Any suggestions for my new build?

[jfindon]

Basically I want this thing to play games well and get as much as I can for around $1000. My total now stands around $980 after rebates.

https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=7023892&WishListTitle=Future+SuperMegaAwesome+PC

Instead of the 8800GT OC I decided to spend $20 more for the 8800GTS OC, which is $200 after rebates.

Is the Abit board still a good choice or should I look into the newer X38 boards? I don't plan on doing SLi or CF any time soon.

I planned on buying the PSU, RAM, and HDD tonight since they dropped in price and all have free shipping, and then I'll order the rest once Newegg gets the X3350s back in stock. Some people recommended I get the Corsair 620w instead but after some reading, they're both made by the same company and differences aren't that big.

Since the X3350 is retail I thought I'd use the stock heatsink and fan for now, and replace that later. I'm not sure if it'll do a decent job though, what do you think?

I only have a 19" LCD so the max I'll be gaming at is 1280x1024. I'll also be using XP Home for now, even though I'll only be able to utilize ~3.5GB of RAM.


So, any other suggestions or is this a pretty good system so far?

 

[dagger]

Looks good. The Xeon is a good choice, if it's cheaper than Q9450, which is in high demand and often out of stock.

For graphics card, consider this g92 8800gt, which cost $230, and $199.99 after mail in rebate. It comes with factory overclocking, and a free game. The stock g92 8800gts cooler is almost as good as that after market cooler, especially in warmer cases, as it ejects all hot air outside the case.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127325

 

[jfindon]

Yep, that's the exact card I am going to get, I just don't have it in my wishlist because I'm used to the price I see now and I monitor that to check for fluctuations I'll never play The Witcher tough, I wish they still offered Crysis with it

I thought I'd get the Xeon because it's usually a little higher binned and is the same price if not less than the Q9450, only problem is I can't find it anywhere else in stock so I'll have to wait until 4/18 for Newegg.

Do you think it would be wise to order the HDD, RAM, and PSU while they are slightly cheaper now? I don't see a reason not to, all three have free shipping and I'll just order the remainder of my parts on Friday when Newegg gets the Xeons back in.

 

[dagger]

Yep, that's the exact card I am going to get, I just don't have it in my wishlist because I'm used to the price I see now and I monitor that to check for fluctuations I'll never play The Witcher tough, I wish they still offered Crysis with it

I thought I'd get the Xeon because it's usually a little higher binned and is the same price if not less than the Q9450, only problem is I can't find it anywhere else in stock so I'll have to wait until 4/18 for Newegg.

Do you think it would be wise to order the HDD, RAM, and PSU while they are slightly cheaper now? I don't see a reason not to, all three have free shipping and I'll just order the remainder of my parts on Friday when Newegg gets the Xeons back in.

When to buy is up to you. No one can predict the future, so flip a coin. Either way, the price shouldn't be off by a lot.

 

[jfindon]

That's what I thought. Shouldn't make a difference; everything will be purchased by the end of the week.

Can you explain to me the differences between the P35 boards and the newer X38 and X40 or whatever the other ones are? Are they mainly for people who want SLi?

 

[dagger]

That's what I thought. Shouldn't make a difference; everything will be purchased by the end of the week.

Can you explain to me the differences between the P35 boards and the newer X38 and X40 or whatever the other ones are? Are they mainly for people who want SLi?

P35 chipset runs at 1333mhz fsb at stock, and overclocks reliably to 1600mhz. X38/48 runs at 1600mhz fsb at stock and overclocks reliably to 2000+mhz. For X3350, which I believe runs on 8x multiplier, 1600mhz fsb = 3.2ghz cpu clock. Most people manage to overclock beyond 1600mhz fsb on p35 and 2000mhz on x38/48, but it's no longer guaranteed. Both of them only support crossfire (only ati cards), and not sli (only Nvidia cards).

For sli, you need 780i, which ocs as well as p35, or 790i, which ocs better than p35 but not as well as x38/48.

 

[jfindon]

I see, thanks. I guess it's not worth me paying a ton for the X38 boards then. I doubt I'll OC that hardcore, and I don't really want to spend that much for a motherboard.

 

[dagger]

I see, thanks. I guess it's not worth me paying a ton for the X38 boards then. I doubt I'll OC that hardcore, and I don't really want to spend that much for a motherboard.

That means you also won't have sli. 780i cost slightly more than x38. Earlier Nvidia chipsets are not recommended, as they oc very poorly, and the older 650i and 680i do not have native 45nm quad support, as well as having ram compatibility problems.

 

[jfindon]

No problem, I don't plan on SLi or CF any time. If need be I'll buy the most powerful single card out there.

I just ordered the HDD, PSU, and RAM. Please no more talk about them that would make me regret it, the rest is still fair game though

 

[dagger]

I just noticed the p35 you listed cost $170. It makes no sense getting a p35 board that's so expensive. Either get a cheaper one or go for X38 at $207.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128089

 

[jfindon]

The only reason I stuck with that board from when I was going to build around a Q6600 is because after the rebates it's only $140. I've heard nothing but good reviews for it as far as features and whatnot, so I figured for $140 it can't be that bad with a newer CPU either.

If there is going to be a drastic change I might consider it, but $65 more isn't something I feel like spending on a motherboard.

There was another Gigabyte board that was P35 I was thinking of getting though, but it didn't have enough SATA ports.