New Build -- Look good?

K

kchinger

New Member
Hello, first post here. I've built 2 computers in the past, I know a good bit about how computers work on a low level (I'm an EE student), but I haven't looked at building a new rig in a while.

Budget-- around 600-700 hopefully... I'm a cheapskate.
Uses-- playing games, hopefully games in the future that haven't come out as well.

My last computer was mostly built 2 years ago, but also with some upgrades over time. I'm currently running a P4 2.4 GHz HT, 800 FSB, 512 RAM, with an ATI 9800 Pro graphics card, and an old 80 GB WD HD.

I've recently gotten some time on my hands and I've gotten back into gaming. I'm playing COD4 and it plays at a halfway decent framerate, but at the lowest possible settings. The other problem I have is that the maps take forever to load and I get into games late because my HD is old and slow. I was looking into upgrading the HD and putting another 512 or possibly 1 GB of RAM in, but then i realized it was gonna cost me a lot more than I really wanted to put into this computer considering how old it is currently. So I've started to look at building a new rig.

Let me know if there are any bottlenecks that can be fixed relatively cheaply, and if this would be able to game at a good frame rate and high enough resolution/quality to look good hooked up to my HDTV. I'm also not sure if I will be able to use my old case/power supply, or if I should just buy new ones. My case is just a standard steel case, no ports on the front (this is annoying, but not a major problem, I dunno). My PSU is old, but it's a 400W unit. I think that 400W will be enough to power my rig (tell me if I'm wrong), but I'm under the impression that it won't have the proper amperages to power a new video card and new motherboard/cpu.

$25 -- hec Steel ATX-Mid Tower, with front USB/audio ports. 1x80 mm rear fan and side air ducts for cooling.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811121037

$90 -- Seasonic 430W, 80-Plus certified power supply.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151033&Tpk=430gb+seasonic

$150 -- Gigabyte MoBo, 16 GB maximum memory supported, 4 slots, dual channel, DDR2 1066, 2000 MHz Hyper-Transport FSB, AM2+/AM2 cpu socket, 2- PCI Express 2.0 16x.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128075&Tpk=ga-ma-790x-ds4

$80 -- Athlon 64 X2 AM2 4600+, 90 nm, 2x 512 L2 cache, 89 w thermal.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103751&Tpk=ada4600cubox

$70 -- WD 16mb cache, 250gb, 7200 RPM. Multiples on newegg.com, doesn't seem to matter.

$70 -- G.skill 2GB (2 x 1GB), DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231144

?? video card ?? I'm looking at the nVidia 8600 series, around $130, but I'm not exactly sure yet on which one to get.

I come up with a total price around $615. My goal is to be able to expand this system into early next generation in a year or so, using an AM2+ cpu, 16 gb of ram, add another nVidia card and use the SLI to connect them, etc. I spec'd the PSU and motherboard to hopefully be able to accommodate this future expansion. If you know of anywhere I can cut costs without sacrificing my goals (or at least not too much), let me know. I've looked at barebones systems, or cases with PSU, but I couldn't find something that really suited me. If you think my old PSU and case will work fine, please let me know that as well. I'm unsure of whether I should buy the OEM CPU and put a nice heatsink/fan on it, and buy a heatsink/fan on my VGA as well, possibly OC both of them? I've never OC'd anything before. Do I also need a fan on my HD, or will it be fine? Anything else I'm missing, please let me know. And do I have to use my old USB 2.0 card that I put in my computer to get usb ports out to the front of the case, or is this built into the mobo/case combo somehow? Audio as well, how does that work?

Thank you very, very much if you actually read all of this... or even any of it. I got kind of long winded. I just had a lot of questions about a lot of different things.

Thanks,
Kai
 
Found this video card. Nvidia that looks good to me, for $140 after the rebate. 675 Mhz processor, 512 MB 128 bit memory 8600 series. Is there a reason you like ATI for gaming? And would you take a 256 MB 256 bit memory over 512/128?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127309

Also realized I forgot to calculate rebates in my prices.

edit: I think this is the processor I meant to put up. Athlon 64 X2 4800+. 65 nm technology versus the 90 nm. For only 5 bucks too... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103212

And for $60 more after the rebates, I could get this 8800GTS card with 320/320 memory. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130082

worth it?

