Compatibility check, suggestions on build.

[spartan_phalanx]

It's been awhile coming but I am finally committing to my first pc build and would be grateful if you all could double check what I have chosen for compatibility, bottlenecks or any other suggestions. Also thanks a lot to the guides posted here they have helped a ton. Hopefully I will now be ready for a better Total War experience than my current (5fps). My current plans look so...

Case: Thermaltake Xaser V Damier
MB: ASUS P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP LGA 775
GPU: EVGA 640-P2-N825-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3
PS: OCZ GameXStream Power Supply 850W
Mem: OCZ Gold 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin Memory
HD: Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10,000 RPM
HD: 2x - Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST3500641AS 500GB 7200 RPM
DVD: PLEXTOR Slot Load 16X DVD±R DVD Burner
OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate
Mouse: Logitech MX
Mon: Dell 30”

Total from newegg comes in around $2,200 without the monitor and mouse. Anything missing, not compatible or that I should change? Suggestions very much appreciated, thanks.

[sdjenkyn]

I just built a very similar rig and was advised by the folks helping me pick stuff out that I would be much better off waiting to get vista later as your graphics cards wont even work under vista yet,

[Freddie]

It's been awhile coming but I am finally committing to my first pc build and would be grateful if you all could double check what I have chosen for compatibility, bottlenecks or any other suggestions. Also thanks a lot to the guides posted here they have helped a ton. Hopefully I will now be ready for a better Total War experience than my current (5fps). My current plans look so...

Case: Thermaltake Xaser V Damier
MB: ASUS P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP LGA 775
GPU: EVGA 640-P2-N825-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3
PS: OCZ GameXStream Power Supply 850W
Mem: OCZ Gold 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin Memory
HD: Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10,000 RPM
HD: 2x - Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST3500641AS 500GB 7200 RPM
DVD: PLEXTOR Slot Load 16X DVD±R DVD Burner
OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate
Mouse: Logitech MX
Mon: Dell 30”

Total from newegg comes in around $2,200 without the monitor and mouse. Anything missing, not compatible or that I should change? Suggestions very much appreciated, thanks.

You have missed somehting there but it's so comical I don't want to tell you just yet. The only clue I'll give you is ".....inside".

[King Edward I]

It's been awhile coming but I am finally committing to my first pc build and would be grateful if you all could double check what I have chosen for compatibility, bottlenecks or any other suggestions. Also thanks a lot to the guides posted here they have helped a ton. Hopefully I will now be ready for a better Total War experience than my current (5fps). My current plans look so...

Case: Thermaltake Xaser V Damier
MB: ASUS P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP LGA 775
GPU: EVGA 640-P2-N825-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3
PS: OCZ GameXStream Power Supply 850W
Mem: OCZ Gold 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin Memory
HD: Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10,000 RPM
HD: 2x - Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST3500641AS 500GB 7200 RPM
DVD: PLEXTOR Slot Load 16X DVD±R DVD Burner
OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate
Mouse: Logitech MX
Mon: Dell 30”

Total from newegg comes in around $2,200 without the monitor and mouse. Anything missing, not compatible or that I should change? Suggestions very much appreciated, thanks.

im willing to bet that wont work...

[Doono]

ill give you 1:1 odds on that bet Ed.

Sparten that's never going to work till you add a processor. And if it's costing you $2200 without a cpu your getting properly ripped off.

[Shaun]

I think you forgot to add a CPU . . .

Appart from that, good build.

[sdjenkyn]

The price is right and I'd assume the board will come with the processor. Also if your going to run two cards in sli you wont have room for additional pci cards like sound or wireless.

[spartan_phalanx]

Thanks all for the feedback. Thats funny, I did in fact forget to post the processor.

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz

As for the vista I was looking to not waste my money on another copy of XP only to migrate to Vista in the future anyway. I am currently running Vista Ultimate RC1 and can play MTW2 with my AMD Athlon XP 2800 and FX 5200 graphics. Do you think I will not be able to run it with the card I chose?

I don't plan to run two cards in sli at the moment but it's always a nice option for the future. Do you have a suggestion for a different motherboard/option?

Beings this is my first build is a mid tower big enough for all this? Also there will be $165 in rebates so the price will be a bit lower after it's all said and done.

[sdjenkyn]

Do you have a Fry's store in your area? Im not sure on your case size but I had to get the largest Antec case available so Id go full tower , better airflow too. The graphics cards might work in vista but I was told there are no drivers available yet for them under vista? If you have xp just use that you shouldnt be missing out on anything substantial.

[spartan_phalanx]

sdjenkyn thanks for the tips and advice. I don't have a Fry's store near me so online is the only way to go.

Thanks all, should be ordering things in next week. Monitor and mouse are on the way.

