ASUS 16X DVD±R DVD Burner With 5X DVD-RAM Write Silver E-IDE/ATAPI Model DRW1608P3SSLV - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16827135082

LIAN LI PC-60APLUSII W Silver Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811112115

2x
Western Digital Caviar RE WD2500YD 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822136010

OCZ Gold Series 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ26671024ELDCGE-K - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820227046http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820227046

ASUS P5NSLI Socket T (LGA 775) NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI Intel Edition ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813131032

Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13GHz 2M sharing L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819115004

COOLMAX "PCI Express" CXI-450B ATX v2.01 450W Power Supply - Retail - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817159053

Gigabyte 7800 GT 256mb for gfx


The theme here is a mid-range gaming rig, this all put together should be around $900, but a very capable machine.

One burning question I have is whether 2x 512mb is better than 1x 1gb for ram in terms of performance.

9/15/2006 5:33:37 PM

just 1 gb?

looks decent

9/15/2006 6:06:52 PM

^ man shit DDR2 is so expensive

9/15/2006 6:29:45 PM

y did u go with intel over amd especially with prices high on the core 2 duo? just curious.

[Edited on September 15, 2006 at 6:52 PM. Reason : .]

9/15/2006 6:52:25 PM

http://anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2802&p=12 <-- where I relied on my reasoning for going with the Conroe

9/15/2006 7:10:53 PM

seriously, go for 2gb dual channel ddr2 ... that's 2x1gb chips ... that extra gb makes a BIG difference when you're gaming, and since you ARE building a gaming rig ...

otherwise, everything else looks about right.

you were right to get the E6400, it's what i have and it's a great cpu.

[Edited on September 15, 2006 at 7:39 PM. Reason : e6400]

9/15/2006 7:38:34 PM

Don't get an SLI motherboard. Get one with an Intel chipset.

9/15/2006 7:40:58 PM

he DID say mid-range gaming....

initial thoughts...

first of all i can't believe your dropping your specs on your memory so you can buy a $115 case, but some people prefer aesthetics over performance, that's your choice... i wouldn't though. (although it IS a lot easier to add memory versus change chassis's)

for a gaming rig really only 1 hard drive is needed, use that extra $75 and invest in memory, not just quantity, but quality, boost that to DDR2-800.... if you were thinking of RAID-0 then i sure hope you have a 3rd drive somewhere for your OS.

agree with gs7, you'll always want pairs of ram to run in dual channel mode (i.e. 2x512mb) 1x1gb stick won't do it, opt for 2x1gb or 4x512mb.

also agree with Stein, intel chipset would be best

e6400 is a good price/perf.

just an FYI, if you were thinking SLI, the PSU you spec'd doesn't support it... also a good percentage of 5 egg ratings... and it's not silver

[Edited on September 15, 2006 at 8:19 PM. Reason : .]

9/15/2006 8:15:09 PM

^ My current rig is a steel case... and it is HEAVY. Not the most ideal case for LAN parties. Which mobo would you recommend (one that obviously support DDR2 800)? I'll go 2x1gb I guess.

9/15/2006 8:53:54 PM

I asked about this in a thread the other day, but I'd say the motherboard might be a bad call. It only supports DDR2 667, and if you aren't looking to SLI later on, it probably isn't worth it. Go for one of the Asus boards with the intel chipsets. They support DDR2 800, and I've seen good reviews for most of them. The P5B tops them all though:

http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=1179&l1=3&l2=11&l3=307

Its pretty expensive, but offers a lot of performance features. Aside from that, its part of their lifestyles series, so it includes a lot of features/accessories that are aimed at making you lazy as hell, apparently. It comes with a remote control to cut the motherboard on/off, an "AI hibernate" feature that supposedly kicks windows hibernates ass, as well as a lot of other stuff. The site has info on all of the other 965/975 boards as well.

9/16/2006 5:31:12 AM

Okay, going with the non-deluxe version of it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131030

9/16/2006 1:06:19 PM

Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Memory $189 after $100MIR

http://www.slickdeals.net/#p8089

9/16/2006 8:22:53 PM

i dunno about that burner...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152058

NEC 3550A is money

do you REALLY need 5x dvd ram burning?

9/18/2006 10:05:03 AM

Unless you already own the 7800gt, spend the extra $ for the 7900gt. IF you're only going to run 1gb of RAM, run 2x512mb to take advantage of the dual channel capabilities of the chipset.

Get a cheaper case and by better components. The brand of powersupply you've chosen is a little sketchy. Don't cheap out on the one piece of hardware that can kill all the rest.

9/18/2006 10:20:10 AM

Quote :

"Don't get an SLI motherboard. Get one with an Intel chipset."

9/18/2006 10:32:07 AM

Okay, I revised my budget upwards of about $500 more than I initially planned. I figure if I wanna do a gaming rig, I might as do it right!

What about these Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800, 2x 1gb.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820145034

I still have concerns about the mobo -- whether I should keep the SLI option open. I'd like the machine to handle some of the top end games for next year, like Supreme Commander and being able to run Oblivion at a decent fps, a game that seems to bring every gaming rig down to its knees.

[Edited on September 18, 2006 at 5:44 PM. Reason : .]

9/18/2006 5:44:14 PM

SLI typically doesn't provide enough of a performance increase for it to matter, unless you just have money you want to waste. I'm not sure about this, but I think you can use the Geforce 7950GX2 ( dual GPU videocard) on a non-SLI motherboard, and it will work.

9/18/2006 5:55:16 PM

WARNING !

NFORCE CHIPSET FOR INTEL PROC DETECTED!

9/18/2006 5:58:10 PM

i really wish everyone would stop calling the E6300 and E6400 "conroe" processors. They aren't. those are the allandale core, whereas the 6600 and 6700 are actually conroe. there's a huge difference between them and it's called cache.

9/18/2006 6:39:09 PM

Take it up with Newegg

9/18/2006 7:48:09 PM

n/m

[Edited on September 18, 2006 at 8:02 PM. Reason : .]

9/18/2006 8:00:20 PM

^^it's not just newegg

9/18/2006 8:58:33 PM