Greetings,
I am building my first system, and I would greatly appreciate any insight the members of this forum might be able to offer. The purpose of this system is primarily that of a gaming machine (specifically NWN2, and future CRPGs or MMORPGs). I am attempting to build a complete system while keeping the costs reasonable, with an eye towards upgrading in the future. There are three components (MB, PSU, and LCD) I am thinking are most important to purchase quality parts now, and the rest can be upgraded later. I am hoping for a system with a lifespan over 5 years with some upgrading.
$45 Case: Rosewill R5601-BK 0.8mm SECC Screw-less Dual 120mm Fans ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
$170 MB: MSI 975X Platinum Socket T (LGA 775) Intel 975X ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$220 CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6400 - Retail
$120 ($15 mail-in rebate) PSU: OCZ GameXStream OCZ600GXSSLI ATX12V 600W Power Supply - Retail
$142 ($20 mail-in rebate) RAM: Patriot eXtreme Performance 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model PEP21G6400LL - Retail
$144 ($30 mail-in rebate) VGA: BFG Tech BFGR76256GTOCE Geforce 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
$57 HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST3160811AS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
$23.50 CD/DVD: LG Combo Drive Black IDE Model GCC-4522BK - OEM
$37 Keyboard/Mouse: Microsoft FA6-00010 Black USB Wired Ergonomics Keyboard Mouse Included - OEM
$90 OS: Microsoft Windows XP Home With SP2B 1 Pack - OEM
$11 Modem: Apollo ENF656-GHW-INPR 56Kbps 56K V.92 PCI Fax Modem - Retail
$255 Monitor: ViewSonic VX922 Black/Silver 19" 2ms LCD Monitor - Retail
I will also getting some Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound, but my impression is that this CPU won't need a better heatsink until I start to OC it later on down the road.
Will I need an audio card, or will the MB audio be good enough?
Is there anything I can tweak to improve this build without spending too much extra?
Is there anything I can do to reduce the cost of this build?
With the rapidity of technical advances in hardware is it really worth worrying about the longevity of a system?
Thanks in advance for your help,
Wulffolk
I am building my first system, and I would greatly appreciate any insight the members of this forum might be able to offer. The purpose of this system is primarily that of a gaming machine (specifically NWN2, and future CRPGs or MMORPGs). I am attempting to build a complete system while keeping the costs reasonable, with an eye towards upgrading in the future. There are three components (MB, PSU, and LCD) I am thinking are most important to purchase quality parts now, and the rest can be upgraded later. I am hoping for a system with a lifespan over 5 years with some upgrading.
$45 Case: Rosewill R5601-BK 0.8mm SECC Screw-less Dual 120mm Fans ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
$170 MB: MSI 975X Platinum Socket T (LGA 775) Intel 975X ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$220 CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6400 - Retail
$120 ($15 mail-in rebate) PSU: OCZ GameXStream OCZ600GXSSLI ATX12V 600W Power Supply - Retail
$142 ($20 mail-in rebate) RAM: Patriot eXtreme Performance 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model PEP21G6400LL - Retail
$144 ($30 mail-in rebate) VGA: BFG Tech BFGR76256GTOCE Geforce 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
$57 HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST3160811AS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
$23.50 CD/DVD: LG Combo Drive Black IDE Model GCC-4522BK - OEM
$37 Keyboard/Mouse: Microsoft FA6-00010 Black USB Wired Ergonomics Keyboard Mouse Included - OEM
$90 OS: Microsoft Windows XP Home With SP2B 1 Pack - OEM
$11 Modem: Apollo ENF656-GHW-INPR 56Kbps 56K V.92 PCI Fax Modem - Retail
$255 Monitor: ViewSonic VX922 Black/Silver 19" 2ms LCD Monitor - Retail
I will also getting some Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound, but my impression is that this CPU won't need a better heatsink until I start to OC it later on down the road.
Will I need an audio card, or will the MB audio be good enough?
Is there anything I can tweak to improve this build without spending too much extra?
Is there anything I can do to reduce the cost of this build?
With the rapidity of technical advances in hardware is it really worth worrying about the longevity of a system?
Thanks in advance for your help,
Wulffolk