First time build - accepting opinions and other helpful info

[mrredskin]

Now that I have a job I have some money, which means I can actually afford to build a decent gaming PC for myself. I have already purchased a few pieces (based on deals I have found) and just need some more info and opinions from you guys. I have no certain timetable in which to get this complete so I'm in no rush to purchase something immediately... mainly just waiting on some good deals on some of these components I'm interested in.

What I have so far:

• Case - Antec Sonata III 500 Black with 500W Earthwatts Power Supply ($70)
  
• Power Supply - mentioned above
  
• Video Card - PNY VCG8600GXPB GeForce 8600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express ($75)
  
• RAM - 2 x 1gb sticks of Corsair DDR2 - 800 (TWIN2X2048-6400C4) ($40)

I got some good deals on these and saw that they had decent reviews from various sites. I will eventually go with one of the new 8800 series vid cards more than likely. The 8600GT will be a good card for the games that I currently have and will eBay it once I get an 8800. I don't own Bioshock, GOW, Crysis, or games of that caliber, yet.

I also have a Lite-On burner with an E-IDE connection so I'm assuming I will need a new drive, yes?

With that being said, I know I will be wanting an intel quad core and a mobo that will support this. From what I've read, one of the Gigabyte boards looks like it would be good. I've checked the Recommended PC components thread and it provides some info on a few.

Ram question - does the type/brand of DDR2-800 ram make that big of a difference? It looks like I can get about 2 sticks of 2gb for roughly $50-60 bucks at some point in the near future.

I only see myself putting in 2 hdds at most. I don't really need a Raptor I don't think.

Blu is also something I see myself having in the future. I'm not sure how this will influence my decision on my future vid card and/or monitor, tho. I've read the 8800 GT would be fine for it. There's a deal for an 8800 GTS 512mb w/ Crysis for $285 after rebate right now.

If anymore info is needed or I've broken a post/forum rule then let me know and I'll update this. Thanks.

 

[Da Viksta]

as for your CPU, i would wait a month or two since the new 45nm intel quads are coming out, and it would be silly cashing in on a Q6600 only to find that the new ones are faster, more efficient and are the same price....

 

[Puddle Jumper]

If you are not in a hurry to get this pc you might want to wait for the new 45nm Yorkfield quad cores that should be released sometime soon.

 

[Eric1]

Ya the 45 nm quad core will be out soon but it will probably cost $1000 like the other one. Maybe not I really don't know.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

The Q9450 is supposed to be about $320.

 

[mrredskin]

what would be the advantages of that over a q6600.. if there has been any indication yet

 

[Karlos]

The biggest area that you might want to improve on judging from your post is with your power supply, not that the one that comes with your case will not work with your system but usually PSU's that come with cases are not very good quality and that is something you definately do not want to cheap out on. Especially considering that your planning on quad coring etc.

Your IDE drive should still work, it all depends on the motherboard, most still have at least one IDE connector on them, if not a new SATA is not that expensive.

Personally if I was looking at quad coring I would spend a little bit more on a video card...the 8800 gt is still the best bang for your buck, but thats your call.

And yes the Ram brand is important, it sounds like you dont want to go as far as crucial ram, but brands like OCZ and Patriot are also pretty decent if your on a bit of a budget.

The only thing I could say about the quad core processor, and is something that is constantly debated here but its not quite worth it yet, you could easily go with a Intel E4600 and save even more money and easily run whatever it is you play/do. And then yes wait for the new 45nm quad cores, but for the next 6 months you will have a decent system that will do whatever you need and you never broke the bank.

IMO

 

[Puddle Jumper]

what would be the advantages of that over a q6600.. if there has been any indication yet

It has a stock speed of 2.66ghz and should be about 5% faster than a q6600 at equal clock speeds . It also runs cooler allowing it to overclock to higher speeds on air cooling.

 

[mrredskin]

if i ended up going the e4600 route then would it be wise to still get a mobo that would eventually support the 45nm, or is that even possible?

 

[veg1992]

thats possible with any Intel p35 chipset or x38 chipset, but not with 680i/650i chipsets (you'd have to get a 780i)