Building my first gaming rig...could I get some feedback?

kkbeach

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Nov 21, 2008
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This will be my first time building a computer, and I've been looking around at parts for a while. I just want to play new/new-ish games on high settings at around 1680 x 1050. I need it to be ~$600 or so ($800 w/ a new monitor), and so far this is what I've set my eye on:

CASE: Antec Sonata III 500 w/ 500W Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129024

Motherboard: ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131299

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037

GPU: XFX PVT98GYDLU GeForce 9800 GT 512MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150316

RAM: mushkin 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146732

HDD: Western Digital Caviar RE WD2500YD 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136010

Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster SB0570 Audigy SE 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102002


So...is this okay? Will it even work? Any feedback or recommendations would be great. I'm a noob when it comes to PC building.




 

gators1223

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Apr 26, 2007
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its ok but it could be better

Case: what ever its fine and the power supply is actually decent

Motherboard: fine

CPU: good you could spend an extra $10 and get a e8500

GPU: for an extra $20 to $30 you could get a 4850 which would be much more powerful
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102770

Ram: get 4g of ram its cheap

HDD: get this it is much larger and faster
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218&Tpk=wd6400aaks

don't bother with that sound card it would be only marginally better than onboard sound

for a monitor
SAMSUNG 2232BW+ Black 22" 2ms Widescreen LCD Monitor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001310

and that should hit just about $800
 

Avenger_K

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Jul 6, 2007
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+1. There a combo deal going on right now for the case you picked (Antec Sonata III w/500W PSU) and the hard drive that gators suggested, so you can save an additional $30 there.
 

kkbeach

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Nov 21, 2008
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What do you mean by "limits upgrade possibilities"?

(Like I said, i'm new to computer building :p )

And thanks gaters and Avenger for the recommendations :)
 

kurtyboh

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Oct 30, 2008
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The mobo you've cosen can run 2 ati cards in a crossfire solution although it will be in x8 instead of x16 speed meaning you'd run about %80 of that with a mobo including 2 pci-ex16 slots. The p5q-pro has two pci-e slots but only one is x16, this slight bottleneck is not going to be noticeable in most machines unless you have your cpu oc'd way up. The nvidia cards need an sli capable mobo so to run 2 of them you'd have to switch your mobo to somthing else. As the 4850's are nearly the same price but faster, its a better solution offering you the ability to upgrade in the future for a cheaper price than another new rig. If you were to switch to an sli mobo youre adding 80-100 bucks so the 20 on a better vid card is probably a smarter idea. Also what may be a good idea, is picking up pc builders guide from pcgamer, they put one out every year and detail all the items inside a comp. There is a ton of information in there so you can make your own informed decisions. It should run you about $10 but in my mind it's probably worth it in the beginners level.
 

slomo4sho

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Kurtyboh's point is only valid if you plan on adding a second GPU later on down the road. To be honest though, crossfire is usually not the best option for mid ranged systems. Your better off sticking to a single GPU and upgrading it down the line to a more powerful GPU.

Crossfire provides minimal performance increase for the cost and power consumption associated with the setup.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-4870-x2,2073-18.html
Take a look at a recent review of GPUs. Two 4850s in crossfire provide only a 10% increase in FPS when compared to a single 4850 for very high quality settings Crysis at 1680x1050 resolution.
 

chuccck

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Jan 12, 2008
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I found some combo deals that would do you good:

E8400 + Asus P5Q Combo gets a $30 discount (links will add to shopping cart)

http://secure.newegg.com/Shopping/AddToCart.aspx?Submit=ADD&ItemList=Combo.138376

Saphire HD 4850 + ThermalTake 650W saves $60!

http://secure.newegg.com/Shopping/AddToCart.aspx?Submit=ADD&ItemList=Combo.142611


E8400 combo (cpu & mobo) = $244.37 shipped After Rebates

4850 combo(gfx card & PS) = 163.23 shipped After Rebates

Antec 300 Case = 54.95 shipped
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042&Tpk=antec%20300

Gators rec'd HD is good = $69.99 shipped

Ram is fine = 35.98 shipped

Total = $568.52 = NICE