New Gaming Build

[prolific7]

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
gaming, watching movies, school work

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
$1200

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
canada / ncix

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.
n/a

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
n/a

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

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
moderate overclocking

8. WHEN do you plan to build it?
within 1 month

I've picked out the following parts so far. I need help picking out a motherboard. I won't be using crossfire. I will want to do some overclocking by hopefully getting the cpu to run at around 3.8-4 GHz on air.

Is there any noticable performance differences between the companies that make the ati boards like sapphire, his, asus, etc?

Also, I'm not entirely sure about the Lian Li case. Anyone have this particular case? I might just use the Antec case from my current PC since $260 is a lot of money for a case.

How is the heatsink / fan that comes with the retail E8500 box? Is it good enough to get 3.8-4ghz?

$210 Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16GHz 6MB 1333MHz LGA775
$125 Corsair XMS2 Dominator TWIN2X4096-8500C5DF 4GB 2X2GB PC2-8500 DDR2-1066 CL5-5-5-15 240PIN Memory Kit
$304 SAPPHIRE RADEON HD4870 512MB DDR5 DUAL DVI-I TVO PCI-E LITE RETAIL
$170 Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1TB SATA-300 32MB 7200rpm ST31000340AS
$145 Corsair CMPSU-620HX 620W ATX Triple 12V 50A 24PIN ATX Modular Power Supply 120MM Fan 2X PCI-E
$260 LIAN-LI PC-A10B Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Case

 

[MarcVenice]

The case you picked is also known as rocketfish, a 'cheaper' yet almost identical version that went on sale a few months ago, for dirtcheap, $100 or less kind of cheap. Ask on the cases & cooling forums, but as far as I know people loved that case. $260 is a LOT of money though, you can buy 3 decent case for that money.

I'd get a e8400, it will hit 3.6-3.8ghz as well, so might as well save yourself $50.

I'd drop the dominator ram, and get something like this instead: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231145 fast enough for your needs, and cheaper, and no rebates

You could go with a 520hx, it has enough power for a HD4870.

No, there aren't any performance differences between all the different ATI boards, unless they are factory overclocked of course, but the boards are basically all the same. SOME brands offer different kinds of cooling though, and some brands have better warranty then others. I think HIS is pretty well liked, and iirc visiontek offers lifetime warranty.

 

[modoheo]

I'd go with this board:
ASUS P5Q LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131295

Good quality, feature rich, nice price, and very overclockable.

Actually, now that the E8500's price has dropped and it's only 20 bucks more than the E8400, if you want to hit 3.8GHz it's probably your best bet b/c of the multiplier. It'll likely be as simple as bumping the FSB to 400 and increasing the vcore a little. You could even achieve that with DDR2 800 RAM, but I agree the GSkill DDR2 1000 is a good value.

You definitely need an aftermarket heatsink for that overclock imho. I'd go with the Xigmatek 1283.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

You could save almost up to 100$ if you went with a WD 640 which is a really good drive. WD 640 @ NCIX WD 640 @ NewEgg

 

[JPB]

Originally posted by: modoheo
I'd go with this board:
ASUS P5Q LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131295

Good quality, feature rich, nice price, and very overclockable.

Actually, now that the E8500's price has dropped and it's only 20 bucks more than the E8400, if you want to hit 3.8GHz it's probably your best bet b/c of the multiplier. It'll likely be as simple as bumping the FSB to 400 and increasing the vcore a little. You could even achieve that with DDR2 800 RAM, but I agree the GSkill DDR2 1000 is a good value.

You definitely need an aftermarket heatsink for that overclock imho. I'd go with the Xigmatek 1283.

modoheo is one of the best for recommending hardware.

I would say the ASUS P5Q P45 as well.

 

[prolific7]

which version of the p5q? there are deluxe, pro, and e versions.

 

[DSF]

The lowest-priced one that has all the features you need would be my recommendation. For most people, that's either the base P5Q, or the P5Q Pro.