Gaming Build Help!

dem0x7 · 12-25-2008, 03:03 PM

Hello guys,

I am in the process of getting a bunch of parts picked out for a nice gaming build. I don't have a huge budget, I want to keep it down as much as possible, but I also want some sweet performance. I will mainly be using it for World of Warcraft, Counter-Strike, games like that.

Right now, I lag pretty bad in WoW, especially when I go do instances. I want to run smooth and fast. In the background of my gaming, I will have music playing, and website browsing with many different tabs open. I'll be running Photoshop and stuff but that will be by itself, not with my games.

I'm new at this, this is my first build, so I'm not sure if the parts that I picked out are going to work. Let me know if something won't work with the parts that I picked, or if it won't fit.

Processor: $189
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115036

Motherboard: $99
BIOSTAR TForce TP45HP LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138123

RAM: $45
Crucial Ballistix 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148212

Internal Hardrive: $75
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136218

CD/DVD Burner: $30
SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827151173

Computer Case: $80
NZXT Apollo Black SECC Steel Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811146025

I'm still in need of a PSU and a Graphics Card. I need your guys help on that. What do you think so far of my choices?

Any advice you can give me will be great!

**wrench97** · 12-25-2008, 03:27 PM

You have some nice choices the only one I would change is the MB to Ga EP45 UD3P or a P5Q -E or Pro.

WOW is not real graphic intense so if you have it in your budget go for a 9800GT and 650w Corsair or Coolermaster Real Power Pro if not let us know what yo have left in the budget and we'll see what we can put together.

dem0x7 · 12-25-2008, 04:26 PM

Thanks for the quick reply.
For graphics, I was thinking either a GeForce 9800 or an HD 4850. Do you have one your prefer more?

I'm still trying to make some changes. I heard the ballistix RAM is a bad choice, because they made some changes and now isn't that great for OC'ing.

dem0x7 · 12-25-2008, 04:45 PM

Here is what I have so far after a few changes. I am still trying to look for a new motherboard, as I have had a few comments saying I can improve. I'm already at the $800+ range, so I'm pushing it a little, but I'll see what I can find.

Tell me what you guys think:

Processor: $189
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115036

Motherboard: $99
BIOSTAR TForce TP45HP LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138123

RAM: $50
G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 900(PC2 7200) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231211

Internal Hardrive: $80
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136319

Graphics: $175
MSI R4850-512M OC Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127401

PSU: $100
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139005

CD/DVD Burner: $30
SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827151173

Computer Case: $80
NZXT Apollo Black SECC Steel Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811146025

**wrench97** · 12-25-2008, 05:29 PM

I'd rather have the Crucial over the off spec Gskill DDR2 900 will the board support it?

The HD4850 is a good card.

dem0x7 · 12-25-2008, 08:54 PM

See that's the thing, I don't know how to tell what board will support everything I want. I don't know what to look for!

**wrench97** · 12-26-2008, 02:39 AM

For the Ram either use a configuration utility on the Ram manufacturers web site Corsair,Crucial,Patriot among others have good ones or the QVL from the Motherboard manufacturers web site.

From the Biostar site> http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en-us/...t.php?S_ID=366

From Crucial> http://www.crucial.com/store/listpar...odel=TP45%20HP

Then search new egg for the part number> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2KIT25664AA80A

The QVL is not an all inclusive list and most likely any DDR2 module can be made to work but to get the correct speeds and have a guaranteed to work at the rated speeds/voltages module using the ram makers configuration utility is the best way I've found to do it.

dem0x7 · 12-26-2008, 10:10 AM

Thanks for the links, very helpful information.
I was thinking of this Mobo:

ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131299

Do you think that would be better than the BioStar that I had selected? Now I have to make sure everything will work with each other.

**wrench97** · 12-26-2008, 10:19 AM

The P5Q Pro is a good board and the crucial Ram listed above is the ram I use on it as is the E8400 or E8500 CPU the rest of the bits and pieces will also work.

dem0x7 · 12-26-2008, 10:22 AM

So the cruicial ballistix RAM, the one listed in my very first post?

**wrench97** · 12-26-2008, 10:25 AM

This one > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2KIT25664AA80A

dem0x7 · 12-26-2008, 10:26 AM

Cool man, looks like I got a build. I'm gonna need a lot of cooling, right? Since I do plan on overclocking.

**wrench97** · 12-26-2008, 10:43 AM

For a Cpu cooler use a Zalman 9700, kind of expensive but worth it and for paste Arctic Silver 5. The Case looks to a front and a side fan so I would definitely add a front fan to suck air in.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835118019
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835100007
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835185004

dem0x7 · 12-26-2008, 11:01 AM

Great, I'm all set :D
I was searching, and found this:
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139006

With the rebate, it will be the same price as what I currently have the 650W so I guess I should just upgrade, that's a huge sale.

**wrench97** · 12-26-2008, 11:21 AM

And a Great PSU too.

12-25-2008, 03:03 PM	#1 (permalink)
dem0x7 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: North Carolina Posts: 65 OS: Windows Vista 64-Bit My System	Gaming Build Help! Hello guys, I am in the process of getting a bunch of parts picked out for a nice gaming build. I don't have a huge budget, I want to keep it down as much as possible, but I also want some sweet performance. I will mainly be using it for World of Warcraft, Counter-Strike, games like that. Right now, I lag pretty bad in WoW, especially when I go do instances. I want to run smooth and fast. In the background of my gaming, I will have music playing, and website browsing with many different tabs open. I'll be running Photoshop and stuff but that will be by itself, not with my games. I'm new at this, this is my first build, so I'm not sure if the parts that I picked out are going to work. Let me know if something won't work with the parts that I picked, or if it won't fit. Processor: $189 Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115036 Motherboard: $99 BIOSTAR TForce TP45HP LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138123 RAM: $45 Crucial Ballistix 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148212 Internal Hardrive: $75 Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136218 CD/DVD Burner: $30 SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827151173 Computer Case: $80 NZXT Apollo Black SECC Steel Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811146025 I'm still in need of a PSU and a Graphics Card. I need your guys help on that. What do you think so far of my choices? Any advice you can give me will be great! Last edited by dem0x7; 12-25-2008 at 03:21 PM.

