Please let me know what you think: First build

[scgator]

Finally time to get rid of my old PC & about to pull the trigger on the following. Used mainly for gaming. Any input is appreciated! Thanks!

GIGABYTE GA-P35C-DS3R
E6850
2 gigs Corsair XMS2 PC2-8500
Thermaltake W0106RU 700 watt PSU
Sapphire radeon X1950XT 256mb video card
320gb seagate barracuda SATA HD
Cooler Master Centurion 5 case
Zalman CNPS 9700NT CPU cooler

$1180 after rebates including shipping.

Going cheap on the video card so I can get a second generation DX10 in the future. I have the OS already.

Again, any help is appreciated.

 

[airhendrix13]

Others may disagree with me about this but here is my opinion. We are entering the age of logical gaming, which is more geared towards physics, AI, etc. This requires A LOT of processing power. I read that UT2007 will be supporting up to 5 cores, 1 for physics, 1 for AI, etc. Basically, game logic is being segmented into each core. I have a feeling that this will be the trend for other game developers simply because it is structurally organized. I suggest getting a quad core. Although it isn't entirely needed now for gaming, it certainly will be in the future.

 

[xitshsif]

Originally posted by: airhendrix13
Others may disagree with me about this but here is my opinion. We are entering the age of logical gaming, which is more geared towards physics, AI, etc. This requires A LOT of processing power. I read that UT2007 will be supporting up to 5 cores, 1 for physics, 1 for AI, etc. Basically, game logic is being segmented into each core. I have a feeling that this will be the trend for other game developers simply because it is structurally organized. I suggest getting a quad core. Although it isn't entirely needed now for gaming, it certainly will be in the future.

I agree on the quad core. The Q6600 is the same price as the E6850, and definitely a better deal IMO. Link You can always OC a little in the future, but you can't add 2 cores. The rest of it looks good to me.

 

[coldmeat]

you can save some money by downgrading your memory. you could buy 2 sticks of pc2-6400 for cheaper

 

[LightningRider]

I will third the suggstion about the Quad Core, upcoming big-name games are going to support multi core CPUs so go ahead and purchase one now for the same price. Q6600 is a good choice. Also I think the RAM is overkill unless you're doing hardcore OC'ing.

 

[airhendrix13]

Originally posted by: coldmeat
you can save some money by downgrading your memory. you could buy 2 sticks of pc2-6400 for cheaper

I agree as well, that RAM is a little overkill.

 

[xitshsif]

Originally posted by: airhendrix13

Originally posted by: coldmeat
you can save some money by downgrading your memory. you could buy 2 sticks of pc2-6400 for cheaper

I agree as well, that RAM is a little overkill.

Assuming he's not going for a significant OC.

 

[airhendrix13]

Originally posted by: xitshsif

Originally posted by: airhendrix13

Originally posted by: coldmeat
you can save some money by downgrading your memory. you could buy 2 sticks of pc2-6400 for cheaper

I agree as well, that RAM is a little overkill.

Assuming he's not going for a significant OC.

Agreed again.

 

[drakore]

Ok if you get the e6850, then stick with that ram because you may actually need the overhead.

If you decide to get a Quad Core, please get a SLACR or G0 stepping one. Since you are on air your overclocks won't get all that high, so you could drop down to DDR2-800 ram...

Also drop that corsair stuff for crucial, which uses much better IC's. It will also be cheaper.

Drop that PSU for a Corsair variant, grab the 620HX if you are concerned about power.

Uhhh getting a combo board is kind of stupid, i would drop it for the P35-DS3R.

Possibly consider getting a different cooler, a lapped TR 120 Ultra or Tuniq Tower.

Other than that, it looks pretty good. Good choice on waiting for the second gen DX10 cards, the current ones kinda blow

 

[xitshsif]

Originally posted by: drakore
Ok if you get the e6850, then stick with that ram because you may actually need the overhead.

If you decide to get a Quad Core, please get a SLACR or G0 stepping one. Since you are on air your overclocks won't get all that high, so you could drop down to DDR2-800 ram...

Also drop that corsair stuff for crucial, which uses much better IC's. It will also be cheaper.

Drop that PSU for a Corsair variant, grab the 620HX if you are concerned about power.

Uhhh getting a combo board is kind of stupid, i would drop it for the P35-DS3R.

Possibly consider getting a different cooler, a lapped TR 120 Ultra or Tuniq Tower.

Other than that, it looks pretty good. Good choice on waiting for the second gen DX10 cards, the current ones kinda blow

The OP hasn't actually mentioned OCing at all, but AFAIK these are good points.

Actually yeah, you can save some money by getting the P35-DS3R, no need for DDR3 support at the moment.

 

[metzgerov]

I agree the quad core is better. I am building a similar system:

E4400 W Arctic Freezing Freezer 7 Pro
gigabyte GA-P35-DSR
Crucial Ballistix PC2 6400 2GB
2X 250GB HDD (already have)
Soundblaster Audigy 4 (already have)
ATI X1950XT
RAidmax case
Psu: deciding

All in all mine will be $600 shipped and oc'd to 3ghz will be comparable to what you are buying for most applications.
I did this so I can save the $150+ to buy a quad Penryn when they come out and the games start making better use of the quads.

This system will do fine in the meantime for the games I play. I would consider saving the $500 you are spending on 8500 RAM and the CPU and get a e4300/e4400 oc it to 3ghz and get the new Intel Quads when they come out. (By then the games will require that muscle)

Just my opinion

 

[HardWarrior]

Originally posted by: drakore
Good choice on waiting for the second gen DX10 cards, the current ones kinda blow

This is the sort of thing you tell yourself when you're trying hard to justify NOT buying a new card now. Current nVidia high-end cards get the job done increasingly well.