Budget gaming build

[nodialtone]

Hi There,

I was wondering if there was any room for improvement in this build. I've got a budget of around $1000 including the OS. The current total comes to $930 before taxes and includes the OS (XP Pro OEM - $140).

One of the main things I wanted was a Mobo+CPU combo that would work out of the box without having to upgrade the bios first with a lower chip. I don't plan on overclocking anything. All I really plan on running is Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop, and WoW.

I've been using nVidia cards for a long time now and I'm quite happy with them, but I'm open to any suggestions for better value/performance. I know the ram isn't the greatest, but it was the only one I could find that was on Asus' Ram vendor list for that motherboard.

CPU Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 - $210
http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=012505&cid=CPU.84

CPU Cooler Cooler Master Hyper TX2 - $28
http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=015005&cid=FN.349

MoBo Asus P5K/EPU Socket 775 Intel P35 - $117
http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=018312&cid=MB.157

GPU BFG GeForce 9600GT OC 512mb - $150
http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=017454&cid=999.243.390

Ram Kingston ValueRAM 1GB DDR2-800MHz Non-ECC CL5 (x4 4gb total) - $94
http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=013635&cid=RAM.346.307

HDD Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB SATA - $65
http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=010282&cid=HD.443.877

DVD Pioneer DVR-212D(Black) SATA DVD-Writer 18x - $28
http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=013049&cid=CR.184

Case Cooler Master Elite 330 Mid Tower Case - $45
http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=015759&cid=CS.664

PSU Cooler Master Extreme Power 500W - $43
http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=015756&cid=PS.808

Thanks for any help.

 

[realyeti]

In my opinion, budget gaming builds are those who has low end hardware but with highly overclocking capabilities. As you dont want to overclock a thing, you will have to improve the system specs, as a consequence. So the term "budget" is now controversial.

Gaming builds do not take advantage of quad cores CPUs, so Intel Core2Duo would be the best choice for you, specially on budget builds.
I would strongly recommend the E5200 for being a totally bang for the buck but as it seems that you have no reason to OC, the best choice would be the E8400 or even E7200.

I wouldn't recommend that CPU cooler; i would rather use the intel stock cooler that wasting 28$ in that cooler. If thats your price range for a cpu cooler, i would recommend the Artic Coling Freezer 7 Pro (25$ i believe).

Now, 150$ for a nvidia 9600GT is a steal. Now even OC should cost more than 120$. Maybe on Canada the currency is overpriced in comparison to the USD, no clue about it. But if you really want nvidia, go for the 8800GT which is at 120 USD, and is a better deal.

I would go for Vista home premiun and 2 or 4 gigs of ram (800mhz ddr2); and go for other psu brand, liek thermaltake, corsair, pc poer and cooling, antec etc.

 

[Wanker79]

If you're not OCing, drop the CPU Cooler. The stock HSF will work just fine.

Definitely drop that RAM and get this Mushkin HP2 6400 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800 5-4-4-12 (1.8V). It's cheaper ($80 after MIR), better timings, and a 2x2GB configuration is prefered much more than 4x1GB.

The Western Digital Caviar (WD6400AAKS) 640GB HDD ($81) will be faster than that 'cuda and give you double the space for less than $20 more. That's hard to pass up.

Cooler Master is an OK PSU manufacturer. It's likely that it won't fry your system, but I'd feel more confident recommending the Antec EA-500 ($75), the Corsair CMPSU-550VX ($80 after MIR), the OCZ StealthXStream 500W ($52 after MIR), or the OCZ StealthXStream 600W ($62 after MIR).

 

[evongugg]

I would recommend a P45 motherboard, XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler if you can find them locally.
2x2B of memory is better than 4x1GB RAM. Brands like OCZ, Patriot, Crucial or Corsair should work.
For PSU, I would recommend Corsair or choose from this list. Coolermaster is a Tier 4. I would recommend Tier 2.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=108088

 

[IH8U]

Drop the 9600, and pick up a 4670 instead. They are running about $80. Or pick up a 4850 for roughly the price of that 9600GT.

