Building Budget Gamer.. this is a start.

[amc3000]

Well, its been some time since I built a system. I have looked over these boards for about 3 weeks and looks like there are mixed opinions on everything. I have put together a few items and would like some suggestions on others. To give you an idea what this would be used for:

Gaming mostly. (Typically WoW). Daily activities. Not looking for the "Ultimate Gaming Machine" either. Not big into Overclocking but would like to have the ability. No SLI. Like to keep it under $1000.


Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819115003


Motherboard: This is one that I see alot of mixed review on. See something a P35 board coming out? http://www.vr-zone.com/?i=4966


CPU Cooler: ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16835186134


Case: Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021
Would like a cheaper case but nice functionality and easy to work in.


PSU: ENERMAX Liberty ELT620AWT ATX12V 620W Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194004
Would like a cheaper one if you know of one.


Video Card: Lost one this one. Would like to keep it $150-$220 if
possible


Memory: CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145033


Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) ST3250820AS 250GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148142


That is the main parts I suppose. I guess I will also get a Floppy, and DVD/CDRW of some sorts. Any suggestions on this build? I apprectiate the feedback. I know you all see these posts 50 times a day.

 

[Vista_Nueva]

For the vid card i would try the 8600 series from nvidia
they're directx 10 capable

 

[prof_chaos]

OCZ 700W PSU - 135 - 35$ MIR = $99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341002

EVGA 7900GS - $150 - $20 MIR = 130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130056

Ignore the previous post. DX10 won't help with WOW or any other day to day programs and the 7600GT would wipe the floor with it. The 7900GS is roughly the same price as the 8600 but far better.

 

[chief5286]

I know you said you were not into overclocking, but you did not seem as if you were opposed to the idea alltogether.

That being said, if you're willing to OC the CPU just a little, I'd pick a cheaper one. Buy and E6420 for example and OC it just a bit and it will run at E6600 speeds by all accounts.

From what I gather, the CPUs being sold today seem to top out at about the same speed, so you probably wouldn't be giving much up if you went with the cheaper CPU.

Then I would take the $45 I saved from the CPU, add it to your GPU budget, and buy an 8800GTS.
I know you said you play WOW mainly, but for gaming, you will get a lot more miles out of the 8800 imho.

Then again, the GPU is easy to upgrade later. If you plan on doing that, it might not be too bad to go with a lower gpu now. Overall, I'd take the faster GPU now though.


As for motherboards, the P35 chipset is, I think, supposed to launch on the 4th of June. Everything points to that chipset being superior to the P65 chipset. That increase will be small at stock though, and may give higher OC potential, but those boards will be more expensive than the current P65 boards. The other advantage of the P35 will be their compatibility with intel's 45nm chips and, at least on some mobos, support for ddr3.

So you can wait a few days and spend significantly more to give yourself a larger upgrade window in the future, or buy now, spend less, get good performance, and be more limited down the road. Each approach has its benefits.

I would definitely consider the 8800 though, even if you have to streatch a bit. That card should allow you to play anything with a decent amount of eye candy for a good while to come.

 

[amc3000]

Thanks for the replies. Yeah im not opposed to OC. Just dont want to get into OC'ing so much im pushing heat to the limits.

Which 8800GTS do you recommend? I see there are quite a few of them with different price ranges.

Don't I have to have specific memory to OC? And a specific MB to allow OC'ing? And certain MHZ speeds on both? Sorry for the newb questions.

I just want to get the combo of proc/mobo/memory correct.

 

[yakyb]

all the stuff you have there is ideal for OCing i would definately push the 8800gts 320 (any manufacturer) if you could and dropping to a 6420 would be a good idea other than that good build amazing what budget means nowadays

 

[amc3000]

is it important these days to get a case that has fans built into lilke the Antec I listed above?

Also, when you go looking for memory, can someone tell me what needs to match when you put a proc,mobo, and the memory together?

 

[chief5286]

As for the case, it is important to have adequate airflow. Whether you get a case that comes with fans or buy them individually, the important thing is that the case itself allows for sufficient movement of air over your main heat generating parts (CPU Heatsink, Memory, Northbridge, gpu, etc.)

The advantage of buying fans separately is that you can choose which one you want. For example, you can choose large quiet fans to reduce the noise output of your comp.

The case you chose will be fine.

As for memory, if you're going for a Core 2 duo CPU and a P65 mobo, then you need DDR2 ram. For the prices of ram right now, I'd spend the extra few bucks on DDR2 800.

Personally, I'd buy the Patriot eXtreme 2 gigs of DDR2 800 memory. $89 after mirb at newegg (again, you can use the few bucks you'd save over the corsair for the GPU). This memory has gotten very good reviews and has pretty good timings. And it's cheap. But what do I know? I'm still running DDR.