# Compatibily questions



## cubedude (Mar 11, 2005)

Hi I was wondering if all of these parts I'm going to get will work well with each other. I will be using the pc for gaming mainly. I'd appreciate any recommendations or advice.

Processor:http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...13641?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance
Case:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147033
Graphics:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814143090 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814186022
Memory:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820231085
Motherboard:http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...r/002-2013298-0413641?_encoding=UTF8&v=glance
Power supply: Antec 430w
Hard Drive: Seagate 250gb
Disk Drive: Sony dvd drive


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Those would all work, but I think you could probably get more for your money. What is your budget?

Please fill out these questions.


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## cubedude (Mar 11, 2005)

1. Budget: $500

2. Brands: Not in specific

3. Multitasking: I may be, like having a few programs open.

4. Gaming: I will be using this for Gaming with hopefully some of the new games and this will be it's primary function.

5. Calculations: Might be doing some media encoding but no calculations I think.

6. Overclocking: I might, and if I do not by a whole lot.

7. Storage: My 250gb HD from my old comp should do me fine

8. Operating System: Have XP may upgrade to vista

9. Case: I've already purchased the case I listed

10. Accessories: Nope

11. Monitor: No monitor

12. Stores: I like newegg and amazon myself

13. Location: USA


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

OK, finally one more. Can you just list all the parts you don't need to buy because you will be re-using them?


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## cubedude (Mar 11, 2005)

Alright the parts I will be reusing is the Hard Drive, Power supply, and disk drive.


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

If you go with one of the graphics cards listed above you will need to upgrade the PSU as they are very power hungry.


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## cubedude (Mar 11, 2005)

Alright, what kind of power supply would you recommend?


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

You might want to raise the budget. Here is what I can come up with for $600.

GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - $110
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128012

Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 Allendale 2.0GHz 2M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - $127
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115014

CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Desktop Memory - $35
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145568

MSI NX8600GTS-T2D256E-OC GeForce 8600GTS 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - $153
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127284

Antec True Power Trio TP3-650 ATX12V 650W Power Supply with Three 12V Rails - $130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371001

Rosewill R5604-TBK 0.8mm SECC Screw-less Dual 120mm Fans ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147033


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## cubedude (Mar 11, 2005)

Alright now I have a few questions. First off why did you choose the 8600 video card over the other one? Secondly isn't 2 512mb stick or ram worse than 1 1gb stick? Also the ram you recommended is lower quality right? Another thing is why did you suggest intel instead of AMD what kinda difference will I be seeing and where? And lastly why such an expensive power supply? There are a lot more out on the market for the same wattage for cheaper right? I just need a lot of explanations lol, thanks!


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

2 Sticks of 512 MB will be almost twice as fast as 1 stick of 1 GB because you will have dual channel (creating a 128-bit memory bus) so each stick of RAM is accessed simultaneously. That is quality RAM.

I suggested Intel not so much for the processor itself but for the platform. Motherboards for Intel processors have tended to be better quality recently. Additioanlly, the LGA775 platform is here to stay so you will have a future proof motherboard.

For the PSU, this is probably the single component that is most overlooked and yet most prone to failure. PSU quality is extremely important and you should not expect to buy a $30 PSU and expect it to have a long lifetime.

No problem. :smile: Questions are what we are here for.


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Here is an alternative motherboard for further future proofing.

GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128050


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## cubedude (Mar 11, 2005)

Alright here is another question. Do you think it is worth investing into a motherboard the will support sli or crossfire? and also just for kicks how much better will the system your suggesting preform as compared to the one I had said in the beginning as far as frame rates and everything goes?


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

SLi and Crossfire are really in fact not used that often because you can usually find a single card that is more powerful for the same amount of money.

On the other hand I do generally tend to stick with nVidia chipsets as a personal preference. I also like to consider that you can get an SLi ready motherboard for about the same amount as a non SLi board.

Ultimately, however, SLi is not a major factor I consider when choosing a motherboard. I tend to look for boards with the highest quality components such as solid capacitors and the best cooling designs such as copper heatsinks. Even if it means spending more money and getting slightly less performance, I would go with a board with these features for example because it would likely have a longer lifetime.


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## cubedude (Mar 11, 2005)

Alright thanks for all the info so far. I was doing some research on the intel processor that you suggested and the amd one I had picked out, and I found the pretty much had the same performance. The one I had picked out is a lot cheaper though. I know you chose Intel because of the motherboard, but wouldn't it save me money to get a good AMD motherboard and use that processor or would it actually cut my performance or quality of products?


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

It would end up cutting quality in the motherboard. Both motherboards I suggested are very high quality and have a platform that is future proof. AMD will be moving onto Socket 1207FX sometime in the future.


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## cubedude (Mar 11, 2005)

Alright, so if I get all of this it will jack up the price to around $550 and what kinda of performance can I expect to see out of this system? Like if I were to play a game in DX 10 would it be smooth enough to play? Also what about for regular DX 9 games? So this is what I should get for my kinda of budget and use of the computer? If you could please explain the pros of everything once more over what I had listed it would help me a lot. And one last thing, why did you choose the MSI GeForce 8600GTS 256mb over the BFG GeForce 7950gt 256mb card I was thinking about at first. I looked at both of their benchmarks and it seems that the 7950gt comes in first by quite a bit.


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## cubedude (Mar 11, 2005)

Oh one more thing (lol I keep remembering/finding things). I found this power supply for quite a bit cheaper and was wondering if it was around the same quality as the one you suggested.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182032


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Rosewill power supplies are near the bottom of the food chain and are best avioided in almost all situations.

The 8600GTS is just future proofing your computer. If you want to go with a DX9 card because you are limited on budget look at the X1950 Pro or X1950XT which will both beat the 7950GT in most cases.


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## cubedude (Mar 11, 2005)

Alright, there have been some changes and now I'm going to be building a whole new computer. Here are the parts I am thinking about getting now please tell me if they will work together and are good for some gaming.

Disk Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16827151153

Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822145129

Graphics Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814131055

Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817341002

Ram
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820145568

Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813128012

CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819115014

And the same case as before.


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

I like it. :smile:

With the video card, a dual slotted cooler will help out a lot.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161093

Also, Tiger is having a good deal on that PSU if you are interested.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2235424&CatId=2533


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## cubedude (Mar 11, 2005)

Thank you SOOOOOO much for all the help!!! I am going to order this all soon and I'll let you know how it all turns out.


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## 1 g0t 0wn3d (Jan 31, 2007)

Feel free to ask more questions when you get your parts =)


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