[First Time Builder] Need Help choosing parts for $~900USD gaming pc

[ducuiuc]

Hey everyone first time using THW and it seems like u really know what u guys are talking about.

ok for my budget right away takeaway for OS so ~800?
what i want so far
$164.99 Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400
$ 39.99 Western Digital Caviar RE WD2500YD 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
$~50.00 Memory
$ 22.99 LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS30 - OEM
$~80.00 PSU
$<100.00 Computer Case

ok what i need the most help on is whether to go with dual crossfire or dual sli.
answering that then what card for $100-200 range and what mobo for $100-200 range
I'm gonna start with just one gfx card then later on add a second.

I want to be able to play first person shooters and some strategy games on a 19-22 inch moniter. itll be nice to be able to upgrade
bits a pieces.

Please be as coldly critical as u can( i can take it)
any input on the many missing pieces of my build would be greatly appreciated!
thanks in advance

 

[Why_Me]

The only thing I can fault you with is the $80 limit you put on the psu, yet you plan on running Crossfire / SLI. 750w is the minimum you want to go with, and for $80 your pretty much limited to either a under powered psu, or a pure junk psu. Other wise your build looks nice.

Ok, the case down below is a no brainer. That CM690 has plenty of room for dual vid cards, cooling/airlfow that can't really be beat, and it's a quality case not to mention it's a steal at that price. The vid card is also cheap right now, and a P45 mobo for Crossfire is always a cheaper alternative than going up to a X58 board for SLI. Blame that on Nvidea being hard heads earlier in the game..... The mobo is a good one, and a great overclocker, not to mention it has great chipset cooling. The memory is another steal at that price. Low latency, and great timings and it won't hold back that cpu if you choose to overclock it. The aftermarket heatsink is decent, cheap right now, and plenty enough if you don't plan on doing any extreme overclocking like trying to push it past the 4.0 mark. Thermal paste....always a must when I'm doing a build, so I always throw it in there.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137 $89.99
COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102810 $164.99 ($149.99 after $15.00 Mail-In Rebate) Free Shipping*
SAPPHIRE 100259L Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128358 $134.99 ($114.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate)
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231209 $44.99 Free Shipping*
G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341011 $109.99 ($99.99 after $10.00 Mail-In Rebate) Free Shipping*
PC Power & Cooling S75CF 750W EPS12V SLI NVIDIA SLI Certified (Dual 8800 GTX and below) CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233001 $24.99 ($19.99 after $5.00 Mail-In Rebate)
XIGMATEK HDT-S963 92mm Rifle CPU Cooler - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233019 $8.49
XIGMATEK ACK-I7751 Retention Bracket - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186020 $6.99
ARCTIC COOLING MX-2 Thermal Compound - Retail

 

[ducuiuc]

do i need to get the last three products(noob?) and if so wondering what specifically? does it help with?
what it be an improvement to get ddr2 memory greater than the 800 u recommended?
what type of OS u think is reasonable?

 

[Why_Me]

do i need to get the last three products(noob?) and if so wondering what specifically? does it help with?
what it be an improvement to get ddr2 memory greater than the 800 u recommended?
what type of OS u think is reasonable?

The cooling is if your going to overclock....which I never go with the stock heatsink anyways. But look at it like this. You can take those cooling products I listed, and give that cpu a very mild "bump" and push it to 3.6GHz @ 1600 fsb just by moving up your fsb to (9 x 400). You just took a 3.0 chip and moved it up to 3.6 and it only takes a few minutes to do this. This way your going to get more out of your chip, and no chance of bottlenecking those vid cards when running Crossfre. That memory clocks right with that cpu. DDR800 low latency ftw.

As far as OS is concerned...Vista 64. It allows you to read all 4 gigs of that memory and it utilizes DX10.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488 $99.99 Free Shipping*
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders - OEM

 

[ducuiuc]

Thanks or helping me out btw but i got another question.

I read that their are some problems with vista 64 and drivers what is ure take on this?

As for the psu i was wondering for the sake of education... why did u pick that psu over others?

 

[Why_Me]

A quality psu is a must, and there's only a few brands I would trust; Corsair, PC Power and Cooling, OCZ Fatal1ty series, Seasonic, etc... The one in your build is on sale right now, and is the cheapest decent psu with 750w at the moment. So it was the obvious choice for that build...seeing how you intend on running dual vid cards.

As far as Vista drivers go, I have yet to have a problem with Vista. I see a few peeps bashing Vista, yet those are usually the people that have old PC's and are part of the hardcore AMD crowd still stuck in 2004. 😛 Iv'e run several laptops and PC's with Vista 64 and have yet to have an issue with it.

 

[ducuiuc]

what do u think of this psu?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703009

so here's "my"(ure rig) as of now
https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=10097732

 

[ducuiuc]

sry link didnt work but otherise its what u told me with the other psu and with a 19in monitor from hannis g

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824254005

 

[theAnimal]

what do u think of this psu?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703009

Same PSU, different color.

 

[Why_Me]

what do u think of this psu?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703009

so here's "my"(ure rig) as of now
https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=10097732

Nice build !

If you can, try to squeeze this monitor in....it's cheap for what you get. Higher screen resolution, and fast response time. (2ms).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236050 $169.99 ($149.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate)
ASUS VW224U Black 22" 2ms(GTG) Widescreen LCD Monitor w/ HDCP Support 300 cd/m2 1000:1 (ASCR 5000:1) Built in Speakers - Retail