Old Builder, New tech, advice please

E

electronrider

New Member
Well, after lurking and reading up on what I could from the boards, I have a build that I would like you all to take a look at, and tell me what you think.

Computer use:I am a moderate gamer, I play World of Warcraft, Fallout 3, and a few others, wife mainly uses the machine for homework and internet.

My old machine was doing good up to about 6 months ago, and I am now ready to build myself a new machine. The last one I built was in 2002, so I am a bit out of date on some of the technologies.

I sifted through newegg, and have found a setup that I like, that is within my budget, but would like some pointers as far compatibility and performance go. I understand this is not the latest and greatest, but it is about as far as my budget will allow me for now. If you know of a better combonation of say video and MB, or perhaps a different processor, please feel free to pipe in with your recommendations.

Thanks!

OK, Here's the list:

Case: Cooler Master Mid tower Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137

I like this for the cost, I saw other high end models that were pretty sweet, but this one seems to fit the budget best.

MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-EP43-UD3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128380

CPU:Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 Wolfdale 2.8GHz 3MB L2 Cache LGA 775
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115206

I do not plan to overclock, and this cpu seemed like a good compromise between performance and price.

Video:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121267

This looks like the way to go, and as far as I can tell, my MB will support this card. Is 512MB too much wasted memory, or is it really worth the extra memory?

Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817702010

Best bang for the buck I could find. Do I really need this much power tho?

RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104073

Kingston is the only memory I have ever used, and have never had a problem. Would I be better off spending more on memmory for either dual channel, or more MB? I plan on getting 8gig.

Hard Drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

I have used WD for years without a problem, But I have to question: Is it really worth getting rid of my old IDE hard drive and going to SATA2?


Thanks a lot everyone.
 
Last edited:
L ooks good, but i would go for this cpu instead.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116072
cooler: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003
It is 70$ and if you over clock it, it will preform very well. This thing can get to 4.0ghz fairly easy, you could get this up to 3.0 ghz with no voltage changes.

I would go with this video card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161262

This 4650 preforms better than the 9500GT, and is cheaper, but if you want a good card, that will allow you to play simple games on high, i would go for a 4830 or 9600GT.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161260
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133239

PSU: i would go for some psu's like these.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817702010
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151027
 
What is the difference between the Pentium dual core, and the Pentium core 2 duo? The price difference between the chip, and the chip+cooler is only about 15 dollars, which is not that big a deal to my budget. Would it be worth paying for the core 2 duo, and when i get an itch a little ways down the road, buy that crazy cpu cooler and overclock then? I have never gotten into overclocking, so I'm treading into unfamiliar waters until I can read up on it.

I am going to go read up on video cards, I'm just way too far behind the ball on these. My only graphics goals right now a WOW and Fallout3, I would really like to see the best these two offer.

I swapped out the power supply on my list after your recommendation, and noticing that brand mentioned around before, thanks.
 
If you want the best buy for your dollar go with a Phenom II processor. The AMD Phenom II 710 Tri-Core processor beats the Core 2 Duo E7400 in processing power and it is only $125.

The video card MX344 recommended will satisfy your computing wants.

Take a look at this processor and motherboard:

AMD Phenom II 710 Tri-Core processor - $125
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103648

GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P - $110
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128387

The random access memory you picked is good and will work with the Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P motherboard.

Unless you have a hard drive that doesn't give you adequate storage space I wouldn't upgrade from the IDE hard drive you presently own.

All the other parts you picked look to be decent quality and would work with the components I recommended.

Do you have a Windows operating system installation disk?
 
No such thing as a Pentium Core 2 Duo.

1. Pentium Dual Core
2. Core 2 Duo

Totally separate families.

Pentium Dual Cores share a single bus. = bottleneck.
 
I like that processor and mobo that you all recommended, I am changing my list to those two. I am also going with the PNY GeForce 9600 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 Video Card. After talking to some fellow wow players, most stay away from ATI.

Order goes out today, thanks for the help all.
 
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