System Build, once again, help GREATLY Appreciated!

[andvruss1]

Last time I made a computer, it was around 4.5 years ago (or 3.5) and I am still using it, even though the mobo and PSU burned out when I was away for a year . I used these forums and they greatly helped me create my first computer. Now I am kinda diving right back in, so any guidance would be GREATLY appreciated! Thank you!

Purpose: To be used for mostly gaming. I am looking for the best bang for my buck while running games such as COD4, WOW, Civ4 etc., but also be able to play games in 2-3 years decently (like my current system still does).

Lifespan Pref.: 3-4 Years

Budget: depends on if I need to replace my Case. Probably around $500-650 Can

Country of residence: Canada, therefore I will be using NCIX.com as the main source of my purchases. If there is a better site, ie. cheaper, for Canadians, please tell me!
EDIT: I live in Ottawa, Ontario.

Brand preference: the better one! (ie. cheap and reliable ).

Current parts: (see list below)

Read Similar threads(?): Yes, and read reviews of some of the pieces I want to be at Anandtech (ie. 4850 vs. 9800GT)

Overclocking: Would love to, but nothing too extreme, ie. that would harm my system or my system/PSU couldn't handle easily

When(?): Doesn't really matter, maybe 3-4 weeks. However, some of these parts are on special only until the 5th of August, so I would have to change my list after then.


My old/current rig:

Mobo: Asus A8N S939 SLI Deluxe - Replacing
CPU: AMD 3000+ Processor - Replacing
PSU: 430W Thermaltake Purepower - Replacing
Memory: 512 MB Kingston Ram Chips X 2 - Replacing
Video Card: EVGA NVIDIA 6600GT - Replacing
HD: 120GB Samsung (I believe) 7200RPM - Not sure if it needs replacing
CD/DVD: Pioneer DVD/CD Burner - Planning not to Replace
Case: Antec Lanboy Case - Not sure if it needs replacing
A couple of fans - Planning not to Replace


Proposed Upgrades:

Mobo: not sure about this one. Last Mobo I bought was overkill, so just going basic here; no need for Crossfire or all the bells and whistles, just some easy and simple overclocking possibilites with a lifespan of 3+ years

Gigabyte EP45-DS3L ATX LGA775 P45 DDR2 PCI-E 2PCI SATA2 HD Sound 2GBLAN Motherboard
http://www.ncix.com/products/i...L&manufacture=Gigabyte
$127.99


CPU: I am not too sure about this one too, it's been a while. Is this overkill? It is my most expensive part so far, and I am not too sure about compatibility.

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Dual Core Processor LGA775 3.0GHZ Wolfdale 1333FSB 6MB Retail
http://www.ncix.com/products/p...p?noheader=1&sku=27784
$198.36


PSU: Pretty sure 600W will be enough, but would love to hear someone confirm that

OCZ StealthXStream 600W ATX12V 20/24PIN Active PFC ATX Power Supply
http://www.ncix.com/products/i...cture=OCZ%20Technology
$54.99 w/ MIB


Memory: I'm pretty sure 4GB is going to last me a long time, so might as well get it now, going for 2X 2GB chips:

Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X4096-6400C5 4GB DDR2 2X2GB PC2-6400 DDR2-800 CL 5-5-5-18 240PIN Memory Kit
http://www.ncix.com/products/i...C5&manufacture=CORSAIR
$74.99 w/MIB and special price until August 5th


Video Card: between the NVIDIA 9800GT and this, I've heard better things about the 4850, and for $179.99 Can, what a bargain!

Diamond Radeon HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 PCI-E Dual DVI-I HDCP HDTV Out Video Card
http://www.ncix.com/products/i...12&manufacture=Diamond
$179.99

Hard Drive (If needed): Once again, not sure if I need to upgrade this, from 120GB to 500GB...

Western Digital Caviar SE16 640GB SATA2 7200RPM 16MB Hard Drive OEM 3YR MFR Warranty
http://www.ncix.com/products/i...ital%20WD&promoid=1030
$79.98

P.S. Would my Case fit all of this? (My current PSU is ATX 12V, so it can fit a ATX PSU)

TOTAL PRICE:

(Without Hard Drive): $651.32 Canadian
(With Hard Drive): $715.31 Canadian

Is there anywhere that isn't covered enough, or maybe in the case of the CPU, covered too much? Thanks all in advance of your replies and have a good day !

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Sorry to ask off topic, but is that mobo an A8N32 Deluxe? with the 8 phase pwm??? and if so, are you going to sell it?

Thanks

btw: that sounds like a great build and it should last as long as you hold out till another buy.

 

[andvruss1]

Originally posted by: BTRY B 529th FA BN
Sorry to ask off topic, but is that mobo an A8N32 Deluxe? with the 8 phase pwm??? and if so, are you going to sell it?

Thanks

btw: that sounds like a great build and it should last as long as you hold out till another buy.

No, sorry it is only an A8N- SLI Deluxe, not 32 bit and therefore not 8 phase pwm either .

Possibly open to selling nonetheless even though this may be a potential turn-off.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

I would update the 4850 if you have the extra cash for the 4870

 

[DarkRogue]

That PSU is overkill for a dual core and a single graphics card.. dial it down to a good 450/500W to save some money, although I suppose $55 is still a good price.
Other than that, it looks like you did your homework. I'm not sure about the DHX ram kit though, that heatsink if awfully tall, and might obstruct the CPU heatsink. The non-DHX kit (Regular XMS2) is much smaller. As for hard drive, it's a little more expensive, but probably worth it to go for the WD6400AAKS.

