Building New PC For College/Gaming

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I like your build above. A lot of people love the quads. Depends on what you want to do. If you do a lot of multi-tasking, a quad will be better for your. Most games don't as yet take advantage of multicores, so a faster processor, like the E8400 will give you a little better performance. Regarding memory, a DDR2 800 with a low latency (CL 4) gives you very good performance. The crucial ballistix worked extremely well with the motherboard which automatically detected its low latency timings. I love the gigabyte motherboard. Lots of great features and quality parts.

Enjoy
 
stalin90,

I'm noticing that adding all of your parts on adds at least 100-200 dollars onto my build, and while i'm willing to pay for it if it is necessary, is all that stuff that much better than the previously chosen (aka the BIOSTAR mobo compared to the one I had)? You would probably know better than I so let me know. I have to keep in mind that this is PRIMARILY a school desktop, so a lot of productivity is what I need. This is why I feel a quad-core is more suited to my needs. Also The only difference I see in the BIOSTAR mobo is 2 pci-e slots, but I really dont plan on going SLI anytime soon. its far out of my price and interest range.

UPDATES:
switched out the 4870 512 mb for
MSI N260GTX-T2D896 OC GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16814127361

switched out freezer 7 for
Sunbeam CR-CCTF 120mm "Core Contact Freezer" CPU Cooler - Retail
Item #: N82E16835207004
 
Thanks for the link man. I think i'm going to stick with the Q6600 for its overclocking capability - I like that. One thing I really want to know is why people keep recommending those biostar MoBo's over the asus's or the gigabyte i had in my cart.

also, i have no intention of buying a second gfx card, so i dont really need 2 pci-e slots, right?
 
stalin90,

I'm noticing that adding all of your parts on adds at least 100-200 dollars onto my build, and while i'm willing to pay for it if it is necessary, is all that stuff that much better than the previously chosen (aka the BIOSTAR mobo compared to the one I had)? You would probably know better than I so let me know. I have to keep in mind that this is PRIMARILY a school desktop, so a lot of productivity is what I need. This is why I feel a quad-core is more suited to my needs. Also The only difference I see in the BIOSTAR mobo is 2 pci-e slots, but I really dont plan on going SLI anytime soon. its far out of my price and interest range.

UPDATES:
switched out the 4870 512 mb for
MSI N260GTX-T2D896 OC GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16814127361

switched out freezer 7 for
Sunbeam CR-CCTF 120mm "Core Contact Freezer" CPU Cooler - Retail
Item #: N82E16835207004

The 4870 512mb is faster than the regular GTX 260 so I would stick with it. The GTX 260 Core 216 is as fast as the 48701gb and faster than the 512mb but it is also more expensive.

The Biostar Tp45HP Stalin suggested is a great board and in my Opinion is better than the Gigabyte. Plus its slightly cheaper.

The e8400 won't have any problem with productivity or multitasking. I have a 2.8ghz E2180 which is a decent bit slower than the e8400 and run 1-2 instances of Visual Studio, 2-3 instances of Powerpoint, Firefox with multiple tabs open, a couple of folders open, and Windows media player all at the same time without a problem.
 
stalin90,

I'm noticing that adding all of your parts on adds at least 100-200 dollars onto my build, and while i'm willing to pay for it if it is necessary, is all that stuff that much better than the previously chosen (aka the BIOSTAR mobo compared to the one I had)? You would probably know better than I so let me know. I have to keep in mind that this is PRIMARILY a school desktop, so a lot of productivity is what I need. This is why I feel a quad-core is more suited to my needs. Also The only difference I see in the BIOSTAR mobo is 2 pci-e slots, but I really dont plan on going SLI anytime soon. its far out of my price and interest range.

UPDATES:
switched out the 4870 512 mb for
MSI N260GTX-T2D896 OC GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16814127361

switched out freezer 7 for
Sunbeam CR-CCTF 120mm "Core Contact Freezer" CPU Cooler - Retail
Item #: N82E16835207004

im not sure if u noticed but i put in alternates for the more expensive items... also the biostar p45 cant sli it can only crossfire. the biostar p45's are pretty much top notch and hold the world record in lga775 fsb. if u just want it primarily to be a school desktop then there is no reason to get a quad core, a dual core is usually faster in most games then a q6600 anyway.
 
Thanks for the link man. I think i'm going to stick with the Q6600 for its overclocking capability - I like that. One thing I really want to know is why people keep recommending those biostar MoBo's over the asus's or the gigabyte i had in my cart.

also, i have no intention of buying a second gfx card, so i dont really need 2 pci-e slots, right?

the Q6600 is a terrible overclocker (see my thread again on page two - comment from Peter.Cort

not sure why the biostar is recommended, only a bit cheaper, i dont think you could go wrong with that, the asus, or gigabyte.

with your pci slots, recognize that there is PCI, PCI-E x1, and PCI-E 2.0 x16. The giga UD3R has 3 PCI, 3 PCI-E x1, and 1 PCI-E 2.0 x16. so to answer your question you will want multiple PCI-E slots, but just one PCI-E 2.0 x16 (which is what your gfx should be). the giga UD3P i believe has two slots for PCI-E 2.0 x16 (sli and crossfire - dual gfx)
 
the reason the biostar is recommended is because its the best p45 board to overclock on, especially the best one if u want to spend around $110
 
the Q6600 is a terrible overclocker (see my thread again on page two - comment from Peter.Cort

not sure why the biostar is recommended, only a bit cheaper, i dont think you could go wrong with that, the asus, or gigabyte.

with your pci slots, recognize that there is PCI, PCI-E x1, and PCI-E 2.0 x16. The giga UD3R has 3 PCI, 3 PCI-E x1, and 1 PCI-E 2.0 x16. so to answer your question you will want multiple PCI-E slots, but just one PCI-E 2.0 x16 (which is what your gfx should be). the giga UD3P i believe has two slots for PCI-E 2.0 x16 (sli and crossfire - dual gfx)

The only intel chipset motherboard that supports sli is the x58, you cannot run sli on a p45 motherboard.
 
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