My goal is to basically run COD4 and any other FPS I might get in the near future, at very high (maxed out if possible) graphics levels and still have good FPS, but for kinda cheap.
 
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Seasonic PSU is good, but expensive.

ATI HD3850 is s lot better than 8600GTS.

MSI K9A2 CF-F AM2+/AM2 AMD 790X is lot cheaper than Gigabyte.

Suggest go for AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Black edition instead
 
Ok. So apparently from what I've read around lately, Intel > AMD right now. Whatever I read before about AMD being better for gaming was obviously from a while ago. I'm thinking of keeping my old case and just running it with the sides taken off the case like I've always done to keep it cool. I'm gonna get a cheaper PSU, 430W in the $30 range. I'm gonna get the 8800 GTS card I think, unless ya'll think I shouldn't. Is the E6550 Conroe a good chip? It's a little more than I was hoping to spend on the processor at $170, but we'll see.

processor -- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115030

mobo -- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128077

so many choices, so much money.

edit: If I got that CPU, from what I read it overclocks amazingly well. If I put a 15 dollar aftermarket fan/heatsink on it, would it be enough to overclock it pretty far, or does it need more cooling than that. This is getting more expensive everyday, lol.
 
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The CPU is good, but with 15$ you wouldn't be getting the best overclocks, but you could take it up a bit. I can't really vouch for temps because I think I might've gotten a bad cooler or it needs to be reseated or iunno, I don't have any thermal paste so I needa wait it out until I buy a new cooler.
 
My current thoughts are summed up in a newegg shared wish list called "Mid-Range Gaming PC -- OC". As you can see by the title, I'm considering OCing this rig. The total on that wish list comes out to about $515 after rebates. My budget was around $600-$650. Anywhere I should look at spending some money in order to be able to expand later? Or should I upgrade the case and get some fans in order to OC that better. Any problems with the rig that would prevent OCing in general (cheap RAM, cheap MoBo, etc.)?

Thanks.
 
Just wondering, if you're going for the 6550, what mobo are you using?

And the graphics card is...not great. The 8600, 8500, and 8400 series are pretty pathetic.
 
My newest ideas include the e2180 intel CPU. It's cheap, and I hear it OCs easily. The mobo to go with it is currently abit ip35-e. The only problem I'm thinking of is that I want to go SLI eventually (down the road upgrades), and that mobo only has one PCI x16 slot. I've decided (basically) to go with the 8800GTS card. Probably the 320/320 from Evga. How do you like yours?

edit: I just looked, and I meant the MSI video card, not the evga. It's only 180 after rebate.

edit2: haha, well, I just looked at it again, and the e6550 would get me back up to about $600, which is my budget area. People OC that to over 3 ghz, 3.5 in one case. That'd be pretty darn nice.
 
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kchinger said:
My newest ideas include the e2180 intel CPU. It's cheap, and I hear it OCs easily. The mobo to go with it is currently abit ip35-e. The only problem I'm thinking of is that I want to go SLI eventually (down the road upgrades), and that mobo only has one PCI x16 slot. I've decided (basically) to go with the 8800GTS card. Probably the 320/320 from Evga. How do you like yours?

edit: I just looked, and I meant the MSI video card, not the evga. It's only 180 after rebate.
Click to expand...

I have a E2140 and a P31-DS3L (P31 northbridge, ICH7 southbridge) and I have it at 3.07GHz with stock thermal compound from a $8 aftermarket Rosewill cooler. Stable, and runs everything flawlessly.
 
My newest thoughts bring me to $648 total. Wishlist is on Newegg as "Mid-Range Gaming PC -- OC $640". The rebates bring it down to total of $648 if I did my math right. I'm planning on overclocking. Comments?

CPU - E6550

Mobo - ABIT IP35-E

Case/PSU combo - Antec steel case, 1x120mm rear fan included, side vents, 380W PSU.

VGA - MSI nVidia 8800GTS 320/320

Memory - 2x1GB Corsair PC2 6400

HDD - Seagate Barracuda 7200 RPM 250 GB 16 MB SATA 3.0Gb/s

Fans - Scythe 120 mm case fan (for front)
- Vantec 80 mm case fan (for side)
- Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro 92 mm CPU cooler
 
do not get the 8800gts 320. get a 256 or 512, much better since they have the new core (G92). You will notice that all of the 256 or 512's are G92.

