Budget build: Am I choosing the right stuff..

[stafa]

Here's the skinny, building a gaming only rig for under $1000. I have a lot of spare parts, so I only need:

CPU
Memory
Motherboard
Sound
Video
Power Supply

Here is my current list, any recommendations?
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80562Q6600 - Retail | $277.99

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ - Retail | $65.99

ABIT IP35 Pro LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail | $20.00 Mail-in Rebate | $179.99

OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI ATX12V 700W Power Supply - Retail | $35.00 Mail-in Rebate | $139.99

Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail | $32.99

SAPPHIRE 100196L Radeon X1950PRO 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail | $154.99

Grand Total: $851.94

 

[Hazaro]

Gaming rig with a 1950? Not anymore

Grab a 2900Pro or wait a bit and grab a 8800GT to still stay in your budget and double your FPS!

 

[stafa]

I suppose I could man up a bit and buy a better card. I am underf 1k atm. Between the 2 cards you mention, which is better?

 

[stafa]

I think i will buy the new 1gig 2900pro. People are saying the 2900 overclocks well and the 1gig of ddr4 should help performance, no?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814102707

 

[ancalime]

I suppose I could man up a bit and buy a better card. I am underf 1k atm. Between the 2 cards you mention, which is better?

The latter.

Although you are under a budget, I think this can hardly be considered a 'budget' build.

 

[stafa]

Sorry, this is not a poor college student budget build. I guess I was saying: "this is not a $5000, uber, water-cooled, dual video card, fire-breathing gaming death rig......build"

I just want to stay at or under 1k in price overall for the components I mentioned.

 

[bullcrew]

Add a 8800GTS 320 and thats a nice build, I have almost an identical build as far as specs and certain items.
IP35 PRO rocks, quad rocks mem is differnet brans essentially the same PSU is good.

Agread with above definently not a cheap budget build but a NICE one!!

 

[Hazaro]

If you can hold out till October 29th, the new 8800GT cards come out with the die shrink and seem to be boasting awesome 3DMark06 scores (For an Nvidia card). They are cheap, run cool, and are (imo) way better than the 8800GTS's.

You can always feel free to order your rig now, and pop in a graphics card later.

*Also for CPU, might you consider at X3210 or X3220 Quad? They seem to tolerate higher temps.

 

[ancalime]

Yeah I agree with Hazaro. If you are going to game with AA, than 8800s are the way to go. The GT model is coming in a matter of weeks, certainly worth it to wait IMO.

 

[stafa]

I can live with my current rig for a couple weeks then. Thanks for the heads up, it's hard to keep up with all the changes these days. (for me anyway). I'll stick to my poor old setup for a couple more weeks, I've suffered long enough as it is. (geforce 6800 ultra on AGP, AMD 3200+... not much of a rig anymore.)

 

[Hazaro]

I can live with my current rig for a couple weeks then. Thanks for the heads up, it's hard to keep up with all the changes these days. (for me anyway). I'll stick to my poor old setup for a couple more weeks, I've suffered long enough as it is. (geforce 6800 ultra on AGP, AMD 3200+... not much of a rig anymore.)

Might as well order everything but the video card now and get to overclocking that quad while you wait on your graphics card

 

[djrussell]

Might as well order everything but the video card now and get to overclocking that quad while you wait on your graphics card

can't do it. no AGP slot on the IP35 pro.

nice build. make sure you have/include a good heatsink for the quad.

 

[Hazaro]

can't do it. no AGP slot on the IP35 pro.

nice build. make sure you have/include a good heatsink for the quad.

Well yeah, while he will not have the best graphics in the world for a bit, he can tough it out and be amazed at his quad power!

 

[djrussell]

Well yeah, while he will not have the best graphics in the world for a bit, he can tough it out and be amazed at his quad power!

he doesn't have a pci/pci-e card though. i guess he could just get a cheapy $20 special to tide him over.

 

[ou_phidelt]

or run it headless.

 

[djrussell]

or run it headless.

hmmmmmmmm........

 

[stafa]

I have a laptop right now with an ATI x1400, T7200 and 2GIGs of 667Mhz ram in it. I have actually been playing some games with it (Everquest 2 on low settings, counter strike source maxed out, etc.) recently. It actually holds its own ok with older games, sometimes faring better than my aging desktop which has been turned into a server (AD, DNS, DHCP, file and print). My old board has 2 RAID controllers on it so I went RAID 1 on my OS drives and RAID 5 on my storage (i cheaped out and went raid 5 instead of 10 hehe).

Anyway, I will just buy it all in one shot. I figure it's like my other obsession, modding cars. If you do it all in one big shot the 'WOW' factor is all that much better. =P Plus, prices might go down some on the others items, ya never know!

's for all. Thanks for the advice.