First Build!!! Advice wanted

[cinaibur]

Hey guys. I am an avid gamer but have never gotten into the specifics of my system. I know my basics but I could definitely use some suggestions. I am currently using a Dell XPS 400 series that is about 1 year old and runs a Pentium D 2.8 Ghz. I added a 7900GTX GPU myself when I bought it. I am looking to do a whole new build now however because I realize how lacking my system actually is. I want my system to be decently future proof and have the capability for some mild overclocking. Nothing crazy. Here is what I have been looking at so far.

ASUS P5K3 Deluxe Wifi Mobo Combo with Q6600 - $539
Asus P5K3 Deluxe WiFi Motherboard CPU Bundle - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Processor 2.40GHz OEM at TigerDirect.com
or ASUS P5E3 Deluxe Mobo Combo with Q6600 - $599
Asus P5E3 Deluxe Motherboard CPU Bundle - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Processo 2.40GHz OEM at TigerDirect.com
(which is a better deal, i didn't see much difference in the Mobo's)

WD Raptor 150 Gig - $160
Western Digital Raptor 150GB 10K 16MB SATA-150 OEM Hard Drive WD1500ADFD at TigerDirect.com

OCZ SLI-Ready Edition Dual Channel 2048MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Memory - $50
OCZ SLI-Ready Edition Dual Channel 2048MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Memory (2 x 1024MB) OCZ2N800SR2GK at TigerDirect.com

Ultra Aluminus ATX Mid-Tower with Ultra X2 750watt PSU - $150
Ultra Black Aluminus ATX Mid-Tower Case with Ultra X2 750-Watt Power Supply at TigerDirect.com

I'm going to just use my 7900GTX for about a month while I gather up money for a new GPU

So what do you guys think? All suggestions and comments welcome and appreciated!!

 

[Durftard]

I'd recc. starting over. Both motherboards you listed are DDR3, and overkill/overpriced in the first place. The Raptor's are outdated - you can get similar performance, with more storage, for cheaper.


Newegg is generally cheaper than TigerDirect, and has a much better selection.
ClubIT guaruntee's a G0 stepping Q6600.

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - 99.99
Newegg.com - Crucial Ballistix Tracer 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail - 39.99 after MIR
ClubIT Product - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 Stepping Kentsfield 2.40GHz 8MB L2 LGA 775 Processor OEM HH80562PH0568M SLACR - 254.99
Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - 119.99
Case is up to you - there are some pretty nice cases out there. Keep these in mind: Antec 900, Antec P180, Xclio Windtunnel, Cooler Master 690, Cooler Master 830, APEVIA X-Jupiter, Thermaltake Armor, NZXT Zero... too many to list, take a look around on Newegg.

With the extra money, you might be able to afford a video card -- look at the ATi 3850 512MB, ATi 3870 512MB, nVidia 8800GT 512MB, and nVidia 8800GTS 512MB (listed in order from worst to best, and cheapest to most expensive).

Also consider picking up an aftermarket CPU cooler. The Arctic Freezer 7, Tuniq Tower-120, and Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme are all great heatsinks - the last one will need a fan, and probably some high quality TIM(get Tuniq TX-2, Arctic Silver 5, or Arctic Silver MX-2).


EDIT : I just noticed the included PSU. That's usually a computer no-no, but I think Ultra makes alright PSU's... not sure. With the extra money, get a nice PSU instead. Consider these
Newegg.com - XCLIO GREATPOWER X14S4P4 700W ATX12V 700W Power Supply 100 - 240V / 200 -240V UL, CUL, TUV, CB, VDE, FIMKO, DEMKO, NEMKO, SEMKO - Retail - 119.99
Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX ATX12V V2.2 550W Power Supply 90 - 264 V UL, CUL, CE, CB, FCC Class B, TUV, CCC, C-tick - Retail - 84.99 after MIR (NON MODULAR)
Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 520W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, CE, CB, FCC Class B, TUV, CCC, C-tick - Retail - 104.99 after MIR
Newegg.com - PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610 EPS12V EPS12V 610W Continuous @ 40°C Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, cUL, CE, CB, TUV - Retail - 119.99 (NON MODULAR)

 

[cinaibur]

First off. Thanks for the advice. I have gotten a lot of negative feedback on other forums about the case and especially the included PSU. So, I'm scrapping the case and will start to look around for a new one I like and will pick of one of the PSU's you listed.

