Finishing touches to Gaming PC

[fubukid100]

I'm just looking for opinions, recommendations, comments, and two cents on what will soon to be my custom rig. I am by no means an expert so I'd figured I go to them before I do something foolish. ANY and all recommendations will be appreciated. I've been out of the price scene for awhile now so I'm probably paying alot more than I should so please let me know. Keep in mind this is being built for optimal gaming performance.

1. Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - 189.99

2. GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - 134.99

3. Patriot Viper 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit - 68.99

4. CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready - 119.99

5. EVGA 896-P3-1260-AR GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - 130.00

6. Western Digital Raptor WD740ADFD 74GB 10000 RPM SATA 1.5Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM - 79.99

7. XION Mid Tower Case - 44.99

Total : 768.94

 

[Helloworld_98]

1)raptor's are slow, get a WDC black 640GB as it will be faster and hold more.

2) you don't need that 750w PSU, a 550w will do fine for the outlined build.

3) consider an AMD 720 build as it will last you longer because of the extra core while costing you less.

 

[foolycooly]

decent choices all around. Are you going to overclock? If not, you don't need 1066 RAM. If so, you need an aftermarket cooler. Either way, ditch the Patriot RAM in favor of G.Skill or Corsair--

DDR2 800:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122

DDR2 1066:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166

Aftermarket cooler (I would suggest buying it even if you don't plan to overclock...never hurts to have a chillier CPU):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029

If you plan on running two 260s in SLI, you can keep the current PSU. But if you don't plan to add another in the long run you don't really need 750 watts of power. Something like this will do just fine for your setup --

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341022

Raptor drives are old technology and are really terrible values right now. Some people like to make an argument for velociraptors but, again, I think they area terrible value. Go with a WD Caviar black 640gb for nearly 10x the storage space, twice the cache, less money, and faster read/write times --

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

I don't know anything about the case you've selected so I can't really offer advice there, but I can recommend the cm690 in its place --

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137


I hope this helps!

 

[Helloworld_98]

^ he can't run the 260's in SLI because he has a P45 motherboard in his build.

 

[foolycooly]

^ indeed.

reading comprehension ftw.

 

[orangegator]

Either get the UD3R, which is a little cheaper, or get an ATI video card so you can do crossfire. The hd4850 are only $85AR currently. Or get hd4770, 4870, or 4890, depending on budget. If you don't plan on crossfire, then a quality 500W psu is all you'll need.

 

[kettu]

3) consider an AMD 720 build as it will last you longer because of the extra core while costing you less.

I agree. Even though E8500 is probably faster core for core than Phenom II 720 I'd still get the 720. It will be fast enough for current games. And again I agree that the extra core will come handy in the future. Buying the 720 saves about $50 that could either be pocketed or invested in a faster GPU. In my opinion, a faster GPU would benefit you more than E8500 over PII 720. And I think AM3 socket would be better value in the future than S775.

 

[fubukid100]

It seems as though the Phenom II 720 is the best choice not only with all of you but most everyone else I've talked to. However im a 100% uninformed on AMD in general, I've been an Intel guy my whole life. Can anyone point me in the right direction of a GOOD AM3 socket?

P.S. I dont plan on overclocking and whats wrong with Patriot RAM?

 

[smithereen]

Do you want DDR3? If not, this combo is very easy to recommend.

 

[fubukid100]

What doesnt make much sense to me, and im probably just missing something here but, when I consulted the CPU charts on Crysis here the E8500 was miles above the Phenom II X3 in regards to FPS. And yet everyone is still telling me to go with the Phenom?

 

[kettu]

What doesnt make much sense to me, and im probably just missing something here but, when I consulted the CPU charts on Crysis here the E8500 was miles above the Phenom II X3 in regards to FPS. And yet everyone is still telling me to go with the Phenom?

The phenom X3 in the Desktop CPU Charts Q3/2008 is an older model. Though Phenom II X3 will be faster than that I doubt it will be faster than E8500. That's core for core though. Like I said earlier the X3 720 will be fast enough for playing all the current games. But that extra core will be usefull in the future. Here's an interesting review http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/multi-core-cpu,review-31567.html

On another note: E8500 scores 134.8 FPS while the older X3 scores 100.4 FPS. They are both playable on tested settings and hardware. Another interesting review http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/phenom-x4-955,review-31562.html As you can see, the test setup has a geforce GTX 260. Given that all the tested CPUs are fairly close to eachother I'd say you're better off saving that $50 and investing it in a more powerfull GPU.

 

[rewindlabs]

Since your saving a bit by going with amd i would suggest you move up to the 940 be....

 

[fubukid100]

Wow, those two reviews have made a believer out of me.