First Build for gaming, 500 to 550 pounds maximum. Advice & Help Needed Please.

[LifeOnMars]

Hello guys & gals, my first post here on these forums and I'm looking for advice. I'm looking to build my first ever PC and it is for gaming purposes. As the thread title states, my budget is 500 to 550 pounds maximum.

Ok...this is what I have so far, let me know your thoughts and advice please...

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/146338 Coolermaster Elite Case with Side Window and 460w eXterme power plus PSU

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/139971 Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Socket 775 (3.0GHz) 1333FSB 6MB L2 Cache Retail Boxed

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/135613 Arctic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Compound

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143226 Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3R iP35 Socket 775 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/142405 x2 Crucial 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 1066MHz/PC2-8500 Ballistix Memory

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/145524 Sapphire HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 Dual DVI TV Out PCI-E Graphics Card

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/124228 Western Digital 500GB SATA II 7200RPM 16MB Cache

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/142274 Sony DRU-190S 20X DVD±RW DL & DVD-RAM Serial ATA

Will the power supply be enough for the overall system with the E8400 overclocked to 3.6-3.8 and the graphics card ( has a combined 36a on the 12v rails) and anyone reccommend an aftermarket cooler that will fit in the case and aid in the overclock, thankyou

So with the basics laid out can you help? I have read the sticky thread about advice for building your first PC and also looked at the specs for potential builds, that particular thread seems very dated however. Want to learn alot as well and hoping to become a regular on these forums as I commit to the PC gaming world. Thankyou in advance

 

[pbmaster]

With the cards out today, you don't really need an SLi setup unless you just want it to say you have it. You won't really see that much of an increase anyway, and you will save money. But then again that's just my opinion.

 

[mullered07]

do you do any video editing? are you looking for just the base unit no OS or anything. as pbmaster said, you wont need sli with some of the cards out today at that res your gaming at.

and welcome to tpu man

 

[LifeOnMars]

Hi pbmaster. What cards out today are you speaking of? Sli is not just something I want to say I have for the sake of it, I mean potentially in the future I will definitely want to go to higher resolutions with a new monitor. Initially im thinking, as I want to game at 1680x1050, a 9600GT Sli setup may be the sweet spot for the money? Agree or disagree? Ideally what I want is very smooth frame rates at the resolution I have stated.

 

[LifeOnMars]

Hey mullered, thanks for the welcome. No, I don't do any video editing. I have a copy of Visat home premium already and I'm just looking to put together a gaming base unit that is very smooth and a motherboard/processor/ram that overclock well. Hope it will last me a year and then will go quad so the board has to accept the quad core chips also.

 

[pbmaster]

I'm still gaming on one of the original G80 8800 GTS cards at 1440 x 900 and I get very good frame rates. The new 8800's and 9 series cards perform very well by themselves. You can get a 9800 GTX for roughly $200 on newegg, don't know how that translates to pounds. I was just saying that while you will see some performance increase by using SLi, you won't get enough of it to be worth the price.

 

[LifeOnMars]

Is it worth keeping sli in mind though if I am aiming to play at higher resolutions eventually?

 

[mullered07]

Is it worth keeping sli in mind though if I am aiming to play at higher resolutions eventually?

best thing you could do is instead of buying 2 mid range cards for sli, but a higher range card now (which will give you the same/similar perf) and then in the future (as you stated its more for future proofing than perf right now) buy another when prices will be considerably lower.

basically, id reccomend a core 2 duo set up as the amd line up doesnt match price/perf, however if your not going to be upgrading/building a new rig for a couple of years go quad. the q6600's are relatively cheap and oc like mad and will still be good to take advantage of multithreaded apps/games as they come out in the next year or so.

ram is dirt cheap, get a good 4Gb ddr2 800/1066 (although a bit more expensive) set which is more than enough for games atm and will hold you good for a couple of years.

if you decide to go quad, get a good motherboard, dont skimp here cause if you want to oc to get the best potential out of your setup to last you, you will need a good board with good overclocking potential.

also get yourself a good power supply, DONT go cheap on this as you will most likely end up paying for it in the long run. go for a reputable brand and do some research before you commit to buy, as you would/should with all components.

if you need any more help choosing specific components, id be more than happy to help you out as i live in the sunny ol UK also

 

[LifeOnMars]

Hah Sunny UK, I hear ya Actually in America at the moment visiting my Bro in Missisippi (its red hot!!) but back in the UK end of next week which is when i am starting to look at ordering my components. Thanks for the advice so far mate, what I'm gonna do is post my list of components I have put together so far and perhaps with a bit of help from you guys we can tweak it here and there until I'm happy and ensure it will all run with decent compatability.

 

[LifeOnMars]

Ok...this is what I have so far, let me know your thoughts and advice please...

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/146338 Coolermaster Elite Case with Side Window and 460w eXterme power plus PSU

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/139971 Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Socket 775 (3.0GHz) 1333FSB 6MB L2 Cache Retail Boxed

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/135613 Arctic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Compound

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143226 Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3R iP35 Socket 775 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/142405 x2 Crucial 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 1066MHz/PC2-8500 Ballistix Memory

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/145524 Sapphire HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 Dual DVI TV Out PCI-E Graphics Card

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/124228 Western Digital 500GB SATA II 7200RPM 16MB Cache

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/142274 Sony DRU-190S 20X DVD±RW DL & DVD-RAM Serial ATA

Will the power supply be enough for the overall system with the E8400 overclocked to 3.6-3.8 and the graphics card ( has a combined 36a on the 12v rails) and anyone reccommend an aftermarket cooler that will fit in the case and aid in the overclock, thankyou

 

[Deleted member 24505]

Thats 2x1gb bud,you need 2x2gb i guess

Also i'd say go for an x-fire board and 2x4850's if you have enuff dosh,beats a gtx280 in certain things...nuff said

 

[LifeOnMars]

Tigger, from lookng at reviews, the 4850 will suffice at the resolution I want to play at ie 1680 x 1050 and I'm not really bothered about Crysis. What I may do is wait and get the 4850x2, any ideas on a release date for this? Obviously I know I would have to get a larger PSU along with that if I decided to go down that road.

 

[Deleted member 24505]

That build looks fine to me.I would possibly change the psu to a corsair hx520 or summat tho'.I dont trust psu's that come with cases.

 

[LifeOnMars]

Tigger, yep, I was thinking the same so thanks for reinforcing my initial thoughts....any air cooling solutions for the E8400 to help it overclock to 3.8 with reasonable temps? Not really sure what size cooler the coolermaster elite case could handle?

 

[Deleted member 24505]

I've always used a freezer 7 pro,its seen my 6750 to 4ghz,and my 6300 to 3.9ghz.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

Here's 2 of the best cpu coolers you can get, you'll have to find them on a site that sells to the UK though.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835154002

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003

I also recommend the EVGA 750i FTW motherboard with the e8400, great OC'ing combo and gives SLI capability for the future.