This is my first build by myself and I've had to do a LOT of research to try and catch up (probably haven't) with all the technological updates, so my main concern is if everything is compatible or not (or if I'm missing anything). So here goes!
$80 Case: COOLER MASTER RC-690
$80 Power Supply: Antec EA650 650W
$115 GPU: PNY GeForce 8800 GT 512MB
$150 Motherboard: ASUS P5N-D LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
$170 CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale
$59 Memory: Kingston 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300)
OR
$35 (after mir) Memory: mushkin 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
Total (- shipping) Up to $655.
Recycling optical and hard drives.
I also have several other concerns:
*EDIT* Not all have to be addressed at once.
1) Initial budget: Am I overpaying for anything? I'd like to get the most "bang for my buck", if you will. If improvements can be made for little to no cost please feel free to provide more information.
2) Will I be able to game with this setup. I don't need to run crysis on high settings, but will it at least play HL2 with full HDR and maybe full settings.
3) [strike]Should I go SLI (now)? Are we at that point where SLI will be able to take full advantage of all the new games coming out (or vise versa rather) or should I wait for prices to come down a bit more.[/strike] After receiving input, I've decided it's more cost effective not to go SLI/CF. You can still try and persuade me otherwise, however.
4) Is this rig as energy efficient as possible? Most (60% or more) of the time I won't be gaming but doing homework, bsing some essay, chatting and browsing. Will I be getting a $200 electricity bill for running this machine (esp if I get SLI)? ALSO, is the ANTEC 300 better at cooling? I don't care much about looks as much as performance.
5) The power supply unit I've chosen seems to (correct me if i'm wrong) blow air through the bottom up the case. Will this blow hot air into my GPU(s)? I think the GPU fan is actually going to blow air towards the power supply, as well, will this cause disruption in airflow? It looks like there might be a little eddy forming where the 2 air currents meet (if they meet). ALSO can I go lower wattage [strike]and still go SLI later[/strike]?
6) Should I stick with the stock fan for my CPU? I don't plan to overclock at all so I didn't look into 3rd party cooling devices (the case seems well vented as it is).
7) Since I don't plan on OC'ing anything, I'm leaning towards DDR2 667 since my FSB for my CPU is 1333, but I'm also not sure if I need 4Gigs. (Also, what does the PC2 5300/5400 mean? is there any huge performance difference between them? Should I invest in a PC2 5400 kit instead?)
8) My friend told me that Vista isn't a "gaming OS". I told him that SP1 fixed most major bugs and that almost all older games (pre 2000) can run Vista. Which one of us is wrong? Are we both wrong/right? (basically should I get Vista (64bit) or stick with XP pro (32bit))
9) This one's kind of an unfair/speculative question: How long do you think I can go with this rig without needing to upgrade? I'm shooting for at least a good 2 - 4 years before I need to upgrade any parts. That's probably unrealistic in terms of how performance might increase, but in terms of $, I think it's a good estimation. I'm not taking into account that I'm a total noob in technological regards so feel free to laugh at me and then correct me.
10) I'd like to extend my gratitude to any of you who actually get this far into my post (thought this would be another question, didn't you!). I'm sorry it's a bit long but I want to be very thorough about things, especially since my dad will be paying for this rig instead of me. For him, price is the biggest issue (initial and long term [energy cost]). Thank you for all your advice and help in advance!!!
Although the topic says <$1000 I'd like to stay well below $900, even, but I'm open to dreaming.
Excuse any spelling mistakes or stupidity on my part. Please ask if more information is required.
$80 Case: COOLER MASTER RC-690
$80 Power Supply: Antec EA650 650W
$115 GPU: PNY GeForce 8800 GT 512MB
$150 Motherboard: ASUS P5N-D LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
$170 CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale
$59 Memory: Kingston 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300)
OR
$35 (after mir) Memory: mushkin 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
Total (- shipping) Up to $655.
Recycling optical and hard drives.
I also have several other concerns:
*EDIT* Not all have to be addressed at once.
1) Initial budget: Am I overpaying for anything? I'd like to get the most "bang for my buck", if you will. If improvements can be made for little to no cost please feel free to provide more information.
2) Will I be able to game with this setup. I don't need to run crysis on high settings, but will it at least play HL2 with full HDR and maybe full settings.
3) [strike]Should I go SLI (now)? Are we at that point where SLI will be able to take full advantage of all the new games coming out (or vise versa rather) or should I wait for prices to come down a bit more.[/strike] After receiving input, I've decided it's more cost effective not to go SLI/CF. You can still try and persuade me otherwise, however.
4) Is this rig as energy efficient as possible? Most (60% or more) of the time I won't be gaming but doing homework, bsing some essay, chatting and browsing. Will I be getting a $200 electricity bill for running this machine (esp if I get SLI)? ALSO, is the ANTEC 300 better at cooling? I don't care much about looks as much as performance.
5) The power supply unit I've chosen seems to (correct me if i'm wrong) blow air through the bottom up the case. Will this blow hot air into my GPU(s)? I think the GPU fan is actually going to blow air towards the power supply, as well, will this cause disruption in airflow? It looks like there might be a little eddy forming where the 2 air currents meet (if they meet). ALSO can I go lower wattage [strike]and still go SLI later[/strike]?
6) Should I stick with the stock fan for my CPU? I don't plan to overclock at all so I didn't look into 3rd party cooling devices (the case seems well vented as it is).
7) Since I don't plan on OC'ing anything, I'm leaning towards DDR2 667 since my FSB for my CPU is 1333, but I'm also not sure if I need 4Gigs. (Also, what does the PC2 5300/5400 mean? is there any huge performance difference between them? Should I invest in a PC2 5400 kit instead?)
8) My friend told me that Vista isn't a "gaming OS". I told him that SP1 fixed most major bugs and that almost all older games (pre 2000) can run Vista. Which one of us is wrong? Are we both wrong/right? (basically should I get Vista (64bit) or stick with XP pro (32bit))
9) This one's kind of an unfair/speculative question: How long do you think I can go with this rig without needing to upgrade? I'm shooting for at least a good 2 - 4 years before I need to upgrade any parts. That's probably unrealistic in terms of how performance might increase, but in terms of $, I think it's a good estimation. I'm not taking into account that I'm a total noob in technological regards so feel free to laugh at me and then correct me.
10) I'd like to extend my gratitude to any of you who actually get this far into my post (thought this would be another question, didn't you!). I'm sorry it's a bit long but I want to be very thorough about things, especially since my dad will be paying for this rig instead of me. For him, price is the biggest issue (initial and long term [energy cost]). Thank you for all your advice and help in advance!!!
Although the topic says <$1000 I'd like to stay well below $900, even, but I'm open to dreaming.
Excuse any spelling mistakes or stupidity on my part. Please ask if more information is required.
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