Gaming pc budget 500 $ - 600 $

Do you have any plans to do SLI or Crossfire and do you need firewire or raid? How much do you want to spend?

i would say it's not a good idea to get such a mobo unless you knwo what you want to do later...

and no, it doesn't make sense to spend so much on a mobo when this is a more budget oriented build

looking at your build, i recommend a P35 based mobo, the GIGABYTE P35 DS3L comes to mind, and you can save some of the extra $$$, and use some of it on upgrading to an 8800GT.

I think I need to save some more money, I wanna something with SLI, coz later on I wanna a buy a second video card. the Gigabyte mobo looks pretty too bad it is pci-express 16 X, I mighty end up stending a extra 100 $. thx 4 the help

Wait a second...

If my math is right, you are spending $443 on the parts you listed. You then said if you include your case and PSU, the total is now $488. This means you are spending $45 on a case AND PSU? I would be willing to bet that if you listed what you were planning on getting, people would tell you not to waste your money on it.

How important is PCIe 2? I would argue at this point, not much. And unless you are willing to spend more then $600, you can't really afford it. (unless you are willing to get a very weak CPU and GPU so that you can upgrade them later.) I don't understand what you meant by



Whats wrong with PCIe? At this point, PCIe 2 isn't needed. Its nice to have if you can afford it, but its not a requirement. As a budget build, I also agree with the DS3L.

I can agree to a point, most cards can't even use all the bandwidth in PCI express 1.0, much less 2.0. So for now you'd be fine, only thing you might run into is when you go to upgrade later. Drop the 9600gt, get the 8800gt with 512 mb of ram, get a cheaper mobo, and then by the time you are ready to upgrade again, you can just upgrade your board, chip and ram, then the gpu could be another big upgrade. But if my memory is correct, Intel is doing away with the 775 chips anyway before long. So when your ready to upgrade you might be looking whole new mobo and all. Same way as with socket 939 from AMD in the last few years.

i agree i am planning on building a system but with socket 775 being dropped after this year I only plan on a getting a motherboard that will last me through this build.

Get a cheap workable mobo and when nahalem comes out you can get a mobo with that. Also by that time ddr3 might have dropped in price and become faster

Take a look at my system below. I had the same dilemma as you--I had to put together a budget gaming system when my previous Shuttle-based mobo died. I already invested in a 3870 for that system, but would otherwise go with the 8800GT. My new mobo is crossfire based, so you may want to get the SLI equivalent.

The biggest recommendation is to strongly consider an e2000 based Intel. Mine easily OC'ed to 3.2 GHz, and I am pretty much an amateur. There is a Tom's review about the series from a few months back, and the net result is that if you can get the e2160 or 80 up over 3 GHz, there is little functional difference with a stock 6750 or even 6850.

Looking at it from a financial perspective, you will be better off saving the money on the processor and reallocating it somewhere else (videocard or powersupply), since at this level of performance your CPU will not be the bottleneck. Furthermore, there are no current videogames that will really slow it down (even does a decent job on Crysis).

Good luck!

Get the G.SKILL RAM instead, combo discount with your CPU on NewEgg, you will get a highly reputable brand for about 10-15$ less.

I was really tempted by the SLI perspective myself, but did the math and decided to let it go.

Scenario #1
You spend about 170$ more for a 780i motherboard compared to a DS3L (part of which will be to 3-way SLI which you will probably never use) and spend about 100$ in maybe a year to get a 2nd 9600GT card. Total upgrade cost: 270$.

Scenario #2
Just buy a good reliable P35 board like the suggested DS3L then, when you feel you need to upgrade you just spend 200$ on a new mid-range card (or a used "old" top of the line) when you get there and sell your old card for about 75$. Total upgrade cost: 125$.

I don't say you shouldn't do it, I just think it's money invested in "premium" (e-peen). Either save it for future upgrade, get yourself a 8800GTS right now instead or get a Quad-Core CPU.

+1 for the Gigabyte P35-DS3L and Intel E2160, it is perfect for your build, no need to spend any more than that.

The one thing to keep in mind is if the video card keeps NOT improving (like for the past 2 years now). But games still impoving, requiring higher end video cards. having that dual pcie 16x slots give you an option to upgrade anyway. I screwed up and got a single slot, figuring i could just get a better video card later. Pathetic part THERE IS NO BETTER CARD, so i need the sli/crossfire setup to improve the speed decently. Video cards are at a dead stop. ATI has nothing, Nvidia taking their sweet time for the faster cards. Seems both are going for mid-levels no high end cards.
It also limited on what LCD monitor i can get. Higher resolution model i get, the more power i need. I few games, i can easily get the 24" types, but a few other games, i'm really pushing it at just 1280 by 1024!! (max details, etc, etc of course).

