Some advice on building a gaming pc

[eowiel]

I intend to build a gaming pc. I have already chosen the parts for this pc but I would like to have some second opinion on my choice. I already have a monitor that I can use, I need to purchase everything else. I have never overclocked before and I don't intend to do so now, but I might change my opinion someday. Is the power supply sufficient? Is everything compatible? Are there major bottlenecks? etc.

I'm from Belgium and so I'm not going to use the sites that are often mentioned here, therefore I'm not looking for the best deals and such things as they will very likely not be the same over here, however if you think that some parts can be replaced by alternatives that should be cheaper, please feel free to mention them .

Lastly, I have two specific questions about his system:
1)I have chosen a Phenom 2 940 processor, if I would take a i7 920, that would cost me about 200 Euro more (including the increased price of the motherboard). Is this worth it? This would also allow me to take 6 gig ram instead of 4 I believe (correct me if I'm wrong). Additionally, is the motherboard only more expensive because of the compatibility with i7 processor or are these motherboards better overall.

2) I can buy a 4870X2 which would cost me 70 euros more than the Nvidia 285 which I have currently selected. Do you think the 4870X2 is worth the extra money?



This the system I intend to buy:

Logitech G5 Laser Mouse
price € 49,31

ASUS ENGTX285 TOP/HTDI/1GD3 - GPU - GF GTX 285 - PCI Express 2.0 x16 - 1 GB DDR3
price € 364,39

AMD Black Edition - CPU - 1 x AMD Phenom II X4 940 / 3 GHz - Socket AM2+ - L3 6 MB - Box
price € 213,49

WD Caviar Green WD10EADS - Hard disk - 1 TB - intern - 3.5" - SATA-300 - 7200 tpm -buffer: 32 MB
price € 91,39

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
price € 106,97

Samsung WriteMaster SH-S223F - DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM - 22x/22x/12x - Serial ATA - intern
price € 17,52

Gigabyte GA-MA78G-DS3H - Motherboard - ATX - AMD 780G - Socket AM2+ - UDMA133, Serial ATA-300 (RAID) - Gigabit
price€ 82,91

Kingston ValueRAM - Memory - 4 GB ( 2 x 2 GB ) - DIMM 240-pins - DDR2 - 800 MHz / PC2-6400 - CL6 - 1.8 V
price € 33,12

Antec Sonata III 500 EU - Minitowermodel - ATX - Power supply 500 Watt ( ATX12V 2.2 ) - USB/Audio/E-SATA
price € 104,37

Logitech Internet 350 - Keyboard - USB
price: € 9,39

Azerty Ultra Sound A1100
price: € 7,00


Hereunder you can find a link to my system, the site in Duth however so I don't think it will be that usefull for most of you.

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Thank you very much for your help

 

[gkay09]

Get this memory instead of the ones u have chosen...
http://www.azerty.nl/8-744-55506/ocz-platinum-dual-channel---ge.html
these are more stable and run cooler...

Get this HDD
WD BLACK...though they are costly, they are very faster than the Green ones...
http://www.azerty.nl/8-857-81174/wd-caviar-black-wd1001fals---v.html

As for the graphics card, can u tell at wat resolutions do u play ??? so we can suggest the best suited...

 

[gkay09]

And as for the mobo, u can get the newer mobos with the SB 750 because they have a BIOS option ACC, which helps in stable overclocking of the Phenoms...
Get any of these...

GIGA 790GX( Costly but board with nice features...)
http://www.azerty.nl/8-851-90013/gigabyte-ga-ma790gp-ds4h---moe.html

or

GIGA 790X(same as above board but doesnt have the onboard graphics chip)
http://www.azerty.nl/8-851-199875/gigabyte-ga-ma790x-ud4---moede.html

 

[xthekidx]

For gaming there is no need to go i7, stick with PII.

Get the WD Caviar Black 1TB, its faster than the green.
http://www.azerty.nl/8-857-81174/wd-caviar-black-wd1001fals---v.html

I'd get some better ram:
http://www.azerty.nl/8-744-71663/g-skill-f2-6400cl4d-4gbpk---gehe.html

You need a better PSU for that GPU, I would go with this:
http://www.azerty.nl/0-1073-204333/ocz-fatal1ty---voeding-inter.html

And then this case:
http://www.azerty.nl/0-1044-42465/cooler-master-cm-690---midtowe.html

I would also change your mobo to this I think, slightly better reviews from what I have seen:
http://www.azerty.nl/0-851-86939/asus-m3a78-pro---moederbord---.html

 

[xthekidx]

gkays mobo options are good too, but more expensive. If you can afford those then I would do that.

The memory he chose though I think will run hot at 2.2v...too high for my tastes.

 

[gkay09]

😀 xthekid do see even my options...(the RAM is a gud one and is €10 cheaper)
😛 same HDD...
And darn I missed ur favourite case 😛

Dint give tat case beacuse the Antec Sonata wit the EA 500W is a gud buy at tat price considering other options given in tat website...

 

[gkay09]

The memory he chose though I think will run hot at 2.2v...too high for my tastes.

dint see tat...but dont u think the heat spreaders will take care of it ???

 

[eowiel]

Thanks for all the advice, it is very much appreciated.

My current screen support 1280 X 1024 but within a few months I plan to obtain a 24 inch screen which I think supports 1920 X 1200.

 

[xthekidx]

They will definitely help but I would still want lower voltage. 2.2v is kinda the limit for that memory, I would want a little headroom for OC'ing too so if he had to run a FSB higher than 800mhz on his memory he could OC it a bit.

 

[xthekidx]

Thanks for all the advice, it is very much appreciated.

My current screen support 1280 X 1024 but within a few months I plan to obtain a 24 inch screen which I think supports 1920 X 1200.

The GTX 285 sounds about right then.

 

[gkay09]

Thanks for all the advice, it is very much appreciated.

My current screen support 1280 X 1024 but within a few months I plan to obtain a 24 inch screen which I think supports 1920 X 1200.

So if u choose the mobo which I have suggested, then u can get a 4870 1GB...for now...and save some money now, later when u plan to get the 24" monitor, u can get another 4870 in crossfire later, which is a very gud option...

 

[eowiel]

Thanks for the suggestions again. One more question, do you think 4 gigs of RAM will be sufficient?

 

[xthekidx]

4gb is plenty for gaming.