New System, Ratings and suggestions welcome and appreciated

[Seanydude678]

I'm planning on getting a new build soon, but I'm limited to about $650. I've done a ton of research and I think I have the best possible rig for the money. Hardware is as follows.

Mobo-
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard
$89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059
I've heard many good things about this board, especially overclockability (is that a word?)

Case-
Sunbeam Transformer IC-TR-BA Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case
$75.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811166004
I've read many cooling reviews about this case and it looks superb (looks cool too )

Graphics Card-
MSI NX8800GT 512M OC GeForce 8800GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
$216.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127329
This was the cheapest 8800gt I could find (one that i liked anyway). It's factory overclocked and I'm always a big fan of MSI

RAM-
A-DATA 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
$45.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211066
This ram is very cheap and from reviews I've read very good.

PSU-
COOLMAX CUG-700B ATX 12V( V.2.2) 700W Power Supply 115/ 230 V
$99.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817159058
I chose this PSU because it is a very decent wattage and it has 3 12v rails, should run my system stable for a quite a while. i also chose it because it is modular and wrapped

CPU-
Intel Pentium E2160 Allendale 1.8GHz 1MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
$71.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116036
This CPU looked promising the first time I looked at the price. Dual core for under $100? Check. Also I've read amazing overclocking stories about this CPU, and when it's at 3.0ghz it beats some very expensive CPUs

HDD-
Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136075
Cheap, fairly large (for me).
____________________________________

I plan on using this system for moderately heavy gaming playing games such as CSS, CoD4, and Bioshock. What I'm most interested is how hard it will pwn my current system.

Current system:
AGP X1650 512 IceQ Graphics Card
Celeron D @2.8ghz
1.5g DDR400 RAM
LGA775 mATX Mobo

It's obviously going to do a lot better, but I'm curious as to see how much better. Right now on my 19" widescreen at 1440x900, I'm running CoD4 at almost constant 40 fps. I'm exited to see how much of an improvement this will yield.
____________________________________

So that's it! Thanks for taking the time to read this, any feedback and comments are much appreciated.

 

[geofelt]

Looks decent except for the PSU.

It is a tier 5 unit on this list: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=108088

The corsair 550vx is a better quality tier 2 unit that is cheaper.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004
It also gives you similar power on the 12v rail(41a) . Wattages on low quality units are deceptive, it is the 12v amps that are important.

 

[hutt]

Well i can say that MB is a good one for overclocking and can't beat the price atm. Also agree on getting a good PSU i made the mistake on that with last build.

 

[Seanydude678]

okay, that psu looks very good. i think i'm going to use that instead of the one i picked

 

[homerdog]

Then you've got yourself a good build. Enjoy.

 

[Noya]

This Corsair 450vx has all the power your rig will ever need for only $50.

If you want modular cables and want to spend $80, the Corsair 520w.

Newegg can ____ my balls on PSU's, they gouge prices and never have free shipping on PSU's worth buying.


Also, you can buy an OEM (no heatsink) e2160 here for $61, and ad the Arctic Cooler Pro 7 for $22.


My last suggestion (that will definitely improve performance) is to buy 2 x 160gb drives and place Windows on the 1st disk and place all your games on the 2nd disk. This gives the games the full bandwidth/speed of the drive, making load times lightning fast and eliminate any possible disk lag.

It's obviously going to do a lot better, but I'm curious as to see how much better. Right now on my 19" widescreen at 1440x900, I'm running CoD4 at almost constant 40 fps. I'm exited to see how much of an improvement this will yield.

Yes, but I highly doubt your playing it on the MAX settings that the 8800 will allow on 14x900.

 

[Seanydude678]

I mainly chose to buy from newegg because i've purchased from them before, and I know they're reliable. I will take a look at those sites though, thanks

 

[Noya]

Buy.com is the only place to buy Corsair PSU's (I've purchased several from them).

ewhiz has good reviews, also.

 

[nachowarrior]

I don't really like intel based stuff, for a variety of reasons, but we won't get into that now... anyway, here in the next week or so (when i get my taxes back) I'll be playing COD4, NWN2, and Crysis to start off... prolly some titan quest in there too (because i havn't had a good pc since it first came out), on this system.......

dvd
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151153

case/psu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156098

HD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148261

mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128014

Video card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125086

memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231098

proc
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103194

cpu cooler (available for your 775 socket too if you want, good reviews)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185125
and a game to bench it on and test for OC'ing right off the bat
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832130014


NOTES ON THE PARTS:
case:flexible on case/psu, this will run the setup i described, but if you like it, check to make sure there is enough power for the setup you decide to put it in.

HD:I'm not worried about the hard drive, i'll be getting a terabyte whenever i see it financially convenient, but I also have a bunch laying around too, so yeah, not a concern, and is cheap to upgrade at a later time.

motherboard: this is one of the top rated motherboards that doesn't cost 200+ depending on where you look... it apprears to be consistant and solid for under 100 bones.

video card: foreward looking, good performance, good price. the way it's built around dx10 will make it last a while... but i still plan on selling it before dx10 becomes prevalent.

memory: cheap, does 4-12, heat spreaders.

proc: 3.2ghz on air, less than .1v overvolt=less power and it's on low power consumption brisbane to begin with... at the price, it's pretty pimp. plus you get pretty stickers.

HSF: i picked this one for my build because there are SEVERAL professional reviews that rate it highly on a 130w tdp for athlon procs, when the proc i'm going to run is 65. There is an intel version as well. Supposedly it does well on both.

 

[chuckm]

Better cooler;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003
Not to sure about the Raidmax PSU.

 

[homerdog]

Say no to the RAIDMAX

 

[nachowarrior]

that psu is enough to power the setup I posted... I made note of that. Thanks.... and how is that a 'better' cooler? You can check about 200 different review sites for the freezer pro... good all across the board.

 

[pous]

I vote for Freezer Pro... I use one to OC my quad.. it's awesome.

 

[chuckm]

Here's a deal on the Xigmatek cooler. It outperforms the freezer and this has a rebate that puts it about the same price;
http://www.jab-tech.com/Xigmatek-HDT-S1283-Heat-pipe-Direct-Touch-Universal-CPU-Cooler-pr-4097.html