New Build...opinions

[ph3nom5]

hello all.

my old-as-dirt desktop finally kicked the bucket, so it's time for a new rig. it will be used for a little work, and a fair amount of play...mostly fps, so i need some speed, but i'm working on a budget.

here's what i came up with:

Intel core 2 duo conroe E6300
ASUS P5B Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard
CORSAIR XMS2 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)any advantage/ disadvantage to going with 2x512MB vs 1x1GB?
GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card
Seagate Barracuda ES ST3250820NS 250GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Dr

looking at a case with 400W PSU, is that enough or should i go more?

any suggestions/ comments welcome.

thanks in advance.

[rond36]

Hello ph3nom5, and welcome to http://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif Forums!

any advantage/ disadvantage to going with 2x512MB vs 1x1GB? Your motherboard supports duel-channel memory and the RAM modules need to be installed in pairs to take advantage if it. If you install 1 DIMM the memory will run in single channel mode.

Unless the case is made by one of a few select manufacturers (Antec, Enermax, Coolermaster, Thermaltake, or Supermicro) I would not trust a PSU that comes with a case.

[saphalline]

I agree with rond36. Especially about the PSU!

Also, I'd suggest dropping down to the regular Corsair ValueSelect at DDR2-667 speed. Unless you plan on doing some serious OC'ing, putting XMS2 DDR2-800 into an Intel system is waaaay overkill.

[ph3nom5]

thanks for the input.

okay, pricing cases w/o PSU's and pricing PSU's.

i switched the RAM to DDR2 667 pc5300.

the only other question i have is about the video card. i posted a similar thread in the AAO tracker forums, b/c America's Army is the game that i'll be playing the most. most of the replies i got over there said that i should go with the 7900GT instead of the 7600GT. obviously, the 7900 is better then the 7600...for that matter the 8800 is better then the 7900. but i'm working with a budget, so in your guys opinion would the 7900 give me enough of a performance boost to be worth the extra money?

[saphalline]

The performance boosts are always worth the extra money! :p The question is - can you afford it?

Many people can't afford it. That's understandable since money is a finite resource. I myself can't afford to just go online right now to Newegg and order myself a snazzy new 8800. It's just not gonna happen! If you want the extra performance, you'll have to pay for it. If you can't afford it, don't worry!

[ph3nom5]

The performance boosts are always worth the extra money! The question is - can you afford it?

Many people can't afford it. That's understandable since money is a finite resource. I myself can't afford to just go online right now to Newegg and order myself a snazzy new 8800. It's just not gonna happen! If you want the extra performance, you'll have to pay for it. If you can't afford it, don't worry!

good point, not to mention that it's easy to spend other people's money. it's easy to say, "go with xyz component, it's so much better..." when your not the one actually spending the money. the problem is that i could upgrade to the 7900 and still be within my budget, or at least very close to being within my budget, but it wouldn't hurt my feelings any if i was actually under my budget by 50 bucks...also, my old machine was so old & slow, anything will be a huge improvement.

we'll see, i'm probably not going to buy anything for a few weeks anyway.

thanks again for the advice.