$700 gaming upgrade

[CheetoBandito]

Long time lurker, first time poster. Anyways, I've decided to start the upgrade process. The upgrade is mostly for gaming, with a little bit of 3d productivity and video encoding on the side. The first step in my upgrade is purchasing a Mobo, Ram, PSU, and GPU. I don't have much interest in CPU or RAM overclocking, but I do play around with GPU overclocking a little bit. Here's what I've come up with so far. If anyone has any suggestions on how to squeeze more performance out of this price range, I'm all ears.

EVGA 320-P2-N811-AR GeForce 8800GTS 320MB - $280

ENERMAX Liberty ELT500AWT ATX12V 500W Power Supply - $110

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 - $130

ASUS P5N-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - $125

Subtotal - $645

I will be installing a P4 3.4ghz Prescott while I wait for the Core2Duo prices to drop. Then, I'll buy an E6600.

 

[crimson117]

Looks good. Only thing is if you're waiting for C2D to drop, why not also wait until video cards drop? Or is your current rig really limited?

And you really should consider some CPU overclock once you do get the C2D. You ram can handle it, at least a mild one.

 

[Thor86]

If you are going to spend that amount for a PSU, I'd recommend the Corsair HX520.

 

[CheetoBandito]

My current rig is the 3.4ghz Prescott, X800GTO...it has a hard time handling BF2 and BF2142, oblvion..forget about it.

Thor86, I orginally had planned on that PSU, but someone recommended the Enermax. What makes the Corsair better?

 

[Thor86]

Corsair HX520 uses only 1 x 120mm variable fan that pretty silent and 80+% efficiency rating and 40A 12v rating (50A 12v rating on the HX620). Dunno about the Enermax psu, but those are some numbers to work with in your decision making.

 

[s44]

Buy the $75 Enhance 5150GH (instead of the Enermax) and put the difference toward getting the 640MB GTS.

 

[conlan]

Originally posted by: Thor86
If you are going to spend that amount for a PSU, I'd recommend the Corsair HX520.

QFT!