New Computer! Help? Suggestions?

[AesikNaos]

Ok so I'm building a new computer cause my old one is out of date.
I've built 8 computers for family and friends but, I havent built one in about a year.
So here I'am reading up on the technology again and trying to figure everything out but, I figured I'd post what I was thinking on here to see what everyone else though.
First I got my case already Thermaltake Tsunami Dream.
Next on my list is Mobo.
I've always went with AMD so I'd like to stick with them but, I'm willing to try Intel of course.
Budget is as follows.
Mobo-125$-175$
Ram-100$-150$
PSU-100$-125$
Processor-150$-200$
Video Card-150$-250$
Hard drive I will worry about on my own.

I read up on the new stuff and the way I see it, if I read correctly is the new DDR2 ram pushes more data but slower with its higher latencies which I will be playing games and I dont need to push alot of data but, I do need the speed so regular DDR memory is fine for me.
I would like to get an SLI board and eventually get a 2nd gfx card so SLI is a plus.
The big thing is AMD or Intel. I read that the AM2 processors really arent that amazing at all and the big deal is that they support the new DDR2 memory which as I said didnt seem like a big deal to me.
So question is AMD or Intel and what would be the best solution for gaming?
Now memory I was thinknig Corsair OCZ or Kingston correct me if I'm wrong but that seems to be the best stuff and dual channel is a must for me.
PSU? I have no idea...I like the Kingwin Modular PSU's and Hiper's R series but, I know that the PSU is the deffinant thing not to skimp out on so I need a decent one that hopefully is modular so I can keep things clean.

The only motherboard I've looked at seriously so far is the A8N32 SLI Deluxe.

So if anyone could help me out in making the best decision for my gaming computer that would be great. Any advice or critisim is appreciated as I said I know enough to get me by..I know how to build them and get them running and all that.
I'm just not sure on the best brands to use and what if anything is so good about the AM2's and DDR2...as I said I have been out of the loop for about a year now.

Thanks!

 

[The_Prophecy]

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6300

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 <--- Don't bother with SLI unless you say yes to ALL of the following:
1. You can get both cards within 1-2 months of each other
2. You are going to be gaming at resolutions over 1600 x 1200
3. You are going to be using at LEAST two Geforce 7900GT's

If you said no to any one of these, do not get an SLI board.

RAM: OCZ Gold 1GB (2 x 512MB) DDR2-800

Video Card: eVGA Geforce 7600GT <---- Get 1 of these until the DirectX 10 cards arrive, then go for a high end card.

Power Supply: Antec NeoHE 500W

I know you said you would worry about the hard drive on your own, but I'll throw in my suggestion anyway....

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB SATA2

Total before taxes and shipping (excluding the Hard Drive I just mentioned): $688.96

 

[AesikNaos]

Ok so I guess I shouldnt bother with SLI board.
I usually game at 1024x768 with everything turned to max
But, I'd like to leave a little room if I decide to try higher resolutions.
I'm deffinantly willing to try the Core 2 Duo so thats an option for sure.
I'm a little weary of Gigabyte mobos as I've had 3 die on me though.
Thoughts on that?
Also should I just get a sub200$ gfx card for now like the x1800GTO or the 7600GT till the DX10 cards come out then get one fo those?
Oh and I heard that RAM isnt very compatable I've read a ton of reviews on different sites about ther GOLD ram being shitty.
Thoughts?

 

[The_Prophecy]

The 7600GT should give you room to move up to at least 1280 x 1024. I've personally never had a gigabyte board die on me, not even an old socket 7 board in a computer in the room directly behind me. A lot of the major manufacturers (Asus, Gigabyte, Abit, DFI.... etc) have all made good progress in making sure as few of their products as possible are defective, either out the door, or after the warranty expires.

Yes, you should go for a 7600GT or an X1800GTO now if DX 10 interests you. If not, then go for an X1900XT or something else in the high end market.

OCZ's compatibility issues are mainly between their DDR2 ram and AM2 motherboards. I have heard of issues with other boards (including LGA775 boards) but I think those were just voltage issues. If the required ram voltage and the default supplyable voltage is out by .1V, you shouldn't have a problem getting into the BIOS and changing that. If it's out by .2V, you might have to try a few times. If it's off by any more than .2 (which I think is pretty unlikely) then it won't work.

