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[Solved] My new build

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Best answer from jtt283.

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tell me what you think of my new budget gaming rig i am about to make if there is anything you think i can improve on please let me know, the specs are as follows:

Core 2 duo 3.16GHZ
XFX nforce 680i sli motherboard
4 gig of mushkin ddr2 sdram
XFX gtx 260 or 275 GPU
850 watt PSU
Zalman black cpu cooler
WD Black 1tb hdd

all running vista 7

So tell me what you think

Add a reply

"New gen" stuff often has a much higher price tag just because it is new. An Intel C2Q (or even a C2D) or an AMD PII X4 or X3 will likely readily meet the OP's needs for much less than i5.
"850 watt PSU" sounds suspiciously like a generic. If so, it is probably only really capable of 600W, and not efficiently at that. Of course, it could be a Corsair or Antec, in which case it is solid, but as jsc pointed out is likely overkill.
If you can wait two weeks, ATI's 58xx GPUs are coming out. Early leaked reports suggest they will severely abuse anything currently out there, which means they will have a nice effect on prices. I5 coming out will also most likely cause prices of older but still perfectly capable CPUs and mobos to go down too.
For gaming on a budget, most of the money usually needs to go into the GPU. An AMD 720BE would be a solid inexpensive CPU option for you, on a 790GX mobo that would allow for Crossfire later if you wanted it. An Intel Q9450 on a P45 board would cost somewhat more, and perform a little better, unless the cost hurts how much GPU muscle you can get. An i5 build would likely leave too little for the GPU, so it would be outperformed by the others. I am not familiar with the exchange rate of USD to New Zealand currency, but $1350 USD would build a very nice machine. It would depend on the games you [want to] play, but that looks to me like a combination similar to i7+HD4870 or AMD X3 or X4+HD58xx or AMD X4+2xHD4870; in some other threads I've commented on why (in general) I think that i5 remains an answer in search of a question.

First of all, the P55 motherboards are here. But if you want to go with Core2's:

What kind of PSU?
Do you plan on eventually running SLI'd video? If not, the 850 watt PSU is overkill. For a single card, I would use a Corsair 550VX; for two cards, a TX750.

There are better coolers than Zalman's. Here's two:
Xigmatec Dark Knight
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835233029
Sunbeam
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835207004

I am not wild about using the 680i chipset with the 45 nm Core2 CPU.

I think that I would go with GTX275 now. But check the Tom's regular best buy video card articles.

Reply to jsc

^ +1
When new gen mobos and CPUs are availabe, then why would you go with the old one???

Reply to gkay09

im going with the c2d cos they fit my budget and will be fast enough for what i require, eventually i will get a second GPU in sli mode so thats why im getting the 850w

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to smithinator101

also the 680i board has everything i want included, whats wrong with the 680i? ( i don't know a lot about mobo chip-sets )

Reply to smithinator101

smithinator101 wrote :

im going with the c2d cos they fit my budget and will be fast enough for what i require, eventually i will get a second GPU in sli mode so thats why im getting the 850w

What's your budget, what country are you in, and what parts/hardware do you already have (don't need).

------------------------------ "God invented Google so you would stop asking stupid questions."
Reply to Why_Me

Do you still find 680 mobos around? Serious. I thought they were gone by now.
My suggestion is that you go for a 780/790. Asus has good products with these chipsets, better than EVGA.

Reply to galta

Around $1350 but ill be upgrading my existing PC over a period of time, i live in New Zealand

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to smithinator101

If it were me, I'd go with a modern chipset, like p55 - it would be upgradeable.

If I were set on LGA 775, I'd at least get the 780i/790i instead - much better board.

------------------------------ Antec 900, MSI P7N Diamond, E8400,
4 GB (2 x 2GB) Crucial Ballistix 4-4-4-12, 8800 GTS 512 SLI
Reply to huron

Best answer

Reply to jtt283

Isn't the Q9550 and the i5 750 in the same price range? And the P55 and P45 in similar rangers? The only difference would be DDR3 vs DDR2, which is not terribly different anymore...

It's really up to the OP, but I think for that price getting a socket that will still be alive in a few years would be a good idea.

------------------------------ Antec 900, MSI P7N Diamond, E8400,
4 GB (2 x 2GB) Crucial Ballistix 4-4-4-12, 8800 GTS 512 SLI
Reply to huron

Wouldn't that mean AM3? That's a risk; does AMD have any hope to beat (or even match) Intel in a year or two, or will Intel continue to dominate the high end?
For socket longevity, if I were building a gamer, I think I would choose AM3, but if I were building a number cruncher, I'd probably go LGA1366. I don't think I'd build a new LGA775 any more.

