[Stilles]

This will be my first build, and I'm just getting some basic stuff. From what I can see, I will still have a large window of upgrade-ability in the future.

Ordering it all from Newegg <3.


1
Intel Pentium E5200 2.5GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
Item #:N82E16819116072
Return Policy: Processors (CPUs) Return Policy
$84.49
1
Kingston HyperX 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
Item #:N82E16820104061
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$46.99
1
Western Digital Caviar SE 160GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Item #:N82E16822136075
Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy
$41.99
1
COOLER MASTER eXtreme Power RP-550-PCAR 550W Power Supply
Item #:N82E16817171016
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$10.00 Instant
$69.99
$59.99
1
Rosewill R220-P-BK Black Computer Case
Item #:N82E16811147074
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$5.00 Instant
$29.99
$24.99
1
ASRock P45TS ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #:N82E16813157135
Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy
-$15.00 Instant
$104.99
$89.99
1
EVGA GeForce 9800 GTX(G92) 512-P3-N871-AR Video Card
Item #:N82E16814130339
Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy
$160.99
1
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
Item #:N82E16835100007
Return Policy: Consumable Items Return Policy
$5.99
Grand Total: $515.42

Any criticism/suggestions are welcome (Am I missing anything? o.O). I have a cd drive or two sitting around and an extra floppy disk drive, so I wouldn't worry about that. (Also a DVD drive that I never use in this computer )

Edit: By gaming, I don't mean "hardcore" gaming, I mostly play Cod4 and WoW.

Edited by Stilles, 22 September 2008 - 07:00 PM.

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I would get a little bit bigger hard drive, maybe a 250GB. Its up to u, but u might be downloading a lot of stuff as time goes by. Also, having a bigger hard drive will help your computers performance. it looks like u have a pretty good amount of room to grow, the motherboard supports quad-core and all that, and it supports DDR3, so looks like u r set for the future if u wanna upgrade, so good luck with the build!

[=OSS*ROID=]

I would get a little bit bigger hard drive, maybe a 250GB. Its up to u, but u might be downloading a lot of stuff as time goes by. Also, having a bigger hard drive will help your computers performance. it looks like u have a pretty good amount of room to grow, the motherboard supports quad-core and all that, and it supports DDR3, so looks like u r set for the future if u wanna upgrade, so good luck with the build!

[Stilles]

I currently have dual 80 gig hard drives, one with windows/apps and the other purely games (still about 30 gigs left), so I think I'm ok in that area.

Thanks!

Edited by Stilles, 22 September 2008 - 07:43 PM.

[Troy]

Hi Stilles, welcome to the forum

I have to admit that your build is looking rather unbalanced. You've got some pretty hefty choices in the RAM and video card, but only pairing them with a Pentium Dual-Core is not the best choice. Also it would be wise to avoid that PSU.

Lastly, you won't be needing the Arctic Silver 5, as your CPU will already come with TIM (thermal interface material).

Cheers

Troy

[=OSS*ROID=]

Ya, troy is right, srry i overlooked that . The pentium dual-core is a lil outta date. Here is a better CPU which is still cheap. http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819115045. Hope this helps

[Stilles]

Hi Stilles, welcome to the forum

I have to admit that your build is looking rather unbalanced. You've got some pretty hefty choices in the RAM and video card, but only pairing them with a Pentium Dual-Core is not the best choice. Also it would be wise to avoid that PSU.

Lastly, you won't be needing the Arctic Silver 5, as your CPU will already come with TIM (thermal interface material).

Cheers

Troy

I don't have a whole lot to spend, is there anything you might recommend to take it's place for hopefully around the same price?

I don't know much about psu's, any brand you would recommend?

Edit: If I go with that processor, could you recommend something in the range of a $30-40 psu around 500w?

Edit2: Maybe something like these?
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817182022
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817148003
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817189014

Edited by Stilles, 22 September 2008 - 09:11 PM.

[=OSS*ROID=]

I would probably go with http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817371007. But i dont really know, i know that Antec is a good product, but u should probably wait for Troy since he knows more about PSUs than i do

[Troy]

Okay, temporary changes things... It should be fine until you can get something better that will "even up" with the other major components.

We're looking at max $520 for a gaming box, right? I usually include an OS, but as you didn't, I'll leave it out. You will need an OS, though, so if that needs to be factored into the price, then it'll need to be reworked again.

Here's an example of what you could do:

Case
Motherboard
Video Card (if you can afford and get rebates later)
Otherwise this video card
PSU
CPU
RAM
Hard Drive

Both video card choices even out the price after the rebate is returned. (Although you'll have to keep on them about the rebate...)

Cheers

Troy

[Troy]

I didn't see any of the edits, but don't ever touch those PSUs. The one Blackout linked to is good, I also chose an Antec for the build list (although for a few dollars more, there was a better one )

Troy

[Stilles]

I won't need an OS, since I purchased Vista Home Premium awhile back and installed it.. but it ran.. shall we say "not very well"? So I reverted back to XP. I figure it will run better on a more modern computer .

If I swap the graphics card with the second one you suggested, it would drop me right into the target zone with the 2.6ghz core 2 duo and the psu you suggested. I've always somewhat avoided ati cards, since nvidia has never brought about problems in the past.

If I could ask a quick question, what does the number of "Stream Processors" in a graphics card do to performance? I've noticed that ati always seems to have waaayy more versus nvidia.

Sorry about all the edits, I was trying not to double/triple/quad post, most of the forums I go on really get on you for that .

Edited by Stilles, 22 September 2008 - 10:06 PM.

[Troy]

I've always somewhat avoided ati cards, since nvidia has never brought about problems in the past.

There's no reason to avoid one company over another, the 4850 would definitely be my pick of the two choices there at this time. I used to be an ATI fanboy, but purchased an Nvidia 8800GT for my current system because it was the best choice for my money at the time. Favouring one company over another is bad practice - get whichever performs best for your money at the time.

Stream processing? I have no idea - see if you can make any sense out of this. I've never bothered to look it up, so I'll have to read up on it sometime...

Cheers

Troy

[=OSS*ROID=]

Although I really like nVidia better, I do have to agree that the 4850 is a very good card especially for the price. The 8800 is also a very good card, i had one in my PC and it ran everything i through at it. Cheers

[Stilles]

I know avoiding ati is a bad idea, but I've been stuck with a AGP mobo and have heard ati offers little to no support for their agp cards. But since this is Pci-e, I guess that no longer applies .

I'll look at it when I get home, thanks for the advice!

Edited by Stilles, 23 September 2008 - 10:32 AM.

[Stilles]

Ok, so I'm looking at something like this..

Case: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811119115
HD: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822136075
Motherboard: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813128327
Gfx: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814150316
Psu: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817371002
Ram: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820141299
CPU: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819103252

It's the AMD tri-core build you suggested, I really like it.

I just have comment on the motherboard. It's Pci-Express 16x, not 2.0. I know 2.0 cards are backwards compatible, would I even notice a difference?

Thanks for all the help! This is going better than I thought it would.

[=OSS*ROID=]

You will get double the graphic slot bandwith. Which will give a slight performance increase. Its not really noticable at the moment. It will probably take some time for the cards to really take advantage of the increased bandwith.