I don't really think your burner/case needs replacing unless they're dying or your stuff won't fit.

Edit:
Unless that drive doesn't burn DVDs, I might have misread that - please clarify.

 

[andvruss1]

Originally posted by: DarkRogue
That PSU is overkill for a dual core and a single graphics card.. dial it down to a good 450/500W to save some money, although I suppose $55 is still a good price.
Other than that, it looks like you did your homework. I'm not sure about the DHX ram kit though, that heatsink if awfully tall, and might obstruct the CPU heatsink. The non-DHX kit (Regular XMS2) is much smaller. As for hard drive, it's a little more expensive, but probably worth it to go for the WD6400AAKS.

I don't really think your burner/case needs replacing unless they're dying or your stuff won't fit.

Edit:
Unless that drive doesn't burn DVDs, I might have misread that - please clarify.

Thanks for the reply. So 600W is overkill for this setup? Hm, I guess 450-550W wasn;t as bad as I thought.

I'll check again on the ram, see if I can find other ones, except the price is pretty good, $89.99 for 4 GB...

Why would the WD6400AAKS be better? Faster?

Yep, my DVD drive burns CDs and DVDs, so not much has changed there in 3.5 years .


Edit: I did find other RAM:
OCZ Gold XTC PC2-6400 4GB 2X2GB DDR2-800 CL5-5-5-18 DDR2 240PIN Dual Channel Memory Kit
http://www.ncix.com/products/i...echnology&promoid=1030
$83.99 Can

The price is very similar, but the timings on this one are higher than the Corsair, so I would prefer the Corsair if it would fit. Does anyone know if it might interfere with CPU heatsink? Thanks!

 

[andvruss1]

In addition, right now I am running Windows XP and don't really want to spend the $ to buy Vista, but would this cause any problems? Thanks.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

The WD6400AAKS is just as fast if not faster than a Raptor 150, uses 2 platters, runs cool, runs quiet, and you pretty much get most of that 640GB of space... most, not all, but most.

Check Storage Review for performance reviews.

 

[andvruss1]

Originally posted by: BTRY B 529th FA BN
The WD6400AAKS is just as fast if not faster than a Raptor 150, uses 2 platters, runs cool, runs quiet, and you pretty much get most of that 640GB of space... most, not all, but most.

Check Storage Review for performance reviews.

Ah I found it on NCIX:

Western Digital Caviar SE16 640GB SATA2 7200RPM 16MB Hard Drive OEM 3YR MFR Warranty
http://www.ncix.com/products/i...ital%20WD&promoid=1030
$79.98 Canadian

If I was to upgrade my Hard Drive then, would this be the ideal one to do it with? (~$15 more than the other one I posted).

 

[DarkRogue]

This was the kit I was talking about:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820145184
$87 free ship with $20MIR = $67 shipped AR for 2x2GB.

The difference between CAS4 and CAS5 is hardly noticeable in real-world applications, you'll only notice a difference running benchmarks.

BTRY covered the aspects of the WD6400AAKS - it's big and fast - what else do you need?

Edit:
Oops, forgot you were using NCIX.
Here it is:
http://www.ncix.com/products/i...C5&manufacture=CORSAIR
$75 AR.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Originally posted by: andvruss1

Originally posted by: BTRY B 529th FA BN
The WD6400AAKS is just as fast if not faster than a Raptor 150, uses 2 platters, runs cool, runs quiet, and you pretty much get most of that 640GB of space... most, not all, but most.

Check Storage Review for performance reviews.

Ah I found it on NCIX:

Western Digital Caviar SE16 640GB SATA2 7200RPM 16MB Hard Drive OEM 3YR MFR Warranty
http://www.ncix.com/products/i...ital%20WD&promoid=1030
$79.98 Canadian

If I was to upgrade my Hard Drive then, would this be the ideal one to do it with? (~$15 more than the other one I posted).

Yes

 

[DSF]

I would go with the RAM DarkRogue showed you over the OCZ, and I'd stick with the 4850 since you're already over budget.

 

[andvruss1]

I might plan to OC this a bit. I have 2 120MM fans in my case, one in the front, one in the back, but would I then have to worry about heat? Specifically, is the CPU stock heatsink and fan good enough? Is the 4850 stock HS good as well? I plan on doing some OC'ing, but nothing too drastic. Would you recommend additional cooling? Thanks in advance!

 

[DSF]

The E8400's stock heatsink is probably fine for light overclocking, but it depends on how far you're planning to go.

In reality, there are so many variable in terms of a system's heat that it's not possible for somebody to say yeah, that will or won't work. For example, there are some 120mm fans that push a lot of air, and some designed to be silent that push very little. You can leave the 4850's fan at stock settings, or crank up the speed to exhaust more heat in the same period of time.

Most importantly though, a computer running in an attic in Georgia is going to have a harder time staying cool that one in a basement in Alaska.

 

[Ichigo]

Best bang for buck would be something like E7200 + 4870 compared to what you listed.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

I think you could also consider this Asus P43 motherboard, since you're already over your budget. Then you could also consider an Intel Q6600.

Everything else looks fine. The OCZ StealthXStream is a steal at that price. The Radeon HD4850 is the best bang-for-buck graphics card.