First time building a Gaming PC. Need Help!

[AndyTroz]

Hey Guys! So I'd like to build a Gaming System (primarily for the new Ghostbusters Game) and I'm looking for opinions and suggestions on what I currently have on my list.

Processor:

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Dual Core Processor LGA775 3.0GHZ Wolfdale 1333FSB 6MB Retail

Motherboard:

EVGA Nforce 750I SLI Ftw LGA775 ATX DDR2 2PCI-E16 1PCI-E1 2PCI SATA RAID Sound GBLAN Motherboard

or

Asus Maximus Formula II


Video Card:

BFG GeForce GTX 260 896MB Video Card

or

ATI 4870 1GB.

Power Supply

Corsair 650TX for PSU

RAM

4 GB Ram - Corsair, OCZ, Mushkin, or G.Skill

1 TB Seagate HD (Sata II)

DVD Rom

Case with great airflow?
Extra Cooling?

Any comments or completely different approaches?

 

[California Roll]

The parts you picked aren't bad at all. Letting us know your budget would help.

 

[AndyTroz]

I'm looking for something under $2,000.00 ideally around $1,500.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Nice mobo choices, see sig

 

[heyheybooboo]

PhenomII 720BE / Asus 790FX AM3 combo: $284

You didn't declare your gaming resolution but if it's less than 16x10 I sure would be considering 2 x HD4850 512s (should be less than $200) or you could jump to an HD4890 1Gb roughly in the same price range if your rez is 16x10 and up.

 

[firewolfsm]

You can easily do an i7 and 4890 build with that budget. Find the second or third cheapest X58 motherboard available, an i7 920, 6GB of ram, etc.

Here's a great deal on the 4890 for $135, buy it quick.

http://forums.slickdeals.net/s....php?sduid=0&t=1408999

and if you know anyone who works in retail, you can get an i7 920, Vista Ultimate and an Intel X58 for under $300.

Also, you can get a Dell 23" 1080p for $150 on the 23rd only.

 

[Denithor]

For that budget I would definitely agree with these other people - get yourself a quad, not a dual. An X4 940 combo will save you a bit of cash, an i7 920 will blow you away with performance.

Go with a Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB drive instead of the Seagate. Seagate has had quality issues recently, WD has not.

Personally I avoid OCZ memory - bad experiences. The other brands you've listed are solid.

 

[AndyTroz]

After much back-and-forth from a variety of sources and forums, I've come up with what I hope is a decent machine for a budget of just over $1,000.00 before taxes.

Here's what I'm looking at:


Processor:

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Dual Core Processor LGA775 3.0GHZ Wolfdale 1333FSB 6MB Retail
+ $189.99


Motherboard:

ASUS Maximus II Formula LGA775 P45 ATX DDR2 2PCI-E16 3PCI-E1 2PCI SATA RAID GBLAN 1394 Motherboard
+ $266.12


Video Card:

BFG GeForce GTX 260 OC MAXCORE55 590MHZ 896MB 1.998GHZ GDDR3 PCI-E Dual DVI-I Video Card
+ $159.99


Power Supply:

Corsair TX650W 650W ATX 12V 52A 24PIN ATX Power Supply Active PFC 120MM Fan
+ $89.99


Hard Drive:

Western Digital Caviar SE16 640GB SATA2 7200RPM 16MB Hard Drive OEM 3YR MFR Warranty
+ $82.99


Case:

Antec Nine Hundred Mid Tower Gamer Case 900 ATX 9 Drive Bay No PS Top USB2.0 1394 Audio
+ $126.31


Ram:

Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X4096-6400C5 4GB DDR2 2X2GB PC2-6400 DDR2-800 CL 5-5-5-18 240PIN Memory Kit
+ $52.99


DVD Writer:

LG GH22LS30 Black 22X SATA Lightscribe DVDRW OEM
+ $39.29


Assembly:
+ $50.00


= $ 1057.67

 

[M0RPH]

That is WAY overpriced for an LGA775 motherboard. Is it trimmed in 24K gold or what?

If you're going to pay THAT MUCH for a motherboard, you might as well go i7.

 

[mmntech]

What's the $50 for assembly? You could also shave some money off by getting a cheaper mid-range motherboard. The Maximus II really is overkill and you could probably get an i7 system for that. How about this

GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX $199.99.... $184.99 after $15 mail in rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128375

Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz $279.99, Works out to be only $8 more than your current setup but significantly more powerful.

