Getting back into PC gaming and kinda scared: Need YOUR help

[antikaratekid]

Hey, I am kinda switching to PC gaming after playing consoles for a while.

Quite honestly I am scared I will purchase the wrong parts for a 1600 X 1050 gaming rig.

What do you think about this parts? Are they compatible?

I am expecially worried if my sound card will work with the speakers and if my motherboard is any good.

Your help is intensely appreciated and I will be refreshing this page often!

1. Case: Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

2. MOTHERBOARD: GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128359

3. CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115018

4. GPU: XFX GX260NADBF GeForce GTX 260 Black Edition Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150330

5. MEMORY: G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231209

6. SPEAKERS: ALTEC LANSING FX3022 25 Watts RMS 2.0 Expressionist BASS Speaker

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836113020

7. SOUND CARD: ASUS Xonar DX 7.1 Channels PCI Express Interface Sound Card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132006

8. POWER SUPPLY: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

 

[Liderc]

Everything's good other than the ram, with the Q6600 you won't need anything more than 800mhz ram. This ram's actually quite cheap with great timings.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231209

 

[antikaratekid]

Hey and thanks for responding! I really do appreciate it.

Are you sure about the memory?

Memory
Number of Memory Slots 4×240pin
Memory Standard DDR2 1366+/1066

I am confused because that is what it says on the specs.

Oh and what do you think of my motherboard? Are my parts compatible with it?

 

[V3NOM]

If i were you i would drop the sound card. If all you're doing is gaming (and you don't intend to play GTA 4 :lol then get a e8400,e8500 or e8600..

other than that, it looks good unless you want to spend the saved money from the sound card on a 4850X2 now. that would allow you to buy another 4850 or another 4850X2 in the future. which is not possible with the GTX 260

 

[jeteryankees22]

Hey, good luck building and everything looks good. The Gskill recommended above will probably be sufficient...you really wont notice the difference...I might go with the 1066 though...everything else looks good though

 

[antikaratekid]

Thankyou for your advice!

I am curious about your reasoning for the soundcard. On some threads people talk very highly of them for gaming. If you dont mind, could you explain?

Yea I'm just gaming but I hear quad core is the way of the future! What do you think?

Oh and the videocard, I felt like a 4870x2 might be a bit overboard for 1600 X1050, but tahts just me. THough I dont see myself playing crysis, I want to max out company of heroes, fary cry 2, witcher, the good stuff without dipping in fps.

As always, I am interested in your opinions!

 

[antikaratekid]

Hey, good luck building and everything looks good. The Gskill recommended above will probably be sufficient...you really wont notice the difference...I might go with the 1066 though...everything else looks good though

Would you recommend a sound card?

 

[Liderc]

Gskill is a brand of RAM. The one I linked above, it has faster timings than the ram you picked out and cost less.

 

[antikaratekid]

Very sorry, I was actually editing right now to say that I found out.

Anyways, so the timing makes up for it being 800 instead of 1066?

Im techno noob sry.

 

[Liderc]

Basically you want to run your FSB(cpu speed):RAM ratio 1:1, it's shown to produce the best performance. Since you won't be overclocking your CPU enough (on air) to get 1:1 fsb:ram ratio with 1066 ram, then getting 1066 ram is a waste.

 

[antikaratekid]

Hmm gotcha. I think. Ill take your word for it! You think 4 gigs is enough for Vista and gaming?

Do you think that my choice of cpu and motherboard is alright? I was wondering if my cpue would bottleneck my GPU.

 

[antikaratekid]

anyone?

 

[kubes]

No you cpu probally bottle neck your gtx 260.

I would say save the few bucks on the sound card and maybe use it to upgrade your cpu. The onboard sound now is very good. I do not hear any difference in that verus a dedicated sound card. Everyone's hearing is different though...

all and all this is a pretty solid build. Seems to look good to me.

 

[antikaratekid]

Sorry I didnt get the first sentence, you mean the CPU wont bottleneck?

Also, people keep suggesting the E8500 as opposed to a quad core. What is your take?

 

[kubes]

sorry i meant to say *will not* bottleneck your cpu.

If its strickly for gaming i'd say go with the dual core. If you plan on doing multitasking i'd stick with the q6600. Both overclock fairly well. Programs are starting to use quard core technology more and more as time passes. It has not yet hit the gaming market yet but I think it will in the near future. Both are very good cpus though. Personaly like I noted earlier i'd drop the sound card and pick up the q9550 or q9450. That would be a major improvment in preformance over your q6600.