~$1200 Gaming PC Build

[TKpro]

I am attempting to build a gaming capable PC although it will be used for other things as well. I have been perusing this website and forums for a couple of days and have come up with a build which according to my research should work well and fit my needs. However, while I have built PC's before I have never picked out the components and so I was hoping that some of you more experienced and knowledgeable PC enthusiasts could look over my build and give me advice and recommendations.

So here is the build.

Case:
Antec P182
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129025

CPU:
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037

Newegg CPU + Case Combo = $289.98

CPU Cooler: $36.99
XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16835233003

GPU:
Asus HD4850 512mb
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121253

Motherboard:
ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121253

Newegg GPU + Motherboard Combo = $314.98

Memory: $89.99
G.SKILL 4GB(2x2GB) DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166

Hard Drive: $94.99
WD Caviar WD6400AAKS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037

Disc Drive: $29.99
Samsung 20X DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16827151154

PSU: $149.99
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16817341011

OS: $99.99
Windos Vista Home Premium SP1 32-bit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16832116485


Subtotal: $1,106.90
Tax: $80.25
Shipping: $20.06
Total: $1,207.21
Mail-in Rebate: $55
-------------------------------

Grand Total: $1,152.21

That is my current build.
For reference I will be Over Clocking.

So what do you think?
Will all the components play nice together?
What do you guys think of the HD4850 vs. the geForce 9800GTX?
What about the q6600 vs. the e8400?
I have heard the HD4850 runs pretty hot. Will I need an after market cooler?
Is that motherboard a good choice for OC'ing?
Will this build be able to crossfire with another HD4850 or HD4870 if I decide to add one later?
Is that case a good choice?
I haven't shopped around a lot but Newegg seems to have good prices. Does this look like a good deal?
I have monitor, keyboard, mouse, and headset. What speakers should I get? Also do I need a dedicated sound card?
Am I missing anything?

Phew, that is a lot of questions. I would really appreciate any advice or comments you guys could give me.

Thanks in advance.

-TK

 

[sogangsta]

4gb and no 64bit???

 

[shadowduck]

Lets see...

1) Yes but drop the RAM to DDR2-800. You don't need 1066 RAM and it can cause issues.
2) 4850 smacks 9800GTX around, that's why the price was magically dropped to 199.
3) For a purely gaming build go E8400. If you do video editing, Photoshop etc. Q6600 is ok. Q6600 runs hot. Q9450 is a better choice.
4) Use Rivatuner to keep the fan speed up and the stock cooler is ok. If noise is an issue, get a VGA cooler.
5) Yes
6) Not with that motherboard. P45 bottlenecks on Crossfire with 4850 above 1920x1200 and 4870 altogether. Move to X38/x48 board.
7) GREAT choice
8) Yes
9) Up to you- no sound card unless you buy $500 speakers.
10) Yes- buy the $7 bracket that goes with that CPU cooler. Push pins SUCK.
11) To fully use 4GB of RAM - you need a 64-bit OS as soGangsta points out.

 

[LAAkuma]

Your build is a lesson on wasting money for no reason, except preference. You can get the same exact performance for less money in some areas there.

this case destroys the case/power supply combo you listed, and its HALF the price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119142

that thing comes with 550W real power pro power supply, to go with the superb quality case.

And to be realistic, if you freaking overclock your video card, AND your CPU massively, your not even going to use 425 watts of power. Not even. If you don't believe me, plug your system into a $20 wattage reader and see for yourself.

this motherboard will benchmark, and overclock just as high as some of the best out there ON AIR. + its got digital HD sound. Making it king of value.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128337

I just saved you almost $300. Now you can get this for free. So to speak.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001268

buy 3 more 120 MM fans and put them in the case, to make 6 total.

Then your set.

LAAkuma

 

[LAAkuma]

shadow duck? 1066 can cause issues?

Check yourself into the nearest mental institution, your out of your damn mind. LOL damn.

Your argument was better served with you don;t need more than DDR800 unless you plan clocking your FSB past about 415 MHZ.

