Computer build

[Gisli]

I hope people will bear with me one more time on this computer business. Here is what I've come up with for a possible build, largely based on many of the posts I've seen here. Please let me know if you think I've got some sort of incompatibility built in, have something that is out of place (too high or too low in performance as it relates to the rest of the system) or anything that I am missing. I'm especially concerned if I need some extra fan or cooling element. Note that I've got monitor, mouse, keyboard, headphones (though I might replace any/all independently of this).

Mother Board
ASUS P5N-D LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131232
$134.99

CPU
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115036
$189.99

Memory
CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB ) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) [2 of, for 8 GB total]
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145184
$82.00 (-$20.00) TWO OF = $164 (-40.00)

Graphics Card
EVGA 512-P3-N801-AR GeForce 8800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130318
$134.99 (-$20.00)

Power Supply
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139006
$109.99 (-$20.00) -- Labor day sale

Hard Drive
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD502lJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822152098
$69.99

Case
XION Onyx XON-301 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Case w/ 140mm Green LED Fan
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811208020
$74.99 (-$10.00)

CD/DVD
ASUS Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X SATA DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827135165
$31.99

Windows Vista 64
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116488
$109.99

[LeMieux]

If you wait until tomorrow you can get a top of the line GFX card from eVGA's website for 150-200$. If you are going to get a 8800, get a GTX or above, no reason to get less for how middle of the road they are now.

Also I'd personally go for a higher speed single core processor if this is mostly for gaming. It seems the gaming industry is quite a few years away from making good use of multi-core tech. I'd also invest in a decent case fan, the OC cards can get hot and unless you manually control the fan speeds, they underclock the on-card fans a lot.

EDIT: Also unless you aren't too concerned about it, I'd make sure your motherboard can receive above 800hz memory.

[Aoann]

I have 2 side fans a front fan and a top fan in my case.

It looks good to me but I am not an expert by any means.

My preference is not Intel on CPU. I also would get a bigger power supply then you'd possibly need.

[Dall dies to much]

couple things:

what size monitor? (aka what resolution)

really has to do with the video card and the Mobo selection.

also
try this case, I personally dislike the Fast and furious style. simple and not in your face is more my thing.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...hree%20Hundred (and no frigging shipping charge FTW, its sitting on my floor right now waiting for parts)( if you want more picks bro, I can snap some photos and link them in)


or this case. nice and clean
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811112130

but no free shipping and does need to be modded with a top blow hole




power supply -- good (yesterdays order)
ram -- good
HD fair try this one or the one below
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136218
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148288
burner -- good
Opsys -- good use thius code at the Egg for $10 more off EMCAJCJBA (orded this today)
processor -- check the e8400 .. save a bit.. and also use this code for $5.00 off HARDOCP82505 (ordered this yesterday)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115037 (simple overclock to get it to e8500 speeds)
ok.. font messign with me..

you can game the new egg cart to make it keep spewing out free shipping.. just flip parts around

other video cards to consider:
Geforce 9800 gtx +
ATi 4850
ATI 4870
Geforce 260 GTX

the 8800GT is a couple gens behind now, still a "good" card, just not the amazing item it was 9 months ago

[LeMieux]

I have 2 side fans a front fan and a top fan in my case.

It looks good to me but I am not an expert by any means.

My preference is not Intel on CPU. I also would get a bigger power supply then you'd possibly need.

Holy crap, are you making a wind tunnel out of your box?

[Markhos]

Personally, I prefer Asus or MSI or even XfX before eVga. I never had problems with Asus or MSI cards. But its all personal preferences hehe

[Aoann]

Holy crap, are you making a wind tunnel out of your box?

two on side/front are intake - one on back and top are output fans.

so yes. it sounds like one too. It has blue lights in all the fans so it glows too

[Aoann]

Personally, I prefer Asus or MSI or even XfX before eVga. I never had problems with Asus or MSI cards. But its all personal preferences hehe

I have Asus. Had one before as well.

[Dall dies to much]

having ordered my Evga card today... for one simple reason... if they come out with a 260/280 revision like there is rumored... I got 90 days to trade it in and pay the difference to Evga for the newer card. trade-up is a beauty of a thing with them and I can still get my rebate from them

[Gisli]

Well, I called EVGA three times while I was screwing around with the upgrade attempt. They answered the phone pretty promptly each time, gave me knowledgeable information and advice, and I learned a few things. So even though I'm ending up returning that first card, I want to stick with them if I can.