Another Build Thread

[t4t3r]

I've been out of the loop for a few years but I'm ready to upgrade my current machine which is probably at least 4 years old (barton 2500+ etc). I want to be able to play the current games at high settings and the games coming out in the next year or so at decent rates too. With some guidance from the System Builders thread in this forum, here is what I've put together:

C2D E7200 (already purchased from Frys)
Asus P5Q Pro (newegg combo deal with psu)
Corsair 750watt PSU (see above)
G.Skill 4gb (2x2gb) DDR2 1000
Sapphire Radeon HD4850 512mb
WD Caviar 640gb 7200rpm SATA HDD
Samsung DVD Burner
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro (was $19.99 yesterday, back to original price today )
Some Arctic Silver 5 thermal grease
Case is an older Antec Full-tower I still use that I will swap the new PSU/parts into.

What do you guys think? I'm a little over budget from what I originally set out for when I got the E7200 on sale, but this build seems to have everything I want despite some items being slightly overkill. As always, any advice is welcome.

 

[disports]

Well you could substitute the ram for DDR2-800 and save like $7 if you're not overclocking. Also if you're not overclocking, you could stick with the stock cooler. To save a little more, you could get the GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3L for $89.99 after $15 mail in rebate and the 650TX for $89.99 after $20 mail in rebate ($179.99 after rebates). What resolution are you going to be gaming at?

 

[t4t3r]

I am definitely planning to overclock, not extreme but I plan to squeeze as much out as possible with the aftermarket heatsink/fan. Gaming will be done at 1680x1050 mostly (20" WS monitor used day-to-day), but I also have a 24" monitor that may get some gaming use as well.

I originally planned to get an EP45-D3SL but figured for another $30 I could get the extra slots and OC'ability of the P5Q Pro. I will take a look at the 650TX, the combo mobo+psu deals newegg usually has are hard to beat though.

 

[Mr Fox]

Originally posted by: t4t3r
I've been out of the loop for a few years but I'm ready to upgrade my current machine which is probably at least 4 years old (barton 2500+ etc). I want to be able to play the current games at high settings and the games coming out in the next year or so at decent rates too. With some guidance from the System Builders thread in this forum, here is what I've put together:

C2D E7200 (already purchased from Frys)
Asus P5Q Pro (newegg combo deal with psu)
Corsair 750watt PSU (see above)
G.Skill 4gb (2x2gb) DDR2 1000
Sapphire Radeon HD4850 512mb
WD Caviar 640gb 7200rpm SATA HDD
Samsung DVD Burner
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro (was $19.99 yesterday, back to original price today )
Some Arctic Silver 5 thermal grease
Case is an older Antec Full-tower I still use that I will swap the new PSU/parts into.

What do you guys think? I'm a little over budget from what I originally set out for when I got the E7200 on sale, but this build seems to have everything I want despite some items being slightly overkill. As always, any advice is welcome.

Buy PowerColor, Or VisionTek Sapphire has the worst warranty, and Customer Service...

 

[disports]

VisionTek 4850 is pretty solid. Hmm, I see. Well with a mild overclock, you can stick with the stock hsf. How much is the arctic freezer pro 7 right now? $36.99 (If you live nearby a Microcenter, the Xigmatek HDT-S1283 is selling for $19.99 after $15 mail in rebate.

 

[DSF]

Even if you overclock DDR2-800 will be just fine with that chip.

 

[t4t3r]

The DDR2 1000 pack is $5 more than the DDR2 800 so I'm going to stick with the 1000 for that extra headroom.

Is the 4850 overkill or not enough? I had originally checked out the 8800GT (great prices on newegg) but figured I could future-proof my setup just a little more with a 4850. The Sapphire is the cheapest that isn't fitted with the reference cooler setup, but it sounds like it may not be the best brand...

 

[sonnygdude]

I don't think the 4850 is overkill - especially if you want some longevity out of it. If you do end up gaming on the 24" at 1920x1200 you may actually find that it runs out of steam on new games.

You're right in sticking with the DDR2-1000 - if $5 is breaking your budget you shouldn't be building! If you want to save $5, you don't need the AS5 as that cooler comes with MX-2 pre-applied on it. But then again, it's necessary to have some on hand, what if you have to re-install it?

Seems to me like a pretty solid build, all those components seem like pretty good bang for the buck, which is why most of the builds on here seem to use them. When Blain gets around to posting to this thread he'll harp on you for lack of originality!

 

[Roguestar]

The EP45-DS3L will overclock quite highly, by the way, it's no second fiddle to the P5Q Pro if your RAM is going to be holding you back at that point.

FYI I have the non-reference Sapphire board and not only is it physically smaller and easier to fit in a case, but it's much much better than the standard fan and does a better job at keeping temps down if you want to overclock it a little yourself. I've had no problems with Sapphire ATI cards in the past, but obviously that's just me.

 

[t4t3r]

Thanks to everyone for the advice. I went with the build in my first post except I picked up a Visiontek 4850 for a nice price (fan fix seems to work well for everyone, noise isn't that big a deal) and swapped out a Xigmatek HDT1283 for the Freezer 7 Pro. Can't wait!