Blowback

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I just wanted to say thanks for all of the help I recieved from this forum with regards to setting up my FIRST BUILD EVER. I put everything together last night with no additional help (besides what I had read on this forum of course). Started up perfectly on first boot (thank you lord). A couple hours later I was playing BioShock on all high at 1680x1050 or whatever the hell rediculous resolution I am running.

e8400
Gigabyte DS3L (e8400 worked right out the box by the way)
Diamond HD 3850 512
Antex Earth watts 380 (hell yes this super low power system seems to be doing fine)
NZXT Apollo Black Case (warning about this case - no speaker for POST - made me very nervous but everything worked out on first go so it was non-issue)
Patriot Extreeme 4 GB (2x2GB) 800 - 5-5-5-12
Seagate 250g
Arctic Coolin Freezer 7 Pro
22" Widescreen Acer 5ms
Logitech X-530 speakers
Vist Home Premium OEM

Already have a mouse and just need a new keyboard (old one is so nasty and I want some back-lit keys)

I can post pictures maybe sometime in the future if anyone cares but it doesn't really look all that exciting.
 


It was all just a dream. Nice going though.

I have two of these. Backlight works great for me. Often on sale for much less at Negg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126034

 

Blowback

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I've been looking at that one. It is the most expensive but it also appears to be the highest quality back-lit. Argh.. decisions decisions...
 

fueled_by_ramen

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Jan 28, 2007
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Congrats!

I just ordered my new system to replace my pathetic 6 year old P4 and I got many of the same things you did. E8400, 3850 512, Antec earthwatts, and the Seagate 250GB. Would have preferred the 8800GT but the budget wouldn't budge...;) but the 3850 is an excellent card, especially for the price. And with the E8400, I don't think you'd have to upgrade your CPU for quite some time. A new video card in a few months-a year would cover any gaming needs as they come up.

Good work on finishing your build! Now I am anxiously awaiting my own parts so I can have fun too.
 

Blowback

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Yea, that was kind of my logic. I thought that I would save $70+ right ow and then only have to spend another $70 in 6 to 12 months and then have something that is right below top of the line again.

Anywho, this card is performing fantastic so far.
 

fueled_by_ramen

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It just makes more sense, as far as I can figure, to spend a little extra on a good CPU while saving a bit on a video card that may not be top of the line, assuming that someone is building on a budget.

It's so much easier to upgrade a video card than it is a CPU. With a CPU you have to take half your case apart, possibly update your BIOS, and usually reformat/reinstall Windows.

A video card, you just pop out the old one, pop in the new one, update drivers and *poof* you're done, can be done every year to two years if you need to stay on top of the newest games easily and for relatively little money.

Plus, it's really the video cards anyway that are constantly changing. A good CPU can last for years and continue to be a decent performer. That's what my line of thought was anyway and it sounds like you went the same route.

What games are you running so far? Getting good results from the card?

Not sure if you've seen this keyboard yet, but it might be worth a look. Pretty cheap and Saitek is usually good. However I don't know for sure how good the backlight is on this one. Maybe someone else has used it and can tell you.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823175103