About the motherboard. I too thought that it was overpriced. The reason I was looking at the motherboard was because is it out of the box very stable at overclocking with the OEM heatsink. Also, I really liked the external SATA support. I want to put my HDD in a nice external cooler and the speed of external SATA would be great. Second, I know its DDR3, but won't I want that down the road? I don't know a ton, so correct me if I'm wrong. I'm just trying to tell you what my thinking was when I picked it out. I just don't want to buy a $100 motherboard + OS and the have to buy a new motherboard and OS in another year or two. I don't mind upgrading parts every 6-8 months, but I would like to have a motherboard that will last for a good while.

 

[900RR]

DDR3 is a waste. Go with a cheaper mobo and cheaper DDR2 ram, and put the money into graphics... graphics graphics graphics that's your number 1 priority. Don't buy other stuff and re-use your 7900GTX until you decide what to get. Decide on your GPU and plan everything else around it.

Durtford gave very good advice about the 32mb buffer 7200rpm hdd, tuniq cooler, crucial ballistix ram, that stuff is your best buys pretty much as far as perf : $. The mobo is ok, but cheap, that's ok though it has PCI-E x16 which is all you need if you don't ever plan to go SLI, and it won't be a supreme overclocker but it will do some. You could spend more ona mobo with DDR2 and DDR3 slots, but why, save your money and put it elsewhere, like, your GPU! For a single GPU, 8800GT is the best bang for the buck out right now. The GTS is like 10% faster but 30% more expensive. ClubIT is the place to go for your proc since you are assured a G0 stepping Q6600 even though it's $3 more than newegg. Oh yeah, FORGET TIGERDIRECT!

 

[cinaibur]

I appreciate the advice. I never said I didn't know what GPU I'm getting. I'm only using my 7900GTX for about a month while I get the money to buy an 8800GT. I would go ahead and replace the GPU first but my 7900GTX runs CS:S great and that is mainly what I play. So since I can play my main game well with my current GPU, I figured that I would start building my system knowing that I will be purchasing an 8800GT a month later.

If you don't like the mobo he suggested, what board would you suggest? I want something that will clock very well. I'm not looking for a 4GHz quad core or anything. I just want a mild overclock, perhaps 3GHz or a little more, but mainly I just want it to be stable.

 

[Gustave5436]

I think that ds3l should be fine, or you could try an ip35 pro, $150 on newegg after the $30 MIR

 

[900RR]

I didn't say I didn't like it, it's a good mobo for cheap but in the same price range, something like this might be better
Newegg.com - ASUS P5N-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail It has 2 PCI-E x16 slots, and it's probably a bit better for OC'ing

If you're waiting a month or so I would wait and get the 9800 when it comes out, supposedly Feb 19th

 

[veg1992]

I didn't say I didn't like it, it's a good mobo for cheap but in the same price range, something like this might be better
Newegg.com - ASUS P5N-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail It has 2 PCI-E x16 slots, and it's probably a bit better for OC'ing

If you're waiting a month or so I would wait and get the 9800 when it comes out, supposedly Feb 19th

wrong... the ds3l (p35 chipset) and the x38 overclocks better than the 650i series, especially quad-cores

I'd recc. starting over. Both motherboards you listed are DDR3, and overkill/overpriced in the first place. The Raptor's are outdated - you can get similar performance, with more storage, for cheaper.


Newegg is generally cheaper than TigerDirect, and has a much better selection.
ClubIT guaruntee's a G0 stepping Q6600.

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - 99.99
Newegg.com - Crucial Ballistix Tracer 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail - 39.99 after MIR
ClubIT Product - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 Stepping Kentsfield 2.40GHz 8MB L2 LGA 775 Processor OEM HH80562PH0568M SLACR - 254.99
Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - 119.99
Case is up to you - there are some pretty nice cases out there. Keep these in mind: Antec 900, Antec P180, Xclio Windtunnel, Cooler Master 690, Cooler Master 830, APEVIA X-Jupiter, Thermaltake Armor, NZXT Zero... too many to list, take a look around on Newegg.

With the extra money, you might be able to afford a video card -- look at the ATi 3850 512MB, ATi 3870 512MB, nVidia 8800GT 512MB, and 8800GTS 512MB (listed in order from worst to best, and cheapest to most expensive).

