Hey folks,getting ready to build my new system and wanted you all's opinion on it before I pull the trigger. Main thing I want is to be able to play any game on highest res. getting tired of always playing on low res with this POS puter! Not too big in to OCing but might with someone that could help. Also, which OS you recommend? XP or Vista? Anyways..here is what I got for critque..

GIGABYTE 3D AURORA GZ-FSCA1-ANB Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811233002

GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX

 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128086&Tpk=GIGABYTE%2bGA-EP35-DS3R%2bLGA

Crucial Ballistix 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148183&Tpk=Crucial%2bBallistix%2b4GB(2%2bx%2b2GB)%2b240-Pin%2bDDR2%2bSDRAM

PC Power & Cooling S75QB EPS12V 750W Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703009

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 Yorkfield 2.66GHz 12MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115039&Tpk=q9450

EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX(G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130339

XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler

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

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3750330AS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148298

ASUS Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135156

Sorry links not working..dunno why

List looks good to me if your allocations are comfy enough. What about display? Sticking with your current one?

Originally posted by chakl337

List looks good to me if your allocations are comfy enough. What about display? Sticking with your current one?

 

 

Chak thinking of going with a

SAMSUNG 2253BW Black 22" 2ms(GTG) DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001268

For $300 it's pretty hard to beat!

Samsung's BW range is currently a very wise and prudent choice in the 22-24" segment. So yup I think you're pretty much all set there.  Speaking of OC'ing (to be frank, I'm pretty much the same as you. Not much of a fan but willing to try..) I'm seeing some pretty nice charts here on that Xigmatek CPU cooler.

Just an idea here...If you scale down the RAM amount to 2Gb sticks instead, can you nudge some moolah up to get a Superclocked version of your choice EVGA g.card? Or is this new machine's gonna go all x64?

Not sure Chak, I'm definately willing to listen to alternatives. One of the questions I got is to stay with XP pro or go Vista. Which gfx card you talking about anyways? Would love to see ther specs on it!

Your list actually looks quite good. One thing to consider is possiby going with a newer chipset on your motherboard, however that is far from nessesary and is completely up to you. Other than that all things look good. I havent read anything about that particular cpu cooler, however if the charts look good its worth a go, and if your not OC'ing then it doesnt really matter.

One thing you do want to stay away from if the factory overclocked cards. They usually come at quite the premium over regular versions and offer little to no performance increase. Good choice on the case, its not overly expensive and is really a quality choice. I personally think its a great case all aorund. Just dont forget that you may need little things like case fans, because the manufacturer rarely provides enough to fill all spots. You can check what they do provide either in the description or on their website.

As for teh XP / Vista debate... it will really come down to your own prefernece. XP will offer more performance with less hastle, because I'm sure you've heard all about the problems vista has had. However, you cant overlook the fact that DX 10 is only available on Vista. If you decide that this is not important to you, then go with XP, otherwise its your call.

Thanks Elros. I am liking this system alot, just hope I can make a decision on the OS when it's time lol.

There's a SSC version of the same 9800GTX based EVGA here. That's $50 a tad higher from the 1 you've listed (I think?) and IMO a good amount spent for a nearly "worry free" 95Mhz added. It's 770Mhz at core clock over the standard 675Mhz. Beats self experiments in my book. So maybe if you can move to a cheaper Lian-Li tower (thought I saw some priced a bit lower than the Gigabyte) or go with 2Gb RAM sticks (a bad idea if you're contemplating to go Win Vista Ultimate 64).

Anyways there's absolutely nothing wrong if you decide to stick with your 1st choice and you'll still keep the planned 4Gb RAM count to boot.

Good luck with the build and holler back if you can post us your new machine's benchies!

Originally posted by chakl337

There's a SSC version of the same 9800GTX based EVGA here. That's $50 a tad higher from the 1 you've listed (I think?) and IMO a good amount spent for a nearly "worry free" 95Mhz added. It's 770Mhz at core clock over the standard 675Mhz. Beats self experiments in my book. So maybe if you can move to a cheaper Lian-Li tower (thought I saw some priced a bit lower than the Gigabyte) or go with 2Gb RAM sticks (a bad idea if you're contemplating to go Win Vista Ultimate 64).

Anyways there's absolutely nothing wrong if you decide to stick with your 1st choice and you'll still keep the planned 4Gb RAM count to boot.

Good luck with the build and holler back if you can post us your new machine's benchies!

$50 dollars for a small increase in speed? NOT worth it in my book to be honest, especially when you can do that effortlessly using ATI Tool. Overclocking is covered in the EVGA warranty as well, so no need to worry about that either.