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New Gaming Computer

K

Krys

n00b
Joined
Mar 12, 2008
Messages
8
I’m planning a new computer. It’s mainly going to be used for games (at 1680 x 1050)

I live in Canada so will be buying mainly from Canadian stores.

Here is what I got so far, the budget is around $1500

Antec P182 - $133
Corsair CMPSU-550VX 550W - $88 ($73 after $15 MIR)
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L - $87
XFX GeForce 8800GT XXX 512MB - $250 ($210 after $40 MIR)
Seagate Barracuda (ST3500320AS) 7200.11 SATA NCQ 3.0Gb/s 500GB 32MB Cache - $110
Pioneer DVR-212D(Black) SATA DVD-Writer - $30
Samsung SyncMaster 206BW Black 20" Widescreen TFT-LCD, 1680 x 1050, 3000:1, 2ms - $240
G.SKILL F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ PC2-6400 4GB 2X2GB DDR2-800 CL5-5-5-15 240PIN - $100

I’m not sure which processor to get. The Q6600 seems to be what many get. The E8400 also seems like a good choice but I can’t find it in stock at any store.

Q6600 - $265
E8400 - $230

Any suggestions?
 
Pretty good setup. The DDR2 800 G. Skills 2x2 with CAS latency timings of 5-5-15 for $100 will do. Either CPU is good. Don't stress on the E8400 if you cant find any. A Q6600 is very good already.
 
I vote for the cheapest RAM. Timings dont make THAT big of a difference.

If you dont need raid you could also save some money and get the DS3L instead of the R.

For gaming I vote E8400.

You could probably get a cheaper power supply too. A good ~500W should be enough for that system.
 
I agree about the RAM and motherboard.

The Corsair VX550 is nicely priced. For comparison, the ST60F provides 42A on the +12V rails... so the VX550 for $85 is a better deal than the strider at $105.

I think the E8400s are still overpriced right now, because they were recently released and demand is higher than supply. So right now, I'd say the Q6600 is a better value than the E8400.
 
I changed the RAM to the 2x2GB DDR2 800 G.SKILLs with the 5-5-5-15 timings. The motherboard has been changed from the DS3R to the DS3L and the power supply from the ST60F to the VX550.

I’m still not sure about the processor. I think I’ll get the Q6600 unless there are some others that someone wants to recommend.
 
Both the processors you listed are currently out of stock.
DirectCanada has the Q6600 in stock for $255 but I don't think it's the G0 stepping.
EDIT but I don't think the one listed at canadacomputers is either...
 
kaiweiler said:
Both the processors you listed are currently out of stock.
DirectCanada has the Q6600 in stock for $255 but I don't think it's the G0 stepping.
EDIT but I don't think the one listed at canadacomputers is either...
Click to expand...

Well, even if it isn't garunteed to be G0, most Q6600s shipping now are going to be G0 anyway. I would still buy from a place that garuntees G0 if you can, but I wouldn't sweat it too much if you can't. If you can find an E8400, I'd say go for it, but the Q6600 is a great proc, too. You can always pick up a cheap E2xxx proc until E8400s become more prevalent and prices come down.
 
Yes... if you can get G0 stepping guaranteed, do so. Some sites may call it, "Energy Efficient" model -- and that guarantees the G0 stepping as well.
 
I just built basically the same PC and it runs great (I got the q6600)

I have only played guild wars and medieval II total war on it so far (Just finished build yesterday) but I am going to be picking crysis up soon
 
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