Time for a new rig, please critique!

Xerin7

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Feb 2, 2007
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My pc died a few months ago and I've been limping along with a laptop, waiting for R600. After today's announcement of yet ANOTHER delay, I decided it is time to pull the trigger. This PC will be used ONLY for gaming (no office applications, no movies, no music). Please share your thoughts, and if you know of any better prices I can get on parts let me know.

CPU: Intel Core2 E6600, $314

HSF: Scythe Ninja?, $44
(looking for a quiet but effective HSF for mild OC to 3.0GHZ, not sure on this one because it is so big and may be hard to install on a non-removable motherboard)

Video Card: EVGA 8800GTX, $585

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 (P965 chipset) *V3.3*, $133

Memory: (looking for recommendations - I am leaning toward 4GB, which I believe will help more in Vista than 2GB. Would you recommend 2x2GB or 4x1GB?

Sound Card: Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty, $84 (already bought)

Hard Drive 1: WD Raptor X 150GB (ADFD version with 16MB cache), $199

Hard Drive 2: Seagate Barracuda 320GB, $95

DVD Burner: Samsung 18x, $45

Case: Lian Li-777, $252 (already bought)

PSU: Seasonic m12-600, $160

Operating System: Vista 32 or 64 (would love to go 64 if it works with these components and Vanguard, LOTR online, Crysis)

Monitor: (looking for recommendations on a quality 24" lcd...Benq FP241VW if available, Samsung 245T, Dell 2407WFP?)

Mouse: Logitech G5, $41

Mousepad: (recommendations for a good gaming mousepad?)

Keyboard: Logitech G15, $72

Thanks!
 

Xerin7

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Feb 2, 2007
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Thanks Moosey...given that I'll be playing mmorpgs which are ram hungry at highest settings, won't I get better FPS with 4GB?
 

Xerin7

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Feb 2, 2007
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Any recommendations on where I could find decent 2GB sticks that would be ok for a mild OC to 3.0GHZ? They seem pretty rare...
 

gerwen

Senior member
Nov 24, 2006
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Any DDR2-667 Ram will get you to 3.0GHz. If you go DDR2-800 it will get you to 3.6GHz provided nothing else limits you first.
The cheapest Ram of those specs will do, as at those clock speeds, you will be running the ram at its rated spec (not overclocking the ram)
 

Xerin7

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Feb 2, 2007
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Do you think I can comfortably get to 3GHz on the stock HSF without needing to by an after-market cooler?
 

gerwen

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Nov 24, 2006
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Originally posted by: Xerin7
Do you think I can comfortably get to 3GHz on the stock HSF without needing to by an after-market cooler?

Impossible to say. You may, or you may not. It also depends on what temps you are comfortable with. I'd say you have a halfway decent chance. Imho though, spend the $30 bucks on a Freezer 7 Pro, and be almost assured of 3.2

Originally posted by: Xerin7
What do you think about this 2x2GB kit from Geil:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820144060

DDR2 800
Cas 5
Timing 5-5-5-15

Anyone know if this will work with the Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3?

From the comments in your link, it looks like some folks are having trouble with stability at stock mobo voltage. This may cause you problems, but isn't necessarily a show stopper.

I've also heard of folks having troubles with the gigabyte boards not posting with ram that won't run at 1.8V. This may have been resolved with a bios update though. If not it is easily circumvented if you get your hands on any old stick of ddr2 ram for 10 minutes to set the voltage higher.
 

Xerin7

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Feb 2, 2007
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I don't have any old DDR2 RAM, but I guess I can buy some if I find I'm not able to post after building the pc. Is there a better set of 2x2GB ram than this, which would avoid the issue?

Do you think the Cas 5 and Timing 5-5-5-15 will slow my system down compared to going with 4 sticks of faster 1GB ram?
 

Boyo

Golden Member
Feb 23, 2006
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You can always get better RAM and if you are playing games then it might not be a bad idea to get some RAM with lower latencies. Have you looked at Corsair XMS DDR2 800?
 

Xerin7

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Feb 2, 2007
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I did, but ultimately decided to go with 4 gigs in Vista 64 would. Unfortunately, the Geil was out of stock so I got G.Skill at Cas 6 and Timing 6-6-6-18. Still, I think the benefit of the extra ram in the games I play (like Vanguard) will outweigh the lower timings/latencies.
 

Xerin7

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Feb 2, 2007
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I got lucky...at the last minute, the Geil memory came back in stock and I was still able to change my order. $399 for 4GB of Cas 5 at 5-5-5-15 - woot!
 

Xerin7

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Feb 2, 2007
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Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for your input! I ordered my parts over the weekend and am looking forward to building my new rig soon :)