My First System, approve?

[simonton]

Provide your sage opinions on my choice of components.

I am building this for gaming and common use.


Also, I have two questions about the MOBO.

1. The MOBO supports SLI. Am I obligated to use two GPUs opposed to just one GPU for the time being? I have an 8800 from my old system, didn't want to have to buy another one yet.

2. Will this MOBO support ATI GPUs?




CASE: Sunbeam Transformer IC-TR-US-BA-WOPSU Black
Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case

MOBO: EVGA 123-YW-E175-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard

(ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard) CONSIDERED THIS ONE

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor

MONITOR: Acer X223Wbd Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 2500:1

DISK DRIVE: ASUS Black 18X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model DVD-E818A3T

HARD DRIVE: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

PSU: Antec NeoPower High Efficiency 550w PSU (That should be enough for now, right?)

RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory






BTW, I am waiting on replies to push me over the edge in submitting my order for all these parts. So, please reply. I need some input. Thanks.

Below are prices.


CASE: $60.00

MOBO: $170.00

CPU: $160.00

RAM: $60.00

Hard Drive: $60.00

Monitor: $150.00

CD Drive: $23.00

Total: 683.00 (not including shipping and GPU and PSU that I don't need to buy yet)

 

[roofus]

you can run an ATI video card on that board but you cannot crossfire on it.

 

[jerreece]

1) You are not obligated to run SLI. The board will allow you to run a single GPU (nvidia or ATI) fine.

2) ATI GPUs will work fine, however only one. To run multiple ATI cards you need a Crossfire board.

You can save some money if you go with PC2-6400 RAM instead of the 8500 RAM you've selected. The PC2-6400 stuff is plenty fine, and cheaper.

The Antec power supply is fine, assuming you don't necessarily want to run SLI or Crossfire on the latest video cards. The latest offerings are more power hungry (some new nVidia cards for instance need 2 power connectors EACH). So for future use, you may want a better PSU. Antec is good though.

Hard Drive: Not sure where you're shopping. However, I noticed TigerDirect.com this weekend has a 1TB and 1.5TB Seagate hard drives for cheap. $99 for 1 TB, and $119 for 1.5TB if I recall correctly.

Edit: You posted prices. Goodie!

Your case is listed on NewEgg.com for $79.98 plus a $20 MIR. So it's $59.98 there. Plus free shipping on it.

 

[simonton]

Thanks for the reply. Oh, true. In total with rebates and instant saving from black friday specials.. I save... about 150 dollars

"Edit: You posted prices. Goodie!" lol @ that

 

[Shadow703793]

Looks good to me, but imo unless you plan to SLI in the future get a P45 board. Also do you plan to OC? Consider dropping down to DDR2 800. I find that most DDR2 1066 RAM have compatibility issues. Get some DDR2 800 that runs at 1.8v. (ie Muskin)

 

[simonton]

I do plan on using SLI in the future. For now, I won't, though. Probably not until mid 09.

I am not going to attempt o-clock unless I can find someone in my area with proven experience.

I am gonna be attending a technical school that offers computer tech certification, but haven't started yet.

 

[jevon]

Generally Intel chipsets are considered to run more stable, cool, etc., compared to nVidia ones; I would ONLY buy a nVidia motherboard if I already had a good nVidia card I was going to SLI for sure.

That said, in your position even though you would like to add a second card some time next year, I'd still recommend the Intel P45 motherboards (Gigabyte, personally). Use your 8800 for the time being and then switch to a 4850 in 2009 when they're down in price, possibly get two at the same time or spread them out. This will provide longer life to the system than using two 8800's, plus you'll get the stability of the P45 boards.

I also agree about dropping down to DDR2-800 RAM, the only difference between it and DDR2-1066 is that DDR2-1066 will overclock the processor further. DDR2-800 will take the E8400 to 3.6GHz, and quite possibly without even increasing voltages on the processor. I know you mentioned you aren't interested in overclocking for the most part, but really it's not overly difficult and there's plenty of guides out there that break it down nicely. Anyway just some food for though!

Good luck!

 

[simonton]

I think you're right, but unfortunately I ordered all the parts. I didn't want to lose the savings from black friday and what not, so I was in a rush. I didn't drop down to ddr2-800 nor did I change to a p45.

I feel the mistake won't be too harsh. I mean, if there is a drastic difference, it'll be my first bad computer buy. Yay. Foolishly spent money. Yay.