[sdjenkyn]

Something I forgot to mention that you should possibly keep in mind , the 8800''s are huge (width wise) so if you ever do get to the point that you will run 2 in sli keep in mind you may lose most if not all of your available pci slots depending on your MB configuration. Thought you should know since I now have room for only my wireless card and have to use onboard audio instead of my audigy sinec I have nowhere to put it now.

[belson]

I wouldn't bother getting the Raptor X unless you're gonna spend a lot of time looking through that little window. The Raptor 1500AD is quieter and about 40 bucks cheaper (retail) for the exact same hardware and firmware.

[Incinerate_IV]

A good powersupply is very important, but yours is overkill! The 700Watt GameXStream should be more enough.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817341002
Only $134 after rebate.

By the way, for a $2200 gaming computer you should get at least a 8800GTX.

And do you really need more than 1 terabyte of storage? Or a slot loading DVD drive? You can save a lot of money by cutting those down, heck you might even have enough for 2 8800GTS for SLI if you get a cheaper DVD burner and just 1 500GB drive.

[spartan_phalanx]

Thanks for the input, I've revamped a lot a things so here's where I stand now...

CPU - $315
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz

GPU - $379.99
EVGA 640-P2-N825-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB

Motherboard/PSU - Combo $369.98
EVGA 122-CK-NF68-AR LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI
COOLMAX CUG-700B ATX 12V( V.2.2) 700W Power Supply

Memory - $235.99
OCZ Titanium 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800

DVD - $96.99
PLEXTOR Slot Load 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Black

HD - $199.99 + 149.99 = $349.98
Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10,000 RPM
Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST3500641AS 500GB 7200 RPM

Case - $254.60
Cooler Master CM Stacker 830 RC-830-KKN2-GP

OS - $199.99
Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Ultimate for System Builders - OEM

Total - About $2,200

belson
As far as I can see the 1500AD is only 10 bucks cheaper. Were you referring to getting elsewhere than Newegg?

Will SLI make a huge difference right now for today's games? I can always add a second GPU at a later date too right?

I really do appreciate all your input everyone.

[belson]

If you don't want the warranty, then yes the OEM Raptor X is only $10 dollars more (and 10dB louder, although with all your fans it might not make a difference, who knows :hmmm. The price difference I mentioned above is for the retail version on newegg.

Your setup sure seems like an overclockers dream, so I'm gonna assume that you have some heavy overclocking planned. With that assumption, you don't have any third party cooling solutions listed on here. I'd suggest something with vertical fins to take advantage of those 4 fan slots on the side of your case. Something like the Thermalright XP-120 or even the Zalman 7700 should do nicely.

P.S. If my assumption is wrong, then you're definitely getting the wrong memory and case, and could use that extra money for the 8800GTX.

[Doono]

your paying way too much for a case.

And if your going to invest so much in a comp please buy a 8800GTX it's worth the extra money. Do you need DDR800? i ask because if you don't overclock it's not worth the money.

[spartan_phalanx]

Over-clocking is a plan but not right away. I wanted that option more or less to prolong the time-frame before which I would need to upgrade. I am willing to fork out the money now so I don't have to in a year or three. My experience with over-clocking is nothing more than minimal, but I can always learn.

The case was chosen with a couple factors in mind, primarily looks, size and design aspects. So again I am willing to spend a bit more here cause the case can always be used again if the time comes and I decide to build again.

As for the hard-drives, I was looking for something very fast as my primary drive because i do do a fair amount of file transferring, photos, videos and web design among my gaming. I have switched them though because I did overlook the OEM aspect.

Any thoughts on the 15,000 RPM drives out there? I should be ordering things in late next week so any other recommendations are welcome.

[spartan_phalanx]

Sorry missed your post Doono. What's the major difference between the 8800 GTS and the 8800 GTX? I see the obvious 640 MB to 768 MB. Depending on the brand the core clock is the same. The memory frequency is 1800 as opposed to 1700, but is it really worth the extra $200-$300?

I'm not well advised in the details so your opinions and expertise are important.

[Doono]

It has a few major differences which give it far superior power over the GTS.

GTX:
Memory bit rate = 384
Stream processes = 128
memory =

GTS:
Memory bit rate = 320
Stream processes = 96
memory = 640/320MB

Plus i think the factory clock speeds are higher on the GTX. At benchmarks the GTX is roughly 30% faster but in the end it's down to wether you think it's worth it. Personally unless your into proper overclockign id drop the high end memory go for slower memory get a cheaper case and invest into one of these.

[spartan_phalanx]

Thanks Doono. Now between the current brands, they range from $550-$800. There's $60 difference between the two EVGA models and they have almost identical core/memory clocks. The more expensive BFG model has lower core/memory clocks than the EVGA's. Do you have a particular recommendation over another?