Building A Gamer Comp Under $1550?

[NotePad]

Hi & thanks to all who read/post in this forum.

Ive about $1500-1550(tax/ship include) and under budget to spend on building a New comp. I dont need any monitor, mouse, speaker, dvd rom(i have an external usb one) or keyboard. I am a starter and new. this will be my first computer that i build and i hope it will last long.

XCLIO A380BK Fully Black High Gloss Finish SECC 1.0mm thickness ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811103010
$109.99 (after Instant Savings: -$5.00)
3 Business Day Shipping $15.99

Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500JS 250GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144417
69.99
5.94 ship
I see a few people list this in their thread & i think its good enough for me

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M sharing L2 Cache LGA
775 Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115003
$308.00
Free 3 Business Day Shipping

pqi TURBO 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820141062
$89.99 (after Instant Savings: -$20.00) --Im buying 2 of this
Free 3 Business Day Shipping
Im not sure about this one cause a few ppl in review said they got dead ones but i guess its ok since u can replace it?

(Stuff listed up there comes up to about $747 USDwith tax/ship if nothing changes, that leaves $803 remaining MAX to have rest).

ive taken off the video card question but i can still take suggestions

Can somebody also enlighten me with their choice of Motherboard, video card, power supply or change what i have up there? This might be my first and last computer building for a long long time. im pretty worried about power supply dying & kill other parts, and not having enough power to run my computer

Extra Info:
I dont think i will be overclocking cause i dont know how & afraid i might mess up. any idea contributed will help me decide thanks.

 

[KingAustin]

Well first of all, I want to fix your graphic card dilemma. Why would you ever buy the 7950GX2 when it costs more than the 8800 GTS, when the GTS will give you a bunch more performance? Same thing with SLI-ing 7900GTs, it would be a wayyyyy better idea to get the 8800GTS which will last you for awhile!

Ok, anyway, on to the motherboard. The Gigabyte DS3 mobo is what I have and it's nice. It's also a very good overclocker. I know you said you dont want to, but really, just google e6600 overclocking and you'll find a bunch of help, or you can even search this forum. You wont mess anything up if you read up on it first, plus if the computer doesnt like your settings, they will go back to factory settings and your computer will start up again like nothing happened.

Now for your power supply, I think this should work just fine for you PSU

You mentioned that you were worried about too many heat being produced, well this will solve your problem
XLIO case
I have the 3060 case which only has the 250mm fan on the side and it is pretty quiet and keeps my computer plenty cool, so with 2 it'll be quiet and definitely cool. If you have any other questions, just ask!

 

[NotePad]

Wow. I do like that case. 2 big fan cooling, big, and cool. I think i will use this case instead of what i have listed up there. i will re-edit my post to this case.
(a real fast question. There is no problem reaching my cords to other parts right? this is a big case).

That power supply can support what i have for sure. If nobody else have a better suggestion, maybe i will change to that power supply also. not sure yet.

Ok, so maybe the sli is a bad idea how i suggested up there after reading what you have for me. sorry but what the if i get 9750 gt + 1gb more ram? is that any better? or just 8800 gt. I have read a couple ppl saying the 8800 gt is new so its a little bit over price, but i dont know... I have this strong urge to have a new comp soon.

im not sure about the motherboard. would be nice if i see more posts before deciding final motherboard.

thanks for your help.

 

[KingAustin]

I've never had a problem where my cords didnt reach the part they were going to. I'm pretty sure companies would incorporate that in to the design of the product, so I doubt you'll have to worry about that.

You do NOT need to get more RAM. 2GB is the perfect amount currently, and actually using more than that can decrease system performance, not sure why, but it's proven. The 8800GTS isn't that overpriced I don't think. It is capable of running directX 10 while the 7950gt can't handle that, so going with the 8800gts will last you a lot longer (as well as deliver much more performance).

So, I'm pretty sure you're having doubts about the motherboard because of some of the reviews on newegg. Just letting you know ahead of time, most of the reviewers are not very tech savvy. The DS3 is a very well respected core 2 duo motherboard and I'm speaking from first hand experience. I recommended it to several of my friends who also are pleased they went with it. If you're interested in spending more money on another motherboard with more bells and whistles, then I would suggest the ASUS P5B deluxe or if you want a cheaper ASUS motherboard, this one would be a good buy too ASUS P5B-E

 

[NotePad]

Hmm. i think instead of 8800 maybe this is better? since it is a bit pricy... if i downgrade the video card, i get to buy better ram(Gskill for OC i guess), sound card and add in a zalman.

Video Card 7950GT
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814130066
$279.99
3 Business Day Shipping $5.64

Cpu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115003
$308.00
Free 3 Business Day Shipping

Ram
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231098
$114.99
3 Business Day Shipping $4.99

case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811103010
$109.99 (after Instant Savings: -$5.00)
3 Business Day Shipping $15.99

250 gb memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144417
69.99
5.94 ship

power supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817121012
$119.99
3 Business Day Shipping $8.48

Mother board
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128012
$131.99
3 Business Day Shipping $6.13

Sound Card 7.1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102188
$92.99
($72.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate)
Free 3 Business Day Shipping

ZalMan Cpu Fan
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835118019
$44.99
3 Business Day Shipping $4.83


Total 1524(Tax and Ship Included). Only 1 rebate(12/8) one will work. the other one expires at 11/30. So final total after rebate = 1504

 

[suicide007]

If you get the 7950GT you will not be able to run DX10 games in DX10. You will be sad later. I promise. If it means you have to whimp out on some other part of your system, do it. Get the 8800. It will also run all your current games better. You wont be able to run the newest games for much longer with the 7950gt.

 

[Ridlyn]

Get 2GB of ram you'll benefit from it greatly espicially if you get the 8800GTS and you plan on using dx10, and vista.

 

[KBlair]

You do NOT need to get more RAM. 2GB is the perfect amount currently, and actually using more than that can decrease system performance, not sure why, but it's proven.

Unless, of course, you have a 64-bit OS.

And I agree, go with the 8800GTS.

 

[Ethereal_Dragon]

You can go with Core 2 Duo E6300 and spend $120 less on the CPU, and overclock it. You can then use that money for the 8800...

and this should be in the building/buying general PC forum..

 

[darkop16]

i would actually downgrade the videocard to this evga 7600gt $136 (w/ shipping)

then upgrade to g.skill 2x1gb $246 (w/ shipping)

this should bring the price down about $1500.

When the mid range dx10 cards(which won't be as expensive as the 8800gts) come out early next year...upgrade the video card and you should have a pretty sweet system. But if you really only want to upgrade now and not upgrade after this for a while then stick with the build you came up with but go with a 7900gt instead and upgrade the ram you picked out to 2gb....that still will be a good system for a while.