Low to middle end gaming build

Sonikku

Lifer
Jun 23, 2005
15,804
4,673
136
Looking for some feedback on a system I'm building. I currently have

Athlon 64 3400+ S754 single core cpu
1g of Corsair DDR 400 Ram
X800XT AIOW
400 Watt psu
Q pack case (micro size mobo only)

I'm looking to salvage the NEC DVD burner and Seagate harddrive and use them in the new system. I'm looking at getting:

X1950XT video card - $169.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...p?item=N82E16814102067
I really didn't want to go over $150 for a middle end video card, but there seem to be few options in this price range.

C2D e6750 - $189 at Microcenter. Took me forever to find one at that price.
http://microcenter.com/single_...tml?product_id=0261972

GIGABYTE GA-P35-S3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX - $86.99
This would appear to fit my needs, but I'm open to suggestions. I really just need a basic board as I only use one HDD, one dvd drive, one pci card and two sticks of ram in addition to a single video card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...p?item=N82E16813128057

Antec Sonata 3 case /w Earthwatts 500 watt psu - $92.50
http://www.provantage.com/antec-sonata-iii~7ANTG04H.htm

A simple case with a psu. Seems to be all I need for a reletively modest system. Any better ideas?

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 675 (PC2 5400) $82.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...p?item=N82E16820145015

I'm really iffy on this one. The MOBO I'm looking at seems to be able to use DDR2 1066 speed ram, but it's far more expensive. Do I need to go with faster ram then DDR2 675? If I don't need, should I go with at least something faster then DDR2 675, or does it make a small difference in the grand scheme of things?

I'm building this mostly for some light gaming and multi-tasking. I can settle for dx9 and low AA as money is a factor here. I might want to get a new cooler at some point to OC the cpu somewhere in the systems life, but OC in general isn't a huge factor for me.

Suggestions? Comments?

 

Cutthroat

Golden Member
Apr 13, 2002
1,104
0
0
Everything looks fine to me.

The DDR2-667 is perfect for a 1:1 ratio if you aren't going to overclock, but if you plan on overclocking you might want DDR2-800 so you don't have to overclock the RAM to get the 1:1 ratio.