Hi all,
It's been a few years since I last built a PC so I'm doing a bit of catchup learning about the latest and greatest.
I can only spend $600 total on a new build so I'd like to keep the parts at around $550 to allow a bit of room for shipping and anything unexpected.
I'm a moderate gamer. I do enjoy newer games including FPSs but it's not crucial that I play everything with all the eye candy settings jacked up. I suppose I would like to be able to play games at a reasonably good frame rate at 1280x1024. In addition to some gaming the only other PC-stressing activity that I do is backup my DVDs. So I'm looking forward to speeding up that process.
I'm committed to a AMD processor/ Nvidia graphics machine. The only thing I'll probably bring over from my old machine will be my PATA HD (for some backup) and a PATA DVD drive. Here's what I have so far (all prices are from Newegg):
- COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW ATX Mid Tower Case - ($49.99 - $10.00 rebate) - $39.99
- GIGABYTE GA-M57SLI-S4 AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - $94.99
- MSI NX8600GT-T2D256E OC GeForce 8600GT - $109.99
- Rosewill RP500-2 500W,ATX12V v2.01 - $49.99
- AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+(65W) Windsor 2.2GHz Socket AM2 - $74.99
- Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 - ($109.99 - $40.00 rebate) - $69.99
- Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - $67.99
- LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black SATA - $34.99
- Total $542.92
I have a few quandaries I need your help with.
1) I could upgrade my processor to say a 4600+ and downgrade my video card to a 7600GT. I'm really not sure what would be the best option for me. The 7600GT seems like a decent card and since it doesn't blow the 8600GT away it might be worth it to up my processor a bit. I don't really need DX10 right now.
2) Newegg reviews are positive towards the Rosewill PSU but you guys don't seem that keen on it. Can you recommend one that would suit my needs and doesn't cost much more ($10 -$15)?
3) I could be flexible with the mobo. I'm just looking for something that's stable, doesn't run too hot, and is easy to set up. I'm not planning on OCing and SLI actually isn't that important to me (although if I had an SLI board I might consider trying it out sometime in the future).
Thanks for any and all advice!
It's been a few years since I last built a PC so I'm doing a bit of catchup learning about the latest and greatest.
I can only spend $600 total on a new build so I'd like to keep the parts at around $550 to allow a bit of room for shipping and anything unexpected.
I'm a moderate gamer. I do enjoy newer games including FPSs but it's not crucial that I play everything with all the eye candy settings jacked up. I suppose I would like to be able to play games at a reasonably good frame rate at 1280x1024. In addition to some gaming the only other PC-stressing activity that I do is backup my DVDs. So I'm looking forward to speeding up that process.
I'm committed to a AMD processor/ Nvidia graphics machine. The only thing I'll probably bring over from my old machine will be my PATA HD (for some backup) and a PATA DVD drive. Here's what I have so far (all prices are from Newegg):
- COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW ATX Mid Tower Case - ($49.99 - $10.00 rebate) - $39.99
- GIGABYTE GA-M57SLI-S4 AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - $94.99
- MSI NX8600GT-T2D256E OC GeForce 8600GT - $109.99
- Rosewill RP500-2 500W,ATX12V v2.01 - $49.99
- AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+(65W) Windsor 2.2GHz Socket AM2 - $74.99
- Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 - ($109.99 - $40.00 rebate) - $69.99
- Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - $67.99
- LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black SATA - $34.99
- Total $542.92
I have a few quandaries I need your help with.
1) I could upgrade my processor to say a 4600+ and downgrade my video card to a 7600GT. I'm really not sure what would be the best option for me. The 7600GT seems like a decent card and since it doesn't blow the 8600GT away it might be worth it to up my processor a bit. I don't really need DX10 right now.
2) Newegg reviews are positive towards the Rosewill PSU but you guys don't seem that keen on it. Can you recommend one that would suit my needs and doesn't cost much more ($10 -$15)?
3) I could be flexible with the mobo. I'm just looking for something that's stable, doesn't run too hot, and is easy to set up. I'm not planning on OCing and SLI actually isn't that important to me (although if I had an SLI board I might consider trying it out sometime in the future).
Thanks for any and all advice!
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