Components for new computer

**bryn0202** · 01-02-08, 03:39 PM

Could you tech guys please give me your comments, good bad or indifferent, on the following components for a gaming / general purpose computer.

Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor $190

ASUS P5N-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard $115

Mushkin 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory $50

EVGA 512-P3-N802-A1 GeForce 8800GT Superclocked 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card $290

Rosewill RP600V2-S-SL 600W SLI Ready-ATX12V V2.01 Power Supply $70

LIAN LI PC-7B plus II Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $90

SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S203B $30

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive $100

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card $80

Thanks,
Bryn

**SapiensErus** · 01-02-08, 04:18 PM

That system should kick ass. It is in fact nearly identical to systems I have recommended to a number of people.

The only thing I would do to enhance gaming performance is get a couple of 120Gb SATA disks and make a RAID0 stripe for the OS and applications... then use a 320Gb disk or so for safe storage of documents, etc.

I dont know what you are using now, but all the games here will run better than perfectly with that rig. Are you gonna go with VIsta to get the DX10 experience?

**rv2pc3d** · 01-02-08, 04:24 PM

Great system, I could only recommend upgrading the Audio to the Creative Soublaster XFI-Platinum. This card will take care of ALL of your Audio needs.

You know, if your going to build a monster, no since on skimping on the Audio.

**bryn0202** · 01-02-08, 04:34 PM

Thanks Soy,

I was going to go with XP professional (which I currently use) for the moment. Is it worth buying Vista at this stage - can I just not upgrade later?

I'm sorry you lost me with the multiple hard drives. Are you saying I should have one (or two) smaller drives for the OS and applications and then the bigger drive for storage? All being the same (SATA), just different sizes. I am also not sure what a RAIDO stripe is.

My final question - which I should have asked upfront - with RAM so cheap, is it worth getting two sticks of 2GB ram instead of 2 sticks of 1GB. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I seem to recall some OS or CPUs wont recognize more than 2GB total ram.

Thanks,

Bryn

**Mcstrange** · 01-02-08, 05:33 PM

if that lost you then skip it. raid isnt really worth dealing with imho. You want better gaming get a Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB Very nice, very fast.

Your 32 bit OS cant access more than 4 gig of ram period, so by some wierd technomubojumbo where it needs to use some of that 4gig for hardware address space you end up with only 3.2 or 3.5 gig shown in windows.
Its complicated, and right now there is no real reason to have 4 gig, but there will be in near future, at which point of course ram will be even cheaper...
your call on that.

I am going to recommend a different powersupply. You dont want to skimp on that end of the system.
Look at this one:
CORSAIR CMPSU-520 - reviews of that supply show it to be a rock solid, highly functional unit.

If you would feel better with a bit more power try one of thse:

OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI 700W (i have an older version of this very supply)

Antec NeoPower 650w

Thermaltake toughpower W0104RU ATX12V / EPS12V 650W - Will be very quiet.

**DeusInnomen** · 01-02-08, 05:48 PM

Originally Posted by Mcstrange

I am going to recommend a different powersupply. You dont want to skimp on that end of the system.
Look at this one:
CORSAIR CMPSU-520 - reviews of that supply show it to be a rock solid, highly functional unit.

Here's another review for ya: I have that very PSU, and it's solid, stable and works fantastically. The cables are long enough that I have no problems at all routing them through my Antec P180B case.

**WileECyte** · 01-02-08, 06:04 PM

Aye. Mury speaks the truth about RAID. The RAID that most motherboards implement does most of its work at the driver-level, which uses up CPU cycles. Any speed benefit you might see in disk performance would be offset by lost CPU cycles.

Raptors are nice, but will run you 2-3x as much than a standard SATA drive, not to mention they run hotter. The HD comparisons on Tom's Hardware don't have the Raptors faring that much better than most of the current-generation SATA 3.0Gb/s drives.

**BigHub** · 01-02-08, 06:08 PM

Do not get the Raptor X.... The only difference with the Raptor and Raptor X is that the X has a clear see through case around it... Whooptie, and it's $10 or so more.

I bought the 150GB WD Raptor. 10,000 RPM, but the only problem is it's a SATA150, not 3.0. It's my mobo's fault.

**MaKe_OuT_33** · 01-02-08, 06:51 PM

good choices.
I have a 8800GT 512 and it is smokin graphics.
I have the ASUS P5N-E SLI board, great choice for the buck for dual core chips. if you want to overclock i found it to be very easy with this board and im a super nub at OC'ing. if you wanted to oc a quad core i would suggest you look for a different board but your not so you are fine. IMPORTANT, the chipset on this board run hot!! and the aluminum HS on the NB sucks balls so get a copper HS plus fan for your NB...you can go with something similar for your SB if you want but NB is very important and dont worry about the exposed mosfets because an HS on those is overkill, they are designed to handle 80C and they shouldnt ever get that hot.
I am sure you will be pleased.

**SapiensErus** · 01-02-08, 07:12 PM

Originally Posted by Mcstrange

if that lost you then skip it. raid isnt really worth dealing with imho. You want better gaming get a Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB Very nice, very fast.

Yeah, if that blurb about RAID was hard to understand, then dont bother with RAID; especially if you are going XP. The Raptor disks (like McStrange suggested) will indeed provide a faster load time for things like map changes and application launches, over a regular disk.

2 Gigs of RAM will be fine for anything you want to do these days. And especially since you are going with XP you have no reason to get more than that.

And considering that you only have one GPU and up to 2 hard disks (should you choose to get a raptor and a storage disk) the CORSAIR CMPSU-520 recommended previously should provide plenty of juice to drive your system.