 

[Wanker79]

The cheapest HD4850 on that site is $170 after MIR. That's $55 more than the 9600GT (the one he picked is $115 after MIR). I'm not sure if that's worth it for this budget.

 

[nodialtone]

Definitely drop that RAM and get this Mushkin HP2 6400 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800 5-4-4-12 (1.8V). It's cheaper ($80 after MIR), better timings, and a 2x2GB configuration is prefered much more than 4x1GB.

Thanks for the tip. This may sound like dumb question, but I couldn't find anywhere that said that the ram above was non-ECC.

 

[mtyermom]

If you're not OCing, drop the CPU Cooler. The stock HSF will work just fine.

Definitely drop that RAM and get this Mushkin HP2 6400 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800 5-4-4-12 (1.8V). It's cheaper ($80 after MIR), better timings, and a 2x2GB configuration is prefered much more than 4x1GB.

The Western Digital Caviar (WD6400AAKS) 640GB HDD ($81) will be faster than that 'cuda and give you double the space for less than $20 more. That's hard to pass up.

Cooler Master is an OK PSU manufacturer. It's likely that it won't fry your system, but I'd feel more confident recommending the Antec EA-500 ($75), the Corsair CMPSU-550VX ($80 after MIR), the OCZ StealthXStream 500W ($52 after MIR), or the OCZ StealthXStream 600W ($62 after MIR).

OP: This is the reply to heed. Excellent recommendations here.

As for the video card, while I'd like to see something more powerful there, with your needs the 9600GT will suffice. The quad core CPU should benefit you with your adobe products (assuming they're the latest versions).

 

[aevm]

I'd change the MB to P5QL. It has PCI-E 2.0 and 6 SATA ports instead of 4 and 3 PCI slots instead of 2 and it's cheaper.

http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=019924&cid=MB.157

Don't get an aftermarket cooler, it's not necessary without overclocking. The money would be way better spent on an upgrade to HD 4850.

 

[Wanker79]

Thanks for the tip. This may sound like dumb question, but I couldn't find anywhere that said that the ram above was non-ECC.

Pretty much all desktop RAM is non-ECC (that's mostly server RAM). In general, if it was ECC I would think that it would definitely be indicated somewhere. But I know for a fact that that specific RAM is non-ECC, so don't worry about it.

 

[Onus]

Another +1 for Wanker.

 

[evongugg]

This site is not always up, but it may help you:

List of chips used on DDR2 RAM modules

http://ramlist.ath.cx/ddr2/

 

[nodialtone]

Thanks for all the help!

Here's the revised build.

CPU Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad-Core Socket LGA775
MoBo Asus P5K/EPU Socket 775 Intel P35
GPU BFG GeForce 9600GT OC nVidia GeForce 9600GT
Ram Mushkin HP2 6400 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800
HDD Western Digital Caviar (WD6400AAKS) 640GB SATAII
DVD Pioneer DVR-212D(Black) SATA DVD-Writer 18x
Case Cooler Master Elite 330 Mid Tower Case
PSU Antec EA-500 500W ATX12V V2.0 PSU

One last question about CPUs.

Assuming that the Intel E8400 chip that's available at that store is actually C0 stepping and not a mislabeled/misshipped E0 stepping chip (which isnt supported until a later bios version).

http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=017075&cid=CPU.84

Would it be better to go with the Q6600 (2.4ghz quad core) or the E8400 (3.0ghz dual core)? The faster processor speed would be nice, but I'm not entire sure how to compare a quad-core CPU to a dual-core CPU in terms of speed.

 

[aevm]

I don't think you'd see any real life difference between Q6600 and E400 in Adobe or Warcraft. Adobe will be limited by the hard disk and Warcraft by the video card. Both Q6600 and E8400 are fast enough that they won't be used at 100% and they won't be bottlenecks.

It's probably best to go with the quad, just for future-proofing. I'm sure there are some programmers at Adobe right now who are working to improve quad support in the next release. If they are successful, and you buy that release, the Q6600 will do some operations faster than the E8400.