New Build (intel)

[ancalagon06]

My goal is to have a very nice gaming rig (not top of the line, but good enough that I won't have to worry 2 years from now about it running games)

 

Motherboard - ASUS P5N-D

Processor - Intel Core 2 Duo 3.16ghz

Graphics Card - 2 X EVGA 896-P3-1257-AR GeForce GTX 250

RAM - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800

HDD - Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

Power Supply - CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply

Case - Antec Performance One P180 Silver cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Optical Drive - LG Black DVD+-R

 

What do you guys think of this build?

Also, I currently have a 250gb HD that already has windows vista on it in a different computer. Can I just use that one instead of having to buy vista and a HDD?

Is a Blu-Ray drive any better than a regular optical drive? Would I need a widescreen display on my PC to take advantage of Blu-Ray disks?

Even if you have a suggestion for a different board, let me know.

I should be buying this build in a few weeks and wanted some input.

 

Thanks for all the help.

Edited March 31, 2009 by ancalagon06

[scr4wl]

Looks Good

 

But

 

If you're going to get a 260 get a core 216.

 

Yes you can use the old harddrive. You will need to reactivate windows so if you do not have the product key you'll need to reformat and do a clean install anyway.

 

I'd buy the new harddrive if I were you.

[Fogel]

Looks Good

 

But

 

If you're going to get a 260 get a core 216.

 

Yes you can use the old harddrive. You will need to reactivate windows so if you do not have the product key you'll need to reformat and do a clean install anyway.

 

I'd buy the new harddrive if I were you.

 

Your old HDD is filled with drivers from your other computer. You're gonna have to start fresh anyway. I'd just buy a new HDD, and if you DO decide to go that route than I recommend this HDD instead:

WD Caviar Black - 640GB

- - 140 extra GB

- - 2yrs more on warranty

- - 32MB cache instead of the 16MB you chose

 

And only $15 more...

 

Also agree on getting 216 core version of the 260. This is a REALLY attractive offer for a 260... MSI 260/216 - OC'd to 655 $189 (or $159 after MIR)

 

 

edit1: i just can't spell warranty sometimes <_<

edit2: i see you chose the 250 not the 260 ...go 260 man, seriously worth the extra money

 

Also my friend had issues with the memory you chose (the BPQs) so I went with the BPKs and had no issues. Try this RAM instead:

G.Skill 4GB - 1066

 

If you go with the GTX 260 you only need 1 video card, so the parts I'm recommending would fall below your budget line.

Edited March 31, 2009 by Fogel

[ancalagon06]

yah, I don't know why I had a 260 written in the original list.

 

couple questions:

If I go with the 260, then I don't need to run 2 of them to get the same performance as the 2 X 250s?

 

the motherboard is only rated for DDR2 800, does it matter if the speed is higher than that?

 

which is the best option for running games: Vista (64 or 32 bit) or XP (64 or 32 bit)

 

a buddy of mine is telling me to get two HDs: a small high RPM large cache one to run the OS, and a larger slower one to store all the games. Is this a viable route?

Edited March 31, 2009 by ancalagon06

[Fogel]

Off the top of my head I don't know the performance of two 250s in SLI so I'd have to look up some benchmarks, i'd still go 1 GTX260-216

 

Stick with DDR2 800

 

Stick with Vista because you already have it and there really isn't a big enough difference to worry about - more personal preference. More importantly though... there really is no point in buying a new Operating System now that Windows 7 is only 4 months away.

 

The HDD question: The HDD I linked you will fit the bill for all that. The only upgrades would be a Velociraptor (not worth the money) and SSD drives. They (SSDs) are QUITE pricey but if you are ok with that than do it, but I would not split my apps up like your friend is saying. I would put my O/S and all applications on the SSD and only use the 2nd drive for storage.

Edited March 31, 2009 by Fogel

[lankeyluke]

Maybe consider a quad. Thats a very expensive processer and quads are very futreproof. Clock nearly as high aswell. I dont see to much of a downside

[Fogel]

So I did some more research on this GTX250 since I didn't know crap about it ...evidently all the major review sites were denied a pre-release look. I could not find a review that put them in SLI, but since its pretty much a rebadged 9800GTX+ that is 1" smaller in length and more energy efficient we can take performance of 9800GTX+s in SLI.

 

Problem with SLI is not all games take well to SLI ...especially with these older cores. So in some games you will see a significant boost with two 250s in SLI over 1 GTX260 and some games it will be worse. Now 260s SLI very well.

 

Best Review I could find with most options you could take

 

 

The price point of two 250s puts you around $260 - this is the price of a 4850X2. I'd pick the 4850X2 over the two 250s for reliable performance. One thing became clear looking at the reviews, if you do go with the 250 than go with 1GB RAM version and not 512MB version you chose. It is $20 more for the 1GB version. Now if you SLI, well than i guess it probably doesn't matter in the long run ...but again, I'd go with a 4850X2 before a two 250s.

 

It really comes down to how much you want to spend.

 

 

$160 - $200 - GTX260 (216 cores)

$260 - $300 - 4850 X2

$320 - more - GTX260 SLI

 

 

If this rig is all about gaming, stick with Core 2 Duo for better gaming performance ...unless your goal would be to knock out a monster OC (4GHz)

Edited April 1, 2009 by Fogel

[IVIYTH0S]

So I did some more research on this GTX250 since I didn't know crap about it ...evidently all the major review sites were denied a pre-release look. I could not find a review that put them in SLI, but since its pretty much a rebadged 9800GTX+ that is 1" smaller in length and more energy efficient we can take performance of 9800GTX+s in SLI.

 

Problem with SLI is not all games take well to SLI ...especially with these older cores. So in some games you will see a significant boost with two 250s in SLI over 1 GTX260 and some games it will be worse. Now 260s SLI very well.

 

Best Review I could find with most options you could take

 

 

The price point of two 250s puts you around $260 - this is the price of a 4850X2. I'd pick the 4850X2 over the two 250s for reliable performance. One thing became clear looking at the reviews, if you do go with the 250 than go with 1GB RAM version and not 512MB version you chose. It is $20 more for the 1GB version. Now if you SLI, well than i guess it probably doesn't matter in the long run ...but again, I'd go with a 4850X2 before a two 250s.

 

It really comes down to how much you want to spend.

 

 

$160 - $200 - GTX260 (216 cores)

$260 - $300 - 4850 X2

$320 - more - GTX260 SLI

 

 

If this rig is all about gaming, stick with Core 2 Duo for better gaming performance ...unless your goal would be to knock out a monster OC (4GHz)

If you are up to a challenge, a 4ghz quad is worth the struggle. But if you want 4ghz easy then go duo, and either go 260 or 4850x2. Don't support nvidia's 9800gtx+ rebrand, get the 2GB 4850x2 or SLI 260's for serious performance.

Edited April 1, 2009 by IVIYTH0S