Please Rate my build,

T

tel0004

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 26, 2007
Messages
499
I know these rate my build threads are kind of annoying, but I could use some help. I researched all the different subforums, and other rate my build threads, so I hope most of my information is correct.

I've built computers before (in the Pentium 3 days), but they were not for gaming, so I went with onboard graphics, and just got a decent processor, and enough ram. I know enough to build a computer, but not enough to know all the little differences between different motherboards and such.

This computer will be used for gaming, folding, and surfing the internet. I really don't care about folding stats, so I don't want to spend more money to increase my PPD, but I will spend it it it can help significantly with performance in games. IThe computer will run Ubuntu, and Vista (probably 64 bit)

I won't overclock at first, but I would like to in the future. I've had laptops for the last 5 years, so I've never tried overclocking.

Processor- 190 E6750. This seemed to be fast enough to get the job done, and at a good price point.

Hard Drive- 60.00 Western Digital 160 gig SATA. I chose this one because it is cheap, yet is still Sata, and has a 16 MB cache. I don't use a lot of storage, so 160 gigs is probably 4 times more than I will ever need. I wouldn't be opposed to buying a bigger one, but it really isnt needed.

Ram 42.99 A-DATA 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 There is a 10.00 rebate one this, so its really 32.99 AR. I don't know enough about ram to know which brands are the best. Please let me know if there are better choices.

Graphics Card- 110.00 SAPPHIRE 100199L Radeon X1950GT 256MB -This one seemed recomended at this price point. I would like to get a better one, probably around the 200.00 range, I'm just not sure which one to get.

Motherboard-90.00 ABIT IP35-E - This seemed to be recommended on this forum, I really don't know alot about motherboards, so I'll have to go totally off your opinions.


DVD RW- 35.00 Lite On 20x - I wanted one that was SATA to keep the cables more organized, and this one seemed good.

Case- 35.00 COOLER MASTER Elite 330 - I don't think there is much that can be said about a case. Something basic is all I need. I won't be able to see it anyway.

Power Supply- 35.00 COOLER MASTER RP-550-PCAR -From what Ive read this seems like a good power supply. Its 35.00, and free after rebate, which is nice. If its not a good power supply, I'll gladly switch to another one.

Monitor- 300. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001096SAMSUNG 226BW Black 22"- I saw this in person, and it looks really nice. I open to ideas on other monitors in this price range.

Total price is 898, which is below my planed budget of 1200. I don't mind going below my budget, since I wouldn't mind getting a G15 keyboard, plus I need a new desk. I was also planning on using the onboard sound, as I would just be hooking up cheap (50.00) logitech speakers. Will a sound card make much of a difference? How good of a build would this be for average gaming? I would be playing flight simulator, counterstrike (I know that will play just fine on this system), Battlefield, and games such as that. If I do have bottlenecks, what would you recommend? I realize a quad core and 8800 gt (and new power supply) would be awesome, but if I can get away with out spending quite as much, I would like to. I will be running duel monitors in the future, which is another reason why I would like a better graphics card.

Thanks for reading this, and thanks for helping out.
 
To answer your questions:

A sound card won't make that much of a difference unless you have a somewaht nice speaker setup and if you're audiophile. Try out onboard sound first and see if its to your liking. Onboard sound has improved a lot over the past few years so it's now worth checking out.

As for how good this build would be for average gaming, I'd say all right. haven't played FSX so can't comment on it. Though I know for sure that it should be able to handle the BF series and Counterstrike very well. Though with newer games you may have to drop down a few resolutions and settings since that X1950GT isn't really capable of gaming at a 1680x1050 resolution (resolution of your 22" monitor) with high settings. Maybe medium but I doubt it. I recommend picking up the HD 3850 if you can since it would definitely give you a serious boost in gaming power over the x1950GT, especially at your monitor's resolution:
VisionTek Radeon HD 3850 256MB PCI-E Video Card - $160

Now onto the critique:
Ditch the Coolermaster PSU. It's not a good PSU. I recommend getting any of these PSUs instead. Oh FYI, the Corsair 450VX actually offers power than the XClio Goodpower:
XClio Goodpower 500W PSU - $50
Corsair 450VX 450W PSU - $77
Corsair 550VX 550W PSU - $98
Corsair 520HX 520W PSU - $109

As for hard drives, for just $10 more, you can double your storage space:
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - $70
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I'll defiantly ditch the power supply. The video card looks nice, and it is a bit closer to the 150-200 I planned to spend on a video card, so that looks good too.
 