Also consider picking up an aftermarket CPU cooler. The Arctic Freezer 7, Tuniq Tower-120, and Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme are all great heatsinks - the last one will need a fan, and probably some high quality TIM(get Tuniq TX-2, Arctic Ailver 5, or Arctic Silver MX-2).


EDIT : I just noticed the included PSU. That's usually a computer no-no, but I think Ultra makes alright PSU's... not sure. With the extra money, get a nice PSU instead. Consider these
Newegg.com - XCLIO GREATPOWER X14S4P4 700W ATX12V 700W Power Supply 100 - 240V / 200 -240V UL, CUL, TUV, CB, VDE, FIMKO, DEMKO, NEMKO, SEMKO - Retail - 119.99
Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX ATX12V V2.2 550W Power Supply 90 - 264 V UL, CUL, CE, CB, FCC Class B, TUV, CCC, C-tick - Retail - 84.99 after MIR (NON MODULAR)
Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 520W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, CE, CB, FCC Class B, TUV, CCC, C-tick - Retail - 104.99 after MIR
Newegg.com - PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610 EPS12V EPS12V 610W Continuous @ 40°C Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, cUL, CE, CB, TUV - Retail - 119.99 (NON MODULAR)

agreed that rig will be great, especially if you throw in a 520hx

 

[900RR]

actually, that gigabyte board has better onboard audio(8 channel versus 6), and 1066mhz standard memory versus the asus's 800... and I doubt you'll ever do dual card SLI anyway, making the nvidia chipset and second PCI-E slot on the asus useless. The gigabyte might be the better buy.

wrong... the ds3l (p35 chipset) and the x38 overclocks better than the 650i series, especially quad-cores

ok I stand corrected

 

[Durftard]

The reason I was looking at the motherboard was because is it out of the box very stable at overclocking with the OEM heatsink.

The OEM heatsink will probably cap your overclock at around 3.0Ghz. The AF7 is only $22 and (most of the time) will allow you to overclock to around 3.2Ghz-3.4Ghz(there's a guy on these forums with a Q6600 @ 3.6Ghz on an AF7). The Tuniq and Thermalright are both HUGE(you'd have to buy a large case - I think all the cases I listed earlier will fit these), but (most of the time) they'll comfortably allow a 3.6Ghz overclock. Some people are getting upwards of 3.7Ghz.

Second, I know its DDR3, but won't I want that down the road? I don't know a ton, so correct me if I'm wrong. I'm just trying to tell you what my thinking was when I picked it out. I just don't want to buy a $100 motherboard + OS and the have to buy a new motherboard and OS in another year or two. I don't mind upgrading parts every 6-8 months, but I would like to have a motherboard that will last for a good while.

DDR2 and DDR3 are incompatible with each other, so you can't put DDR2 chips in DDR3 slots. And DDR3 is so amazingly overpriced right now that it's not worth the performance increase. If you want a motherboard that'll be compatible with the CPU's coming out in Feb/March, you'll have to get a 780i or x38 chipset motherboard, or wait for a x48 chipset motherboard, which generally cost $230-$300(one of the boards you originally listed was a x38). As it stands, these are pretty much... copies of their little brothers(680i, P35), but with 45nm compatability and more PCI-e slots. So unless you plan on getting a new cpu in 2-3 months, or plan on running a multiple GPU setup, you can stick with some of the cheaper boards, which, while they don't have all the bells and whistles, still perform just as well.

Also, if you plan on upgrading later on down the road (CPU wise), Intel will be coming out with a new cpu architecture in Q3 or Q4 of 2008, and those CPU's will be a different socket. No current motherboards will support these new CPU's to my knowledge.

That said... a setup like this will last you several years, esp. if you invest in a decent PSU.

I want something that will clock very well. I'm not looking for a 4GHz quad core or anything. I just want a mild overclock, perhaps 3GHz or a little more, but mainly I just want it to be stable.

The Gigabyte DS3L, as vernong said, is a great overclocker, and at a nice price. Another option, already listed in the thread, is the ABIT IP35 Pro. It has 2 e-SATA ports if you really want them that bad. It's also a great overclocker.



P.S. Welcome to Tech Forums! just noticed the post count