never ends. I don't agree with your cpu though, q6600 or nothing.$270 for teh performance bump no brainer you ask me. Up the PSU then to a good 500w one you'll be fine.

I'm using well see sig, on a 500w, 4 hard drives too.....700w my ass.

Heres what I'm using and its running like a champ.. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129024

I don't care about fancy blue lights. I went cheap on case/psu combo, but I read reviews and there are MANY people using it with q6600 and newer 8800 GT OC card. So I went with it, working out damn fine so far.

DeltaDeuce

· #4 · Jan 25, 2008

I'd pass on the Mid-towers. Get a full one if you can afford it. I just did a build 2 weeks ago and got this case. Thermaltake Armor Series VA8003BWS Black Full Tower Case w/ 25CM Fan

This thing is great. It will have better cooling and plenty of room to make upgrades.

eVGA NVIDIA 780i mobo

Q6600

4 GB RAM

Hard Drive:

150 GB Raptor X

eVGA NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB

X-Fi XtremeMusic

Windows Vista Ultimate

And I have TONS of rooms for additions.

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gotcha640

· #5 · Jan 25, 2008

Third (or fourth, or w/e) to the full case. Also, if you can find one in your price range, I really like a case that opens on both sides. Makes installs and upgrades that much easier. I got

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811156062

way over the top I know, but it was a scratch and dent return so I only paid $35 for it. I agree with the 500w psu being plenty, but I'd recommend you up the storage space unless its for games only. I have music, movies, and games on my main machine, and i'm pushing 950gb right now out of 1.5tb available. Go with a 500gb if you can find one in your budget.

krimson

· #6 · Jan 25, 2008

700w is total overkill for that rig, but 450w may be pushing the other end of the spectrum a bit. You'll be fine for that rig, but may find yourself needing a new PSU when you decide to upgrade the GPU & CPU. I'd spring an extra $25-$50 for a ~550-600w and that way popping a new video card in one day won't require you to rip your computer apart.

HeadRusch

· #7 · Jan 25, 2008

Ok lets MUDDY THE WATERS EVEN MORE:

1) Skip the Quad Core, the dual core will overclock easier...if you ARENT overclocking, go with the quad. All the Quad gives you now is more heat. Honestly however, it depends on what you do. Games? The Quads offer no advantage....so far....but for apps and stuff, a Quad does give you 2 more cores to work with.

2) Full Tower? A Full Tower just gives you more space for...well..nothing. If you can't shove what you need in a Mid-Tower then I question what the hell kind of rig you're trying to build. 8 hard drives and nonsense like that...?? I like Mid Towers...I like them more when they are light and made of aluminum.

3) Why are you spending the bucks on a superclocked 8800gT, you're likely to be able to buy one of the $200 GT's and overclock it yourself to a near or equal to superclocked status.

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Bob7145

· #8 · Jan 25, 2008

What he said ^.

Nvidia 9000 series coming soon.

rahimlee54

Discussion Starter · #9 · Jan 26, 2008

I want the 512 Mb of video ram for sure I suppose I could get this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130318

But for only 20 more I get a faster core clock or is that the exact same card only they souped it up a little before they sent it out the door? And can anyone clarify what they mean by the memory clock on the super charged version where it says "(effective)" 1900MHz?

Thanks for the suggestions guys

darklordjames

· #10 · Jan 26, 2008

There is no point in getting a Creative soundcard for use under Vista as every card is essentially software based in that environment. Spend that money on moving up to the Q6600 as hdtv00 said. The only real reason to not use your onboard sound in Vista is if you need to have easy hookup to a reciever through Toslink/digital-coax. Then one of the DD/dts encoding cards makes a bunch of sense.

With a single 8800GT, a 450w FSP (Fortron) PSU is fine as that will give you a real 400w. If you were talking about some cheap no-name PSU, then I would say go 600w or higher, so that you know you are at least going to get 300w out of it before it melts.

With the parts listed, your system will average 100-120w, with peaks in the 200w range. Anyone here that says 400w is not enough for the noted parts is ill informed.

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N8DOGG

· #11 · Jan 26, 2008

Yes telling someone to future proof themselves a bit with a better PSU is sooooo ill informed! What are they thinking eh?

l

l

l

V

dpe8598

· #12 · Jan 26, 2008

I would go with a 500 or 550 watt power supply, but here is the kicker, make sure it is actually 500 watts. People run into problems with power supplies, because they get crappy rippoffs that dont actually push out the specified power. Get a good quality one and you will be fine. Also, I would forget about quad core.

By the way, if your willing to settle for 720p resolution (which looks great on most TVs) you will be able to play crysis on all high settings and avg above 30fps with this rig.

rahimlee54

Discussion Starter · #13 · Jan 26, 2008

Quote:
Originally Posted by dpe8598 /forum/post/12938630

I would go with a 500 or 550 watt power supply, but here is the kicker, make sure it is actually 500 watts. People run into problems with power supplies, because they get crappy rippoffs that dont actually push out the specified power. Get a good quality one and you will be fine. Also, I would forget about quad core.

By the way, if your willing to settle for 720p resolution (which looks great on most TVs) you will be able to play crysis on all high settings and avg above 30fps with this rig.

There is nothing wrong with a little 720p Crysis at 106 inches, that was the plan anyway.

I will probably end up seeing if I can squeeze another 40-50out of the budget for a larger PS just for extra insurance although I could get by without it.

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Randall Morton

· #14 · Jan 28, 2008

This is the power supply I just put in the computer I just built. I love the modular design. It is also a quality unit with more than enough power except for the very hardcore.

http://www.buy.com/prod/corsair-520w...203270716.html

football76

· #15 · Jan 29, 2008

I just bought this one. It is slightly cheaper than the HX520 but the two are almost indistinguishable in tests and reviews other than the modular cables on the 520. So, if you don't need the modular cables pick this one up and save some money, if you do want those modular cables the 520 is an awesome PSU too.

VX550 PSU Here

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DrCrawn

· #16 · Jan 29, 2008

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231145

This is a better 2x2gb kit.

I would also recommend a PSU in the 520-600w range.

Drop the sound card, and skip the fancy "overclocked" versions of video cards...the 10-15% increase in clock speed will do virtually nothing.

rahimlee54

Discussion Starter · #17 · Jan 29, 2008

So the sound card is out now then since a few of you have suggested I use the money elsewhere still on the fence about the video card since it is only 20 bucks more but I may opt out and keep my 20 who knows.

Thanks for the suggestions guys

Rahimlee54

football76

· #18 · Jan 30, 2008

About the video card- Save the $20-30 get the "stock" card, download nVidias software called nTune and manually set the clocks to "superclocked" speeds. I just did this exact process w/ my 8800 GTS 512.

There are other methods to OC a video card but this one was incredibly simple and quick.

Note* you can now get a brand new EVGA GTS 512 for $285 after MIR PM me for details...

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467456878

· #19 · Jan 30, 2008

Quote:
Originally Posted by football76 /forum/post/12972749

About the video card- Save the $20-30 get the "stock" card, download nVidias software called nTune and manually set the clocks to "superclocked" speeds. I just did this exact process w/ my 8800 GTS 512.

What they said ^

Danthaman2786

· #20 · Jan 31, 2008

for that price on the cpu just get the quad 6600

1 - 20 of 22 Posts

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