In that review, the wattage was overstated. Rather than a 600W PSU, that Cooler Master PSU was actually a Seventeam 500W PSU in disguise. And it looks like the 550W version is a Seventeam 450W PSU in disguise:
http://database.ul.com/cgi-bin/XYV/...n=versionless&parent_id=1073992443&sequence=1

Find the model number of the Coolermaster 550W PSU and you'll see that it matches with a Seventeam 450W unit. Add to the fact that there is no mention whatsoever on Coolermaster's website or on the PSU itself about the max combined wattage on the +12V rail tells me that the PSU should not be trusted.
 
@Danny Bui: I stand corrected.
BTW, you can find better prices on the corsairs at buy.com ;).
 
Danny Bui said:
Find the model number of the Coolermaster 550W PSU and you'll see that it matches with a Seventeam 450W unit. Add to the fact that there is no mention whatsoever on Coolermaster's website or on the PSU itself about the max combined wattage on the +12V rail tells me that the PSU should not be trusted.
Click to expand...

Seventeam's are good. So, the Cooler Masters can be trusted up until the original specs of the Seventeam units, lol. But I agree, there are better choices out there.
 
Thanks for all the help. I just have one final question.

Right now I'm going with a E6750 and leaning towards a Radeon 3850 or other graphics card around the 200.00 range.

Would I be better off getting a slower processor (like an E4500), and using the extra money for a 8800GT or other similar card. Would this setup be able to play games better than my previous idea of the E6750/Radeon 3850?

This will be on a 22" widescreen display, so I don't need insane resolutions, but I want it to be as good as possible.

The only other things I will be using this for (besides gaming) is typing papers, surfing the web, and easy stuff like that, so the E4500 should be more than sufficient. I'll also be doing folding, but PPD isn't really important, (but don't tell the people in the folding forum I said that).

Thanks for the help. I would be lost without you guys.


Here is my revised build list, although it is essentially the same as in the first post.

https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.asp?ID=9743387

I don't have a motherboard listed b/c the one I had was taken off their site
 
tel0004 said:
Would I be better off getting a slower processor (like an E4500), and using the extra money for a 8800GT or other similar card. Would this setup be able to play games better than my previous idea of the E6750/Radeon 3850?
.
Click to expand...


The E4500 with an 8800GT would be a better choice, especially since that 22" is probably 1680x1050 res....
 
Your wishlist link does not work. Did you ever change the power supply?
 
Danny Bui said:
Your wishlist link does not work. Did you ever change the power supply?
Click to expand...

I did.

Here is a new link to my wishlist. Hopefully this works.

https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersio...Number=9743387&WishListTitle=Travis'+Computer

I don't have a case listed, but I'll probably get that locally. I can get a Antec 900 for 70.00, but I'm by no means set on that case
I switched to the Goodpower PSU. Also, I saw a 8800GT which was cheap, I just wanted to know if it was any good. I really don't know anything about graphics cards.

A few final questions, how is NewEggs return and RMA policy. I was going to buy the CPU and Monitor locally, as the price is only about 10.00 cheaper, but if Newegg is pretty good about exchanges, I would rather buy it through them and save 40.00 in taxes. Also, Santa was good to me this year, so I'm sticking with the E6750. If I need to save money, I'll just wait on the G15, as I have a generic keyboard I can use.
 
I wanted to post one more revision before I buy, and give people a chance for final comments.

Here is my wishlist, hopefully this is final.

https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersio...Number=9743387&WishListTitle=Travis'+Computer

The only real question I have is the goodpower going to be strong enough and have enough on the 12v rail to power the 8800GT.

There is no motherboard listed, b/c its out of stock on newegg, and they took the link down. This has happened already this week, and it should be back up in a day or two. I also bought a case (Coolermaster CM-690) so no case is listed.
 
tel0004 said:
The only real question I have is the goodpower going to be strong enough and have enough on the 12v rail to power the 8800GT.
Click to expand...

Your system will only use around 350W (including OC'ing), so thats 26A at most on the +12V rail(s). The Goodpower has 30A available on the combined +12V rails, so you have plenty of headroom and nothing to worry about as far as the +12V rail is concerned. However, do try and keep the PSU cool.
 
Danny Bui said:
$5 more and you can get an extra 70GB of storage:
Western Digital WD3200AAJS 320GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - $75
Click to expand...

I'll never use even close to 250 gigs, let alone 320. Also the drive I chose has 16 mb of cache, and the one you linked only has 8. Thanks for the help though.

I just wanted to thank everybody who helped, I think this sytstem is tons better than the one I had on post 1. I did make a last minute change and got the Corsair 450watt power supply. It seemed more reliable, and it is only 20.00 more. Hopefully it arrives on the the 31st, as I'm off New years day. My birhtday is January 3rd, so this is a great birthday present to myself.
 
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