Which would be 9x415 or a little over 3.7 GHZ.

X38/X48 TOTAL and complete waste of money. Under $100 P35 can clock and perform on par with anything out on AIR. Don't get sucked into the marketing bullcrap.

Quad CPU won't do anything for him, its a gaming rig. He picked the best CPU money can buy for his budget. Recommending a 6600 over a wolfdale tells me you really don't know a whole lot about gaming rigs. That and the 1066 doesn't work too well comment.

LAAkuma

 

[zipz0p]

I agree with LAAkuma on the PSU and RAM issues (750W is wayyy overkill, and PC6400 is fine), though I really like my P182. I think cases are more personal, and some people buy cases for much longer tours of duty and are looking for specific things. If that isn't such a big issue, LAAkuma's suggestion on that is excellent.

I would personally go for a P45 board at this point. I have the motherboard that LAAkuma suggested, and I like it, and it works fine, but I would like more overclocking options than it really provides. It's been fine for clocking my Q9450 to a very cool 3.2GHz, though.

 

[shadowduck]

1066 RAM can cause voltage issues and has instability problems with a variety of motherboards. But you are right, I could of stopped at you don't need it.

 

[LAAkuma]

my Son is 6 years old, and he clocked his wolfdale 3.0 to 3.6 GHZ after he read on overclockers club how to overclock, he did it all by himself.

On the same motherboard, the P35 express Gigabyte one I linked.

My computer I got a $300 Asus ROG Formula SE watercooled.

And wow is that the biggest waste of freaking money ever. It does nothing special except give you 100 more overclocking options that matter very little in real world tests.

Everyone knows after you get into the low 3 GHZ range, its almost 99% GPU power that matters.

One note about the 1066 memory, its better than you get 1066 and clock it to 415 FSB, rather than the 800 and clock it to 415 FSB. It will run cooler, under less stress and last a hell of a lot longer than the 800.

LAAkuma

 

[pcgamer12]

Look at Z-2300. Those THX speakers kick butt, they sound amazing, it's a 2.1 sound system. BTW, your GPU and MB links to the Asus 4850. Nice MB/GPU and CASE/CPU combo, buy them before they expire.

 

[TKpro]

I made the modifications to the build that LAAkuma suggested and buying from Newegg that only made the build $60 cheaper. Which does not seem worth it. Although I agree the initial power supply I choose is overkill. I also like the P182 case and with the CPU + Case combo it becomes a $100 case. So taking the $50 extra that I would pay for the Cosmos case in comparison to the combo and buying a cheaper PSU I could get right down to where the build was with the worse? components.

I do have some other questions though.

Should I get 64-bit Vista and if so why? I have a spare copy of XP laying around that I just found. Is vista worth it?
Any suggestions for a good price/quality PSU that would work with this build?

 

[cmashwin]

64-bit OS is generally recommended for RAM sizes 3GB+.. But, if you are ok with ur system seeing just 3.5GB, u can stick to 32-bit, which is more mainstream..
in my opinion, 64-bit OSes come with their own set of hurdles which u got to know and be prepared for if u go that way.. (like driver issues, software support, and a bit slower system)..

 

[shadowthor]

my Son is 6 years old, and he clocked his wolfdale 3.0 to 3.6 GHZ after he read on overclockers club how to overclock, he did it all by himself.

On the same motherboard, the P35 express Gigabyte one I linked.

My computer I got a $300 Asus ROG Formula SE watercooled.

And wow is that the biggest waste of freaking money ever. It does nothing special except give you 100 more overclocking options that matter very little in real world tests.

Everyone knows after you get into the low 3 GHZ range, its almost 99% GPU power that matters.

One note about the 1066 memory, its better than you get 1066 and clock it to 415 FSB, rather than the 800 and clock it to 415 FSB. It will run cooler, under less stress and last a hell of a lot longer than the 800.

