New Build

[Doreon]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Mostly Gaming
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Budget is 800
3) Where do you live?
SW Virginia
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
Just the parts listed below
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Will not be reusing
6) Will you be overclocking?
Not at all
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
19 inch lcd
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
As soon as you guys okay it
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
One that will support all the hardware I listed. I dont have any plans to sli or crossfire in the future
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
have money set aside for a new windows 7

I was hoping you guys would share you expertise with me and give me any tips/suggestions you have. Am I getting enough bang for my buck? Will anything bottleneck? Is my PC big enough? Etc etc

Thank you all so much in advance.

Asus PQ5 Turbo
EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800
CORSAIR CMPSU-750HX 750W
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB)
Seagate Barracuda 250GB
ZALMAN CNPS 9700
Intel Core 2 Duo 3.0
Total Cost $785.00

 

[engiNURD]

Please reformat answers in the form of the sticky questions. Thanks.

At quick glance, you'll want to ditch the Core2Duo route, as LGA775 is a dead socket, and DDR2 is being phased out of extreme mass production. For an $800 gaming build, you'll most likely want an AMD Ph2 X4 955, AMD 770TA board, 4GB DDR3-1600, a WD Caviar Blue or Samsung F3 500GB (single platter, so its FAST), CM Hyper 212+ HSF, and probably an HD 5770. I'll link that list up in a few. Phenom2 performs on par with Core2.

BTW, are you near a Microcenter or Fry's? If so, you may be able to go for an Intel Core i5/i7 build instead, or maybe get a good bundle deal from MC.
What current model case do you have?

linked:
$155 - XFX HD-577X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 1GB
$160 - AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz AM3
$110 - G.Skill Ripjaws Series 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3-1600 F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL
$100 - Antec TruePower New TP-650 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular
$90 - Gigabyte GA-770TA-UD3 AM3 AMD 770 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ($10 MIR)
$55 - WD Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache SATA300 ($7 off Promo: WDSPEC7)
$30 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-GP 120mm HSF
=============
$695 + tax and shipping

 

[tiraides]

First, answer the questions listed in the sticky labeled, "Asking for Build Help?"

Second, are the parts above what you currently have, or are they what you plan on buying?

Third, which specific (brand/model/name) case are you reusing for this build?

 

[Shadowssong]

Please reformat answers in the form of the sticky questions. Thanks.

At quick glance, you'll want to ditch the Core2Duo route, as LGA775 is a dead socket, and DDR2 is being phased out of extreme mass production. For an $800 gaming build, you'll most likely want an AMD Ph2 X4 955, AMD 770TA board, 4GB DDR3-1600, a WD Caviar Blue or Samsung F3 500GB (single platter, so its FAST), CM Hyper 212+ HSF, and probably an HD 5770. I'll link that list up in a few. Phenom2 performs on par with Core2.

BTW, are you near a Microcenter or Fry's? If so, you may be able to go for an Intel Core i5/i7 build instead, or maybe get a good bundle deal from MC.
What current model case do you have?

linked:
$155 - XFX HD-577X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 1GB
$160 - AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz AM3
$110 - G.Skill Ripjaws Series 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3-1600 F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL
$100 - Antec TruePower New TP-650 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular
$90 - Gigabyte GA-770TA-UD3 AM3 AMD 770 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ($10 MIR)
$55 - WD Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache SATA300 ($7 off Promo: WDSPEC7)
$30 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-GP 120mm HSF
=============
$695 + tax and shipping

This would be the best route except you can save some money and get a fully modular psu with this xfx model.

XFX 5770 + XFX 650w psu

 

[engiNURD]

This would be the best route except you can save some money and get a fully modular psu with this xfx model.

XFX 5770 + XFX 650w psu

oooh, nice. well, it's not FULLY modular, just more modular than the TP-New. Some Silverstones are fully modular, including the 24-pin ATX connector and 4/8-pin P4/EPS connector.

 

[clone63]

I second the AMD build. At that price, why not future-proof for SATAIII and since all that is $100 under budget, step it up a pinch and get the SATAIII WD Black HDD.

 

[Doreon]

I redid a few things and took a lot of your advice. This build ended up being about 15 bucks more, but I think Im getting a MUCH better build

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz AM3
Glad you recommended this. Looks like its a much better deal for the money

ZALMAN CNPS 9700
I'm hooked on this fan. Its the one I really want

ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard
From what I can see it has the same specs as the Mobo suggested and it had better reviews as well as being more pleasing on the eyes

CORSAIR CMPSU-750HX 750W
I love Corsair. And I also really like the flat modular cables on this PS. Worth the extra money to me.

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12
Several reviews said the HD recommended was a little loud. The seagate is suppose to be extremely quiet, which is a huge plus for me.

CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB)
Again, I love the brand and its also a little more pleasing on the eyes

XFX HD-577X-ZNFC Radeon HD
I'll admit Im clueless about cards so I just decided to take your advice

 

[engiNURD]

19"? do you plan on upgrading that any time soon?

What games do you play and at what res/settings?

Both my WD CavBlue 500GB and Samsung F3 500GB are quieter than my Seagate 'cuda.12 500GB. Also, the 'cuda is slower than the other two.

Post pics!

 

[Dangman]

ZALMAN CNPS 9700
I'm hooked on this fan. Its the one I really want

In addition to Enginurd's post, wanted to point out one more issue with your setup: The CNPS 9700 performs the same, if not worse, than this significantly cheaper HSF:
$35 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156

In addition, for the same price, you could have gotten a significantly better cooling HSF:
$70 - Cooler Master V8 RR-UV8-XBU1-GP HSF

For $10 more, you could have gotten one of the best HSF out there:
$80 - Corsair Hydro H50 CPU Cooler

So IMO, you got ripped off if you paid more than $40 for that Zalman.

Also, that Asus mobo is missing two features that the Gigabyte mobo that Enginurd recommended had: 2 x SATA 6Gb/s and USB 3.0 ports. Both of those features may come in handy in the future.