Building another beast!

[GhostGT]

Hey all,

I'm pretty excited right now since my godbrother came to me and wants me to build him a nice gaming rig for his new room. I've gone ahead and have made a build on newegg.com and have posted up links of the build here.

I'd really appreciate it if any of you can look over the build and give me a few pointers!

1. Are the parts compatible?
2. Am I missing anything for a full build?
3. His budget is $1200-1400.
4. Is the 9800GTX a good video card? He'll be doing some gaming from time to time.



ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131299

EVGA GeForce 9800 GTX+ Superclocked 512MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130420

Logitech Keyboard/Mouse
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126174

Samsung DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151173

Seagate Barracuda 500GB Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148288

Creative Inspire Speakers
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836116024

Corsair 550 Watt Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0Ghz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037

Windows Vista Home Premium
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134

GSkill 4GB PC8500 Dual Channel Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166

NZXT Alpha Black Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146041

Samsung 22" Glossy LCD Monitor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001306

AS5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007

____________________

Grand Total: $1350.05 with tax, shipping included.




I just want to make sure that these parts are all compatible and are good for a gaming rig. Also, do you guys think that I can replace any of these items with BETTER items for same or less prices? I know the whole 4850/4870 thing will pop up in this thread, but I want to make sure I'm getting the best bang for the HIS buck!



Thanks much, and always appreciated,

Chris

 

[Calibound88]

mobo is fine, tho i prefer gigabyte, gpu is fine, mouse, keyboard fine (does he have spare keyboards and mice considering these aren't that special) , burner and hdd is fine. I would def spend less on a monitor if needed and more on 7.1 speakers because. A 20 in would even do, but surround sound in a room would make it a real entertainment system.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009145
^ cheaper monitor

psu and cpu is fine.

And everything else looks good. Course, if it were me, id skip the case, monitor, burner, keyboard mouse, and speakers. I can get vista for $12. I'd get cheaper ram, a smaller monitor, switch out to an AMD II build and pop a 4870 in there.

 

[rohan23]

Try this mainboard.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128358

A PSU with a little more "oomph"
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371015

Spend a bit more and get the Q6600.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017

Check out this monitor. A bit cheaper.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236051

 

[GhostGT]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I'm extremely comfortable with ASUS motherboards, having a P5K-E myself, so I want to stick to that since I'll be overclocking this build as well.

As far as the Q6600 goes, he will mainly be using this for schoolwork and some gaming. I have a Q6600 myself but have learned that, as far as current gaming goes, a Duo might be a little better as far as performance goes. I'll be OCing it to ~3.8GHz for him.

 

[rohan23]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I'm extremely comfortable with ASUS motherboards, having a P5K-E myself, so I want to stick to that since I'll be overclocking this build as well.

As far as the Q6600 goes, he will mainly be using this for schoolwork and some gaming. I have a Q6600 myself but have learned that, as far as current gaming goes, a Duo might be a little better as far as performance goes. I'll be OCing it to ~3.8GHz for him.

Games are beginning to fully utilize quad cores. The next few games out with give you better performance with a quad over a duo, as physics and so on get more complicated.

 

[GhostGT]

Games are beginning to fully utilize quad cores. The next few games out with give you better performance with a quad over a duo, as physics and so on get more complicated.

Yeah, just like I mentioned that most current games would utilize the Duo better. He plans on mainly playing WoW and Red Alert 3. Maybe I should look into that a little more.


What do you guys think about the video card?

 

[rohan23]

Yeah, just like I mentioned that most current games would utilize the Duo better. He plans on mainly playing WoW and Red Alert 3. Maybe I should look into that a little more.


What do you guys think about the video card?

The card is nice. I would rather go with a 512MB version of the 4870.

 

[worshipme]

I'd go with a quad core. Quads are so cheap nowadays and at this budget it makes sense to go with one. I don't know it you know, but the Phenom IIs have just been released and they're a bit of a return to form for AMD. For that build, I'd recommend the Phenom II 920.
790GX motherboard.

Corsair 550 Watt Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139004

OCZ have some modulars out now which are pretty good, I'd go with one of them.

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835186134

Xigmatek HDT-S963 if he's doing a little overclocking, stock cooling if he's not.

AS5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835100007

No, seriously:
- AS5 is electrically conuctive, which can be a pain if it's applied in excess and you have to be very careful.
- It's a pain in the arse to clean.
- It doesn't even perform that well, and is worse than pastes that are none of the above.
- It comes in a tiny syringe.

Get some Arctic Cooling MX-2.

I know the whole 4850/4870 thing will pop up in this thread, but I want to make sure I'm getting the best bang for the HIS buck!

He'll have a 22", and there are HD 4870s under $200 now which will pwn that 9800GTX+.

 

[GhostGT]

Thanks for the feedback worship.

Regarding the chip, he would rather have an Intel build. I don't really plan on swaying him into AMD territory yet.

Good point on the AS5. I always thought it was THE product to use. I guess I can give MX-2 a try.


Two things:

1. What PS would you recommend from OCZ for this particular build?
2. Is the 4870 really better than the 9800GTX+? For some reason I never really liked the new 4800 series. I have, though, seen many people point out how good it performs.

 

[PokerDegenerate]

Thanks for the feedback worship.

Regarding the chip, he would rather have an Intel build. I don't really plan on swaying him into AMD territory yet.

Good point on the AS5. I always thought it was THE product to use. I guess I can give MX-2 a try.

not to mention the 200 hour curing time on the AS5

And why not hope over to AMD i mean come on everyones doing it LOL.....

I took worships advice about the phenom II and I am beyond pleased....