[Solved] 400-600 Gaming machine

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: (Now to 3 weeks)

BUDGET RANGE: (400-600) Before Rebates

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming (Aion), surfing net, some movies

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: (keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS, hard drive, dvd drive)

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: (newegg.com)

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: (US)

PARTS PREFERENCES: (Have always had AMD, but heard alot on this forum of Intel)

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe (have never attempted it, but willing to try)

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: (1680x1050)

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: (Monitor and OS will come at a later date. I Plan on getting Win7 and replacing my flickering Samsung 226BW monitor)

Currently run: AMD Athlong 64 x 2 4400+ dual core, socket 939, EPOX 9npa+Ultra board, 4g of Patriot ram, BFG OC 8800gt, Seagate Barricuda 750).

Would love to run Aion full detail as smooth as I can. Would like the system to be upgradable too. I have been looking alot on this forum and seem to be getting more and more confused on which way to go. I would appreciate some assistance on where to start, again. Thanks.

Thanks. I am checking all of your links.

What do you feel about this combo vs the board you mentioned?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.273251

If I decided to go SLI (and keep the gpu I have and add another) would this provide for a smooth gaming? This board has the 2 @ x8 or 1 @ x16. I believe the ASrock didn't offer it that way. Or, even doing this combo and getting your linked GPU, and possibly get the other about a month later.

SAPPHIRE 100283L Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
159.99

CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 ... - Retail
159.99
-60.00 instant
-20.00 mail in rebate
99.99

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM
6.99

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL7D-4GBRH - Retail
89.99

Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I5750 - Retail and ASUS P7P55D PRO LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
369.98
-20.00 combo

All = 706.94 + 8.13 shipping


OK. The price is getting up there pretty good. I didn't list the case here in case I need to simply drop it and use my old one....in case there is other input here. How is this looking so far? The retail box CPU doesn't come with a fan? Anyone know if the listed fan will having any issues fitting onto this cpu with this mother board? Will games like Aion use all 4 cores? Or would that AMD 3 core one better? I look the name up here in a bit when I can. Thanks.

Thanks. I showed the first price to my wife, she didn't laugh so it isn't a bad thing.

I'm still interested in assuring this will last a few years. Currently my main reason to rebuild is to play Aion at high detail. Then, the usual photo editing type of stuff.

During gameplay, dropping the detail will be fine when a fight of over 200+ chars are running all over. Of course, I guess that could be from my current cpu as well. I'm thinking a couple months from now, the option to add another card vs upgrading anything else, entices me. Going to a non Asus board somewhat worries me now that I think about it. I used to have one and loved how easy it is to keep the drivers updated. My current Epox was a good hunt to get things done like that.

I would use the 750W combo since you plan on using two cards in the near future.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.274500

I've never played Aion before, but this is a nice machine that should play any modern game at playable levels, especially at your resolution.