Building a new gaming computer. need some input please

[did41]

Guys
I am going to be building my first computer in 7 years. I have been out of the loop since then. I have been going from site to site over the last two weeks looking for a mid range computer build. Only to get discouraged from all the opportunities there are. After many reviews I come up with this.

Can you guys take a look at what I have listed and tell me if this will be ok for gaming and general use? I did want a stronger computer for FSX flight sim, but it seams everyone is having troubles with that one.
And is there anything I left out of my build. (Do I really need a floppy drive?)
All input is welcome
Thanks

ASUS P5Q Pro NewEgg
Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale NewEgg
CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB NewEgg
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX NewEgg
EVGA GTX 260 Core 216 NewEgg
Western Digital Caviar Black NewEgg
Antec Three Hundred NewEgg
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal NewEgg
LG 22X DVD Burner/LightScribe NewEgg
Vista Home Premium SP1 64 NewEgg

 

[btc2008]

Everything on there looks really promising. Good 80 + certified power supply and it seems you want to go SLI?

Try some G.SKILL RAM below; it's about half the price and just as good.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166

 

[did41]

Will this mother board support SLI?

 

[lunyone]

Consider this HD over yours, it has 140 gb's of more space and costs the same. It's also quite fast too!!
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Consider this RAM over btc's and yours. It runs at CAS4 speeds (4-4-4-12 timings) and also runs at stock voltages 1.8-1.9v!! It's also cheaper than both of the selections!!
G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

Consider for less $ (since it has free shipping) this DVD burner below. It's a RETAIL version, so you will get the software you need to read/burn DVD's!!
Your selection is OEM, which doesn't usually come with the softare and your selected DVD burner has a shipping charge too.

LITE-ON Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache IDE 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe - Retail

The rest of the build looks good. The PSU you selected is quite nice, so don't worry about btc's comments about a 80+ PSU, because it is listed as 80+ certified!!

 

[lunyone]

Will this mother board support SLI?

No it won't. It does support Crossfire, which is 2 AMD GPU's, so you might consider getting a 4870 or at least a 4850, if you stick with a p45 based mobo. Depending on what resolution your monitor is at, your probably only going to need 1 GPU anyway.

 

[btc2008]

The rest of the build looks good. The PSU you selected is quite nice, so don't worry about btc's comments about a 80+ PSU, because it is listed as 80+ certified!!

Oh, I meant it was good b/c it was 80 + Certified lol

 

[did41]

No it won't. It does support Crossfire, which is 2 AMD GPU's, so you might consider getting a 4870 or at least a 4850, if you stick with a p45 based mobo. Depending on what resolution your monitor is at, your probably only going to need 1 GPU anyway.

I don't think i will SLI, but is crossfire just as good? also i am going to get a 22" monitor

 

[aevm]

Get a Q6600. It will be way better than an E8400 in FSX.

 

[aevm]

I don't think i will SLI, but is crossfire just as good? also i am going to get a 22" monitor

GTX 260 SLI needs a case with better cooling than the Antec 300, and a much bigger PSU than 650W (nVidia recommendations are around 1000W). It's also overkill on a 22" monitor. I'd change the video card to HD 4850 or HD 4870. Then you can add a second card in Crossfire with that PSU and MB and case. Mind you, it won't really be necessary IMO except maybe in a few games, and you can always just play those at a lower resolution.

 

[did41]

You talked me into the HD 4870 after reading the reviews. i am going to keep my monitor for now, but going to get a 22" soon. and may up the psu to a 750w.

as for the Q6600 and FSX, well that sim can not play well on the best system so why bother trying. i will wait till 11 comes out.

is crossfire as good as SLI?

 

[did41]

Would running 2 hard drives in raid 0 run the system faster?

 

[aevm]

LOL, Flight Simulator 11 might be even more demanding than FSX. Good luck, anyway...

Crossfire as good as SLI??? It depends. Crossfire with HD 4870 cards will beat 8400GS SLI by 1000000% (not sure i counted the zeroes right, but you get the idea). And GTX 260 SLI will do the same to HD 3450 Crossfire.

In general, you could say that Crossfire is better than SLI because the gain you get when adding a second ATI card, compared to a single card of the same type, in % of fps, is usually better than the gain you get when adding an nVidia card, compared to a single card of the same type. That is, it's a more efficient mechanism. There are exceptions though. Some games support SLI better than Crossfire.

Anyway, if you're getting a HD 4870, then your Crossfire options include:
- adding a HD 4850 (bad idea, it would dumb down the HD 4870)
- adding a HD 4870 512MB or 1GB; if one has 512MB and one 1GB you end up with only 512MB used on both
- adding a HD 4870 X2, but that needs Vista, and if your HD 4870 is a 512MB version it dumbs down the HD 4870 X2 to use only half of its RAM

 

[aevm]

Would running 2 hard drives in raid 0 run the system faster?

It would have very little effect in gaming. It would be very nice if you compress videos.

 

[ryanb213]

Fsx is VERY CPU INTENSIVE! get the q6600 if you play it alot it will be able to handle it at 3.2~3.6 GHz Possibly at MAX settings but if not VERY near the top. good luck

 

[did41]

if i could get a q6600 go i would think about that cpu

 

[aevm]

What's stopping you? I got a Q6600 G0 18 months ago. I don't think you can get the older stepping any more even if you wanted. Besides, it doesn't really matter, it would just overclock a little less.