Building a new gaming rig, need comments on parts.

[PBAsydney]

Hello, I am building a new high end rig for gaming, I have already checked out the local stores for the parts and I have got to this:

Mobo: ASUS P5N32-E SLI PLUS
CPU: Socket 775, E6700 2.66GHz 1066MHz 4MB LGA775 CPU, Retail
GPU: EVGA 8800GTS 640MB KO ACS3 Overclocked from factory
RAM: OCZ 2GB DDR2 800MHz (2x1GB) Platinum Edition CL4 RAM
Tower: ThermalTake Soprano
HDD: 500GB SATA2 Western Digital hard drive (WD5000KS) 16MB
Drive: ASUS 16x DVDRW
Sound: Creative SB X-Fi XtremeGamer sound card PCI
PSU: OCZ GameXStream 600W PSU, 120mm fan.

Bear in mind, that I live in Iceland, and I'd prefer to purchase it domestically, don't feel like paying 24% VAT and shipping.

What do you think?

 

[peterhuang913]

why does you name say sydney?
nonetheless, thats an excellent build

 

[Sora]

those parts are all good

 

[PBAsydney]

So it will work well? All compatible?

Also, will the 8800GTS fit in the Soprano?

As for the name, it's after a game character, not the city.

 

[peterhuang913]

Seems compatible to me

 

[b1gapl]

Hey PBAsydney,
Welcome to T.F.!!

Your picked out parts look good, but there are areas where you can save money, and get better parts.

The motherboard is a great choice, if you want the SLI option, along with other features...but SLI isn't worth it, so I would suggest the infamous Gigabyte P35-DS3R, if it's available in your area....it's futureproof and an overclocking dream.

Don't get the e6700. It's too much when the lower models such as the e6320, e6420, or e6600 can overclock way past the e6700, for less green. You may also want to consider waiting for July 22, in which Intel will slash prices of their C2D line, in addition to launching new CPUs, like the e6750....which is like a perfect combination with the P35-DS3R motherboard.

Don't get the factory overclocked version of that graphic card. Just overclock it yourself, for free.

A lot of people will suggest the G. Skill HZs, for the memory. That's if it's available, wherever you're buying the parts from. Another suggestion is the Crucial Ballistix....but this is only if it's available at store. If not, OCZ will do fine.

Sora will tell you that the OCZ line of PSUs, specifically the GameXStream series, have ripples on their +12v rails. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's not good either. So I would suggest, if it's available, a Corsair, SeaSonic, or XClio.

 

[Sora]

I was going to recommend different parts but stores usually don't have all of our recommended parts and those are acceptable..however yes don't get the E6700 though.

If you order online (I believe you are in AUS though?) you can get even better parts.

Also yes the GameXstream has ripples in their line and if you can get a better PSU such as Seasonic, Xclio, Corsair, Silverstone then thats better

 

[PBAsydney]

Thanks for the fast responses, anyway, to answer you b1gapl.

This is just what I plan on buying in the end of the summer, I'm waiting on the 8900 series to come out so the 8800 will drop a bit, then maybe I will go for a GTX.

For the motherboard, I've been told on another forum that I should stay away from Gigabyte and preferably go for ASUS, they stated that they had trouble with it.
Originally I was looking at the ASUS P5L 1394, but it's such a budget motherboard that I highly doubted it's quality.
I can get the Gigabyte S775 GA-P35-DS3 here, if that's close enough to the DS3R.

The E6700 costs $10 more than the E6600, so I thought why not, I can probably overclock it even further then.

That's the only GTS I can get that's with 640mb, all others are only 320mb. Then again I might go for a 768mb GTX if prices drop after 8900 comes out.

For memory it's only OCZ, Kingston and Corsair I can get, and the OCZ one is cheapest.

For PSU, I can get the Corsair HX 520W PSU for the same price as the GameXStream 600w, should I go for that? Since I'm not in SLI I think a 520W would be enough if it's +12v rails have enough amperage.

 

[Sora]

Thanks for the fast responses, anyway, to answer you b1gapl.

This is just what I plan on buying in the end of the summer, I'm waiting on the 8900 series to come out so the 8800 will drop a bit, then maybe I will go for a GTX.

For the motherboard, I've been told on another forum that I should stay away from Gigabyte and preferably go for ASUS, they stated that they had trouble with it.
Originally I was looking at the ASUS P5L 1394, but it's such a budget motherboard that I highly doubted it's quality.
I can get the Gigabyte S775 GA-P35-DS3 here, if that's close enough to the DS3R.

The E6700 costs $10 more than the E6600, so I thought why not, I can probably overclock it even further then.

That's the only GTS I can get that's with 640mb, all others are only 320mb. Then again I might go for a 768mb GTX if prices drop after 8900 comes out.

For memory it's only OCZ, Kingston and Corsair I can get, and the OCZ one is cheapest.

For PSU, I can get the Corsair HX 520W PSU for the same price as the GameXStream 600w, should I go for that? Since I'm not in SLI I think a 520W would be enough if it's +12v rails have enough amperage.

Gigabyte make great mobos I don't know who told you stay away from them...

The E6700 will not overclock more than the E6600 actually and by that time the E6750 is what you will want becuase it will be cheap.

The Corsair 520HX is enough watts for SLi 8800GTS really...it is a very good PSU.

 

[PBAsydney]

Ok, found a GTX 768mb on a good price
EVGA, nVidia GeForce 8800GTX, 768 MB, 2DVI/HDTV

And I'll just wait with the CPU until after the prices drop, I'll update the list of components I got then and see how much it will be.