Advise on new budget gaming rig

[andrei3333]

ay 1st post !!!

I am about to purchase components to replace my P4 system, here is all the info
1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
-gaming (call of duty 4, ghost recon 2, unreal tournment 3, gears of war...try crysis since i already got it..thats it for the current games i got all the others are a little bit older)
-lots of downloading large files, movies, software, lots of multitasking ie, downloading several large files at once, girlfriend watching a movie on the tv that is connected and me doing something on the PC while listening to music on the headphones all at the same time

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
-Definitely under $800 tax IN

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
-Canada, nothing will be bought online

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc, etc, etc, you get the picture.
-Intel and Nvidia fanboy, as far as anything else it does not matter

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
My large case, Video Card for now will remain XFX 7800 GTX leaving an upgrade path for the 9XXX series, logitech controlls (kb, m), LCD monitor, DVD burner, Floppy drive, sound is driven by my HT receiver 5.1 jbl/pioneer thx system using a digital out on the MB, so no need for tiny PC speakers

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
plenty

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
run it default at the beginning, once i get bored or need more performance i will over clock everything i can to safe limits

here is what i have chosen so far (using 32bit XP btw), all prices in canadian dollars not including 13% tax ;-(
Intel E8400 $219.95
Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R ; DDR2/DDR3, P35 + ICH9R $154.99
Corsair Twin2X2048-6400C4 ; DDR2 800MHz 4-4-4-12 E.P.P. $79.97 - 40 rebate = 39.97
Seagate 7200.11 SATA NCQ 3.0Gb/s 500GB 32MB Cache $124.99
OCZ 600W Stealth XStream Power Supply $82.95 - 8 rebate = 74.95

Total with tax minus rebates = $701.05

Should i bite the bullet and go for it ? thanx a lot guys...

PS: btw the LCD i am using is 17" so max resolution is 1280x1024 for now so i think the video card will be ok untill i save more funds for something faster

 

[Thanatos421]

Looks like a good plan. I did the same thing as you are planning with video/monitor upgrade at the same time. What's the use in having a super expensive gfx card when your monitor can't really let you see it's true potential. Then later on, get a nice 22 or 24 wide and a 98xx.

 

[Evilonigiri]

I don't recommend the P35C-DS3R. Get the ASUS P5Ke.

Also don't get Corsair, they don't OC well, unless you're not going to OC.

Another advice: You should post this in the Homebuilt system section. You'll get much better feedback.

 

[Thanatos421]

I would generally agree that Asus makes a better board, but that's just IMO. However, Corsair memory is fine. He said he wasn't going to OC to extreme measures, so the chance that he pushes the FSB over 400 are slim. Thus, the RAM will not be overclocked and will be perfect. My Corsair Dominator 1066 is running around 1080 with normal voltage, but I didn't want to run it lower than what I paid for, so 1:1 wouldn't work for me

 

[Evilonigiri]

I have the P35C-DS3R. There's a lot of issues with it. Just google around, the most common problem is the 3 sec endless boot cycle that even Gigabyte has no solution for.

 

[mi1ez]

I use a P5K-E. Lovely board!

 

[andrei3333]

Thanks guys...can a mod move this thread to the proper section pls ?

anyways,,, i have read some reviews on newegg on the MB and yeah there are some issues, but were they not solved with version 2.0 or 2.1 ?

i looked at the asus and none of the sub $150 boards had an optical out SPDIF on the back, and i need to have this..also the gigabyte MB supports 45 nm e8400 out of the box, but the p5ke needs a bios flash which i dont want to bother with by sticking my p4 in it

 

[surrealdeal]

Lame, but may be desirable:
Another HDD, and another DVD-ROM drive.
Run a web crawler, and search 20k textfiles.
Watch a DVD, and Play DVD based games.

 

[andrei3333]

HUH ? my games are all original...
Why invest in another HDD ? raid 0 does not interest me since i would have to spend another 124+tax for 7200.11
whats wrong with the DVD rom i have now ? LG something something i have the specs in another room

^ please elaboreate

 

[surrealdeal]

Well, if you want to download things CONSTANTLY, and simultaneously stream video, watch a dvd and play a video game, it's nice to have. Other than that, it was a weak suggestion.

 

[Jake_Barnes]

This topic has been moved from the section CPU-Components to section Homebuilt Systems by Jake_Barnes

 

[andrei3333]

Thanks Jake Barnes for moving the thread to its proper forum

I unfortunately do not buy any dvds since i am obviously poor, otherwise i would buy the most expensive components out there and call it another day spend at a store

yes i download movies, and music almost constantly, we watch all those movies, and sometimes when she is watching a movie i dont wanna see i do some other things online

i havent tried playing a game while she was watching something yet though, i get the feeling my P4 3.2GHz will somewhat bog down--if you know what i mean

PC is everything for me as far as home entertainment goes, since i have no cable/sattelite tv because its overrated and too expensive and the internet is more than capable of substituting for cable TV

 

[andrei3333]

bump, plz help me as i am about to spend money next week or the next after that

 

[Evilonigiri]

Well, the P35C DS3R isn't terribly bad, and I believe some of the issues were fixed with the board. The board is really picky about the memory, and I'm using Patriot ram. I'm not sure about Corsair, go check around.

