Building a Gaming Computer

[theMAILmanK2]

Hey, I'm building a computer for the first time and would like some opinions on the setup I am choosing. I want to use the computer for gaming mostly, but also your everyday surfing the web and such.

Case: COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Link
Motherboard: ASUS P5N-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard -Link
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM Link
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Link
Video Card: EVGA 320-P2-N811-AR GeForce 8800GTS 320MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Link
Power Supply: HIPER HPU-4K580-MS ATX12V v2.2 580W Power Supply 100 - 120V - Link
Memory: G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Link

I'm not really sure about monitors because I don't know the difference between a good and a bad one. I also want to wait a little bit but then get a second, slower hard drive (slower is cheaper, right?) for storing music and stuff. Thanks for all your help!

 

[Jdm240sx]

thats a pretty sweet build everything looks fine to me

 

[4745454b]

Good choices. You've got a solid build there, I can only make one suggestion. The information (at least provided by newegg) on that PSU is a little lacking. I do know that for $110, you can probably find something that is a little more trustworthy. (I think the OCZ 520 is around $100, I'd rather have that.)

As for monitor, my suggestions wouldn't be appreciated. I still like my CRTs thankyou very much. A nice big 21" CRT would be great. Sony/Dell or Viewsonic tend to be good brands. (again, for CRT. I don't follow LCDs.)

 

[coldmast]

HIPER & G.SKILL? never herd of them before, any good?

 

[theMAILmanK2]

I've never really heard of these companies either. A friend of mine who just built a computer suggested most of the parts for my build. As for them being reliable, I really can't tell you.

 

[cpburns]

dual monitors rock. i run 21" and 15" CRTs right now. used to have 2 21" CRTs but one died. anyway, what you've got picked out seems decent.

I agree, the PSU i've not heard much about Hiper. i use an Enermax 500W modular PSU myself, and i like it. Enermax is a great company, and the unit has been reliable for the system in my sig.

from what i know, G.Skill is a low end memory company. their products are not the highest performance parts out there. it is possible to find decently cheap 2GB kits from OCZ, Corsair, Kingston, or another higher end company.

hour hard drive is a good choice. right now, the pricing sweet spot is 320-500GB drives at about 25cents USD per gigabyte. below and above that point, pricing jumps dramatically. Seagate is a very good company for hard drives as well. i would personally only trust a WD, Seagate, or Hitachi drive in my system, and preferably one of the first two.

also, hard drives don't really have speed issues these days. they all get the job done. sure, one might have a faster transfer rate than another, but it's not usually significant. if you want faster performance, get two drives for RAID0. if by "slower drive" you meant 5400rpm, good luck finding one now in 3.5" form factor. and why would you get one anyway? 7200rpm drives are the cheapest, slowest and fastest drives around for the average builder (don't start arguing 10k or 15k drives, anyone)
you'll find what you need in that category.

hope i helped

 

[4745454b]

G.Skill makes good RAM. I don't think they have any "Ultra" performance stuff, so many people might not know who they are. They do make quality ram however, so there shouldn't be any worries. (Most of my RAM is Corsair, but I am currently using one stick of G.Skill in a computer I currently use.)

As for the PSU, I consider Hiper to be on what I call the second Tier. Meaning I would run it if thats all I had, but I'd look for something better from somebody else. OCZ, PCP&C, Antec (neo or TP series, not the SP series.), etc if you worry about quality. I'm not saying the Hiper can't do it, I'm saying there is better out there if your spending $100+.

 

[gators1223]

another good moniter is the acer 22in $260 here

 

[theMAILmanK2]

Are these good choices for a monitor and a PSU?

SCEPTRE X20WG-Naga Black 20.1" 5ms (GTG) DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 1000:1 Built in Speakers - Link

OCZ GameXStream OCZ600GXSSLI ATX12V 600W Power Supply 100 - 240 V CB/CE/CSA/UL/FCC -Link

Also, how important are sound cards? Do they really add that much to the "gaming experience"? What I'm really trying to say is it really worth it to drop another $120-150? What about cooling as well? Should I spend extra money and get a fan or a watercooling system, or will I be okay?