 

[AesikNaos]

Ok so lets say DX10 interests me which it does.
So the 7600GT and the X1800GTO will give me room to move to 1280x1024?
I mean even if I have to turn down a setting or 2 to get it even higher later down the road thats fine too.
I'm not picky enough to get pissed if I have to turn 1 or 2 of the setting to medium to be able to play the game at higher than 1280x1024.
So the 7600GT seems to be a decent card...and from what I hear the eVGA brand is the one to go with.
By the way around what time will the DX10cards be available?
Now that I have that out of the way I need to get a motherboard and processor that will work decently too and the ram as well that I wont have to worry about it not booting on me because of the voltage....I get pissed easily when I finally get all my parts and I turn it on and it doesnt work because of something stupid.

Now I can only see 3 things wrong with the mobo you showed me the gigabyte one....1. I'd have to buy my own rounded cables...no biggie 2. Clearence issues with the ram and videocard...and 3. clearence issues with the cpu heatsink with the giant northbridge heatsink.
Other than that which Core 2 Duo is the best bang for the buck?
I'd like to not spend more than 200 on a processor but im willing to spend 250 if i really have to.
Sorry if this is any trouble to you.

 

[The_Prophecy]

Yes the 7600GT and the X1800GTO should play games quite easily at 1280 x 1024 (with the exception of Oblivion of course). The DX 10 cards should be available when Vista arrives (hopefully about 3 months away). You would only need one rounded cable for the optical drive, unless you have a PATA hard drive that you're moving over to this system.

There is no clearance issue between the RAM and video card, or the CPU heatsink and north bridge, unless you're using an aftermarket CPU cooler. Since you didn't indicate there would be any overclocking involved, the stock cooler will do just fine.

Given the budget you provided for each part, the E6300 makes the most sense. The 6400 is just clociked higher out of the box, but these chips overclock so easily that it's not worth the extra $50.

 

[AesikNaos]

Ok so.
The Core 2 Duo 6300 is the processor.
That motherboard looks nice but, if its not too much trouble do you think you could look for 1 or 2 more others for me to look at that are just as nice if not better?
I just had alot of issues with Gigabyte mobos and its just I'd rather not get another if I dont have to.
If it comes down to the Gigabyte being the best choice then I suppose I'll get it.
Another thing...7600GT or X1800GTO? I've always used ATI's but, I'm willing to try the Nvidia just want advice on one or the other...and which brand to go with for each.
Last but not least I see the C2D6300 comes at 1.8ghz would it be save to bring it to 2ghz on the stock intel cooler? or will I be fine if I just leave it alone?
Thanks again.

 

[The_Prophecy]

Your other motherboard options would be:

Abit AB9 Pro

Asus P5B

Quite frankly, I'd say forget about the performance of each card, because both will do a decent job for now. Just get whichever one you can find cheaper.

On the stock cooler, you could get to between 2.4 and 2.6 before the cooler starts having problems handling the heat. Only overclock if you need to though. If you do it for bragging rights, get it as high as you can, take a screen shot to prove it, then lower the clock back down.

 

[AesikNaos]

Bah.
I wish MSI made a decent board for this build.
I love there mobos.
Oh well looks like I'm going with the Gigabyte board it seems like the only one out of the 3 that doesnt have BIOS problems or problems handling the memory voltages....and the E6300 and whichever card is the cheapest...though I looked on the VGA roundup and found that the X1800GTO performs just a tad better but w/e.
3 questions though.
I understand how far I could take the overclocking before the stock heatsink starts to crap out...but, do you think I could bring it from 1.8 to 2.0 and leave it there on the stock cooler with no problems or is it really just not worth it?
And second I've never messed with Sata or Raid like I said I had my comp for about 3 years and the board didnt support either.
I dont really care about the RAID thing as it just doesnt matter that much to me at this point but, the sata drives...do I have to have a floppy drive and install drivers on the HD before I install windows or can I just plug the Sata drive in and put windows in and install fine?
And last but not least which is the best ram to go with?
I'd like not to spend more than 150 on it but id spend 200 if it was worth it.
Thanks.