I know a lot of people are saying the newer nvidia cards are just the same old thing. And that the 9800 gx2's don't look that great.

what mobo to get depends on when you are planning to upgrade next. if you want to do nehalem in 2009 you need a new mobo anyway so buy something cheap now. if you want this rig to last 2-3 years and maybe get a cheap q9450 next year or year after (nothing nehalem) a x38 or 780i is more future proof and will better allow you to upgrade gpu to 9800 series or the next gen after (or sli with your current card) which will probably utilize pci-e 2.0. most likely the q9450 wont suck compared to the nehalems and wont be the part holding back performance, the gpu will.
the 9800 gx2 is basically 2 8800 gts in sli through one pci-e so it will be expensive and not that good. later this year -may or june maybe- the regular 9800 series will be out with GT and GTS and GTX. because there is so little competition in the market intel and nvidia postpone their new releases as mutch as possible. this will probably be the case with nehalem too. even the phenoms cant keep up with the q6600 and intel are already releasing their new technology

either way if you are on a budget i would prioritize gpu and psu before mobo. a good gpu = more increase in performance than a mobo and witout a good psu your whole system is pretty much going to be unstable and it certainly wont handle being part of a new system in a year or 2
if sli is really important the 750i mobos are about 150$. but there is no point in doing 9600 in sli spend the money in one good card instead and save up for another if you find the need. 750i has pci-e 2.0

thx for all the help, Im chaging my video card and mobo, I think i wanna a buy a MSI Mobo http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
is cost a little bit more but i've this money right now and for my card i'm getting a 8800 GThttp://www.buy.com/prod/evga-geforce-8800gt-512mb-256-b...
I never had a MSI mobo what do u guys think about it? xD

thx 4 all the help once again xD

I am an AMD guy, so I can't tell you a lot about intel, but I can say my 2 personal favorites on motherboards seem to be biostar and gigabyte. I've had an MSI board before, but it didn't last long. I however suspect that may have been due to a cheap PSU though. But regardless, I've got a gigabyte board at the moment and am very pleased. Only bad thing about it I THINK, is that the built in network card seems a little flaky. My network/internet connection was working most of the time but sometimes would just go nuts, reconfigured my network, still had issues. Finally decided to try a cheapo add in NIC card and so far since I installed it today, I don't seem to be having the issues. Otherwise the board has been rock solid.

First of all, take what ohiou_grad says with a grain of salt, being that he is, well, an ohiou grad. (kidding of course--he should recognize the "flash" element of my avatar) Good advice. As were Ogaboga's comments about the GPU and power supply.

I am happy about my MSI mobo, although it is a crossfire, so probably not the one for you. Apparently MSI has been moving upward through the food chain, and their gear seems to be better regarded these days. My $89 MSI Mobo (after rebate) is supposedly the same as their Platinum version, minus firewire. You need to do some research of reviews, and find an equivalent overachiever. Now you should consider the exact PSU that I have; it is the EXACT PSU as a nearly hundred dollar more Zalman (OEM'd as the same, but with a few more features added, such as support for another SATA or 2.) Also check out Tom's Power supply hierarchy, which tells you which tier PSU brand fall into. As the guy above said, PSUs are very important for system stability, and one of the few investments that you won't have to keep replacing if done right. Mine ended up being I think $69 after rebate, and should be the last one I ever buy (figuratively speaking).

Check out this motherboard: just recommended it to my little bro since he is going with an NVidia based system. It was the best combo price wise for SLI and RAID capability. Would have to otherwise spend about another $50-75 more to improve upon it.

Asus P5N-SLI $115.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
http://www.hothardware.com/articles/Asus_P5NE_SLI_Nvidi...

Good luck.

spend the extra 20$ for 750i. both asus or msi are around 140$
you ll get pci-e 2.0 and after all it is the upgraded version of the 650i...

Dont forget a quality psu, imo, thats now the most important part of a build

You got that right. Now more than ever a power supply can make or break your system. A good stable unit is very important, even more so when you start over clocking and adding multiple video cards. Exactly what case and power supply are you considering? Most case/psu combos aren't worth it. Antec are about the only ones I'd recommend.

check this link out: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=10... --it is a ranking of PSU manufacturers and models. very helpful.

It backs up chuckm, with the caveat that it be the right antec supply. Also consider the PSU I just bought: OCZ stealthextreme. It is the same unit as the 700 watt gameXtreme and 650 watt zalman, but with a few more convenience features. If you can live without them, you essentially have a tier 2 PSU for $70. http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/451/7

Husky thx 4 the recommendation on the psu, I almost bought a http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... but after reading the review, I'll rather spend more money 4 a better product. I'm thinking about getting this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... case not sure yet. I don't really care how my case looks :Z just wanna something that my mobo n psu are going to fit

Here's the case I'm using....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

If you can get one, it's not the greatest case, but it's a good deal. Pretty nice, decent construction, and that 250 mm side fan helps cooling a lot. Just put a decent fan under your psu for exhaust. Honestly the PSU is even ok...but if your gaming you'll want a better one.


Here's a case and PSU combo that's only 50 bucks....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

The included PSU has good ratings on it, but who knows if it would actually hold up, but if you were a betting man, may save a little cash there....although how long the PSU may survive, who knows, unless your on a really tight budget may want a better PSU.

I was going to say not that case, but then I noticed that it doesn't come with a crappy Rosewill PSU. You can get the case if you want, but realize that it doesn't come with a PSU, so you'll still need to buy one. Make sure you get a good one.

This is probably the best deal on a very good power supply, do not go cheap or no name with your selection, it will just cost you more later;
http://www.buy.com/prod/Corsair-VX-550W-Power-Supply/q/...
I would also suggest a case that has at least 2 fans, air flow is also very important.