Building a gaming PC-

[Jimbo]

Hi all-

I'm in the process of trying to build a decent gaming PC for under 1K. This
PC will be for gaming only and I'll be using my existing monitor, case, and
peripherals.
After much research I've decided on the components below but could really
use some feedback on this configuration to ease my mind before I take the
plunge.

TIA-


Motherboard- ASUS P5N32-E SLI PLUS nVIDIA nFORCE 650I SLI CHIPSET W/SATA2
RAID,DUAL LAN(Gb),1394,USB 2.0 & AUDIO

CPU- CORE 2 DUO E6600 2.4G (1066Mhz)

RAM- KINGSTON 2GB DDR2 667 (1GB x 2)

Power Supply- ENERMAX EG565P-VE FMA II ATX 12V VERSION 2.2 535W SLI,
CROSSFIRE READY RoHS

Video Card- XFX GEFORCE 7950 GT 512MB PCI EXPRESS 570MHZ DDR3 DUAL DVI

Hardrive- WD 250GB WD2500KS SATA300 16MB 7200RPM

Total $990

 

[Dave]

Motherboard- ASUS P5N32-E SLI PLUS nVIDIA nFORCE 650I SLI CHIPSET

W/SATA2 RAID,DUAL LAN(Gb),1394,USB 2.0 & AUDIO

CPU- CORE 2 DUO E6600 2.4G (1066Mhz)

RAM- KINGSTON 2GB DDR2 667 (1GB x 2)

Power Supply- ENERMAX EG565P-VE FMA II ATX 12V VERSION 2.2 535W SLI,
CROSSFIRE READY RoHS

Video Card- XFX GEFORCE 7950 GT 512MB PCI EXPRESS 570MHZ DDR3 DUAL DVI

Hardrive- WD 250GB WD2500KS SATA300 16MB 7200RPM

Total $990

Not bad!!! You managed to pick a good (and good NAME BRAND) power supply
with all the right connectors on it, which is better than most do. I'm not
crazy about asus, but the chipset is nvidia, at least. Can't argue with
core 2 duo, kingston ram, XFX video and WD hard drive. All good stuff!!!
I'd say buy. Only one question . . . do you have a floppy drive that you
will recycle? If not, you MIGHT need one, if only to install the SATA
drivers to enable the installation of Windows. -Dave

 

[Jimbo]

Not bad!!! You managed to pick a good (and good NAME BRAND) power supply
with all the right connectors on it, which is better than most do. I'm
not crazy about asus, but the chipset is nvidia, at least. Can't argue
with core 2 duo, kingston ram, XFX video and WD hard drive. All good
stuff!!! I'd say buy. Only one question . . . do you have a floppy drive
that you will recycle? If not, you MIGHT need one, if only to install the
SATA drivers to enable the installation of Windows. -Dave

Thanks for the quick response-

I only went with the Asus due to prior experience, is there a better one
with comparable specs at this price point I should consider?
And yes I do have a floppy drive- I better check it though it hasn't been
used in years.

 

[FKS]

I only went with the Asus due to prior experience, is there a better one
with comparable specs at this price point I should consider?
And yes I do have a floppy drive- I better check it though it hasn't been
used in years.

Intel BadAxe, probably the most reliable core 2 duo board. My gaming PC uses
an BadAxe and I've never had any problem whatsoever.

 

[Dennis Schmitz]

Hi all-

I'm in the process of trying to build a decent gaming PC for under 1K. This
PC will be for gaming only and I'll be using my existing monitor, case, and
peripherals.
After much research I've decided on the components below but could really
use some feedback on this configuration to ease my mind before I take the
plunge.

TIA-


Motherboard- ASUS P5N32-E SLI PLUS nVIDIA nFORCE 650I SLI CHIPSET W/SATA2
RAID,DUAL LAN(Gb),1394,USB 2.0 & AUDIO

CPU- CORE 2 DUO E6600 2.4G (1066Mhz)

RAM- KINGSTON 2GB DDR2 667 (1GB x 2)

Power Supply- ENERMAX EG565P-VE FMA II ATX 12V VERSION 2.2 535W SLI,
CROSSFIRE READY RoHS

Video Card- XFX GEFORCE 7950 GT 512MB PCI EXPRESS 570MHZ DDR3 DUAL DVI

Hardrive- WD 250GB WD2500KS SATA300 16MB 7200RPM

Total $990

Hey Jimbo,

I'm new to the group, sorry for the potentially silly questions, so bear
with me please.

Could you tell us what kind of case you are going to use, how many fans and
location. What is the audio onboard?

Does the PSU allow for additional HDD's and removable drives.

Will that board support faster processors?

Would this video card be able to do video editing and rendering?

I am gathering advise as I am getting prepared to build my own machine.

And Dave, what are your concerns about Asus mobos?

Thanks for any input.

Dennis

 

[Paul]

Hi all-

I'm in the process of trying to build a decent gaming PC for under 1K. This
PC will be for gaming only and I'll be using my existing monitor, case, and
peripherals.
After much research I've decided on the components below but could really
use some feedback on this configuration to ease my mind before I take the
plunge.