 

[andrei3333]

i am deciding to downgrade to the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L... since i do not need ddr3 and raid and this board is really good because it still uses solid capacitors and has the same bios overclocking options as the upper level boards in the same line of products from gigabyte

this board suits my needs precisely, but what about PSU ?

In the future i will upgrade the video card (the best 8800 or a good 9xxx) but what if i get one that uses 2 power connectors...which PSU should i get ?

 

[amd_fanboi]

dunno... try something that's sli certified

 

[andrei3333]

thats too expensive and i dont have sli plans

 

[amd_fanboi]

then i don't no . i'm lost when it comes to PSUs- i'm having the same problem meself...

 

[Evilonigiri]

i am deciding to downgrade to the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L... since i do not need ddr3 and raid and this board is really good because it still uses solid capacitors and has the same bios overclocking options as the upper level boards in the same line of products from gigabyte

this board suits my needs precisely, but what about PSU ?

In the future i will upgrade the video card (the best 8800 or a good 9xxx) but what if i get one that uses 2 power connectors...which PSU should i get ?

Here's a decent PSU from OCZ: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341002

Should power any video card. It has 4 independent 12v rails.

EDIT: Here's a single 12v rail PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004

It's from Corsair. The quality of their PSU are excellent.

 

[Dan_P]

well a good MOBO for a better price Abit IP35 pro
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813127030

only down side i have seen is it is crossfire and not SLI. but then again if you are only useing 1 Vid card what dose it matter. plus newegg has a good rebate going on for it!

With the money you save on the mobo you can buy a Q6600 CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017

Just an idea

 

[andrei3333]

^ that mobo is over kill; dont need external sata , dont need CF, dont need two RJ ins, dont need ich9r sata wjhatever ...blah blah, the DS3L is perfect, just what i need for todays computing, nothing more, its not future proof, but i have no money for future proof MB especially with the 775 being at the end of its life span, there is no point

the PSU:
the one i chose costs me 74.95 + tax (minus rebate already) the firts OCZ psu is 700 for $130 its over kill and more expensive, the one i got has 4 rails i think, the second one in the link you proveded is 550 W for the same just 5 dollars cheaper, i guess i could take the 550w one and save 5 bucks, but the one i have should work with the 8800 series...

anyways i think i am pretty much set with this
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Socket LGA775, 3 GHz, 1333 MHz FSB, 6MB L2 Cache, 45nm (Retail Box) = 219.95 (PC Village)= 248.54
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L Intel P35 + ICH9 DDR2 1066/800/667/533Mhz 1333Mhz FSB = 98.99 (canada computers)=111.86
Corsair Dual Channel Twin2X2048-6400C4 DDR2 800MHz 4-4-4-12 E.P.P. Memory = 79.97 (tiger Direct) = 90.4 - 40 rebate=50.4
Seagate Barracuda (ST3500320AS) 7200.11 SATA NCQ 3.0Gb/s 500GB 32MB Cache (OEM) = 124.99 (canada Computers) = 141.24
OCZ 600W Stealth XStream Power Supply - OCZ600SXS = 82.95 (PC Village) 93.73 - 8 rebate = 85.73

time to go buy and build

 

[Dan_P]

The Abit and the Q6600 was just an idea to keep the price around the same. then able you to up grade in the next year or two.

plus with you saying " multitasking ie, downloading several large files at once "

For the price the Q6600 would do what you need and even more and only 50.00 more

I like the HD you you picked, its the same i am going with.

 

[andrei3333]

Appreciate the nod on the HDD, yeah why not i mean its double the cache size and its got the second version of the perpendicular write technology -- who cares if its marginally faster, its one of the best drives available right now so why the heck not, for 500 GB and for $124.99 its 25 Cents per GB and thats a steal no matter what way you look at it....thats a no brainer

The goal was to build a system keeping as tight a budget as possible, recycling as many components as i could, while maximizing the return of performance, the e8400 is a winner, so is the HDD and the ram, The mb was a question until i sorted out my priorities and got back down to reality, so here you have it...cant wait to blast COD4, gears of war, ut3 and whatever else i have laying around....

--> as far as the Q core... i duno, from what i read, in games i will be able to kick more butt using the e8400, and i could always slow down the downloading or other multitasking....in game performance takes first priority here ...

 

[Dan_P]

well... i see how you are doing things. my orig build was going to only cost 1200.00 well HAHA im past that and still need to spend 800 more to finish

 

[andrei3333]

hey get what you NEED rather than what looks good on paper...at the end of the day you are the one that has to live wiht this system...

i look at it this way, if i upgade every 3 years i keep up with technology, get to you current hardware every three years and the software (games) that actually support the hardware in real time right now... not building for the future when all things change and 3 months from now the there is faster ram, cpu and whatever else.....

getting top of the line components every 5 or so years does not satisfy me, i cant wait that long for the new stuff...i am alove today, who knows what will happen 5 years from now, the world may come crashing down, women may gain telepathic powers and men become their slaves, but i will always be able to say i played call of duty 4, the best shooter today, on my monitors max resolution with everything on high today, not in the future ...

its all about the bottle neck thats preventing you from doing what you want... right now i need a processor, but my mobo doesnt support anything good so i replace that, with it comes new/faster/more ram automatically, my HDD is small and slow, get a new one, BUT my video card is alright for the resolution so i keep it..

its all about what you need Today not in the unknown future