Even cheaper is the Foxconn FlamingBlade, which is $174.99. Lacks some of the frills of the more expensive boards but seems to be of good quality and looks good too.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813186170
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819115202

Works out to $464.98 after rebate

There's also this combo deal with pairs the i7 920 with a Biostar Tpower mobo for $484.98.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...?ItemList=Combo.198749

 

[California Roll]

Just curious where you live or where you're buying your parts from. Some of those prices seem high.

 

[AndyTroz]

I live in Vancouver BC, Canada and will be ordering through NCIX, hopefully placing my order tomorrow...crunch time!


Thanks for the responses! Since I'm being pressured to go the i7 route, how does this sound:

Processor:

Intel Core i7 920 Quad Core Processor LGA1366 2.66GHZ Bloomfield 8MB LGA1366 4.8GT/S
+ $335.99

Motherboard:

Gigabyte EX58-UD3R ATX LGA1366 X58 DDR3 2PCI-E 2PCI SATA2 RAID Sound GLAN CrossFireX Motherboard
+ $235.86

??

 

[brblx]

for your budget you might as well do i7 920 and 4890. c2d would be a recommendation for a value rig with anywhere from 100-300 USD to spend on a mobo and proc. you seem to have more than that.

other choices are fine, no one is likely to recommend against an antec 900 or corsair psu.

 

[Eureka]

Go for a Silverstone TJ-07 or TJ-09.

 

[AndyTroz]

*ignore*

 

[AndyTroz]

Alright, because of the pricing, I've gone with another company called A-power and switched things up a bit. I hope to place the order tomorrow morning, so let me know what you think of this:

A Power Price List


Processor:

Intel Core I7 920 2.66GHZ 8M L3 Cache/4.8GT/s QuickPath/Socket 1366 (Nehalem)
http://www.a-power.com/product-7699
SKU: CPU-I-I7 920

$339.99


Motherboard:

ASUS P6T SE X58 ATX LGA1366 DDR3 LGA1366 3PCI-E16 PCI-E1 2PCI CrossFire SATA2 Motherboard
http://www.a-power.com/product-10884
SKU: MB-AS-P6T SE

$257.60


Video Card:

EVGA GEFORCE GTX 275 896MB 2.26GHZ DDR3 PCI-E 2.0 448BIT DVI-I HDTV-7
http://www.a-power.com/product-10493
SKU: VC-EVG-GTX275 896M

$302.50


Power Supply:

Corsair 650TX 650 Watt, ATX12V and EPS12v 2.91, Power Supply
http://www.a-power.com/product-6851
SKU: POW-COR-650TX

$121.43


Hard Drive:

Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB SATA II 16MB Cache (2 x 320GB Platters)
http://www.a-power.com/product-6152
SKU: HDD-WES-640S16

$75.26


Case:

Antec Nine Hundred Two Gaming Case - 9 drive bays, Advanced cooling system (6 fans), support multiple graphics cards, No PS.
http://www.a-power.com/product-8286
SKU: CASE-ANT-NINE TWO

$137.76


Ram:

OCZ 6GB (3x2048MB) DDR3 PC3-12800 RAM Platinum Low-Voltage Triple Channel OCZ3P1600LV6GK
http://www.a-power.com/product-8877
SKU: MEM-O-6G1600KP

$141.08


DVD Writer:

LG GH22LS30 SATA 22X/22X DVD-RW DRIVE, LIGHTSCRIBE, BLACK, INTERNAL, BULK #6839
http://www.a-power.com/product-6839
SKU: DVD-LG-GH22LS30 BK

$32.04


Wireless Network Card:

Linksys WMP300N Wireless-N Network PCI Card
http://www.a-power.com/product-1700
SKU: NET-LI-WMP300N

$79.69

Cash/Debit Discounted Subtotal: $1,487.35
Regular Price Subtotal: $1,531.97

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Enermax Revolution 950
Lian Li PC-A20
i7 950
UDP5 Gigabyte
good choice in memory
ATI 4890 1Gb
keep the HDD choice

 

[Rifter]

NCIX has some parts cheaper, i suggest buying the cheaper parts from both companies.

Antec 900 is 99.99 at ncix http://www.ncix.com/products/i...sku=35774&promoid=1087

mobo/CPU combo is cheaper too at 549.99 http://www.ncix.com/products/i...sku=35867&promoid=1087