*and just to clear things up, yes 8400 and 8500 are useless, but for $90-$140 the 8600's are great and run every new game (not at highest settings, but they do run 99 percent of new games.).*
 
kchinger said:
My newest thoughts bring me to $648 total. Wishlist is on Newegg as "Mid-Range Gaming PC -- OC $640". The rebates bring it down to total of $648 if I did my math right. I'm planning on overclocking. Comments?

CPU - E6550

Mobo - ABIT IP35-E

Case/PSU combo - Antec steel case, 1x120mm rear fan included, side vents, 380W PSU.

VGA - MSI nVidia 8800GTS 320/320

Memory - 2x1GB Corsair PC2 6400

HDD - Seagate Barracuda 7200 RPM 250 GB 16 MB SATA 3.0Gb/s

Fans - Scythe 120 mm case fan (for front)
- Vantec 80 mm case fan (for side)
- Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro 92 mm CPU cooler
Click to expand...

Get the E6750. You won't regret it.

Don't get that motherboard! Get the P31-S3G or the P35-DS3L

Antec makes good cases, but any case PSU just stinks. 380W + case PSU usually means that you get it DOA, or it fries your system upon startup. Spend some cash and get a quality system.

Do not get the 8800GTS 320MB. Get the 8800GT 512MB.
 
Yeah, the 8800GTS 320mb was a lowend 8800 card built on the older architecture, so its not something I'd recommend to anyone :X
 
https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersio...mber=7073631&WishListTitle=$855+after+rebates

This is where I currently sit. $855 after rebates and getting the cpu from tankguys.com. This is about $140 more than I was hoping to spend. I think I'll probably go with a cheaper CPU and cheaper graphics card. My original intent was to be expandable in the future, which is why I don't want to skimp on case/PSU/mobo. CPU and VGA I can buy soon for much cheaper, I don't see the point in getting the new stuff. So what CPU/VGA combo would you recommend to clear $200 from the overall price, and sacrifice the least performance?

Thanks,
Kai
 
Well, my money is on its way to various places. About $830 shipped, not including thermal paste, and a couple adapters I need. One adapter is a DVI to VGA adapter because I've had the same monitor for 5 years now. Also PS/2 to USB cable, since I still have the original keyboard/mouse from my first computer. I splurged and got Arctic Silver 5 instead of some generic paste from Radio Shack. I figured since I'm spending so much on a CPU/heatsink/fan, might as well get the heat where it belongs for 2 bucks.

Here's what I ended up with:

CPU -- Intel E8400 OEM (I think, it was cheaper and in stock at Dealiverable, they had others for 15 or so more)

Mobo -- MSI P6N Platinum SLI nVidia 650i

HDD -- Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250 GB 16MB cache

Video -- EVGA 8800GT 512 MB 256 bit

Case -- Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW (120 mm rear, 80 mm front, side air duct)

CPU Cooler -- Rosewill RCX 92mm Ball cooler

Memory -- A-Data 2 x 1 GB DDR2 800

PSU -- CoolerMaster Extreme 600W SLI supported

The PSU came from Amazon and is slightly used, but very cheap. Like 50 bucks shipped, and the reviews for it on Newegg are great. Only bad thing is no PFC, but I don't really care, becuase I'm residential and my PF isn't that important to me.

Everything will straggle in in about 8-10 days probably. Until then, it's back to playing COD4 on my old PC. I spent so much time picking out parts, I haven't actually played lately.

Those E8400 are going FAST!! Out of stock most places, I was lucky to get one.

Finally on the way
 
oscaryu1 said:
Get the E6750. You won't regret it.

Don't get that motherboard! Get the P31-S3G or the P35-DS3L

Antec makes good cases, but any case PSU just stinks. 380W + case PSU usually means that you get it DOA, or it fries your system upon startup. Spend some cash and get a quality system.

Do not get the 8800GTS 320MB. Get the 8800GT 512MB.
Click to expand...

I agree with everything but the powersupply thing. It seems like he's getting the Antec case with a 380 watt Earthwatt PSU, which is a very capable unit that puts out quite a bit of power, a combined of 27 amps on the 12v rail. However, seeing that he is planning to power an 8800GT, I would recommend a higher wattage powersupply.
 
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