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Looking for suggestions about a mid level build.

A

araczynski

Golden Member
Looking to build a mid to upper level gaming rig, but have been out of the "what's hot what's not" loop for quite a while.

Here's what I'm thinking so far. price is an issue, as listed are shipped.

WD Caviar SE16 250GB
Cooler Master eXtreme Power 600W ($40 after $50 rebate)
Aspire X-Dreamer 2 case $70 (its what he likes)
Audigy 2 ZS
Probably Creative P7800 7.1 speakers
7900gt
AMD X2 3800 retail
2gig of G.Skill
Benq Lightscribe DVD/CD burner
Benq FP91G+ 19" LCD (after reading up per suggestion below)

I'm looking for suggestions for a good lower priced mobo and possibly even a different cpu/gpu choice.

I would like to do some overclocking on the cpu, maybe bring it up to 4200/4400 levels if possible, without additional cooling options. i'm not sure if this is 'pushing it' and would require a 'great' mobo or merely a 'decent' one. I figure if i start with the 3800, then the mobo should be decent enough to say 3 years from now take the FX60 at a much reduced (hopefully) price, for a little more life extension.

ideally i'd like to stay under a $100 for the mobo, but don't know if that's realistic.

I picked the 7900gt because of the price/performance, my only loyalty is to price/performance and my wallet.

Thank you.
 
Overclocking a 3800X2 (2.0Ghz) to 4200 (2.2Ghz) speeds is childsplay, 4600 (2.4Ghz) speeds isn't too hard and it's possible to go even higher without much work. If you're not going for a monster overclock then pretty much any motherboard will do.

Asus A8N E
Epox 9 n3pa

For the LCD check the video forum, there's a buyer's guide that you'll find useful.

I'd get a different PSU, the fortron 450W on ebay for $50 is a good buy and probably a better PSU than the coolermaster. Otherwise it's good.
 
I would go with the Epox board bob suggested. Also I used that case on my first build and it was junk. If you like a noisy annoyingly bright case that?s fine but I would take the money you save on the power supply that Bob suggested and maybe look at the Antec Sonata 2, P160, or P180. Just my thoughts.
 
thanks for the tips mc866, i'll pass the info about the case on and see what he says.

would you choose the epox (EP-9NPA3ULTRA) board over the asus (a8n-e) one?

i like the distance/placement of the pci/e to pci in the asus, but then again the only other device in teh system will be the audigy2... maybe i'll hold off on the audigy 2 and see what he thinks of the onboard sound... can always add that later if he thinks it sucks.
 
Get the Epox 9NPA Ultra. Anandtech gave it its top award. It is among the fastest at stock speeds.

It comes with loads of accessories, like a screwdriver and all kinds of cables. I have it and so far I love it. It is under $100 now, so it is a great deal.
 
Either would be fine, if the Epox is cheaper I think I would go that way, just cause I have heard good things about them and that they overclock with ease, but aren't as touchy as DFI.
 
thanks for teh bundled info, i'll have to check whether i have a single SATA and single (nice) IDE cable laying around, if not, i'll go with that, otherwise the cheaper version. or maybe i'll check whether newegg has them even cheaper seperate 🙂
 
thanks for the verification. my function for their reviews is such that if i see an item with 5 eggs (and a significant amount of reviews) then I consider the item 'worthy', if 4 eggs then i consider the item a possibility, anything less then 4 eggs (or no eggs) i don't even view/consider. reviews are definitely not the bottom line, but they're a good indicator, to me.
 
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