So here's what i'm thinking and i'll give my questions/concerns about each at the end of the post:
Motherboard
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813131407
ASUS P7P55D EVO LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard
$195
CPU
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819115215
Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor
$200
Video Card
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814130433
EVGA 896-P3-1257-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked Edition 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
$200
Memory
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820227495
OCZ Obsidian 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model OCZ3OB1600LV4GK
$79
Power Supply
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817171036
COOLER MASTER Silent Pro 600 RS-600-AMBA-D3 600W ATX12V V2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
$80
Monitor
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16824236067
ASUS VH222H-P Black 21.5" 5ms HDMI Widescreen Full HD 1080P LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 ASCR 20000 :1 Built in Speakers
$160
Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822136218
Western Digital Caviar Blue WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
$70
CD-ROM/DVD player/Burner
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16827151175
SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache IDE 22X DVD±R DVD Burner
$30
Total Cost = about $1,020 with shipping
(I know the prices don't match the final cost. I've got some case fans and thermal grease in my cart, as well as combo deals and rebates that change the price a bit, but this is the final cost of everything)
As far as the case and OS goes, I'm HOPING my old case will work. its a mid-tower (not sure of the brand) but if I do have to end up getting a new one i was looking at the Antec 300 or 900. I don't really care about LEDs and windows. As long as everything fits and its functional. I got my hands on a stock system builders version of Windows XP for free. If that turns out to be outdated in the future, i'll probably go with 64 bit Win7 for the extra RAM capabilities. I'm not to impressed with Vista at all so i'm trying to avoid it as much as possible.
I've researched as much as I could, reading customer reviews and pretending I understand the spec's of each piece of hardware. Some of the stuff I picked because of the good reviews, others came with some pretty good combo deals on newegg. I've got average tech knowlege, and I think i've got a pretty good understanding of what all the features are. How these features really effect my final build is a little questionable tho. So if I sound like i know what i'm talking about, don't assume I really understand what I just said. Most of it is just regergitation from what i've read. If you want to reply and break things down further, you're definatly not going to offend me
Here's my questions;
The motherboard is obviously my downfall of why i need to build a new computer in the first place, so i wanted to make sure I got a good one that will handle future upgrades as technology moves along without needing a whole new set-up again. I'm pretty satisfied the gtx 260 will handle most games I throw at it, and when that becomes outdated, the hope is that i got an SLI ready mobo so that I can simply buy another video card to add with the old one.
Speaking of video cards, I have a flat panel 19 inch LCD, but its not a widescreen. I picked this monitor up about 4 years ago, and there's nothing wrong with it. I'm just worried that the gtx260 video card will almost be "too much" for my monitor. Hence the new 21.5" widescreen. Do i need a new monitor or am i'm overthinking this?
As far as the CPU goes, i went with the i5 to keep within my budget. I've read the main difference between the i5 and i7 CPUs is the i7 supports Hyper Threading. I'm sure that a few games would take advantage of this technology, but i've also read in general most games today wont even utilize this feature. My CPU question goes back to my mobo selection with the question of it being an 1156 socket, i'm a little worried that this socket ONLY supports the i5 CPU. With the 1366 socket already out for the i7, i'm worried that the 1156 socket will be outdated faster than windows 2000. (Remember my needs are to have a computer that will last and has a lot upgrade capibilities) I'm hoping as newer/faster CPUs are developed the 1156 socket will survive a few generations as the LGA 775 did with the 6 or 7 different models of CPUs that fit in it.
Most of my gaming is online FPS. As of right now the most advanced game i can play is Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory (still an extremly fun (and free
) online game. I also like to hit a few rounds of golf on Shot Online, but I'd like to be able join in on the Battlefield and Call of Duty fun. Not much of a WoW player anymore, but once upon a time i was pretty big into it before the expansion packs killed it. I also like flight simulators. As you can see, not really a "hardcore" gamer, but I would still like to get as much detail as possible from shotgun blasts to the back of people's melons for the next 3-4 years without dumping another $1000 into a new machine. I haven't really given much thought into overclocking since i've never really done it before and don't really know what i'm doing. Thoughts? Thanks for your help!
~Kevin
Sign In
Create Account
