Please review this gaming "upgrade"

zach0624

Senior member
Jul 13, 2007
535
0
0
I am upgrading my brothers gaming/ light multimedia machine(mp3 ripping, occasional dvd). It will be overclocked and it would help if people would leave feedback. This is a low budget rig. cpu/gpu will be upgraded every 9-12mo

e6750
EVGA 680i (the $154 dollar one from newegg)
EVGA 7900 GS KO
2 GB of wintec ampo ddr2 800
Chiefmax 680w PSU
500gb Seagate Barracuda
Centurion 5 case

I may go with the stock cooler at first and see what type of results I can get ocing then maybe go with a bigger cooler.
I went with the 7900 GS because I have the same one and it runs CS:S at 1680x1050 at max settings at over 110 fps and overclocks well.

2 questions

1) is it worth getting name brand mem or 1066
2) right now is it worth going directx 10 or should I wait until the next family of boards come out (8900?)
 

MichaelD

Lifer
Jan 16, 2001
31,528
3
76
If you're not going to run the ram past it's default stock speed, then you'll be fine with that ram.

That power supply leaves much to be desired. Don't worry so much about how much wattage it puts out. Quality over quantity. Don't skimp on the power supply; it's the heart of any computer. Get a name brand. Check out the Power Supplies forum for suggestions.

The stock Intel heatsink is total crap and not made for overclocking at all. You don't have to spend big bucks on an aftermarket cooler. I have a $20 Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro that works very well and is 10x better than the stock HS.

Everything else looks good. :thumbsup:
 

PurdueRy

Lifer
Nov 12, 2004
13,837
4
0
Originally posted by: MichaelD
If you're not going to run the ram past it's default stock speed, then you'll be fine with that ram.

That power supply leaves much to be desired. Don't worry so much about how much wattage it puts out. Quality over quantity. Don't skimp on the power supply; it's the heart of any computer. Get a name brand. Check out the Power Supplies forum for suggestions.

The stock Intel heatsink is total crap and not made for overclocking at all. You don't have to spend big bucks on an aftermarket cooler. I have a $20 Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro that works very well and is 10x better than the stock HS.

Everything else looks good. :thumbsup:

DDR800 can be overclocked. DDR 533/667 are the limiting ones depending on what FSB your processor runs at
 

MichaelD

Lifer
Jan 16, 2001
31,528
3
76
I know DDR800 can be overclocked. :) What I was saying was that as long as you're not going to run that memory past DDR800 speeds, you don't need high quality ($$$$$$) "overclockable" memory like Corsair or Mushkin's good stuff.

 

Ruger22C

Golden Member
Sep 22, 2006
1,079
4
81
My question is: If you have a 7900 and it gives you over 110 FPS, and that's more than enough.. Why upgrade at all? I'm just curious.

Anyway, take a look into 7950GT. The MoBo looks great, I'm pretty sure it's the same one I was going to get. 3 PCI slots, Quad-core capable, etc. right? If you want to save a few $$, get the e4300. Then save up for the quad core, when the price drops.

Good luck!
 

bob4432

Lifer
Sep 6, 2003
11,715
39
91
Originally posted by: Ruger22C
My question is: If you have a 7900 and it gives you over 110 FPS, and that's more than enough.. Why upgrade at all? I'm just curious.

Anyway, take a look into 7950GT. The MoBo looks great, I'm pretty sure it's the same one I was going to get. 3 PCI slots, Quad-core capable, etc. right? If you want to save a few $$, get the e4300. Then save up for the quad core, when the price drops.

Good luck!

he gets 110fps, not his brother who he is building the rig for.....:confused:

op - as far as dx10 - wait. wait until nvidia is not the only game in town and wait for an actual use for it - atm you get bent over by nvidia to get a decent gaming gpu (8800gts/x) and dx10 - there other cards are pretty weak and w/ amd/ati, well you get a very bad attempt to get into dx10. just imho

and get a better psu - you probably only need a 400W unit in reality, if that, just get a good one, that is much more important than the W rating
 

Sinn707

Senior member
Mar 8, 2007
210
0
0
Get GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R instead of the 680i board, newer chipset, great overclocking capabilities, costs less. When overclocking you certainly don't want to have a stock HSF (which is terrible) and generic ram. If you don't want to spend much on cooling that's fine, you can get decent cooler for as little as $21.75 here.. Ram is dirt cheap these days and the good brand overclockable ram is not much more expensive than the generic which makes it an easy choice, I didn't check how much that wintec cost but I'm guessing its $80. for only $24 more you can get this kit, which is just too good for the price.
Also, E6750 is a great chice, do NOT downgrade to E4300, yes you save $40 but you also lose half the cache with it. No thanks. Also consider using some quality thermal paste if you decide to buy an aftermarket cooler.
Good luck.
 

zach0624

Senior member
Jul 13, 2007
535
0
0
Thanks for the comments, with the new pricing on the centurion 5 I will probably go with a name brand sli 500w psu (even though the cheifmax is what I use in my rig) and a cheap heat pipe fan either one that blows out the rear exhaust or through the cpu exhaust pipe. Also the memory sinn linked to looks great but I will stay with the 680i because sli is something that my dad and brother want for the future. My dad's helping pay but he understands the need for quality and since the whole build will stay around $800 then he won't care much about going with a little bit more quality. Thanks for the help.