New gaming rig from scratch, help please!

J

Jkun

New Member
So I decided to ditch the prebuild sites like CyberPower/IBuyPower/etc and threw myself into Newegg in an attempt to bravely build my own machine after several years of inactivity [sorry for yet another post, btw :P ]

Anywho, here's what I have so far. I've done quite a bit of research, and I think I'm comfortable with all of my decisions so far. Any input would be very appreciated, as, like I said, I haven't done this in a long time!

CPU

GPU

RAM

MOBO

CASE

PSU

HDD

CD/DVD

Total: $896.76 [with shipping]

In terms of futureproofing, the motherboard has room for another set of dual channel gig sticks [albiet nothing over the DDR2 800], and I can throw on another superclocked 8800 GT for some SLI action. Mobo seemed good in terms of features. Not totally sure if that PSU is enough, but it seemed adequate for someone who doesn't do much/if any OC'ing [might get something bigger if/when I decide to use SLI]. The case is nice and modest, a decent material, and includes a few 120 mm fans [with room for four more!]. I'm kind of worried that the 8800 GT will be my bottleneck. Should I get a lesser processor and put the money into a better video card?

Anything I'm missing? Thanks!
 
Last edited:
e8400's got only 2 cores, but they run faster and most games can't take advantage of more than 2 CPUs anyways, so atm fewer+faster cores=better gaming CPU... but I'd probably get the Q6600 and OC it to 3GHz, it should be able of doing that easily if you have a decent mobo (and you might have to buy aftermarket HSF, too...)
 
hackapelite said:
e8400's got only 2 cores, but they run faster and most games can't take advantage of more than 2 CPUs anyways, so atm fewer+faster cores=better gaming CPU... but I'd probably get the Q6600 and OC it to 3GHz, it should be able of doing that easily if you have a decent mobo (and you might have to buy aftermarket HSF, too...)
Click to expand...

To be honest with you, I'm not terribly in to overclocking. I tend to try and squeeze every last inch out of my hardware, so whatever might potentially shorten its lifespan is a big no in my book. I have, however, read that the stock heatsink/fan aren't very good, so if I ever do OC, I'll be sure to grab something off of Newegg.

If I do decide to do that, do you think the PSU I picked will be decent? I'm always nervous about picking power supplies. :(
 
the only problem with running a dual core right now is that quad cores are sooooo much better in the long run, a dual core would have to be TWICE as fast per core just to match a quad, and for the same price there is no comparison. and anyways, there is no game out right now that will bog down a q6600 that much that having a faster dual core will actually help much.
 
lovely? said:
nvidia chipset= bad. P35=awesome
Click to expand...

SLI = Uberfatt. CF = Teh suxxzor

SLI > CF/P35
Therefore Nvidia Chipset > P35/Intel Chipset

Plus the Nvidia's (not sure about 750/780/790) has better memory controllers (and also I've OC'd 533/667 ram higher on Nvidia chipsets then I could reach on Intel chipsets).
 
SLI is one thing, but a single nvidia card on something like a p35-ds3l and a budget processor will blow any sub-100$ motherboard with an nvidia chipset out of the water. its not some cut down northbridge like an LT for the 6 series, its the real deal.
 
MOBO

The video artifact/crashing problem terrified me, so I decided to skip SLI entirely and go with an Intel X38 board that supports my PCI-E 2.0 card and has some room for expansion, such as a 1600FBS for future expansion [when quad-core is worth it], as well as 1066 DDR2 support [when it's a bit cheaper]. I also took that advice and snatched up the Crucial RAM.

RAM

This brings my total to $916 [with shipping], but not including the $90 in rebates if I order it all today.

Any last tips, folks? I'm going to go ahead and order this stuff today.

Edit: **** it, I might as well get a DVD drive. I also went ahead and switched out the Quad Core for a Dual Core E8400

CPU
DVD

Total: $945.21 [with shipping]
-$90 in mail-in rebates:
$855.21

I could do this all day. $10 here, $10 there...and I don't even have a monitor yet.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top