TIA-


Motherboard- ASUS P5N32-E SLI PLUS nVIDIA nFORCE 650I SLI CHIPSET W/SATA2
RAID,DUAL LAN(Gb),1394,USB 2.0 & AUDIO

CPU- CORE 2 DUO E6600 2.4G (1066Mhz)

RAM- KINGSTON 2GB DDR2 667 (1GB x 2)

Power Supply- ENERMAX EG565P-VE FMA II ATX 12V VERSION 2.2 535W SLI,
CROSSFIRE READY RoHS

Video Card- XFX GEFORCE 7950 GT 512MB PCI EXPRESS 570MHZ DDR3 DUAL DVI

Hardrive- WD 250GB WD2500KS SATA300 16MB 7200RPM

Total $990

There is a price decrease forecast for the E6600. It is supposed to
drop to $224 on April 22/2007. I don't know how much of a rush you
are in, but that will save a little bit.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/dualcore-roundup.html

As for high end cards like 7950GT, I'd look at warranties and reports
on warranty service, before picking a manufacturer. Some of the video
cards, starting with 7800 series, had a 10% failure rate in the first
year, which means I might want to pay a little more attention to
what warranties are available. There are some lifetime warranties
for example, and you may wish to search for one of those. Some
companies are "virtually invisible", when you try to contact them
for warranty issues.

Paul

 

[Mike T.]

Thanks for the quick response-

I only went with the Asus due to prior experience, is there a better one
with comparable specs at this price point I should consider?
And yes I do have a floppy drive- I better check it though it hasn't been
used in years.

At your price point? Not quite. Not that I can find anyway. The badaxe2
from Intel looks mighty promising, supporting quad-core processors. But
from reliable vendors, this one seems to be going for about $210 right now.
I think your Asus is a little cheaper than that. You can save significant
cash (and have a much better selection) if you don't need 1333 FSB and SLI
capability and quad-core support. And you'd still end up with a kick-ass
gamer. But only you can decide what features you want in a mainboard. Just
keep in mind that you (generic you, not you personally) typically do not
upgrade a system significantly *without* replacing a mainboard. So in
shopping for a mainboard, you should only be buying features you
realistically expect to use within a few months of the OS first being
activated. That is, if you are buying SLI capability in a mainboard,
thinking that you are going to use SLI sometime in 2008, you are likely
wasting money. But I don't know what your specific plans are, so can't
really tell you that you're wasting money on the Asus board. It could be
exactly what you need, and nothing more. -Dave

 

[Mike T.]

Hey Jimbo,

I'm new to the group, sorry for the potentially silly questions, so bear
with me please.

Could you tell us what kind of case you are going to use, how many fans
and
location. What is the audio onboard?

Does the PSU allow for additional HDD's and removable drives.

I'll answer some of these for the OP. This one is YES.

Will that board support faster processors?

This one also is YES.

Would this video card be able to do video editing and rendering?

It would likely be very capable for that particular use.

I am gathering advise as I am getting prepared to build my own machine.

And Dave, what are your concerns about Asus mobos?

Oh man, didn't want to get into this, as didn't want to get flamed again.
Asus has many very rabid fans, and some of those fans happen to be so-called
experts. Based on my experience, Asus boards do not hold up well over the
long run. But many, MANY people have had good luck building with their
particular Asus brand mainboards, and that's great. It's just not something
that I, personally, would put in a machine destined for the "production
floor". I don't like headaches. And when I'm building for myself,
family and friends, I tend to also steer away from brands that are more
likely to cause headaches. That's why I tend not to choose to build with
anything Asus.

But I know it's not helpful to simply say to avoid Asus. So I'll offer some
good alternatives: Intel. AOpen. DFI. Just to mention a few REALLY good
name-brands of motherboards. But there are other good brands out there that
(In my very informed and honest opinion) are also better choices than Asus.
If someone asks "what board would be good for ....?" I'd always be happy to
offer a few good suggestions of specific boards. -Dave

 

[John Doe]

Oh man, didn't want to get into this,

And the cow jumped over the moon.

as didn't want to get flamed again.

On reentry.

Asus has many very rabid fans, and some of those fans happen
to be so-called experts.

And then there's the guy who pretends he knows something everyone else
doesn't know.

suggestions of specific boards. -Dave

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From: "Mike T." <noway nohow.net>
Newsgroups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
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Subject: Re: Building a gaming PC-
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2007 09:18:29 -0400
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[pmoloney]

Motherboard- ASUS P5N32-E SLI PLUS nVIDIA nFORCE 650I SLI CHIPSET W/SATA2
RAID,DUAL LAN(Gb),1394,USB 2.0 & AUDIO

I'd be interested in hearing more about this MB too; as far as I can
see, it offers SLI at a good price and (allegedly) more stability than
a "pure" 680i.

Video Card- XFX GEFORCE 7950 GT 512MB PCI EXPRESS 570MHZ DDR3 DUAL DVI

Is that a DX10 card? Mightn't you be better going for some flavour of
8800?

Regards,

P.