Gaming Comp(first time build)Advice needed!

Masterdlj0721

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Nov 18, 2007
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Hi! Everyone I'm new to the forums and looking for advice on my first build. This is my first time doing this and am very interested on the road to be an PC enthusiast. My budget is $950 or less. My purpose for this computer will be gaming. I'm also planning to overclock, and I could really use advice in that area. I'm open to advice, as well as critiques.

Build

-ASUS P5K-E/WIFI-AP... http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813131196

-Intel e6750... http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819115029

-His Radeon HD 2600XT... http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814161177

-Crucial Ballistix Tracer 2GB... http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820148076

-Antec 900... http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811129021

-Rosewill 600w SLi-ready... http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817182032

-Seagate 250gb HDD... http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822148262

-ASUS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner... http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16827135156

Not sure if all of these parts are even compatible but doesn't hurt to ask for help. I'm sincerely asking for some type of feedback good or bad doesn't matter I just really want some type of reply.
 

Silverion77

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Sep 21, 2007
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It seems like a pretty good build......but you could probably do better

1) You can save money on the RAM......get the Patriot stuff for $38 (w/ MIR last I saw)....the Tracer is unnecessary unless you care for blinking lights.
This http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220144

and this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146565 (what I have)

2) I checked on Newegg and found better deals on a PSU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153036
This is $100 with MIR and has higher power (what the heck....u get more power for less

and this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341002
is also $100.....both are the same Tier 2

3) I'm not sure what you need for the motherboard (connection wise)
In that respect you can probably go cheaper with the Gigabyte P35-DS3L
It is all the same but has no firewire port on back, no RAID controller (2 HDDs), and only one PCI-E x16 (the P5K-E has two but one is only x4 which is pretty useless.)
It says it only has 4 USBs in back, but mine has 6 (new revision i guess)

This is all just a suggestion for price cutting

4) Also with all of this price cutting you should try to get an 8800GT or GTS (the new G92 version thats going to come).......for gaming they will be much better than the 3850 and you should stay in your budget

edit: Also if u can wait on the processor......you can get a new Penryn when they come like the Q9450
 

Masterdlj0721

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I've been told to switch to 8800 gt GPU. I'm very new to this but does the Asus p5k-e compatible with the geforce cards the only reason I chose an ATI GPU was because I thought that only ATI GPUs were compatible with this mobo. Is the p5k-e only able to use ATI cards or can it also use NVIDIA cards?

Also to Silverion thank you very much for helping me price cut. I think I will stick with the Mobo I have, but I have a question... isn't the q9450 Yorkfield and not Penryn?
 

Nastro

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Dec 4, 2007
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Just want to point out that your losing potential in your graphics card when not using a board that also has PCIe 2.0. I know PCIe 2.0 is backwards compatible, but the fact is, it won't run to full potential. Personally, I don't like thermaltake anymore. Owned to much of there stuff that turned to paper weights. Anyway, it looks like it will be a nice build, just think about the PCIe 2.0 stuff. Have you looked into x38 mobo?
 

Masterdlj0721

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I decided to not go with Thermaltake altogether and chose an ocz gamexstream PSU. I looked at the x38 Mobo, but I think for now I'll stick with the p35 Mobo just because of the pricing. Thanx for telling me about PCIe 2.0, I will decide to take a look at it.

If I'm not asking too much do you know any good Mobo with p35 chipset that has PCIe 2.0 that is a good Overclocker that are under $200.

Since I'm new, please tell me if what I'm talking about doesn't make sense... Thanx once again to everyone for feedback.
 

Nastro

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I don't think there are any P35 chipset mobo's with PCIe 2.0. Sorry. Trust me I've looked. The best you can do for video on a mobo is go with 680i chipset for full x16 in SLI. Or upgrade to x38 chipset. I wanted to build my current project on an x38 mobo, but my wife already got me a EVGA 8800 GTS for Christmas. So I'm going to go with Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4 mobo. Best bang for the buck. At least that's what my DAYS/WEEKS of research tells me.


*WARNING: Confusion Ahead--> I'm positive that a mobo with PCIe 2.0 slots is backwards compatible with a PCIe x16 card. But I'm not positive that a PCIe 2.0 card is backwards compatible with PCIe x16 mobo slot. PCIe 2.0 adds double the pipelines, which means double the amount of data transfer between mobo & card. It seems to me that the difference between PCIe x16 & PCIe 2.0 is purely physical b/c 2.0 has double the pipelines. Which would also explain why it is backwards compatible IF the pipelines still line up physically, and they just added pipelines between existing ones for 2.0. But I haven't read yet that a 2.0 card is compatible with a x16 mobo slot.

Hope that jibber jabber was helpful.
 

Masterdlj0721

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Thank you thank you. I think I will stick with what I got and just run one High end Video Card. I still don't understand if the p5k-e is compatible with NVIDIA cards. Can someone let me know?
 

AnonymousGuest

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Thank you thank you. I think I will stick with what I got and just run one High end Video Card. I still don't understand if the p5k-e is compatible with NVIDIA cards. Can someone let me know?

support how? that MB should support all pci-e x 16 cards(NVDIA and ATI). however i doubt it will support SLI(NVIDIA) mode since it's already supporting Crossfire(ATI) Mode.
 

Masterdlj0721

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Thank you very much for the post. And to everyone I don't think i will be getting an 8800 gt just because I'm trying to spend the least possible. I believe I will stick with the HD 3850.
 

Masterdlj0721

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I may run 2 HD3850 in crossfire. But at the same time i see that my second PCI slot is 4x. I'm guessing that that means that 1 of the 3850s is not going to use their full potential. I really need advice when it comes to this... is it worth getting the second card even though it's not going to be running at full potential?

Also I understand that my psu is overkill with one card but at $100 after MIR I think it's highly worth it. I didn't know that my MB was overkill for 1 card. If it is could you suggest one that isn't overkill that's the same quality board as this one or better?
 

Nastro

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NO. not worth getting a 2nd card. Not on these mobo. Only on new mobo x38 chipset or 680i chipset does the 2nd card perform to full capabilities. You're correct 2nd card will only run x4. Totally pointless. You can put the money you would have spent on a 2nd card into a high end card and it will out perform 2 lesser cards on a x16/x4 setup any day. Terrible idea, but then again so is spending money on 2 video cards when the next gen will out perform 2 cards w/ just 1 card.
 

nattydreds

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im pretty sure that using a pcie 2.0 mobo will add no extra performance over pcie, x38 is expensieve and not worth it for a build with this budget. yes pcie 2.0 card are backwards compatible.