Need Suggestions on my new Gaming Build!

[mismajor99]

These are the guts I'm on the verge of buying, but I want to run it by my fellow Anadtech's, as I've done over the years. This is for PC Gaming only, as I use my laptop for ripping/encoding and everything else. I'm carrying over my Antec P-160 Case, as well as my SATA HDD's and DVDRW. There's a few things I'm on the fence about though.

1) Should I aim for a Q6600 instead of the E6850? I'm really torn about this. While the benchmarks show the E6850 as a faster processor, the Q6600 seems like it will "future proof" me a bit, being that some games are better optimized for quad, ie....UT3 that just released and obviously Crysis.

2) I want the option for SLI in the future, so is the 680i from EVGA a good choice? I don't know much about the board itself, other than good reviews and recommendations.

3) RAM. This one I'm not sure about. I've always used Corsair and Mushkin in the past, how is the Crucial Ballistix? I haven't been keeping up on my tech, but is DDR2 800 the best option? or can I go with 1200mghz (or is that DDR3 ram which isn't compatible with the board?

4.) Last but not least, is the Antec 650w a good PSU for going SLI in the future? Or should i spend more for a 700w or more?


Here's the guts:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 $279.99
EVGA 122-CK-NF63-TR LGA 775 nForce 680i SLI $199.99
Crucial Ballistix 2GB DDR2 800 (PC2 6400,4-4-4-12) $89.99
EVGA 8800GT 512mb GDDR3 $289.99
ANTEC NeoPower 650 NeoPower650 650W Power Supply $109.99

Thanks in Advance!!

 

[mismajor99]

anyone? I can't seem to find the 8800GT anywhere, and I figured this would be a problem being that it's such a hot card. I checked about every site out there, and have been F5'ing Neweggs page for days

 

[tjaisv]

Here's the gaming system i am planning on building. Compare to yours for reference...


CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad-Core Processor 2.4GHz, 1066FSB, LGA775, 8MB cache Retail ($275.90)

MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-P35C-DS3R Intel Core 2 Duo (Desktop) Socket 775 1333MHz FSB DDR3 1066MHz ATX Motherboard Retail ($165.99)

HSF: Thermalright Ultima-90 heatsink ($46) and Scythe S-Flex SFF21F 120mm fan ($14) and Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM ($6)

MEM: 2x Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model BL2KIT12864AA804 - Retail ($110 each)

VID: EVGA 640P2N825AR e-GeForce 8800 GTS Superclocked 640MB GDDR3 PCI Express Video Card Retail ($399.99)

HDD: 2x Hitachi Deskstar T7K500 500GB 7200RPM Serial ATA II Hard Drive w/16MB Buffer ($104.99 each)

SOUND: AuzenTech Auzen X-Fi Prelude 7.1 Sound Card Retail ($199)

PSU: Corsair HX Series CMPSU-620HX 620W Power Supply Retail ($146.90)

CASE: ANTEC Performance One P182 SE Mid Tower Case Retail ($189.99)

DVD: SAMSUNG SH-S203B SATA DVD Burner Black DVD±RW OEM ($32)

FLOPPY: SAMSUNG Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive Windows 98SE/ ME/ 2000/ XP - OEM ($7)

TV TUNER: VisionTek TV Wonder 650 Combo PCIe HDTV Tuner PVR w/Remote 900192 PCI-Express x1 Interface - Retail ($110)

KEYBOARD: Microsoft A13-00002S White USB + PS/2 Ergonomics Natural Keyboard Elite - OEM ($27)

MOUSE: Logitech G3 Laser Gaming Mouse Retail ($46.99)

OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Single-Pack DVD OEM ($109)

SPEAKERS: Logitech Z-5500 505 Watts 5.1 Computer Speaker System ($305)

MINI DRIVE: CORSAIR Flash Voyager GT 2GB Flash Drive (USB2.0 Portable) 256bit AES Encryption Model CMFUSB2.0-2GBGT - Retail ($34)

DISPLAY: Dell 3007WFP-HC 30" Widescreen LCD ($1274)

 

[mismajor99]

thanks tj, I see you are planning on using the same memory as me. Is that a fairly good speed for our rigs? I haven't done much research on it.

 

[tjaisv]

General consensus is that DDR2-800 gives the "best bang for your buck" for rigs like these.

 

[NIZMOZ]

I wouldn't waste the money on buying the Dell LCD, just go buy a Good LCD TV for much cheaper and have the same resolution and response.