$1500 gaming system, no OC, please assist

[mas0n]

I have set aside about $1500 for a new gaming computer.

Here are a couple of factors that may influence parts:

My monitor’s native resolution is 1440 X 900.
I already have the OS. WinXP SP2
I live in the High Desert of California so ambient temps are high
I do not plan on OCing any part of the system.
SLI is not an upgrade path

I have read the latest Toms reviews to include their suggested $1250 build but I find there are a lot of varied opinions on these and other boards so I thought I would ask for assistance before I purchase.

I would like to use newegg to purchase the pieces if possible so links would really help.

Thanks in advance

 

[Dior]

Here's my recommendation:

Centurion 534
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119106
Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R $160
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128048
E6850 $310
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115028
2GB Super Talent DDR2 800 4-3-3-8 $94
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820609026
EVGA 8800 GTX $517
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130072
Seagate 320GB $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148140
Corsair 520HX $115
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139001
LG 18X $28
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136119

$1344 total after rebates

Since you do not intend to overclock, E6850 @3.0Ghz will be the best choice for you. P35C-DS3R is a great, stable board with the latest P35 chipset, which supports both DDR2 and DDR3 for the future. 2GB of fast, quality ram. 8800 GTX so you'd enjoy all the current and upcoming DX10 games in full. Corsair 520HX is a great PSU, very reliable and queit, will power everything you have in your system with ease.

Good luck.

 

[Solariscs]

yeah looks good to me as well If you don't need DDR3 ram though you can get a little cheaper Gigabyte board, just as good, but $30 less.

I'd also suggest picking up a Q6600, I think it would be more usefully when future games start supporting Quad core operations more and more.

 

[zenmaster]

The Build looks good to me as well.

Personally I would go with the Quad Core and the board that does not support DDR3.

1) The board only supports 4gb of DDR3 memory, In suspect in a couple years after Vista-64 is a bit more popular games may actually start to make use of large amounts of memory. This means you expand the DDR2 memory or go with a new board that supports more DDR3. Secondly, The current chips do not seem limited by the current memory chips even when serverely OC'd. This is seen in tests where widely varied FSBs gave similar results when the speed of the highly OC'd chips were normalized.

2) Why Quad Core? Well, I'm not a gamer and I do lots of stuff that really pushes my C2D@3.0Ghz. Give me more cores. For you, at the present time the Dual Core would likely be better. By the time there are games that hit all 4cores, you may want to upgrade to the 45nm Penryn anyway.

 

[mas0n]

Dior - all i can say is thanks! I have seen some of your replies and they are not canned responces, which means you spend time and help others with real answers.

zenmaster - can you expand on the quad core and motherboard options?

General question:

E6850 has a 1333 FSB will the ram have to match the MHz?

 

[Evilonigiri]

If you're not gonna overclock, Amd is the way to go. However top of the line X2 model is too cheap for your budget, so I guess intel is the way to go. E6850 sounds nice, since you just game. I don't suggest you to get the quad since many games don't support it. Besides getting a Q6600 is point less if you're not gonna overclock. I'll suggest a bigger power supply, like the OCZ gamerXtreme 700watt. As for vidcard, 8800GTX isn't bad, however if you want top notch performance on Dx10 games, get a 8800GTS 320mb for cheap and wait till the 9 series come out. This is because the 8 series aren't good enough, or so it was said. Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R mobo is great future proof mobo, as I have one myself.

While I'm at it here's the links, respectively:
E6850 $309.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115028

OCZ GameXStream 700watt $104.99 (after mir)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341002

Evga 8800GTS 320mb $259.99 (after mir)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130082

Gigabyt e GA-P35C-DS3R $159.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128048

I'll let the others give you advice on the rest of the stuff.

If you don't mind getting your stuff a bit slower, clubit.com is a great place to shop, at a price sometimes lower than newegg.
E6850- $285.00
Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R- $159.99 (free shipping)
OCZ GameXStream 700watt- $92.98

 

[mas0n]

Ordered the system today (Dior Build) and should have it by friday. The only thing I added was a sata cable and AS5.

Newegg shipping HQ is 80 miles from my house!!

 

[Solariscs]

Sata cables comes with the motherboard You'll have a great build! good luck with it!

 

[Dior]

Great, you won't regret it and thanks for the kind words!

 

[AustinOO]

That MoBo looks like it might have a copper piece in the way of the selected video card. I like the system but was there room for the big tubby card?