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My first rig...advice?

C

cras4u

Junior Member
Case: Antec Performance One P190B Black $129.99 ($30.00 MIR)

PSU: Corsair HX520W 520w $99.99

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-945P-DS3 (rev. 3.3) $122.12

RAM: G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL4D-2GBHK - Retail $159.99

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 - Retail

CPU Cooling Paste: Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM $5.99

TextHard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) ST3250620AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $74.99

GPU: EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320 GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card $389.99 ($30.0 MIR)

-OR-

SAPPHIRE 100186L Radeon X1950XT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 VIVO HDCP Video Card $199.99 ($20.00 MIR)

Optical Drive: LG 18X DVD±R Super-Multi DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black IDE Model GSA-H42N-BK - OEM $29.99

Floppy Drive: SAMSUNG Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive Windows 98SE/ ME/ 2000/ XP - OEM $6.99

Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Professional With SP2B 1 Pack - OEM $139.99

These are the components I have come up with so far. I need some advise as to anything I should change. My total budget is around $1250 and this is right on target. I would liek this build to handle games for quite a while to come, and last for a few years with minimal upgrades.

Which graphics card should I stick with? DX10 isn?t mainstream so is this worth it?

I also need help making sure the RAM is good for the price, especially as I plan to OC this rig to make it last a few years.

I?m not sure XP is a good choice, but Vista isn?t proven yet. So, what changes could I make to make it the best rig possible for my budget?

BTW, I will be waiting for the 22nd price drop. While I'm here, I might as well ask if you guys know of a good CPU cooler that will allow me to OC to a very good speed. Also, is a chipset cooler required?

Sorry for the questions, I'm just in that kind of mood (my last build just bit the dust).
 
Everything looks good. Though, it looks like you're missing a sound card. The Realtek on the DS3 motherboard won't sound too good when you turn on EAX on games. I would budget out another $70-80 to get an X-Fi card or at least a cheap Audigy for ~$40. the 8800GTS looks like a good choice if you want to plan out for future games. If I were you, I would get 7900GS/1950GT and wait out until actual DX10-heavy game comes out and look @ the benchmarks. With R600 coming in to pipeline in Q3 and all the first -tier DX10 games won't come till Q4 or next year, you have plenty of time to use the current gen to their full potential.
 
This ram looks like a pretty good deal as well for $130 with shipping which is about $35 less than yours. Its timings are barely worse. Either way with DDR2 800 you'll be able to reach 3600mhz on E6600.

$35 savings will make you feel better towards your aftermarket cooler purchase. Any of these will be sufficient.

1. Tuniq Tower
2. Thermalright Ultra 120
3. Thermaltake Big Typhoon
4. Scythe Ninja B or Scythe Infinity

Also I think 320gb version of Seagate 7200.10 is only $10 more. $10 more for 70 extra gigs sounds good to me 🙂

For the graphics card, it's too hard to say at this point because when ATI introduces cards (end of April), Nvidia might change pricing or ATI might have a better card in the same price range.

I am not sure why you want a floppy.
 
Originally posted by: cras4u
I would liek this build to handle games for quite a while to come, and last for a few years with minimal upgrades.

Which graphics card should I stick with? DX10 isn?t mainstream so is this worth it?
Click to expand...
IF you want to "handle games for quite a while to come"... you're going to have to BUY BIG on your video card now.
:laugh: >>> There's No Way Around It <<< :laugh:

 
If you're waiting for the CPU price drops, why not wait another couple of weeks and see how the Radeon HD 2900 is received?
 
Originally posted by: RussianSensation
Also I think 320gb version of Seagate 7200.10 is only $10 more. $10 more for 70 extra gigs sounds good to me 🙂

For the graphics card, it's too hard to say at this point because when ATI introduces cards (end of April), Nvidia might change pricing or ATI might have a better card in the same price range.

I am not sure why you want a floppy.
Click to expand...

Nice catch on that Hard Drive; I'll take that!

So should I go and get everything else except for the GFX Card and CPU and see what those are at in the beginning of may?

Floppy? Don't I need one for initial setup? Or not anymore?

 
Hmm. If you're waiting to spend on the big parts mid-may then maybe you should hold off on the whole thing until then? Prices'll have gone down a little and some new revisions of things might be out by then.
 
Looks good to me. Definitely go with an 8800 card (or R600 if you wait and it's better.) Even though DX10 isn't mainstream yet, a DX10 card will run circles around DX9 cards when running DX9 games.

Mark.
 
Are you overclocking? If you are i would suggest a E6300 or E6400. if not i would suggest a AMD 64 X2 6000+, it competes with the E6700 in speed but costs less then E6600. $239 on newegg if your american for the A64 X2 6000+ while the E6600 would cost you 308. Added to the fact that the motherboards are cheaper for AM2 in general.
 
Option # 1 with the 320gb Seagate & an X-Fi Xtreme Gamer looks like the best bet ... stick with the 8800GTS over the X1950XT & the Corsair PSU is a perfect choice. If you need to save a few dollars somwhere step down to the E6400 rather then going with AMD at this point because even with a modest overclock it'll be considerable faster.

Finally it makes no sense to order PC parts in advance ... wait until after the April 22ed Intel price cut for sure but just get all of your stuff then... waiting for the X2900's to hit the shelves in enough quantity to lower 8800 prices is a tougher call since its hard to be certain how long it'll take.
 
Originally posted by: Captante
Option # 1 with the 320gb Seagate & an X-Fi Xtreme Gamer looks like the best bet ... stick with the 8800GTS over the X1950XT & the Corsair PSU is a perfect choice. If you need to save a few dollars somwhere step down to the E6400 rather then going with AMD at this point because even with a modest overclock it'll be considerable faster.

Finally it makes no sense to order PC parts in advance ... wait until after the April 22ed Intel price cut for sure but just get all of your stuff then... waiting for the X2900's to hit the shelves in enough quantity to lower 8800 prices is a tougher call since its hard to be certain how long it'll take.
Click to expand...

Well most people are COMPLETELY against overclocking if they arent into it completely. Its one of those black and white situations.

My advice OP is if you are willing to OC a small amount like maybe 400mhz then go with the E6400 because you might get close to the performance of the AMD 6000+ with a slightly lower cost. But if you dont want to OC at all i would deffinately recommend the AMD 6000+. Especially if this is your first build as AMD has a more user friend heatsink mounting option which is better for beginners.
 
So I should bite the bullet and just get the 8800 GTS 640? I'll post an updated list in a few. How bout and LCD screen recommendations for gaming? Maybe in the $300 range? Speakers? Also, I plan on overclocking.
 
You should hold off on OCing until you get a feel for the machine and its parts. A
As well as expanding your knowledge base on the issues involved in OCing. 😉
 
personally i would decide on a lcd and then gpu. if res is higher than 1680x1050 then go a dx10 card, but i would wait until there is some competition in the dx10 arena to bring down the prices. that x1950xt for $180is a good deal though...if i didn't have a 360 i would pick on up
 
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