Hardware and OS help please (gamer type system build)

artimas

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Feb 10, 2009
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I am getting ready to build out my system with the following components, but don't know about two things. I kinda went over my $650 range I wanted to stay in, but felt that the parts I put together should be pretty game proof for at least a couple of years, and I plan to overclock the CPU. I mostly play games on my 5-6 yr old Shuttle PC and it is now extremely long in the tooth when running the absolute lowest settings in my games from the Steam and EA store. But after pulling down the latest Prince of Persia and it being a choppy slow mess with these crazy lines that extend from the characters (what the heck causes that?), i finally said enough is enough.

Anyway, my questions are:
1. Do you think the vid card I selected will work with the other parts? I play mostly FPS-type games, Strategy and MAME
2. What OS to go with? I am still a little gun shy on getting and running Vista and don't know what/why I should go with 64-bit over 32-bit

Specs I was intending to get:

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - Retail
Foxconn BlackOps X48 LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
--- Combo price of $334

G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL4D-4GBPI-B - Retail

G.SKILL FM-25S2S-64GB 2.5" 64GB SATA II Internal Solid state disk (SSD) - Retail

MSI N9800GT 512OC GeForce 9800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

Rosewill TU-155 II 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply - Retail

OCZ OCZ700MXSP 700W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail

LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model iHAS220-06 - OEM
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All said and done; $878 before rebates

Additional Notes:
I have a 24" Dell for my monitor and 2 1TB SATA II disks that are no longer used from my Mac Pro. So the SSD will only be used for the OS and the 2 other drives for normal data.

Thanks for any help you can give me! :hello:
 
Vista 64bit...it reads all 4gigs of your memory unlike 32bit which reads only 3 gigs. I use Vista 64 Home Premium atm, and it works just fine. Infact out of all the MS O/S I like vista the best...and Iv'e run '98, 2000, XP, etc.... Vista also has DX10 wich is a big plus for gaming.
The cpu fan/HS that comes with the intel cpu's blow big time. It's worth the $20 to get that asus ...especially when it comes to mounting it on your mobo. Also it comes with pre applied thermal grease. The antec case and psu combo is a decent deal for that price, and I would take an antec over a rosewill any day of the week.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.158005 $119.94
Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Antec EA650 650W ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V version 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037 $164.99 Free Shipping*
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835101027 $19.99
ASUS V52 92mm Sleeve CPU Cooler - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128359 $119.99 ($104.99 after $15.00 Mail-In Rebate) Free Shipping*
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231209 $54.99 Free Shipping*
G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127387 $129.99 ($114.99 after $15.00 Mail-In Rebate)
MSI N9800GT 512OC GeForce 9800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106266 $23.99
LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488 $99.99 Free Shipping*
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders - OEM

Total: $733.87
$703.87 w/ mail in rebates