final decisions on a gaming rig

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zohair

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Jan 18, 2007
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After some great help from various posters and some discussions with friends as to what I really want from a system I have a new set of build advice questions.

I think I want to build more of a budget/bridge gaming system. I have a 20% discount on AMD processors so want to go with an AMD processor (possibly AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz). I also recently purchased some G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) to use.

Other details I would like to add to the system, I was thinking of going with a small SSD for the operating system and a few games. I also want the case as small and quiet as possible with space for 1 (maybe 2) additional hard drives, possibly a microATX vs very small ATX.

Also I do have an Amazon Prime account so free shipping an no tax for CA residents.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
~500 (flexible +/- 100)

3) Where do you live?
Los Angeles, CA

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? I need a CPU,motherboard, SSD, power supply, case

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Peripherals, the RAM mentioned above, an ATI HD 5830 that I will keep.

To give you an idea of my current specs, I am using G.SKILL 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800, Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13GHz, GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L

6) Will you be overclocking?
Would rather not

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
1980 x1050 22 inch monitor

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Soon

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
Don't need RAID/firewire/crossfire/sli

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
Yep, planning on using windows 7
 
I just have one potential piece of advice, well maybe two:

1. If you can get to a Microcenter one of these combos might interest you: http://www.microcenter.com/specials/promotions/AMDbundlePROMO.html

I know you said you get an AMD cpu discount, and that the discount may not apply if you get one of these bundles, but at Microcenter some of these motherboards are either free or almost free. You would have to see which route gets you the best deal. Of course if you can get the discount, and get the combo price from Microcenter that would be great.

2. Short term you should be able to overclock that E6400 on that board. I know you aren't a fan of overclocking, but those Intel cpus have certain standard bus speeds. Yours is a 1066 FSB, but you could bump that to the 1333 FSB in the bios. Really the bus is quad pumped, so you would be going from 266 to 333. Right now you are are at 8 X 266 for 2.13, but if you change to 8 X 333 that gives you 2.66. You could go higher I'm sure, but that is another standard bus speed for Intel and then the pci slots, pci-e, etc are all running perfectly in spec.
 
Did you need a hard drive as well as part of that budget?
Oh and where are you getting that 20% discount from? Newegg? AMD's own store?
Also, how much are the CPUs in the first place from whereever you have to buy?
 
I can buy the CPU from anywhere, its basically a rebate where I show the purchase order as an AMD product and get the discount.

I have quite a few extra HD's for storage and was thinking of using a SSD for the primary HD.
 
If that's the case definitely get an AMD CPU+motherboard combo at Microcenter. I think they have the Phenom II 840 for $100 and the Phenom II 965 for $150. And both of those come with free or discounted motherboards.

I'm on my phone right now but I recently priced a similar system out for someone (earlier today.) It had an Antec Neo 620C in it for $65 before $20 MIR from Newegg. And the HAF912 for $60 as well. If you get the 965 with an upgraded motherboard, you're looking at $315 with the above parts, leaving $185 for an SSD, shipping, and taxes. Crucial's C300 line should have something in this price range.
 
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