Please review my build...

[SaamS]

Hey everyone,

So here is my situations. I have been going back and forth on my gaming build for a few months now. I have even considered building a system through gateway or dell. Currently the following is what I think will be a good system that will last me quiet a while. This will for the most part be used for gaming. So my question is the following, Where can I improve on this build? or does this seem pretty sound?



Qty. Product Description Savings Total Price

1
IN WIN IW-C583T.J350BFU2AD Black 0.8 mm SECC Japanese Steel metal ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 350W Power Supply - Retail

-$5.00 Instant
$59.99
$54.99

1
SAMSUNG 18X DVD?R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write, LightScribe Technology Black IDE Model SH-S182M/BEBE - OEM


$33.99

1
CORSAIR XMS2 DOMINATOR 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400C4D - Retail


$40.00 Mail-in Rebate
$264.00

1
EVGA 122-CK-NF68-TR LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail


$15.00 Mail-in Rebate
$219.99

2
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) ST3250620AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

$159.98
($79.99 each)

1
ViewSonic Graphic Series VG2230wm Black 22" 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail


-$30.00 Instant
$339.99
$309.99

1
CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 520W Power Supply - Retail


-$10.00 Instant
$10.00 Mail-in Rebate
$139.99
$129.99

1
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 - Retail


$314.00

1
Creative 70SB046A00000 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Professional Series - Retail

$145.99
1
EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail


$30.00 Mail-in Rebate
$389.99
Grand Total: $2,022.91


What do you guys think?

 

[Tarrant64]

Nice choice on the monitor. I have a Viewsonic as well.

 

[SaamS]

Yeah I saw it in person and was like, I need to buy that. I hear its really nice for gaming.

 

[deadseasquirrel]

Looks good for the most part. If it were me, I would scale down to the 6400, and upgrade to the GTX. Might end up increasing your price a little bit, but at your resolution, with AA/AF, the GTX will really shine in both current as well as future games.

 

[SaamS]

Originally posted by: deadseasquirrel
Looks good for the most part. If it were me, I would scale down to the 6400, and upgrade to the GTX. Might end up increasing your price a little bit, but at your resolution, with AA/AF, the GTX will really shine in both current as well as future games.

Sounds good, can do.

 

[chizow]

1) I think its @$7-10 more for the SATA version of that burner. Mobo makers are phasing IDE and it'll keep your case a little tidier.

2) X-fi Fatality FPS (faceplate version) is on sale at Frys/Outpost right now for $160-50 MIR with free shipping. More output/input options, remote and front headphone jack with volume adjustment are nice for gamers.

3) RAM- lots of other kits out there that perform as well as the XMS and are cheaper with no MIR.

4) CPU- your board can probably handle higher FSB so the E6400 isn't a bad idea. If I had to do it over I probably would've gotten an E6600 though; my board won't go over 400MHz FSB without the NB overheating.

5) Monitor. Might want to check your local CircuitCity. Pretty sure they have that Viewsonic (for $299 this week) as well as an Acer and Samsung in the same price range. Plus you can just exchange/return it easily if there's problems with it. You may get hit with 15% restocking fee, just be sure to check when you buy.

6) HDD- I think the 16MB WD drives performed better than the Seagates. Not 100% sure on it but the latest AT HDD reviews showed the Seagates getting slammed on reads I believe. If they're similarly priced I'd probably go with the WD SE16s.

Looks good though, enjoy!

 

[Tarrant64]

You can score a new processor here:

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=45&threadid=1956127&enterthread=y

selling for under $300 for the E6600

 

[SaamS]

Originally posted by: chizow
1) I think its @$7-10 more for the SATA version of that burner. Mobo makers are phasing IDE and it'll keep your case a little tidier.

2) X-fi Fatality FPS (faceplate version) is on sale at Frys/Outpost right now for $160-50 MIR with free shipping. More output/input options, remote and front headphone jack with volume adjustment are nice for gamers.

3) RAM- lots of other kits out there that perform as well as the XMS and are cheaper with no MIR.

4) CPU- your board can probably handle higher FSB so the E6400 isn't a bad idea. If I had to do it over I probably would've gotten an E6600 though; my board won't go over 400MHz FSB without the NB overheating.

5) Monitor. Might want to check your local CircuitCity. Pretty sure they have that Viewsonic (for $299 this week) as well as an Acer and Samsung in the same price range. Plus you can just exchange/return it easily if there's problems with it. You may get hit with 15% restocking fee, just be sure to check when you buy.

6) HDD- I think the 16MB WD drives performed better than the Seagates. Not 100% sure on it but the latest AT HDD reviews showed the Seagates getting slammed on reads I believe. If they're similarly priced I'd probably go with the WD SE16s.

Looks good though, enjoy!

All points taken, and I have adjusted my plans so forth. Question though, I am not really good with figuring out what ram is good and whats not. I stuck with the XMS because I had it my old computer and never had a problem.

Can you guys recommend me ram other then Corsair which performs as good and is a better price???

 

[Boyo]

That Corsair RAM is top of the line, so I would keep it. You won't regret having it.

 

[Roguestar]

Originally posted by: Boyo
That Corsair RAM is top of the line, so I would keep it. You won't regret having it.

No, there are better brands at the same spec with better chips for better prices. Paying through the nose for mediocre Corsair is not the smart thing to do.

In fact, there's some DDR2-1100 OCZ on newegg today for less.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820227159

And here's a pair of mushkin sticks with Micron D9 memory chips, DDR2-800 for $229.99 before MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146673