Reply to jtt283

what do you think of the core i5 in a evga p55 ftw motherboard? ill put a link below also am i able to use my ddr2 ram in the ddr3 ram banks because i don't want to have to buy everything for my PC straight away.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813188056

Also does anyone know how much both of these would weigh and what size package would they be sent in, i am trying to calculate postage from newegg to New Zealand.

Message edited by smithinator101 on 09-12-2009 at 03:23:25 AM

Reply to smithinator101

I don't think Newegg will ship outside the US, or the Canadian Newegg outside Canada; has that changed?

And no, you cannot use DDR2 in DDR3 slots.

As to i5, no, I see no use for it today. I can't help but think I'd either regret not coughing up the dough for i7, or end up feeling certain I could have met my needs with the less-expensive Phenom II and bought a heftier GPU.

Message edited by jtt283 on 09-12-2009 at 05:26:23 AM

Reply to jtt283

yes but i dont have enough for an i7 but i dont want a core 2 duo because they will be (or already are) outdated very soon.

Reply to smithinator101

pcshoponline.com

Reply to obsidian86

could you tell me which is better for the core 2 duo:

this one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] xfx%20780i

or this one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product

note the ram speeds and amount of pci-e x16 slots

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to smithinator101

smithinator101 wrote :

The gigabyte hands down. It limits you to Crossfire only, but that board o/c like a monster.

------------------------------ "God invented Google so you would stop asking stupid questions."
Reply to Why_Me

Again with the C2D?!

I'll (TRY) and update with a nice build, Or could you help here "Why_Me" ?! Much appreciate it!

Medo

------------------------------ -Medo Egyptian
"Simplicity is a mix of complexity."
Reply to psycho sykes

Second the Gigabyte. I've read too many comments about the nVidia chipsets being problematic.

Reply to jtt283

i really like the better chips but i really think that the core 2 duo is good enough for my needs, it will play all games for a while to come and they aren't that expensive. the gigabyte turns into x8/x8 when running 2 GPUs isn't that a bad thing when running things like the GTX275?

Reply to smithinator101

You can only use two ATI cards on the Gigabyte mobo (and only nVidia cards may be paired on the other). You may use any single card on either mobo. Crossfire = ATI, SLI = nVidia.

Reply to jtt283

sorry missed that is it still a good board when running two 4890,s at x8/x8 not full x16?

Reply to smithinator101

It'll be a bottle-neck ONLY if you're going to run 2 of HD5870 (X2) Versions when they come out -which i don't think you are going to do- (that's quad GPU setup!! :??: )

Medo

Message edited by psycho sykes on 09-13-2009 at 05:45:47 AM

------------------------------ -Medo Egyptian
"Simplicity is a mix of complexity."
Reply to psycho sykes

smithinator101 wrote :

Around $1350 but ill be upgrading my existing PC over a period of time, i live in New Zealand

See if umart in Ozzie land will ship to ya. You might be able to score a decent deal on an i5 build.

http://www.umart.com.au/newindex2.phtml?bid=5 <--- Intel cpu's

http://www.umart.com.au/pro/produc [...] =5&id2=106 <--- mother boards

------------------------------ "God invented Google so you would stop asking stupid questions."
Reply to Why_Me

just making sure a core 2 duo is better than a dual core right (i know is a newbie question lol ) im pretty sure it is but i thought id better ask.

Reply to smithinator101

What (or which) "Dual Core" Do you mean?!!

Message edited by psycho sykes on 09-13-2009 at 06:32:22 AM

------------------------------ -Medo Egyptian
"Simplicity is a mix of complexity."
Reply to psycho sykes

found out it is better by 30% go google

Reply to smithinator101

No no no, I meant which model, And why are you avoiding i5 that bad?!

------------------------------ -Medo Egyptian
"Simplicity is a mix of complexity."
Reply to psycho sykes

im not sure about the i5 cos the only boards it runs with are p55 which cant run multiple GPU's on full x16, and also the added price tag, what do you mean what type of dual core i just mean any dual core versus the same speed core 2 duo.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to smithinator101

smithinator101 wrote :

The P45 boards run 8x and 8x when Crossfired. It doesn't make all that much difference.

http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,2403.html <--- here's the benchmarks/review on that

------------------------------ "God invented Google so you would stop asking stupid questions."
Reply to Why_Me

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