Custom Gaming Computer Help Needed!

[Anthonytn79]

Hello Guys,

I'm planning to build a gaming computer. My budget is $2000. I need help selecting parts please.
Asus P5N32 -SLI Deluxe MotherBoard $200 shipped
Cooler Master Praetorian RC-730-KSN1
$150 shipped
2GB Memory (need help selecting brand/model) $200 shipped
PSU Antec True Power 2 550 SLI $100 shipped
Hardrive 1: Raptor 10k rpm 150GB $250 shipped
Hardrive 2: 7.2k rpm 250GB $150 shipped
Video Card Geforce 7950 GX2 $500 shipped
DVD/CD Burner x 2 $100 shipped
CPU Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 $250 shipped

is that PSU stable? is that MotherBoard good for overclocking the Core 2 Duo CPU?
Should I get Asus Geforce 7950 GX2 or MSI or XFX etc...Any Input on those things I left out?

Should I replace any part above with another brand? What would you do with $2000 to have a great gaming computer? Is cyberpowerinc.com a good place to shop for custom PCs? Thanks in advance.

 

[JoshSB]

Yeesh, big raptor?

I would NOT buy a prebuilt computer, I would build it, always cheaper. I would say the raptor by itself would be enough, but I dont go downloading everything alive either.

Good video card, overkill if you ask me, 7900GTX owns most everything. May want to upgrade to a 600W PSU simply because that GPU is going to drain some power.

No idea on the motherboard question.

 

[lancec2c30]

have you checked newegg? www.newegg.com, they are very well known. and respected. there is tiger direct. www.tigerdirect.com, but tend to be a litte over priced.

compare prices to newegg. I also think if you buy everything off of one site shipping will go down a Looooot.

why do you have to cd drives? well if you have a burner and a reader I guess it would burn faster but other than that you would only need one

I think you cpu is nice. for 2 grand I would get a nice liquid cooling setup and overclock.

you video card will be plenty fast

is your second HD a 8 or 16 MB cache??

I am assuming you already have a monitor and other keyboard etc.

 

[lancec2c30]

Yeesh, big raptor?

I would NOT buy a prebuilt computer, I would build it, always cheaper. I would say the raptor by itself would be enough, but I dont go downloading everything alive either.

Good video card, overkill if you ask me, 7900GTX owns most everything. May want to upgrade to a 600W PSU simply because that GPU is going to drain some power.

No idea on the motherboard question.

he said he is building himself he is a smart beginner

 

[JoshSB]

Is cyberpowerinc.com a good place to shop for custom PCs?

Why is he asking this if he is making it himself....

 

[Anthonytn79]

I'm in between about building it myself or just "cyberpowerinc" it for about 200 and not worry about stability. No, I'm not an expert when it comes to building a custom computer. I have done that once without much success, but I'll try again. I'm a civil engineer btw, not computer. I have a 20in Flat screen, keyboard/mouse and all that junks.
I do think the video card is over kill. So may be 7900GT is good enough for now. The prices I listed shipped is assuming / round up alot. The actually prices will leave me alot of room for a better PSU/liquid cooling.
Is that motherboard good? What about memory brand/model guys?
My last system about 5 months ago
AMD 64 3800+
1GB OCZ PC3200
160GB x 2
ATI X800 Videocard
Kingston Liquid cooling system

Not stable at all. I get random restart during World of Warcraft raids and stuff. I get ****ed so here I am with 2000 for another system, but I haven't given up on building one myself, yet. Could be the Kingston liquid cooling sucks or my PSU sucks. Thanks for the replies guys.

 

[JoshSB]

Restarts are often symptomatic of overheats. I would check asus PCprobe or something of the such and tell us what it is reading for your temps, main culpret will probably be the CPU or the GPU overheating.

Either that or the PSU is not pumping enough power into the computer.

I am slightly confused, have you already built this comptuer or are you talking about a previous build?

 

[Anthonytn79]

I'm talking about the previous system. The motherboard was an ABIT fat1lity series. The temp monitor software included doesn't show the GPU temp. The CPU idle at 40C and can get to 65C or higher during intense gaming.
I think I'm buying a new PSU (Antec True Power II 550) and a good CPU heat sink first. It's may be the water cooling system that I use doesn't work too well. I hope I can find the stock heatspreader and fan for the ATI X800 that I replaced. If replacing all these still doesn't work, I will get the rest of the parts and build a new one.