LAAkuma

Your point being? Not to add fuel to the fire, but if you have noticed not all P35 mobos can overclock past 400fsb with a quad. I agreed with the part that the 3ghz e8400 will help with the gaming. But shadowduck is just saying for the same price you might as well overclock a quad that can get to 3 ghz with little or no voltage change. There has been evidence that 1066 memory doesn't run at its rated speed on some p35 mobos and many have ran into this issue. Not trying to flame you or anything, but I disagree that the X38/X48 is a waste of money. It definitely helps if you are overclocking a quad past 450fsb, as most mobos usually have a hard time getting to 450fsb.

 

[BlackKnight7891]

I made the modifications to the build that LAAkuma suggested and buying from Newegg that only made the build $60 cheaper. Which does not seem worth it. Although I agree the initial power supply I choose is overkill. I also like the P182 case and with the CPU + Case combo it becomes a $100 case. So taking the $50 extra that I would pay for the Cosmos case in comparison to the combo and buying a cheaper PSU I could get right down to where the build was with the worse? components.

I do have some other questions though.

Should I get 64-bit Vista and if so why? I have a spare copy of XP laying around that I just found. Is vista worth it?
Any suggestions for a good price/quality PSU that would work with this build?

64bit vista will allow you to recognise upto 128gb of ram (your motherboard is restricted to 8gb). in return for this it will use at least 1gb of ram just for itself. with xp using around or just of 512mb of ram but only seeing 3.5 the difference in ram available for application will be negligble. personally i bought vista because i wanted to avoid having to upgrade later but i didnt have an xp license around, if you get vista deffinately get 64 bit to future proof you computer, but if you use XP you wont be loosing out.

a 550w to 650w psu (650 if your considering crossfire 4850's) from corsair thermaltake silverstone

 

[TKpro]

So this is what I ended up ordering.

1

Antec P182 Gun Metal Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Item #: N82E16811129025

Standard Return Policy



$169.99
$149.99

1

ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813131299

Limited 30-Day Return Policy



$149.99

1

ASUS EAH4850/HTDI/512M Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
Item #: N82E16814121253

Standard Return Policy



$199.99
$194.99

1

CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX 520W ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 Power Supply
Item #: N82E16817139001

Standard Return Policy



$139.99
$119.99

1

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400
Item #: N82E16819115037

Processors (CPUs) Return Policy



$189.99

1

CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-6400C5
Item #: N82E16820145184

Memory (Modules, USB) Return Policy



$119.50
$86.50

1

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Item #: N82E16822136218

Limited 30-Day Return Policy



$94.99

1

SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model SH-S203N
Item #: N82E16827151154

Standard Return Policy



$29.99

1

XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler
Item #: N82E16835233003

Standard Return Policy



$36.99

1

XIGMATEK ACK-I7751 Retention Bracket
Item #: N82E16835233019

Standard Return Policy



$6.99

1
DISCOUNT FOR COMBO #105721


-$50.00

1
DISCOUNT FOR COMBO #108523


-$30.00

Subtotal $980.41
Tax $71.08
UPS 3 Days $13.85
Rush Processing $2.99
Order Total $1,068.33

Plus $70 Mail-in Rebate

I think I am going to stick with XP for right now and upgrade to Vista at some point in the future. If I do decide to Crossfire HD 4850's will that PSU be insufficient to power it?

 

[shadowthor]

The psu will definitely not be enough for crossfire. I would get at least 750W to be on the safe side if you do plan to crossfire.

 

[TKpro]

I guess I will call up Newegg tomorrow and see if I can change the PSU.
Would 650w be enough for crossfire?

 

[cmashwin]

According to me, your original PSU shud be enough... Check out online PSU calculators... U shud come up to around 340watts.. So any good PSU above 500watts shud be enough.. But pls check and be sure..
Although, getting a 650w PSU shudnt be a prob, if u already ordered it, then I think it will do.

 

[Why_Me]

I guess I will call up Newegg tomorrow and see if I can change the PSU.
Would 650w be enough for crossfire?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341002 $124.99 ($89.99 after $35.00 Mail-In Rebate)
OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI 700W ATX12V Power Supply 100 - 240 V - Retail