New Budget Gaming Build

[Jray]

Hi All,
I'm getting ready to build my first new PC in quite awhile. My current A64 3000+ is getting pretty long in the tooth. I've been researching lately but I've been out of touch for awhile so I'm not completely clear on some things. Anyway...

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
Gaming and general use - web, email, digital photo editing

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
I've targeted about $750 but I think I can come in under that

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
USA

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc, etc, etc, you get the picture.
No real preference, just best bang for buck

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
For now I'm reusing everything outside the box - mouse, kb, monitor and speakers

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
Yes

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
Yes, would like to overclock

8. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Within next month or 2

Here is what I've come up with:

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 260 Already purchased last week - $160
CPU + MOBO: AMD PII X3 720 + Gigabyte GA-MA790GP-UD4H combo With a recent price drop - $230 <- is the mobo a good choice for OC'ing? This combo seems like a great bang for the buck deal
HDD: Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB - $75
DVD: LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model GH22LS30 - OEM - $26
Case + PS: Raidmax Smilodon ATX Case with 500W Power Supply - $70 - I'm not in love with this case but I like the idea of getting case & PS together to save money. This one seems to have good ratings on NewEgg. I have a MicroCenter near by so that I can buy locally. I also like the Antec Sonata III and Antec's cases in general.

Here is where we get to one of my questions, regarding the RAM... what is better to use? It seems like most modern processors use the DDR2 800, but is 1066 better for overclocking? I'm a little confused on this point. I'm open for suggestions on these if there is something clearly better.
RAM: OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 - $33 After rebate
or
RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 - $40

Depending on how you add that up, I'm only at about $601 total, which is amazing. When I first started considering a new PC about a month ago, I had a hard time getting under $800 (was looking at C2D E8400).

I guess I should mention that I will use my current copy of Win XP for now, until Windows 7 comes out.

What about heatsink + fan? I've seen a few mentioned but I'm not sure if I should go 3rd party or not. And which one is a good budget one? Would like to stay around $30 for that if possible.
Another question - from what I've seen, AMD mobos do not support SLI for nVidia video cards? Or at least specs do not call it out specifically. I wouldn't mind the option of adding a 2nd video card down the road when games get a little tougher on systems. But this is not a must. I am married to the GeForce GTX 260 since I already bought it.

Thanks for your help.

 

[DSF]

Raidmax's included PSUs are junk. You would do much better to go with the Sonata III.

 

[SniperZ]

You can get the E8400 for around $140 shipped + taxed from Dell right now.

 

[Jray]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Maybe I will stick with the Antec and spend a little bit more money. I hadn't heard that about Raidmax's power supplies.

@SniperZ - Are you recommending the E8400 over the X3 720?

 

[Denithor]

Stick with the PhII 720, that third core is becoming more important for gaming with most new releases. Keep in mind that games these days are developed for the consoles then ported to the PC - the consoles are all multicore - so games are going to become more and more multithreaded.

Second vote for the Sonata III. Best Buy has it listed online for $100 + tax + shipping (about $112 for me in NC). Just use google shopping to find the deal if you cannot find it on their website.

And there's a Corsair DDR2-800 4GB kit at newegg for $20 ($45 - $25MIR) with free shipping.

 

[Jray]

Originally posted by: Denithor
Stick with the PhII 720, that third core is becoming more important for gaming with most new releases. Keep in mind that games these days are developed for the consoles then ported to the PC - the consoles are all multicore - so games are going to become more and more multithreaded.

Second vote for the Sonata III. Best Buy has it listed online for $100 + tax + shipping (about $112 for me in NC). Just use google shopping to find the deal if you cannot find it on their website.

And there's a Corsair DDR2-800 4GB kit at newegg for $20 ($45 - $25MIR) with free shipping.

Thanks for the help Denithor. I think I'll go with the Sonata III. I'll still be under my budget, which the wife will appreciate .

Is the DDR2-800 good enough for overclocking the PhII 720? I'm still not clear on the bus speed of that processor.

Does anyone have any thoughts regarding a heatsink?

 

[Denithor]

X3 720 is multiplier unlocked - so you can simply crank up the multiplier without changing the memory speed at all.

Memory speed has little impact on performance but you could always spend about $45 on a G.Skill DDR2-1066 kit if you're worried about it.

And I would recommend the Xigmatek S1283 for your cooling needs. That's the best value in a top-end cooler right now.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

You can get a 640 Caviar black from newegg for 5$ more. Don't know what the performance difference is. If you're booting/running programs from it, it'd probably be nice.

