Hello, I am building my second gaming system and I would appreciate any advice. I want it to play games like Gears of War, Unreal Tournament 3, blah, blah, blah. I do some occasional video compression, speeding that up would be icing. Here are the details:
Mother Board: GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128059
Cost: $97.00
I chose this mb because I heard that it is good for OCing and it has support for the P35 chipset.
Problem: I know this isn't that expensive, but I am trying to cut down on my total cost. Is there a similar mb, that may be slightly worse but cost less? I really think P35 support is important considering I don't plan on upgrading for a few years, but is it really that important? I know that drives the price up.
CPU: E2160 OC'D
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116036
Cost: $83.00
The reviews about this cpu have been amazing! Most can get it to 3.2-3.4ghz stable, where it performs on par with an E6700.
Problem: Too good to be true?
Vid. Card: SAPPHIRE 100216L Radeon HD 3850 256MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102714
Cost: $180.00
I chose this video card mainly because of it's dx10/sm4 support. Also, it's performance in most reviews was similar to then 8800gts for a lot less.
Questions: Newegg offers this card by several manufactures, I chose sapphire b/c my current card ( x800 gto2) is also a sapphire and it's been pretty good to me. I'm wondering though, does the manufacturer really matter? Also, they offer a 3850 with 512mb of memory for $200, is the performance boost worth spending the extra $20?
RAM: CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145590
Cost: $36.00
I decided to def. go for 800mhz ram, thinking 1000mhz isn't worth the extra $$.
HD: ??
Big question here: I was thinking about setting up my system in raid0.
At newegg they've got Western Digital Caviar 160GB for $50 ($100 for 2 then), but I'd be happy with just 2 80gig HDs. However, I can't seem to find any 80gigs for less than $40. I'd rather spend the $20 extra and quadruple my storage. Does anyone know of some place I can get some cheaper 80gig HDs?
PSU: Antec 500W Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371004
Cost: $60.00
This is just a cheaper PSU that got good reviews. Does anyone have a better recommendation? --I am a sponge.
Case: I'm going to have to pick up a cheap case from somewhere. I'm thinking that I'll have to hound teh internets until I find a free one, that's how I got my last case.
FAN: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134&Tpk=Arctic+Cooling+Freezer+7+Pro
Cost: $22.00
If figure that since I'm planning to oc the hell out of my cpu, I'll need something other than stock cooling. I just grabbed this one because it's cheaper and quiet. I'm open to suggestions.
RAID controller:
Okay, I have absolutely no experience with RAID at all. I know I'll need a controller because the mb doesn't have a built in one. Other than that, I'm not really sure what exactly to get. Any help here would be muy apreciada.
Another question: Should I spend the extra money to find a mb with built in raid, or just go with the controller? Does
it really make a difference?
Thanks very much for your advice, I worship the ground you walk on.
Mother Board: GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128059
Cost: $97.00
I chose this mb because I heard that it is good for OCing and it has support for the P35 chipset.
Problem: I know this isn't that expensive, but I am trying to cut down on my total cost. Is there a similar mb, that may be slightly worse but cost less? I really think P35 support is important considering I don't plan on upgrading for a few years, but is it really that important? I know that drives the price up.
CPU: E2160 OC'D
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116036
Cost: $83.00
The reviews about this cpu have been amazing! Most can get it to 3.2-3.4ghz stable, where it performs on par with an E6700.
Problem: Too good to be true?
Vid. Card: SAPPHIRE 100216L Radeon HD 3850 256MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102714
Cost: $180.00
I chose this video card mainly because of it's dx10/sm4 support. Also, it's performance in most reviews was similar to then 8800gts for a lot less.
Questions: Newegg offers this card by several manufactures, I chose sapphire b/c my current card ( x800 gto2) is also a sapphire and it's been pretty good to me. I'm wondering though, does the manufacturer really matter? Also, they offer a 3850 with 512mb of memory for $200, is the performance boost worth spending the extra $20?
RAM: CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145590
Cost: $36.00
I decided to def. go for 800mhz ram, thinking 1000mhz isn't worth the extra $$.
HD: ??
Big question here: I was thinking about setting up my system in raid0.
At newegg they've got Western Digital Caviar 160GB for $50 ($100 for 2 then), but I'd be happy with just 2 80gig HDs. However, I can't seem to find any 80gigs for less than $40. I'd rather spend the $20 extra and quadruple my storage. Does anyone know of some place I can get some cheaper 80gig HDs?
PSU: Antec 500W Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371004
Cost: $60.00
This is just a cheaper PSU that got good reviews. Does anyone have a better recommendation? --I am a sponge.
Case: I'm going to have to pick up a cheap case from somewhere. I'm thinking that I'll have to hound teh internets until I find a free one, that's how I got my last case.
FAN: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134&Tpk=Arctic+Cooling+Freezer+7+Pro
Cost: $22.00
If figure that since I'm planning to oc the hell out of my cpu, I'll need something other than stock cooling. I just grabbed this one because it's cheaper and quiet. I'm open to suggestions.
RAID controller:
Okay, I have absolutely no experience with RAID at all. I know I'll need a controller because the mb doesn't have a built in one. Other than that, I'm not really sure what exactly to get. Any help here would be muy apreciada.
Another question: Should I spend the extra money to find a mb with built in raid, or just go with the controller? Does
it really make a difference?
Thanks very much for your advice, I worship the ground you walk on.