I find myself beneath the learning curve

[gprater]

It seems like as the years have passed...my "techiness" has dwindled like my hair line where i used to enjoy pouring through Comp Shopper magazines (when they were huge)....now i get overwhelmed when looking for components on newegg ( and its a great site). I have built 4 of the 7 PC's i have used dating back to the 90's. I am getting ready to purchase parts for another build ( the family CFO gave the go ahead )

Now, like a ot of folks in this forum, I too am going to primarily play games, but unlike most I think, I wil be playing older games that ive played for a while. My current athlon (939) based system with a 7800 xx video card has run its course. I am still going very low end on the new build. All Im looking for is a step up from my 4 year old system.

What Im not sure about is compatibility of the parts. Thats where me being below the learning curve comes in
I took some advice from these forums, added a good dose of newegg customer reviews (with a grain of salt), and factored in my limited budget and got this. If someone that is comfortable with this stuff (like I used to be) would make sure that my memory, mobo, cpu are going to mesh, I would appreciate it.

Oh, and it seems that the PSU I chose is out of stock. Could someone recommend one in the same price range please?

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3L LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128372

Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116072

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166

SAPPHIRE 100245HDMI Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102824

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

COOLER MASTER Elite 330 RC-330-KKN1-GP Black SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119115

LG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136147

Thermaltake TR2 W0070RUC 430W ATX12V Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153023

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders w/ Tech Guarantee
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116677



Again, thanks for any help..I hope ive included the proper info.

 

[GhislainG]

Your PSU has a single +12V@18A rail. That's totally inadequate for your build. A crappy PSU leads to an unstable system and possible component damage if it fails. You need something a bit pricier like:

Antec Earthwatts EA500: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371007

Corsair 450VX: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003

OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341022

Antec BP550 Plus: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016

 

[Shadow703793]

^edit: Beat me to it.

1. What is your budget?

2. What will this be mainly used for? Gaming, family PC,etc.?

3. What resolution for the LCD?

=========
Anyways, the P45-UD3L and E5200 is a great combination. If you are interested in OCing you can easily hit 3.4-3.6Ghz. Note: If planing to OC consider a good HSF. The stock HSF will probably get you to 3Ghz OC.

The PSU is kind of a hit or miss. Get a Corsair 400CX. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008
$40 after MIR. Don't skimp on the PSU. It's not worth it.

4850 is a great card. If you have the money and have a atleast 1600*1200 LCD, try and get a 4870.

Also, if you can spend a little more this would be well worth it: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128358
This way you'll be able to do CrossFire down the road. I'm assuming you have a 1600*1200 LCD or that you will upgrade to a 1600*1200 or better LCD.

Overall, a good build. DO try to get a Corsair 400CX instead of the Thermaltake. The Thermaltake PSU you selected has only 18A on the +12 rail. Modern GPUs like the 4850 need at least 20A (safety margin). Invest in a good PSU. Seriously. The Thrmaltake uses an older design where +5v line was more important than the +12, hence why it has 30A on the +5 rail. Compair that with the 400CX which has 30A on the +12.

 

[GhislainG]

Shadow, you probably meant the GA-EP45-UD3P: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128358. The GA-EP45-UD3R has a single PCIe x16 slot.

 

[Shadow703793]

^lol. Yeah, I linked to the wrong one. I had the UD3R page open also lol. Nice catch

 

[gprater]

thanks for the replies

gaming...but as I said not newer more demanding games...some old MMO's...photo editing..all of which my current comp does fairly well.
I am assuming that the parts listed above are a few generations better than the parts in my low-end-then 4year old machine.

would love to see a number under $600

thanks for the PSU info...knew nothing about that..always wondered what rails were anyway

LCD is 1200x1600....but again...my current system ( with the geForce 7800) does ok with the res....so wouldnt any of those GPU's match it or surpass it?...

Not an OC'er ...leave that for you folks.

thanks again for the advice

 

[g3force]

Theres a combo deal for a Biostar AM2/AM2+ mobo with a PII 940. It's your decision whether it's worth the extra $40.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Combo...EMC-IGNEFL070709-_-Combo-_-LM1A-_-Combo209473

 

[Why_Me]

Here's a build that will allow you to over clock. Also as a reminder, you do not want to purchase an EIDE component for a new build. SATA is what you want.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128380 $79.99
GIGABYTE GA-EP43-UD3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Product of preference with 2 Oz Copper PCB & DualBIOS

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116072 $69.99 Free Shipping*
Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835207006 $29.99 ($14.99 after $15.00 Mail-In Rebate)
Sunbeam CR-CCTF92-4 92mm Core-Contact Freezer CPU Cooler W/TX-2 - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122 $46.99 Free Shipping*
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.204205 Combo Discount: -$10.00 Combo Price: $119.94
Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341012 $49.69
OCZ StealthXStream OCZ500SXS 500W ATX12V / EPS12V Active PFC Power Supply - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151176 $25.99
SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache IDE 22X DVD±R DVD Burner LightScribe Support - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130468 $119.99 ($104.99 after $15.00 Mail-In Rebate) Free Shipping*
EVGA 512-P3-1150-TR GeForce GTS 250 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Free Call of duty - World at war w/ purchase, limited offer

Total $542.57 | $512.57 w/mail in rebates

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dd353205.aspx?ITPID=mscomsc <--- Save yourself some money on an o/s until March 2010 and dl the 64 bit version of Windows RC 7

 

[Shadow703793]

^I would agree with all the choices except the OP dosen't plan to OC. And +1 for running Win 7 RC. (Note: You can pre order Win 7 Home Premium for $50 at Newegg, that way you'll be ready when the time runs out.

@OP: Seriously OCing is not that hard. Spend a few hours (~3-4) learning/reading OCing guides and you can easily do it. As long as you are willing to learn and push your hardware, you'll be able to save quite a lot of money now and in the future by getting lower clocked CPUs and OCing them (ie getting a i7 920 instead of the i7 940). The actuall OCing will take a few days, mainly due to the optimizations of voltages,etc, but you can still use the PC for normal work during testing as long as you have a non insane OC.

 

[gprater]

thanks Why_me and others...what did i have listed that was EIDE?

 

[Why_Me]

thanks Why_me and others...what did i have listed that was EIDE?

Your burner.

 

[AngieCC]

Probably because the SATA burners are becoming increasingly rarer at sites like newegg for some reason.

 

[royalcrown]

If your playing older stuff, you might be better off getting a non wide screen monitor also. If you get a smaller widescreen (below 22 inch) the picture wont be as "tall" and you'll either have black bars on the side of your games or the picture will be streched funny depending on settings and possible game resolutions.

A 4:3 screen is more square, like old school tube monitors.

 

[gprater]

ah the burner..wanted an HP ..but they are perpetually out of stock it seems......

I already own the monitor

thanks again everyone