Time for a new build, suggestions please...

[jtomlinson]

My Shuttle PSU caught fire (yay!) and now the motherboard is acting crazy, so I decided its time for a new build...

My budget is something under $2000. I have a Dell 2005FPW that still works so that doesn't need to be replaced quite yet. I'm thinking of hinting to my fiance for a 24" display for Christmas this year, so I'm trying for a build that will handle a higher resolution. I've also found myself eying FPS games recently too. Hope that's enough of that information.

Current Newegg wishlist that I've thrown together is here. And for those that don't want to follow that link:

Antec TPQ-850 850W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply
XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
VisionTek 900244 Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1000 (PC2 8000) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3750330AS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
DFI LANPARTY DK X38-T2R LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard

Cosmos 1000 case (not on the Newegg wishlist)

I wouldn't mind doing some overclocking at some point either or at least try my hand at it. Hope that is enough information to get a few suggestions. If not tell me anything else that is needed. Thanks in advance.

* Edit for modifications

 

[nerp]

Do you really need that much of a motherboard? You could spend half that, easily, and have a kick butt p45 board or something. Otherwise, CPU, Ram, cooler are great choices. I tend not to comment on cases since that's mostly personal preference. What kind of PSU are you going to use? I can't tell if that case comes with one.

 

[jtomlinson]

Originally posted by: nerp
Do you really need that much of a motherboard? You could spend half that, easily, and have a kick butt p45 board or something. Otherwise, CPU, Ram, cooler are great choices. I tend not to comment on cases since that's mostly personal preference. What kind of PSU are you going to use? I can't tell if that case comes with one.

Hmmm, thought I included the PSU in that list. I was thinking CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V for the PSU though. As for the motherboard I chose that motherboard so I had the option of going Crossfire at some point if I wanted too, wanted to try and future-proof as much as possible. If there is a better board please share.

And I'm in agreement on the case. I know I could probably spend less but I really like the look of the bolt-on window in the Cosmos 1000. And since I'll be looking at the case everyday figured I should get something i truly like to look at.

 

[DSF]

How far are you going to go in terms of overclocking? DDR2-800 is fine to take that chip up to 3.6GHz, and possibly a little farther. DDR2-1000 would let you overclock as far as you want, and both are cheaper than DDR2-1066.

The Cosmos does indeed come without a PSU, so you'll need that too. Why two small hard drives when you could get a 640-750GB one for the same price? Look at the Western Digital Caviar 640GB, Seagate 750GB 7200.11, and Samsung Spinpoint 750GB.

I agree the motherboard is more than you need unless you expect to use crossfire.

 

[jtomlinson]

Originally posted by: DSF
How far are you going to go in terms of overclocking? DDR2-800 is fine to take that chip up to 3.6GHz, and possibly a little farther. DDR2-1000 would let you overclock as far as you want, and both are cheaper than DDR2-1066.

The Cosmos does indeed come without a PSU, so you'll need that too. Why two small hard drives when you could get a 640-750GB one for the same price? Look at the Western Digital Caviar 640GB, Seagate 750GB 7200.11, and Samsung Spinpoint 750GB.

I agree the motherboard is more than you need unless you expect to use crossfire.

Thanks for the suggestion on memory and harddrives. Switched for DDR2-1000 and a single 750GB Seagate drive.

 

[jtomlinson]

Made a few changes to my parts list and ordered my case today. Think this is what I want to go with but wanted to make sure everything looked alright and I wasn't forgetting anything. Comments or suggestions appreciated, thanks.

Plan to order Sunday night or Monday ... trying to game on my 15" MacBook Pro is starting to annoy me.