Mid-End Budget Gamer - Need Advice

[Ov3RBliK1]

Hello all, I've been browsing around on these forums for a while but never really posted that much in a while. If you could help me out that would be great...

I'm pretty familiar with computers and I want to start a new build cause I'm still rocking the AGP and Pentium 4, but I have a semi-tight budget, so here's some hardware I have in mind:

- Intel Core 2 Duo 6300: $139.99
- Corsair XMS2 DDR800 2GB (2 x 1GB): $187.00
- XFX GeForce 7900GS: $149.99
- Seagate SATA 3.0Gb/s 320GB: $94.99
- ASUS P5N-e SLI: $139.99

I'm really not sure about the mobo, I want something that will last me for a lot of upgrades in the future, so I would prefer SLi support just incase. I was also looking at the EVGA 680i, but that's a little more expensive.

Opinions? Keep in mind I'm low on cash and don't want the 8800 just yet, but any help is appreciated!

 

[Sora]

If you want SLI then i guess thats your best bet. Seems like a pretty good start.

 

[Cdub89]

Go with the e4300 it will be cheaper and it overclocks like a beast with even the stock cooler.

 

[Ov3RBliK1]

Go with the e4300 it will be cheaper and it overclocks like a beast with even the stock cooler.

I could but it's only 10 dollars cheaper.

Honestly I don't think I'll use SLi, it's more of a "I-might-if-it-gets-more-popular-and-I-have-extra-cash" kinda thing.

This also looks good. No SLi.

 

[Lord AnthraX]

Yes your on the right track.


DS3 mobo is good, and no SLI is wise.


Good thinking.

 

[Cdub89]

I could but it's only 10 dollars cheaper.

Honestly I don't think I'll use SLi, it's more of a "I-might-if-it-gets-more-popular-and-I-have-extra-cash" kinda thing.

This also looks good. No SLi.

Yes but with a stock cooler it overclocks to like 3ghz or something.

 

[veg1992]

http://anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2903&p=2

actually 3374 mhz, i got a wicked overclock out of mine.... but i used a zalman cnps-9500

 

[Phrantic]

The E4300 and E6300 can overclock equally far, but it's not worth it for the mere $10 you save on getting the former.

I'll tell you the same about SLI that I've always done. Don't do it now, don't do it in the future. For a budget gamer, it's too expensive and the benefits are too little. Most of the time you just get around 10% performance increase, against a 100% price increase, heat increase and energy consumption increase.
Yes, SLI is popular among some people but to people like me they just look unwise instead of cool and 'zomg it's teh sli!'

And in that light, I recommend you change to a non-SLI board (actually it's the chipset that makes me recommend a p965 board). For that price you can get a Gigabyte 965p-ds3 which is a better overclocker and a more stable motherboard with better support.

Also I believe this X1950Pro for $154 after mail-in rebate will serve you a little better than the 7900GS you've picked. Which is another excellent card, but in my opinion 7950GT > X1950Pro > 7900GT > 7900GS. Don't get this card without changing the mobo because you can't run this in Crossfire on a Nvidia chipset. But you can run HDR and AA at the same time when playing games.