I will be in the market to purchase a new gaming box in the next month or so. I checked out the prebuilt stuff but I think I can do it cheaper and better myself . I haven't built a computer in eight years though. My tentative budget is around $2000 for everything. I have never overclocked a thing in my life so I'm a little hesitant to do so. I'm a OC noob so I guess it's something I need to read up on before diving into it.
A lot has changed hardware-wise since I last cracked a case for a build. My googlefu led me to some of the more recent "help me build a gaming rig" threads here (phenominal advice from the forum members btw) and I have composed the below list of items (previously recommended to another poster by Rage_3K_Moiz) to purchase. I'm still a few weeks away from having the moola but I wanted to see if you guys see anything that I can tweak/change. Any input is appreciated.
CASE: Antec 900 ($120)
PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply - Retail ($120 >mir)
MOBO: ASUS P5E LGA775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard Retail ($225)
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - Retail ($195)
CPU COOLER: ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 120mm 2-ball UFO Bearing / Transparent CPU Cooler - Retail ($40 >mir)
MEMORY: X2 - Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2-1066 CL5-5-5-15 Dual Channel Kit Retail BL2KIT12864AA1065 ($100 >mir for 4GB total)
GPU: XFX GeForce 9800 GX2 1GB 2x256bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP & SLI Ready Video Card Retail PVT98UZHF9 ($520 >mir)
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM ($100 >mir)
MONITOR: 2253BW Black 22" 2ms(GTG) DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor with HDCP Support 300 cd/m2 DC 8000:1 - Retail ($270 >mir)
KEYBOARD: Undecided
MOUSE: Undecided
MISC: Undecided
All items tentatively priced from newegg for a total of $1690. I know I can get some of the components cheaper (i.e. case from Amazon) but I just wanted a ball park tally while I decide on the specific components. Some of the prices are listed after the mail in rebate (mir).
NOTE: I have a copy of XP Pro for right now and I already have a DVD+RW drive. I'm not 100% sold on Vista at the moment so I'll wait before shelling out more money on another OS.
I've read some of the reviews for the Antec 900 and they mention space issues for some of the video cards. Does anyone know for a fact if the GeForce 9800 GX2 will have problems fitting in the case?
A lot has changed hardware-wise since I last cracked a case for a build. My googlefu led me to some of the more recent "help me build a gaming rig" threads here (phenominal advice from the forum members btw) and I have composed the below list of items (previously recommended to another poster by Rage_3K_Moiz) to purchase. I'm still a few weeks away from having the moola but I wanted to see if you guys see anything that I can tweak/change. Any input is appreciated.
CASE: Antec 900 ($120)
PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply - Retail ($120 >mir)
MOBO: ASUS P5E LGA775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard Retail ($225)
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - Retail ($195)
CPU COOLER: ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 120mm 2-ball UFO Bearing / Transparent CPU Cooler - Retail ($40 >mir)
MEMORY: X2 - Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2-1066 CL5-5-5-15 Dual Channel Kit Retail BL2KIT12864AA1065 ($100 >mir for 4GB total)
GPU: XFX GeForce 9800 GX2 1GB 2x256bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP & SLI Ready Video Card Retail PVT98UZHF9 ($520 >mir)
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM ($100 >mir)
MONITOR: 2253BW Black 22" 2ms(GTG) DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor with HDCP Support 300 cd/m2 DC 8000:1 - Retail ($270 >mir)
KEYBOARD: Undecided
MOUSE: Undecided
MISC: Undecided
All items tentatively priced from newegg for a total of $1690. I know I can get some of the components cheaper (i.e. case from Amazon) but I just wanted a ball park tally while I decide on the specific components. Some of the prices are listed after the mail in rebate (mir).
NOTE: I have a copy of XP Pro for right now and I already have a DVD+RW drive. I'm not 100% sold on Vista at the moment so I'll wait before shelling out more money on another OS.
I've read some of the reviews for the Antec 900 and they mention space issues for some of the video cards. Does anyone know for a fact if the GeForce 9800 GX2 will have problems fitting in the case?