Should I bite?

[Nameless1990]

I'm in the process of building my first rig. I noticed Newegg has 2GB Corsair XMS memory for $196 after a $40 MIR with free shipping. Should I bite now or pass it up and see if any better deals come along?

I'm 16 and I'm using money I've made from working this past year, so money is somewhat of an object, although I'm looking close to the $1500 range. Also I'm a mild gamer and multi-tasker, so 1 gig won't cut it. I'm ready to buy at any point, just wondering if I should bite right now.

Link: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820145590

 

[Jiggz]

For mild gaming, I don't really see using XMS. XMS rams are usually preferred by those who OC. I say just go with Ballistix. It's also reliable and about half the price.

 

[Nameless1990]

Ballistix for half the price? Where are you seeing this?

Also a bit of a disclaimer on the "mild gaming" statement. I use that as a safe term because my families current desktop is a Dell Dimension with 256 MB RAM and that whole deal. Our laptop I'm currently on is an HP with 1 GB RAM, and a decent Intel Core Duo T2400 1.83 GHZ processor. In fact, I'm using it with my new Sceptre 20 inch monitor. Putting that aside, I've never had a PC I could use for gaming purposes. I've just been a console gamer and I'm not sure how avid a PC gamer I'll become. So I'm aiming for a mid range unit.

 

[stogez]

Thats a good price for a 2GB 800mhz kit. Just make sure its compatible with your mobo. Some mobos have problem booting with higher voltage memory and you might need another memory to up the voltage. What other parts are you buying?

Originally posted by: Jiggz
For mild gaming, I don't really see using XMS. XMS rams are usually preferred by those who OC. I say just go with Ballistix. It's also reliable and about half the price.

He's looking at a 2GB kit and you're probably looking at 1GB.

 

[Nameless1990]

I'm looking at the MSI K9A Platinum ATX AM2 board.

Link: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813130057

 

[InFeXiOn]

Originally posted by: Nameless1990
I'm looking at the MSI K9A Platinum ATX AM2 board.

Link: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813130057

I would recommend you ask for opinions on a build first. Going with Intel over AMD is probably a better move, especially with the low cost on the e4300 but with it's ability to overclock you'll get a terrific bang for your buck, sort to speak.

If someone else doesn't mock something up, I will for you tomorrow. It's late, and I need some sleep, haha.

 

[Nameless1990]

I appreciate that, I figured with this build it would be a good time to join here (been lurking since last summer). So far I've purchased only peripherals, so a choice of AMD or Intel hasn't really come into play yet. I was hoping the mobo I choose wouldn't depend on the memory I buy. Although I'm aware that most mobo's today support PC2 6400 memory. If it is though, I need to decide on that pretty quick as well.

 

[crydee]

If you're not going to overclock you can get away with ddr2-667 ram and save some $. Intel over AMD too, nicer motherboard selection out for the p965 chipset too, it's a nice chipset with some great boards especially for the $1500 range and 1 video card set up. There are hundreds of critique my build reviews on here that you can easily reference too.

 

[stogez]

E4300
Gigabyte S3/DS3/, Asus P5B-E/Deluxe
The RAM you have or any DDR2-667 should be fine even for overclocking.
Video card depends on what you play/want to play and at what resolution. I wouldn't go for an 8800 card right now. Any of the 1950s or the 7900s should work out fine for you.

 

[Nameless1990]

Thing is, the XMS is $196 now and not to many 2 GB kits come at that low of a price.

My monitor resolution is 1680 X 1050. The 7900 GS looks to be a good value, although quite frankly I've got a little more in the budget for the video card, what's considered the next step up from the 7900 GS? Most of the games I play are FPS or Stealth games, racing games as well (Need for Speed series for example).

 

[Farmer]

???

I always though Ballistix was Crucial's premiere OC line?

 

[GoCobbers1]

The 7950GT would possibly be a good option for GPU.... Or by something cheaper and keep some money aside for the new DX10 cards...

 

[Nameless1990]

Yeah, the 7950GT looks good, but I'm not quite ready to buy the video card yet, although there is a nice rebate on that right now. I think I'll go ahead and bite on this tomorrow if it's still going, to good of a deal to pass up.

If only I had a debit card and didn't have to make my dad for his Next year I'll have my own, after I'm done buying parts...

 

[miniMUNCH]

Here's a rig I literally just put together.

Intel E4300 - $180
Tuniq Tower CPU cooler - $60 (optional)
Asus P5B deluxe - $180 (gigabyte DS3 Rev2 can be had for $130, but no firewire and crappier on board audio)
Buffalo Firestix (sp?) 2x1GB - $250
Samsung spinpoint 320GB HDD - $90
eGVA 8800 GTS - $370 after $30 rebate
Corsair HX620 620W PS - $130 after $15 rebate from ZZF (free shipping)
Antec P180B case - $130.00 from ZZF (free shipping)

I have a DVDRW drive that'll us for the time present...

Vista Ultimate 64-bit OEM - $200

I'll OC the E4300 to 1066 FSB speed. maybe a little more... nothing serious.

 

[Jiggz]

Originally posted by: stogez
Thats a good price for a 2GB 800mhz kit. Just make sure its compatible with your mobo. Some mobos have problem booting with higher voltage memory and you might need another memory to up the voltage. What other parts are you buying?

Originally posted by: Jiggz
For mild gaming, I don't really see using XMS. XMS rams are usually preferred by those who OC. I say just go with Ballistix. It's also reliable and about half the price.

He's looking at a 2GB kit and you're probably looking at 1GB.

My BAD! You're right it was the 1GB I was referring to.

 

[Nameless1990]

I'm about to pull the trigger on this, I'll wait the rest of the evening and think it over a bit more. $196 shipped for a good 2GB kit feels too good to pass up, any last second objections?

 

[stogez]

Are you planning on building the comp soon? Since DDR2 prices will probably continue to come down. So theres no point in buying now if you're just going to sit on it for a while

 

[Nameless1990]

I'm buying when I see the deals. I plan on being done in a couple months though. I went ahead and pulled the trigger, if I feel real negative about it in the next couple days, I can always cancel.

 

[yh125d]

Well, you probably only have about a day before the order cnnot be canceled, but Im sure you're gonna be happy with your purchase.