New built input

[Toastman]

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
Primarily gaming. Everything else is irrelevent since it won't be as intensive. However, heat, power-consumption, noise, and stability do matter to me.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
Approximately $2250, but I have some wiggle-room.

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
US

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc, etc, etc, you get the picture.
I have no brand loyalty! Every PC I've built has had a different combo of Intel/AMD/ATI/nVidia

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
Only peripherals (keyboard, mouse, monitor). Chassis and all within shall be all-new.

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
I've done my home-work, and have picked out my likely candidates, and primarily would like some feedback to make sure I'm on the right track and everything will work together.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
No over-clocking, I need this thing to last a while and be rock-stable.

8. WHEN do you plan to build it?
ASAP -- likely order parts by tomorrow.

9. Other info: I'm partial to single-video-card solutions since it doesn't limit my choice of platform, as well as tends to have better compatibility and thermals.

Based on my research, here is what I'm currently considering:
Case: Antec 900
CPU: Intel e8400
Mobo: Asus Rampage Formula (note: I looked into the Asus P5E3 w/DDR3, but the concensus was the ~500 price gap for the mobo and DDR3 wasn't worth it)
RAM: 4 gigs of Corsair pc28500 (DDR2-1066mhz) 5-5-5-18 timings
Video Card: EVGA Geforce 9800 GX2 SSC (highest-speed factory over-clocked card I could find)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar SE16 750gig (too bad the Velociraptor isn't due out for another month)
Power Supply: Corsair 650TX (has two 6+2 PCIe vid-card power connectors, which should handle the 9800 GX2 which generally requires 1x6-pin and 1x8-pin power, and extra long power cables, which are necessary for the Antec 900, since it mounts the PS in the bottom)
Optical Drive: Sony AD-7190S-0B Sata DVD-RW (black to match the case)

Critiques, recommendations? Have I missed something? Does this all look kosher, or am I a 'tard ? Thx!

 

[chinaman1472]

- Why that motherboard? Is there something on that motherboard a typical P35 mobo doesn't have that you need? It supports Crossfire but you've picked out an nVidia card. Either pick up a P35 motherboard or switch to dual AMD/ATi video cards to take advantage of that motherboard. Since you want single card setups, see the Gigabyte P35-DS3L or Abit IP35-E for a nice, basic P35 motherboard. No need to waste $200 if you're never going to put it to use.
- If you're not overclocking, you don't need DDR2-1066 memory. IIRC, running at a 1:1 FSBRAM ratio is the most efficient, and for the E8400 all you need is DDR2-667 at stock, but if I'm wrong someone please correct me.
- You could just pick up the normal version of the 9800GX2 and overclock it yourself. There are plenty of guides and it takes about a day to find the sweet spot. No need to pay extra for something you can do right?
- I think the Western Digital 640GB is better than the 750GB version. If you want 750GB, pick up the Samsung Spinpoint F1.
- While it isn't necessary at all, you could pick up a nice heatsink for the CPU to keep it even cooler.

I think others might say this, so another alternative is:
- Pick up an 8800GTS instead, and save the money for another video card upgrade in a year or so when something better comes out. Unless you play on ultra-high resolutions, the 8800GTS runs most games without too much trouble.

 

[Roguestar]

If you're not overclocking you'll not even run that RAM at the speed it can do. Just get a set of 4GB DDR2-800 from G.Skill for less than $100.

Chinaman is right on the 640GB WD drive, and I'd agree on the graphics card. The 9800GX2 is simply too much money for too little a performance gain over the 8800GTS. Get the GTS now and a better graphics card in a year's time.

Just get a P35 motherboard.

Just because you can spend $2200 doesn't mean you should! Try and get the best bang/buck and save the money not wasted so you can upgrade in a year's time.

 

[Dashel]

I agree with the above two. Personally I'm going with the Antec 900, E8400, Abit IP35 pro mobo, WD 640GB drive, and some 8800GTS 512mb card. Make sure it's the newer G92 8800GTS.

From there I can just upgrade the card every so often.

If you really want to spend the 2k though I suppose you could look into some SLI/Crossfire beast or pimp it out with a extreme CPU but I cant help you there.

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: Toastman
6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
I've done my home-work, and have picked out my likely candidates, and primarily would like some feedback to make sure I'm on the right track and everything will work together.


Based on my research, here is what I'm currently considering:
Case: Antec 900
CPU: Intel e8400
Mobo: Asus Rampage Formula (note: I looked into the Asus P5E3 w/DDR3, but the concensus was the ~500 price gap for the mobo and DDR3 wasn't worth it)
RAM: 4 gigs of Corsair pc28500 (DDR2-1066mhz) 5-5-5-18 timings
Video Card: EVGA Geforce 9800 GX2 SSC (highest-speed factory over-clocked card I could find)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar SE16 750gig (too bad the Velociraptor isn't due out for another month)
Power Supply: Corsair 650TX (has two 6+2 PCIe vid-card power connectors, which should handle the 9800 GX2 which generally requires 1x6-pin and 1x8-pin power, and extra long power cables, which are necessary for the Antec 900, since it mounts the PS in the bottom)
Optical Drive: Sony AD-7190S-0B Sata DVD-RW (black to match the case)

Does this all look kosher,

If you've done your home-work you don't need to ask.