My first build, about to order. ($1000ish)

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punjabimunda

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May 19, 2009
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How's my build? Keep in mind this is Canadian dollars.

1) Is there a cheaper motherboard that works just as good
2) Does this motherboard detect DDR3 RAM?
3) Any out right bad choices? If not, I should be ordering today.

EVGA GeForce GTX 260 +EVGA LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX Intel $338.49 (in cart)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.187781

G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 $109.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231247

Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R $32.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118030

Antec Nine Hundred 2.0 $171.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129058

Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB $129.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W $129.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 $198.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037










 
1. Triple channel ram is only used on i7 systems
2. That board only supports DDR2
3. most people stray away from nVidia chipsets, even though that is the only way you can get SLI you might be better off with an Intel chipset.
 
DDR2 1066 RAM is only worth it if you're planning on a high overclock of your E8400 (over 400FSB or 3.6GHz). Core 2 CPU's are limited by the bandwidth of the FSB, so they don't benefit much at all from faster RAM.

The GTX 260 you picked is the old version. I would ditch that combo and get a quality Intel chipset board and a 4870 1GB GPU.

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128358&Tpk=ga-ep45-ud3p $159.99

SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801 $212.99
 


Alright thanks for the motherboard.

1) What's a better version of the gtx 260?
(I don't trust ATI because I had too many driver issues and I prefer sticking with nVidea).
 
Are you trying to leave your SLI options open? The board I suggested is capable of crossfire, but not SLI. You won't find many fans of Nvidia nForce chipset motherboards around here, but that's your only option if you want SLI with anything other than an i7 build. I, personally, have had great luck with ATI cards and drivers lately. If you're really against ATI and are trying to leave the SLI option open here's a combo that includes a new core 216 version of the GTX 260:

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.187783 $404.98

If you don't care about SLI you could go with a smaller PSU and get the GA-EP45-UD3R instead of the GA-EP45-UD3P since the second PCI-E slot won't do you any good with an nVidia GPU.

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128359&Tpk=ga-ep45-ud3r $149.99
 

That's still the old version of the GTX 260. The old 192 Processor Core version is considerably slower than the new 216 Processor Core cards.
 
Heres the final build with everyones suggestions. If everything's fine, I'll order.

EVGA GeForce GTX 260 +EVGA LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX Intel (upraded to 216 core)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.187783

G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (changed)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231209

Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R $32.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118030

Antec Nine Hundred 2.0 $171.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129058

Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB $129.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W $129.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 $198.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037

TOTAL ~$1100
 
I see no issue with that build everything is of good quality parts I'd go ahead with it.

newegg.ca doesn't have 4770's. hell newegg us is always out. :) Also DDR3 and 955 is a ton more expensive

Also he's much like my self although I've built systems for others with ATI i don't personally use it do to hardware compatibility(mostly with tv's)and driver issues last couple times I've used it in my own machines which make me frustrated I've only had 1 issue with nvidia while using it and that was yes a nforce mobo it had an annoying habit of starting up with 5 mins just having to wait for the gigbit lan lines to be recognized i really don't know why; it was an asus crossfire mobo

edit: the guy removed his post about why not going ddr3, Phi II 955 and 2x4770's
 
I'd do an AMD build. I'm not sure I'd go for DDR3, but AMD would give you better performance at that price range.

Here's one I went a little overbudget on.

Phenom II 955 & MSI 790FX, $470
4GB Corsair DDR3, $125 -$12 MIR
HIS or Powercolor HD4890, $250
WD Caviar 1TB, $110
Antec 900, $110
Corsair or PC Power and Cooling PSU, $140 -$15 MIR or $145 -$20
Samsung SATA DVD drive, $25

~$1200

Cheaper:
Gigabyte 790X $150 -$10 MIR
Phenom II 720 $175
4GB Corsair DDR3, $125 -$12 MIR
HIS or Powercolor HD4890, $250
WD Caviar 1TB, $110
Antec 900, $110
Corsair or PC Power and Cooling PSU, $140 -$15 MIR or $145 -$20
Samsung SATA DVD drive, $25
~$1075

Both would perform at least on par with the Intel/nVidia system in gaming, and better in more multithreaded apps.
 

Not compared to the i7 rig. The 260 seems to do him fine (recommended one himself) and by just cutting the budget a little, he'll have a more "futureproof" rig. Then, In a year he can either add another GTX 260, or upgrade to the 300 Series.
The i7 is a good choice.
 
Not with a 550W PSU he won't. I'm not going to lie and say your build is 'crap' or anything, but I would still recommend my Phenom 955 rig. I've had much, much better experiences personally with NCIX.com in Canada, and it leaves him budget room for a 1TB HDD, a 750W PSU, 4gb DDR3-1600 instead of 3gb DDR3-1333 and a HD4890. It's up to him what he wants to spend his budget on, I'm just making my case like you made yours. I'm sure we can agree that the e8X00 with an nForce board would be a bad decision.

Bottom line is, like he said, the Core i7 is a fantastic CPU, the most advanced on the planet but the Phenom II 955 is not too far behind. It's a native quad-core shipped at 3.2gHz, oc's nearly as well as the Core i7, but is cheaper and runs on motherboards with better value as well. It also can use cheaper or more powerful DDR3 with higher voltages, and performs nearly as well in many situations. Bother are honestly overkill in modern gaming, and I have a hard time imagining a Phenom II quad becoming a bottleneck in the foreseeable future, so I think that your budget is best spent on a case, PSU, and video card, not an X58 and an i7. You can even recycle the case and PSU in your next build.
 
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