I'm looking to build a computer for around $800-$900, maybe slightly more if I'd gain a lot. Everything I've listed totals $837 (with the exception of the PSU, which I already own) with shipping included, so it's right around what I'm looking to spend.
The system will mostly be used for gaming, but will also be used for word processing, internet, music, and watching video.
One question I have is about the RAM. Since I am probably going to go with the 32 bit Vista, because 64 bit just seems like too much of a hassle now, should I be going with 2 GB? Would it be better to go with 4 GB even though some of it wouldn't be used? The price difference isn't that high, so I'd be inclined to go with whichever would be better.
The second question I have is how much impact do sound cards have in video game performance (FPS, etc.), if any? I've always just used the onboard sound.
Looks good to me. If you want to spend a little more to get better performance, think about upgrading to an 8800GTS and a 7200.11 HDD. A 320GB version just came out recently which should work well for you: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822148316
Even though all of the 4GB won't be used, considering how cheap you can get DDR2 ram nowadays it doesn't hurt to stock up. It all depends if you're willing to spend the extra money or not.
Onboard sound will be fine. An extra sound card would give a negligible increase in performance and would be a waste of money if you're not getting a higher end one.
Yes, the difference in fps is little between using a dedicated sound card and onboard sound.
And if you can afford it, get 4gb of ram. It cost somthing like $80? thats so cheap, might as well shoot higher and get 4 gb.
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Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L*Intel E2180 OC 3.00Ghz Lapped*PowerColor ATI 3850 256MB*Patriot 2x1GB DDR2 800*Cooler Master CM690*Western Digital 250 GB*Silverstone Strider 600 Watt Modular PSU*Samsung Lightscribe Drive*CoolerMaster Geminni II Lapped Mirror Finish
Thanks for the tip on that new HD, I didn't notice it.
I was looking at this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130299 for a 8800GTS, but wasn't sure if my PSU could handle it. In the spec section it recommends a +12v @26 amps. My PSU has 3x +12v @18 amps each. I'm not clear on how that works.
The Graphics card may not work with the motherboard, since the graphics card needs PCIe 2.0 and P35 chipset motherboards dont usualy support this feature.
PCI-e 2.0 cards are backwards compatible with PCI-e 1.1 boards. In addition, the bandwidth of 1.1 isn't being saturated yet by today's video cards, so you wouldn't really gain much, if anything, by having a PCI-e 2.0 board at the moment.
