Rate/review my upcoming budget gaming pc!

[ellyo414]

Here are the goods:

HD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB SATA2 8.5MS 7200RPM 16MB Cache Hard Drive OEM 5YR MFR Warranty

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=14120DR2390

Motherboard: ASUS P5QL Pro ATX LGA775 P43 DDR2 1PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 3PCI SATA2 Sound GBLAN Motherboard

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=10530BD3655

GPU: Diamond Radeon HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 PCI-E Dual DVI-I HDCP HDTV Out Video Card

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11340BD5158

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Dual Core Processor LGA775 3.0GHZ Wolfdale 1333FSB 6MB Retail

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=12200BD0467

RAM: OCZ Reaper Hpc Edition PC2-8500 DDR2 4GB 2X2GB DDR2-1066 CL5-5-5-15 Dual Channel EPP Memory Kit

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=13220BD8253

OPTICAL DRIVE: Samsung 203S Trudirect 20X Sata Dvd Writer Lightscribe Black Oem W/ Software

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=14040DR3295

Case/PSU: Antec Sonata Iii Black Atx 16IN Mid Tower Quiet Case 3X5.25 2X3.5 4X3.5IN 500W 120MM Fan

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=10370AC5086

Please rate/review this build, my budget is 800$ after tax... this build costs me 794.15$ (shipping is free) (im using directcanada.com for my parts because they have a 300$ and over free shipping promo, and some of the cheepest prices in Canada)

Thanks for rating/review!


-Elliott

 

[th_username]

go for it

 

[Sined]

change those ram to 800mhz ram (6400) and get a corsair PSU instead, or something of the same quality.

 

[ellyo414]

The PSU in the Antec Sonata III is a very well built and reliable PSU, and it has enough amperage on the rails to run a 4850 and an e8400. Why change the ram? is 6400 better?

 

[ellyo414]

I just remember the pc2-8500 ram comes with a 30$ rebate, which means in the end its the exact same price as 4 gigs of pc2-6400.

 

[Wanker79]

If there's no price difference between the 800 and 1066 RAM, then go for it. But there's practically zero performance difference between the two unless you're doing some serious OCing, so it's typically not worth the extra money.

 

[ellyo414]

Only two things I have questions about are ram and HD... I can't decide whether to go with 2 gigs of ram now and upgrade in the future, or go with 4 and end up using about 2.5 of it, until I get a 64 bit operating system (I hear most 64 bit operating systems suck)

The other thing I have a question about is what Hard drive should I get? I hear the Seagate 250gb hard drive is a bit older, and that the 500gb one is newer, and faster.

With that said, I think for this build right now im going to just get 2 gigs of pc2-6400 and the 500gb hard drive. Does that sound good?

 

[Wanker79]

I don't know if it'll play into your decision, but 32-bit OS's use about 3.5GB of memory, not 2.5.

 

[ellyo414]

Well I hear you have to include the video ram into it, so that means I get anywhere from 2.75 to 3.0gbs. Would it be worth it to future proof and get 4 gigs or get 3 or 2gigs for now?

 

[ellyo414]

FINAL BUILD:


HDD: Western Digital Caviar SE16 640GB SATA2 7200RPM 16MB Hard Drive Oem 3YR Mfr Warranty


http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=25350DR6701


MOTHERBOARD: ASUS P5QL Pro ATX LGA775 P43 DDR2_SDRAM 1PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 3PCI SATA2 Sound GBLAN Motherboard


http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=10530BD3655


GPU: Diamond Radeon HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 PCI-E Dual DVI-I HDCP HDTV High definition_television Out Video Card


http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11340BD5158


CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Dual Core Processor LGA775 3.0GHZ Wolfdale 1333FSB 6MB Retail


http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=12200BD0467


RAM: OCZ Reaper OCZ2RPR800C44GK 4GB DDR2 2X2GB PC2-6400 DDR2-800 CL 4-4-4-15 Memory Kit


http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=13220BD8962


OPTICAL DRIVE: LG GH22NP20 Black DVD+RW 22X8X16 DVD-RW 22X6X16 DL 16X/12X 2MB IDE OEM


http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=12600DR6385


Case/PSU: Antec Sonata Iii Black Atx 16IN Mid Tower Quiet Case 3X5.25 2X3.5 4X3.5IN 500W 120MM Fan


http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=10370AC5086


I've decided on changing the ram to pc2-6400 to save 10$. I changed the Optical Drive to an LG 22x drive for the same price as the old Samsung 20x drive. I changed the hard drive to the Western Digital Caviar 640gb because I hear it is newer, bigger and faster then the Seagate 250gb drive for an extra 20$.

Please tell me if you think this computer build is in its final state!