Please tell me what you think about new build

[jonm888]

I've never built a computer before and thinking about going with these components after reading Rob's advice and a few others on the board. I'm planning on installing Vista and play some games. I would like to be able to run dx10 and most games, but I'm also on a budget of a soft $1000. I would like something pretty upgradeable too. Thanks in advance.


LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model LH-20A1L-06 - Retail

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

EVGA 320-P2-N811-AR GeForce 8800GTS 320MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail


Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card

ASUS P5N-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6750

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler

Antec NeoPower 650 ATX12V / EPS12V 650W Power Supply

Antec Solo Black/Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400C4

[RickyTick]

I just finished my first build, and it wasn't hard at all. I have to admit that I had some help from someone who had done it before.

I like the choices you picked, however the HD is bit small. Look for a Western Digital Caviar SE16 320gb. Its a hot item right now.

I also noticed the ram you chose has a big rebate at zipzoomfly, along with no shipping.

Also, unless your planning on SLI later on, there are some less expensive mobos out there. Personally, I think SLI is overrated, and a waste of money.

[Jamie Nixx]

Don't knock SLi till you have tried it, it is expensive, but not necessarily overated, if you can get the second card cheap, its worth it, check out my review in the video card section.

The Asus P5N-E SLi, is an SLi board yes, but most gaming motherboards nowadays are, i recommend it because its an excellent Intel board, with a great chipset.

Cheaper non-SLi alternatives are not in the same league and when you consider on newegg the board is only just over $100, its a good deal.

I have two gaming PC's, my run of the mill gamer which i use every day is almost the exact same setup as here (my other is reserved for Crysis), except i am using SLi as i was doing a review for this site.

http://forums.mysuperpc.com/showthread.php?t=572

Jonm check out this thread, i have a picture of one of my rigs, thats what it will look like as i am using same mobo, ram and cooler.

Ok SLi rant over, the rig will be sweet, quite capable of playing Bioshock and Crysis (in theory) on high graphics as well as hellgate london and every other game due out soon.

And since i am using all the parts you have listed, i am in a better position to help you out if you get stuck ;)

The western is hot yes, but the barracuda is more reliable.

One thing Jonm, unless you are going to be overclocking, you don't need a third party cooler for the CPU, Intels stock coolers are copper cored and excellent.

Apart from that all looks good mate.

[RickyTick]

Your right of course. I was just trying to keep his build under $1000.00. With SLI, it gets expensive quick.

[Jamie Nixx]

That build shouldn't come to more than $1000.

That is the cheapest gaming board out now, the equivalant and not necessarily better boards start at $200 upwards.

Its an SLi board, but you don't have to have SLi, they just give you the option, one 8800GTS is sufficient to blast away anything :D

[RickyTick]

yeah, I have the 8800GTS 640mb and it is awesome.

[acidfire]

Everything looks good to me also :) As RickyTick said I would go with a western digital but that is only because that is what I have always used but seagate will be fine to use also.
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB is on sale also at newegg right now with a $30 rebate.
Maybe Jamie Nixx or RickyTick can verify this but would it be better to use windows xp right now for games because vista is so new and you hear so many problems with it right now? I could be wrong as I don't use vista.

[RickyTick]

I personally use Vista 64 bit. New and future games will be designed to run on Vista 32 or 64.

If you want to continue to play some older games, maybe XP is better. I know some people that dual boot with XP and Vista. I made a decision to get Vista because I've put my older games aside and have focused on new stuff. I'm playing Bioshock now and really enjoying it.

I couldn't even load Call of Duty 2 on my Vista 64 system.:mad:

[The Wise Monkey]

I got a boost of 50 fps when I went from Vista back to XP.

[Jamie Nixx]

Vista is really terrible for games at the moment, i have a copy of premium i have had since january but i won't install it yet.

I reckon the drivers will be good enough by christmas so i will prob install it then and play Crysis on DX-10 :D

The jump from DX9 to DX10 hasn't been as big as everyone was hoping for in my opinion, i watched a video a while back comparing Crysis DX9 and DX10, Crysis still looked like it was going to be one of the greatest graphical accomplishments in gaming so far even on DX9, DX10 didn't have much effect other than it was slightly sharper.

[RickyTick]

Ran accross this and thought you might be interested

http://www.techamok.com/?pid=3382

The conclusion was that XP was 8% faster than Vista.