Need advice - $500~ Gaming PC

[shafour]

I've been looking to build a new system for a while, and now a friend has given me a Corsair 550w PSU and an EVGA GeForce GTS 250, I want to get around to it. I don't know the market as well as I thought however, and I'd much rather go by personal input than any reviews I could dig up, so I'd very much appreciate some suggestions.

As per the stickies:
APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: End of June BUDGET RANGE: $400-600

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, movies, music.

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers. As mentioned I have a Corsair 550w PSU as well as an EVGA GeForce GTS 250. I also have an old 4-fan case that's suitable, though any suggestion that won't break the budget is welcomed.

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: I live in Denmark, so I'll be buying from local retailers.

PARTS PREFERENCES: Nothing in particular.

OVERCLOCKING: Yes (can't help myself) SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Possibly, if the PSU can support it.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080, 1440x900 extra screen.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I'd take a power efficient PC over a silent one any day.

(hopefully) Thanks!

 

[Why_Me]

I don't think it's possible to run two of those cards in SLI with a 550w psu. Your best bet is to run a single card set up for now until you get another PSU later on. I wish I could be of more help. Hopefully someone will see this thread that has a better idea.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dd353205.aspx?ITPID=mscomsc <--- Save yourself some money on an o/s and dl the 64 bit version of Windows 7

http://www.midtdata.dk/asp/index.asp?goto=forside&mainfunc=link

http://edbpriser.dk/forsiden.asp

http://www.pricerunner.dk/t/2/sammenlign-Computer-Software-produkter-priser

 

[xthekidx]

Hmm...some tough decisions to be made here.

If you want this to be a gaming PC, then you will need more than the GTS 250 for 1080P resolution, two would be about right, however as Why_Me said, I don't think you could run two GTS 250's on a 550VX 24/7. Your PC would not be running efficiently at all, and the PSU would be under a lot of stress...It would be on the edge of acceptable. A 650tx would be much better.

Now your budget is rather tight, and SLI isn't something that you will be able to afford on that budget I don't think. You could go with a Phenom II X3 720 and a 750a motherboard to allow for SLI later on when you can afford another GTS 250, but 7 series chipsets aren't that great...AMD ones aren't as bad, but still not as good as AMD or Intel chipsets. The only chipset I would recommend for SLI is X58, which is well outside of your budget. I think you might be better off selling the GTS 250 and buying an ATI card, like two 4770's in crossfire. That would be good enough for your proposed setup most likely, and would run on the 550VX just fine.

As far as other components go, I would get a Phenom II X3 720 CPU, a 750a or 790GX motherboard, depending on whether you go Nvidia or ATI, 4gb of DDR2-1066 if you can afford it, if not then DDR2-800 with low latency and low voltage (5-5-5-18 and 1.9v or below) from G skill, corsair, or Mushkin, WD6401AALS hard drive, LG or Samsung Sata DVD Burner, Antec 300 Case, Xigmatek HDT-S1283 or Sunbeam CCTF CPU coolers.

 

[shafour]

@Why_Me: I really wasn't expecting it to be either, but the PSU box did say SLI ready, Figured I'd leave the option open at least. Thanks irregardless!

@xthekidx: Thanks alot for the advice. I did consider getting rid of the GTS250 after looking up some benchmarks, but there really isn't anything in terms of a resellers market around here. I'm more fussed about the economy of it than the graphics quality though, don't suppose there's a middle ground option?

 

[Why_Me]

@Why_Me: I really wasn't expecting it to be either, but the PSU box did say SLI ready, Figured I'd leave the option open at least. Thanks irregardless!

@xthekidx: Thanks alot for the advice. I did consider getting rid of the GTS250 after looking up some benchmarks, but there really isn't anything in terms of a resellers market around here. I'm more fussed about the economy of it than the graphics quality though, don't suppose there's a middle ground option?

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/gf-gts250-sli_8.html#sect2 <--- Have a look at this before you get rid of that gts 250. You might change your mind after looking at these benchmarks for that card in SLI.