12-25-2008, 03:27 PM	#2 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 18,442 OS: Win7	Re: Gaming Build Help! You have some nice choices the only one I would change is the MB to Ga EP45 UD3P or a P5Q -E or Pro. WOW is not real graphic intense so if you have it in your budget go for a 9800GT and 650w Corsair or Coolermaster Real Power Pro if not let us know what yo have left in the budget and we'll see what we can put together. __________________ Power Supply and Selection

12-25-2008, 04:26 PM	#3 (permalink)
dem0x7 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: North Carolina Posts: 65 OS: Windows Vista 64-Bit My System	Re: Gaming Build Help! Thanks for the quick reply. For graphics, I was thinking either a GeForce 9800 or an HD 4850. Do you have one your prefer more? I'm still trying to make some changes. I heard the ballistix RAM is a bad choice, because they made some changes and now isn't that great for OC'ing.

12-25-2008, 04:45 PM	#4 (permalink)
dem0x7 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: North Carolina Posts: 65 OS: Windows Vista 64-Bit My System	Re: Gaming Build Help! Here is what I have so far after a few changes. I am still trying to look for a new motherboard, as I have had a few comments saying I can improve. I'm already at the $800+ range, so I'm pushing it a little, but I'll see what I can find. Tell me what you guys think: Processor: $189 Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115036 Motherboard: $99 BIOSTAR TForce TP45HP LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138123 RAM: $50 G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 900(PC2 7200) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231211 Internal Hardrive: $80 Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136319 Graphics: $175 MSI R4850-512M OC Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127401 PSU: $100 CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139005 CD/DVD Burner: $30 SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827151173 Computer Case: $80 NZXT Apollo Black SECC Steel Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811146025

12-25-2008, 05:29 PM	#5 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 18,442 OS: Win7	Re: Gaming Build Help! I'd rather have the Crucial over the off spec Gskill DDR2 900 will the board support it? The HD4850 is a good card. __________________ Power Supply and Selection

12-25-2008, 08:54 PM	#6 (permalink)
dem0x7 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: North Carolina Posts: 65 OS: Windows Vista 64-Bit My System	Re: Gaming Build Help! See that's the thing, I don't know how to tell what board will support everything I want. I don't know what to look for!

12-26-2008, 02:39 AM	#7 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 18,442 OS: Win7	Re: Gaming Build Help! For the Ram either use a configuration utility on the Ram manufacturers web site Corsair,Crucial,Patriot among others have good ones or the QVL from the Motherboard manufacturers web site. From the Biostar site> http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en-us/...t.php?S_ID=366 From Crucial> http://www.crucial.com/store/listpar...odel=TP45%20HP Then search new egg for the part number> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2KIT25664AA80A The QVL is not an all inclusive list and most likely any DDR2 module can be made to work but to get the correct speeds and have a guaranteed to work at the rated speeds/voltages module using the ram makers configuration utility is the best way I've found to do it. __________________ Power Supply and Selection

12-26-2008, 10:10 AM	#8 (permalink)
dem0x7 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: North Carolina Posts: 65 OS: Windows Vista 64-Bit My System	Re: Gaming Build Help! Thanks for the links, very helpful information. I was thinking of this Mobo: ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131299 Do you think that would be better than the BioStar that I had selected? Now I have to make sure everything will work with each other.

12-26-2008, 10:19 AM	#9 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 18,442 OS: Win7	Re: Gaming Build Help! The P5Q Pro is a good board and the crucial Ram listed above is the ram I use on it as is the E8400 or E8500 CPU the rest of the bits and pieces will also work. __________________ Power Supply and Selection

12-26-2008, 10:22 AM	#10 (permalink)
dem0x7 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: North Carolina Posts: 65 OS: Windows Vista 64-Bit My System	Re: Gaming Build Help! So the cruicial ballistix RAM, the one listed in my very first post?

12-26-2008, 10:25 AM	#11 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 18,442 OS: Win7	Re: Gaming Build Help! This one > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2KIT25664AA80A __________________ Power Supply and Selection

12-26-2008, 10:26 AM	#12 (permalink)
dem0x7 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: North Carolina Posts: 65 OS: Windows Vista 64-Bit My System	Re: Gaming Build Help! Cool man, looks like I got a build. I'm gonna need a lot of cooling, right? Since I do plan on overclocking.

12-26-2008, 10:43 AM	#13 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 18,442 OS: Win7	Re: Gaming Build Help! For a Cpu cooler use a Zalman 9700, kind of expensive but worth it and for paste Arctic Silver 5. The Case looks to a front and a side fan so I would definitely add a front fan to suck air in. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835118019 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835100007 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835185004 __________________ Power Supply and Selection

12-26-2008, 11:01 AM	#14 (permalink)
dem0x7 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: North Carolina Posts: 65 OS: Windows Vista 64-Bit My System	Re: Gaming Build Help! Great, I'm all set :D I was searching, and found this: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139006 With the rebate, it will be the same price as what I currently have the 650W so I guess I should just upgrade, that's a huge sale.

12-26-2008, 11:21 AM	#15 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 18,442 OS: Win7	Re: Gaming Build Help! And a Great PSU too. __________________ Power Supply and Selection