Finalizing my new rig, help w/ critique

N

Nailz

n00b
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May 12, 2007
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Looking to spend around $1000-1100, I want a new LCD, I do play some games, would probably play more with a better PC, love the FPS's. :) The total below is from NewEgg.

This is my first build in about 4 years so I am a little rusty. Your comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated! Also, I probably won't do much, if any overclocking...

COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UB Black /Blue Aluminum Bezel , SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

SPARKLE ATX-400PN-B204 ATX 12V 2.01 400W Power Supply - OEM

GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 Allendale 2.0GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E4400 - Retail

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit

EVGA 320-P2-N811-AR GeForce 8800GTS 320MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

SCEPTRE X20WC-Gamer Black 20.1" 5ms DVI Widescreen Glare HD (HDCP) LCD Monitor - Retail

Link Depot 10 ft. DVI-D male to DVI-D male dual link Cable Model DVI-10-DD - OEM

LITE-ON Combo Drive Black SATA Model SHC-52S7K-05 - OEM

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM

Subtotal: $1,095.90
 
I'm not excited about that power supply, or it only being 400 watts. Look at the enermax liberties or seasonic M12s or corsair HX series. They will cost a little bit more, but will be worth it.

Also, I'd probably try and get a gts 640, but thats just nitpicking
 
Yeah I agree about the power supply. Step up to any of the power supplies below and you should be set:

XCLIO GOODPOWER 500W PSU - $50
Enhance ENP-5150GH 500W PSU - $69

Also, are you planning to overclock? If you are, then ditch the E4400 and drop down to the E4300. Both of those CPUs have an average overclock ceiling of 3.0 to 3.2Ghz. So the E4300 will be more cost efficient since it can reach the same overclock limit as the E4400 while being cheaper.

In addition, why go for CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive when you can get a DVD burner for just $6 more:

LITE-ON LH-20A1S 20X DVD±R DVD Burner SATA - $33

One more suggestion, buy that DS3 from clubIT.com. It's cheaper there.

Oh and which RAM kit is that? Five RAM kits showed up when I searched for your RAM.
 
Thanks for catching the burner mistake, I totally missed it....

The RAM kit is this one, look ok?

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820231098

I'll look at those power supplies as well, I chose the Sparkle as I saw it recommended by folks on other boards, I've been lurking for a while trying to learn what I can.

As for the overclocking, I wasn't really sure, I thought, maybe no.... But if I can get quite a bit more bang for less then maybe I will. If I do OC, what are recommendations for cooling as well?

Any thoughts on my choice of LCD, anything in that price range people like better? It's $219 at NewEgg at the moment.

Thanks for the quick replies, greatly appreciated!
 
Good set of RAM. I've used those sets myself in a few builds. Well you can get a decent overclock with just the stock heatsink alone but with kinda High temps. A decent and cheap cooler would be the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro from ewiz.com for about $22 with free shipping. Don't pay more than $25 for that particular HSF.

Anyway, dunno too much about monitors so I'll leave that up to someone more knowledgeable than I.
 
the sceptre is a very very cheap lcd, but the consensus here is that for what you get, its worth it. For the money I'd probably go with a samsung 204bw, but I love samsung and it would fit perfectly next to my old syncmaster 710t lcd.
 
You guys are awesome!

Nice looking monitor there thrawn86, what about this one?

ViewSonic Optiquest Series Q20WB Black 20" 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16824116075

Just trying to keep my price down a bit.

Also, one more question about video cards, anyone have anything to say about the FoxConn cards? This one is only slightly more and appears to be OC'd already.

Foxconn FV-N88SMCD2-ONOC GeForce 8800GTS 320MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814186020

Thanks again!
 
Yeah, I figured i'd ask the difference in price is $10 and I wasn't sure how easy it is to get the evga to the same settings as the Foxconn....
 
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