New build Mid Level Gaming Rig

J

Jbarr

n00b
Joined
Mar 22, 2009
Messages
37
New build Mid Level Gaming Rig

I will be ordering parts this week and would like some advise on this $800 budget box.
I already have a 22-inch ViewSonic VG2230 1680 X 1050 monitor, keyboard and mouse.
OS will be XP Pro 32bit, E8500 overclocked to 3.6ghz to start with, no sli or crossfire.


GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128359

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115036

OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341022

G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231209

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro (I already own this cooler)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

LG Black 22X DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136152

Antec Nine Hundred
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

EVGA 01G-P3-1155-TR GeForce GTS 250 1GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130469


Your thoughts and advice would be welcomed
 
The CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W was on my short list.
After reading the reviews with comments like this “With a Antec 900 it was a little difficult managing all the wires behind MoBo tray”. I chose the OCZ Modular and 3 year warranty.

Thanks for your input
 
Ah I understand. A friend of mine has the Antec 900 and it is quite difficult wiring behind the motherboard.

Also are you willing to consider the XFX GTS 250?

They just price drop it $118 (free shipping) and has life time warranty. Sadly EVGA only has 2 year warranty on the GTS 250 cards.

Also can you fix your newegg links. They don't work.

~Edit~

Geez... the XFX just went out OOS again.
 
Agree with DTN107 on the Corsair...you can't go wrong with either PS, just suggest 600-700 watt to keep the system current.


Also...other suggested cases:

Thermaltake ElementS VK60001N2Z: Cheaper, better setup, and less dust vents!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133077

Of course Lian-li: Aluminum, light, new lower priced cases and my brand of choice. Just bought the PC-A05N and luv it!!!

LIAN LI PC-7FW Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112195

and now for the video card...suggest the GeForce GTX 260, a little more money with alot more power! I plan to buy one myself next week to complete my system.

XFX GX260NADFF:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150329
EVGA 896-P3-1255-AR:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130434

Good luck...I've just built a similar system with the same processor and motherboard with great results (OC: 4.09MHz easily done and very stable) Just waiting on the video-card.

Darryl
 
Yes, I took a hard look at the XFX GS250XYDFC GeForce GTS 250 512MB for a $32 price difference. I chose the EVGA 01G-P3-1155-TR GeForce GTS 250 for the 1GB of memory. The XFX is definitely a better bang for the buck. I am hoping the Evga will have a little better performance with 2x the memory.
 
The Thermaltake ElementS VK60001N2Z looks good although I don’t care for the hinged door very much. After reading the reviews like this, “Its much louder than I thought it would be”, “No 3.5 inch bay. I bought a media card reader and ended up having to buy special brackets to install it”, and “the power an reset buttons can get bumped easily when you plug in headphones or usb devices”. I prefer the Antec 900

Thanks for your input
 
GeForce GTX 260

Ok…Price difference is not to bad, but what will I be gaining in performance?
Size is a little larger… NewEgg review “Remember this card is 10.5 inches long. I had to move around my SATA drives in my Antec 900 case to give it room. Just something to keep in mind.”

Heat… NewEgg review “Super hot card, I have to run my card's fans at 100% when running Crysis”

So, is the performance increase going to out weigh the con’s?

Thanks for your input
 
I'm a bit vague on videocards but I know the GTS 250 is a face-lifted 9800GTX.

Although the 9800GTX won't have any problems running games and it is no slow poke but I recall people saying the performance difference from the 9800GT vs GTX 260 gap is quite far.

Higher temps are part of the package deal. Some people replace the stock coolers and get much lower temps on load than the stock idle temps.

If your willing to put up with the MIR and all then price on it is hard to resist when comparing it to the GTS 250.

P.S. Don't forget lifetime warranty :)
 
the gts 250 is a 9800GTX+.. its part of nvidia's scam to get people to buy the over stocked 9 series cards and sadly its working..

though at 1680x1050.. the gts 250 should do fine.. gtx 260 216 core is right about the highest you want to go with running that resolution.. gtx 280/85/295 is a waste of money with that resolution..
 
I thought there was a thread saying the GTS 250 was really a 9800GTX and not a 9800GTX+?
 
Very few games will take advantage of the extra memory in that video card. So getting the 512 MB version is better value.

OCZ powersupplies are not that good. I would suggest BFG LS 550 watt PSU.

I personally don't like the Antec 900 for the poor cable management and dust.
 
The GTX 260 Core 216 is a little faster than a Radeon HD 4870 1GB, and a good bit faster than a Radeon HD 4850 512MB. Plus you don't have to deal with the Catalyst driver suite (this coming from a long time ATI owner). At 1680x1050 I would definitely go with the GTX 260.
 
lt_shiro said:
OCZ powersupplies are not that good. I would suggest BFG LS 550 watt PSU.

I personally don't like the Antec 900 for the poor cable management and dust.
Click to expand...

QFT. The significantly better quality BFG LS-550 can be had for $70 from newegg.com.

I recommend getting either the Coolermaster RC-590 and RC-690 cases. The RC-590 and RC-690 is equal to the Antec 900 in terms of construction quality and cooling and better in terms of cable management and work area. And both cases can be found for cheaper than the Antec 900:
$70 - Cooler Master RC-590-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$80 - Cooler Master RC-690-KKN1-GP ATX Case
 
At 1680x1050, games are more GPU bound than CPU bound, so you'll be better off OC'ing an E7400 to 3.8Ghz and picking up a GTX260 instead. You'll get far better gaming performance out of that config.
 
just chiming in to re-iterate what others have posted about the GTX 250.
I too would recommend getting a GTX 260 core 216 over the (g92-refreshed) GTX 250.
 
As everyone has said so far, spring the extra $10 for the significantly faster GTX 260 card:
$180 - BFG Tech BFGEGTX260MC896OCE GeForce GTX 260 896MB PCI-E Video Card

A good quality 550W PSU will be enough to power the GTX260. However, I do not know if that OCZ PSU is a good quality PSU (haven't seen any PROPER review of it so far). Considering OCZ's track record with those lower wattage PSUs, I would be very surprised if that OCZ PSU is of at least decent quality. So with that said, I recommend going with a PSU that has been confirmed by reputable PSU sources (hardOCP and jonnyguru for one) like this:
$70 - BFG Tech LS-550 550W PSU

The GTX260 will fit and cool well inside cases like the Antec 900, CM RC-590 and RC-690 cases. If you really need to get more cash, drop the overpriced Antec 900 and go with the cheaper RC-590 or RC-690 cases.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top