 

[The_Prophecy]

Yes, you could set it to 2.0 and leave it on the stock cooler. It will be fine. If you have your XP cd handy, rip it to your hard drive and use nLite to slipstream SP2 into the disk, then re-burn it. Then you shouldn't need any SATA drivers for the hard disk when you go to install XP. For your RAM, I would go for this OCZ Gold 1GB set.

 

[Robovski]

The X1800GTO is a fine choice for gaming in the here and now, and if it has an edge for the games you play go with it. The 7600GT is a nice card too - quiet and doesn't need extra power. Heck, you can go with a X850PRO if you don't care about it being only Dx9.0b capable. There are plenty of good articles comparing the 3 products, both here and elsewhere.

 

[AesikNaos]

Yes, you could set it to 2.0 and leave it on the stock cooler. It will be fine. If you have your XP cd handy, rip it to your hard drive and use nLite to slipstream SP2 into the disk, then re-burn it. Then you shouldn't need any SATA drivers for the hard disk when you go to install XP. For your RAM, I would go for this OCZ Gold 1GB set.

Ok I do have a 120gig storage HD right now with all my music movies games and pictures and all that on it...and I have an external bay for it and I've been hooking it up to my gf's laptop for now to use my stuff. I also have my XP CD yes...but I think I'm a bit confused on what you mean about ripping it to which drive? I dont have my Sata Drive yet. and I have no idea what nlite is?
Care to explain a bit more?

 

[The_Prophecy]

rip the disk to whatever drive you want.... it doesn't matter where you put it. nLite is a program that will let you slipstream SP2 into the XP install, so that when you install XP to the SATA drive once you have it, the SATA drivers will already be there.

 

[AesikNaos]

Ok so I read some stuff on the NLite site but, let me get it straight so I understand before I waste a bunch of time and blank discs trying to figure it out.
Ok so I have a WinXP disk but its doesnt have any of the SP2 or SP1 stuff on it...but when I run NLite it gives me the option to add it in? but how do I add it in do I ahve to downlaod it myself or will NLite do it for me.
Second when I install the SP2 onto the disk by slipstreaming it...when I isntall it all onto the SATA drive it will work fine without any other drivers?
And last...do I need to put all my motherboard and gfx card drivers on there as well or can I isntall thme all after I install the xpSP2 disk on my Sata drive?

 

[AesikNaos]

Bump!

 

[The_Prophecy]

You will need to download SP2 yourself, nLite will not do it for you. You can find it here. When you go to integrate it, there will be an option in nLite called Integrate a Service Pack. All you need to do is point it to the SP2 install file you downloaded from the link above. It will take care of everything else for you. XP should install fine without any other drivers..... so long as the SATA drivers are present on the disk, you shouldn't have problems. You can integrate other drivers, like your video and sound drivers on to the disk as well to save yourself the hastle of installing them each time you format, but that part is entirely up to you.

 

[AesikNaos]

Ok now I understand thanks alot.
So I will be going with the Seagate drives as I've used WD and they have died on me multiple times and would hate to deal with there horrible customer service again.
That 320gig you linked to me is a good deal.
Whats your thoughts on getting 2 of those and Raid 0 stripping them?
Is it really worth the effort? or will I be fine.
And will it work with nLite if I do?

 

[The_Prophecy]

IMO, RAID 0 isn't worth the trouble, because if one drive fails, you lose all of the data on both drives. If you're going to RAID 0 a couple drives, have a third drive in that system for backup.

 

[AesikNaos]

So Raid 0 is out then....you make a good point and I'd rather not have to go through the trouble of ordering another drive and and reformatting both of them and all that nonesens.
So should I still get 2 one for OS apps and games..and one for storage as my external 120 is almost filled...
Or should I get 1 250...and then a smaller one for the OS apps and games?

 

[The_Prophecy]

I would stick with a couple 320GB drives. Since you're not RAID'ing them, you'll only really need 2 for now, but if you require more space down the road, you can always add more drives.

 

[AesikNaos]

Thanks for all your help it was much appreciated.
I'm going to post a thread of the build and what everyone thinks of it...I'm buying it no matter what they say but, just wanna see what everyone thinks of the finished job.
I'll deffinantly give props to you in it as well.
Thanks again.