Building my first system: Looking for input

[geeb]

After buying Dells for as little as possible over the past few years I have decided to build myself a system with a little better performance.

I'm going to use this primarily for gaming, nothing too major. I just want to get some opinions. Everything comes to around $1200 with shipping, which is about as much as I want to spend. If there is anythinhg I can change to save money without sacrificing performance that would be great. Thanks in advance!



COOLER MASTER Centurion 532 RC-532-SKN1 Black Aluminum bezel, SECC chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail


Western Digital Raptor WD740ADFD 74GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM


eVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail


RAIDMAX RX-630A ATX12V/ EPS12V 630W Power Supply - Retail


CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400 - Retail


Intel BOXD975XBXLKR Socket T (LGA 775) Intel 975X ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail


Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6300 - Retail

I already have a DVD burner and drive that I will be adding.

 

[pkme2]

Your Power Supply can be upped.

 

[Gautama2]

Originally posted by: pkme2
Your Power Supply can be upped.

To OP, he means upped in quality not watts. Raidmax aren't exactly good psu makers.

I'd go with this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104935 but if the Seasonic S12 430w comes back insto stock at the egg grab that instead. If its a budget machine a raptor doesn't give enough of a performance boost to warrant the money.
Bad choice on motherboard, very overpriced. Get this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128012 , ignore the reviews this is one of the best for core 2 duo atm. Then with the leftover money get this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102061 roughly 1.5 times more performance than a 7600gt.

 

[Operandi]

Motheboard: The Intel is a great board but rather expensive. The Gigabyte GA-965G-DS3 is a very solid board and much more economical.

RAM: DDR2 800 is not necessary for that CPU, you'll be fine with this 667 Crucial.

PSU: Raidmax is a poor choice. 600 watts is also complete overkill; your probably looking at a maximum of 150 watts for your hardware. I would suggest the 330 watt Seasonic S12.

Case: This may be subjective but I'm not particularly impressed with the Centurion. Take a look at the Lian Li PC-7B.

 

[Gautama2]

Originally posted by: Operandi
Motheboard: The Intel is a great board but rather expensive. The Gigabyte GA-965G-DS3 is a very solid board and much more economical.

RAM: DDR2 800 is not necessary for that CPU, you'll be fine with this 667 Crucial.

PSU: Raidmax is a poor choice. 600 watts is also complete overkill; your probably looking at a maximum of 150 watts for your hardware. I would suggest the 330 watt Seasonic S12.

Case: This may be subjective but I'm not particularly impressed with the Centurion. Take a look at the Lian Li PC-7B.

Im very impressed with my centurion 534, silent fans and great ventilation. Looks nice too

 

[geeb]

Originally posted by: Operandi
Motheboard: The Intel is a great board but rather expensive. The Gigabyte GA-965G-DS3 is a very solid board and much more economical.

RAM: DDR2 800 is not necessary for that CPU, you'll be fine with this 667 Crucial.

PSU: Raidmax is a poor choice. 600 watts is also complete overkill; your probably looking at a maximum of 150 watts for your hardware. I would suggest the 330 watt Seasonic S12.

Case: This may be subjective but I'm not particularly impressed with the Centurion. Take a look at the Lian Li PC-7B.

Thanks to all of you for the input. I made the changes you suggested ablove, with the exception of the case. I really like the loaction of the usb ports on the one I have listed with the config of my room.

I think the PSU is the hardest thing to figure out. The first I had recommended to me was a 700W and I thought that was serious overkill. I read up a bit on the Seasonic after it was recommended and it looks good. What would the recommendation be if I planned on going SLI down the orad?

 

[Boyo]

For a PSU for SLI try the Enermax Liberty 620W, or the new Corsair. Some would say 620W is overkill, but with DX10 on the way, it's not.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: geeb

Originally posted by: Operandi
Motheboard: The Intel is a great board but rather expensive. The Gigabyte GA-965G-DS3 is a very solid board and much more economical.

RAM: DDR2 800 is not necessary for that CPU, you'll be fine with this 667 Crucial.

PSU: Raidmax is a poor choice. 600 watts is also complete overkill; your probably looking at a maximum of 150 watts for your hardware. I would suggest the 330 watt Seasonic S12.

Case: This may be subjective but I'm not particularly impressed with the Centurion. Take a look at the Lian Li PC-7B.

Thanks to all of you for the input. I made the changes you suggested ablove, with the exception of the case. I really like the loaction of the usb ports on the one I have listed with the config of my room.

I think the PSU is the hardest thing to figure out. The first I had recommended to me was a 700W and I thought that was serious overkill. I read up a bit on the Seasonic after it was recommended and it looks good. What would the recommendation be if I planned on going SLI down the orad?

For SLI I would opt for the 550 watt Seasonic S12 Energy Plus. 550 watt is plenty of power and it's 12v power is split across four rails so you can be sure that all of your components will have plenty of 12v juice available to them.