 

[Insomniator]

I don't know how important the budget is but I'd consider an E5x00 for 70 bucks or less instead of an X3 or e8x00. Mine does 3.5 (280x12.5) everything else left alone... it could prob get to 3.8-4.0 with some actual effort. Not a bad chip for 65 bucks or whatever they cost now.

 

[Denithor]

e5200 is certainly cheaper but it gets slapped silly by the X3 chips in games.

FO3 & L4D
FC2 & Crysis Warhead

Comparing the X3 710 to the e5200 (2.6GHz vs 2.5GHz) you see about 25-30% faster fps in most cases. That's pretty significant. And before you say the e5200 overclocks well - so do the X3 chips.

 

[Hacp]

Originally posted by: Jray
Hi All,
I'm getting ready to build my first new PC in quite awhile. My current A64 3000+ is getting pretty long in the tooth. I've been researching lately but I've been out of touch for awhile so I'm not completely clear on some things. Anyway...

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
Gaming and general use - web, email, digital photo editing

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
I've targeted about $750 but I think I can come in under that

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
USA

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc, etc, etc, you get the picture.
No real preference, just best bang for buck

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
For now I'm reusing everything outside the box - mouse, kb, monitor and speakers

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
Yes

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
Yes, would like to overclock

8. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Within next month or 2

Here is what I've come up with:

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 260 Already purchased last week - $160
CPU + MOBO: AMD PII X3 720 + Gigabyte GA-MA790GP-UD4H combo With a recent price drop - $230 <- is the mobo a good choice for OC'ing? This combo seems like a great bang for the buck deal
HDD: Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB - $75
DVD: LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model GH22LS30 - OEM - $26
Case + PS: Raidmax Smilodon ATX Case with 500W Power Supply - $70 - I'm not in love with this case but I like the idea of getting case & PS together to save money. This one seems to have good ratings on NewEgg. I have a MicroCenter near by so that I can buy locally. I also like the Antec Sonata III and Antec's cases in general.

Here is where we get to one of my questions, regarding the RAM... what is better to use? It seems like most modern processors use the DDR2 800, but is 1066 better for overclocking? I'm a little confused on this point. I'm open for suggestions on these if there is something clearly better.
RAM: OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 - $33 After rebate
or
RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 - $40

Depending on how you add that up, I'm only at about $601 total, which is amazing. When I first started considering a new PC about a month ago, I had a hard time getting under $800 (was looking at C2D E8400).

I guess I should mention that I will use my current copy of Win XP for now, until Windows 7 comes out.

What about heatsink + fan? I've seen a few mentioned but I'm not sure if I should go 3rd party or not. And which one is a good budget one? Would like to stay around $30 for that if possible.
Another question - from what I've seen, AMD mobos do not support SLI for nVidia video cards? Or at least specs do not call it out specifically. I wouldn't mind the option of adding a 2nd video card down the road when games get a little tougher on systems. But this is not a must. I am married to the GeForce GTX 260 since I already bought it.

Thanks for your help.

Get the biostar mobo combo which is 30 dollars less and use that extra money to buy a decent PSU. I think the coarsair 650watt one is pretty popular. Other than that, it looks pretty good. Also, get a better case. The case and powersupply are the two things that you probably will recycle if you're rebuilding in 3-4 years so make them top notch.

With your budget, the steel antec 300 looks perfect, but if you can afford to throw away cash, go with the 900 or P180.

 

[SniperZ]

Originally posted by: Jray
Thanks for the feedback guys. Maybe I will stick with the Antec and spend a little bit more money. I hadn't heard that about Raidmax's power supplies.

@SniperZ - Are you recommending the E8400 over the X3 720?

I can't tell if the E8400 is a better choice over the X3 720 . I just say because I saw you were looking at it ! However, I just order new parts which included the E8400 and I can put my rig together next week.

 

[Jray]

Good stuff everyone. I appreciate the help.

I'm still unclear on the RAM... does the PhII 720 run the DDR2 800 at its rated speed? Is there anything to be gained by using the DDR2 1066, even though most of the overclocking is done through multiplier changes?

Is there any problem fitting a Xigma heat sink in a case such as the Sonata III that anyone is aware of? I also like the 300 (thanks Hacp - you are also right about case and PS... I've been using my current ones for about 6 years and a couple of builds) and the 900. Decisions, decisions....

I'm pretty set on the PhII 720, it just seems like the sweet spot right now for price and performance. I suppose the decision is really coming down to the case.