New Build, thoughts?

D

DarkDonut

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 26, 2001
Messages
302
I'm keeping my monitor and hard drive from my old system and replacing everything else:

CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz
PSU - BFG Tech GS-550 550W
Video - SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 4870 1GB
Case - Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX
Memory - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
Mobo - GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R
DVD - SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223F

I'm using my comp for HD media (720/1080p movies/tv/etc), gaming (want to play Crysis finally and be ready for games this year), and a bit of Photoshop + normal web browsing.

The only thing I'm really concerned about atm is my PSU. I've read that the BFG PSU i selected has a high rating compared to a lot of 600+W PSUs out there. I'd like to stay at or below $750 for the whole build and I know you can't skimp on the PSU, but I'm hoping the 550 will be enough for now.

I'm not OCing right now, but I may in the future. I also might upgrade to a higher end card and bigger monitor by the end of this year. Will the 550W be ok until I decide to make these upgrades or is it just not enough? Also any other suggestions would be great.
 
one more quick thing

any newegg combos or deals atm don't apply as im still waiting till my other tax form comes in to complete my return :D so if there's any deals at that time I'll look into it.
 
Looks really good. If I was building today, it wouldn't be a dual-core. No less than quad. It's rare for games to make full use of it, but most recently playing GTA4 did. It completely overloaded my dual core, had me wishing for a quad. Moving forward...? Anyone can only guess. The debate between quad-core or higher-clocked dual-core has been debated for months.
 
for now im sticking to dual core since im not ocing, but quad is not completely out of the picture for the future. I'd be getting a quad now if the prices werent so bad. yes a q6600 is well priced, but its also 65nm and clocked low. for someone not OCing, it makes me very sad :/
 
Don't get the GS model power supply; look for either the LS or ES series instead. Or, better yet, spend the money on a better-known brand like Corsair or PC Power & Cooling. (That, or wait for a sale that happens often on one of the Antec Earthwatts series.)
 
I concur with Tiraides: Ditch that low-end BFG GS PSU and go with the LS or MX or ES series of BFG PSUs. When are you planning to buy/build this system?

As for the "low" clock speed of the Q6600, just note that once you start playing at or above 1280x1024, there's performance gap between the Q6600 and E8400 gets smaller and smaller. In other words, you become more GPU limited than CPU limited at 1280x1024 and above. Once you get above or at 1680x1050, there's virtually no performance difference between the Q6600 and E8400 with certain games.
 
how about this PSU instead: Corsair 650W

or maybe PCP&C 750W

long as i can get it at that price i'll switch to that one, but i really cant go much higher with the budget i have :/ maybe i can pickup the BFG 800W later if a good combo deal comes up for some of my other components.

as far as when im planning to build, sometime between the end of january and mid february.
 
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