Gaming PC Core

[peglegkraig]

Hi, I'm working on a new gaming machine, seeing as my old rig is nearly five years old -_-

I'm on somewhat of a budget, but I have all peripherals that I need for a computer (monitor, keyboard/mice, ect) so all I really need are the core pieces of a computer. I also have two SATA drives ready, so no need to buy new ones.

Currently what I'm looking at for CPU is the Intel Core 2 Duo E8400; for only $200 it seems to have remarkable gaming capacity and overclocking potential.

Graphic card seems to be more of a tossup to me. I've admittedly been out of the hardware loop for a while, but the 8800GT 512MB is on sale for $150 and it is highly rated on Tom's benchmarks. My main question is whether or not this will significantly bottleneck the listed processor, or if there is a better value card to match the processor.

I already possess a second hand P5N-E SLI mainboard; would it be advisable to go ahead and buy a different one? If so, which one? I would like an open SLI slot for the possibility of a second card in the future. I'm also aware of the incompatibility issue (ie, no post) this particular board has with certain brands of DDR2.

4 Gigs of RAM is a given. I'd love recommendations for the best value/deal possible.

I'm pretty overwhelmed by the massive selection of power supplies, CPU coolers, and cases, and I'd love some opinions on what I should snag.

My overall question is whether or not this is a gaming viable core in terms of newer games, ie Crysis, Age of Conan, Starcraft II, as well as any constructive criticisms. Furthermore, would it be worth it to go ahead and splurge extra money if it will be worth the performance return? This is already an extremely cheap setup and I'm not opposed to spending extra money.

Thanks!

 

[fransizzle]

The e8400 is one of the best deals on a gaming core on the market right now. It is blisteringly fast, over clocks by almost 50%, and games don't generally benefit much from a quad core anyway.

The 8800gt is an excellent video card and should not be bottlenecked by that cpu at all. ATI does have some nice options for graphics cards, but they are usually not quite as fast as the comparable NVIDIA solution although they do tend to be somewhat cheaper. You should also keep an eye out for rebates and deals on the 8800gts 512.

That motherboard may not be the absolute fastest on the market right now, but it should perform more than well enough, and an upgrade probably wouldn't be worthwhile. Plus it has SLI support if you want to go that route in the future.

For ram, just get whatever DDR2 800 that is supported by your motherboard and is cheap. Low latency timings are good(CAS of 5 or lower), but you will get a bigger benefit from more, slower ram than less faster ram.

Any name brand power supply of 550 watts or greater should meet your requirements, although 650-750 would be ideal. Some have nicer features than others, such a modular cabling, or greater efficiency(80+ certified) which will save you money on your power bill. Thermalright makes good aftermarket coolers as does Tunique. Antec Cases are popular, though this is mostly a matter of personal taste.

 

[dirtmountain]

^
All good stuff from fransizzle.
for cooler http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003 good reviews from frostytech http://www.frostytech.com/
good deal on a 8800 GTS 512 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814134037
very well reviewed PSU from every tester i've ever read http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

 

[randomizer]

If you want a really good deal on a CPU, look at the E7200. Unlike the E8400, it is actually priced well. While around 10% slower at stock due to half the cache, it overclocks beautifully and is easy on the mobo due to a stock 266MHz FSB and 9.5x multi. Just make sure the mobo you buy supports half multis.

 

[Eric Tardes]

I would keep that motherboard,as it is still quite good,and ASUS has issued new BIOS version that supports Penryn duos(if i'm not mistaken, version 0901), so check it out on ASUS website.

If your on the budget, get the e2160, and overclock it to 3.0GHz no problem, grab that 8800GT and you are good to go for the next year or a year and a half.Grab 4 gigs of RAM to go with that.