This is more or less what I'm looking at: CoolMaster Centurion 5 Case http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811119077 Intel P35 Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813128059 Intel Pentium E2160 Processor (overclocked to ~3ghz) http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819116036 XFX GeForce 8800 GT 512mb GPU http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10007125 2GB RAM http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820231098 Seagate Barracuda 250GB HD http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822148262 Antec 500W Power Supply http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817371007 Vista 64-bit Home Premium http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16832116204 Do any of those components have obvious better choices? I'm considering a faster processor, although I don't need anything cutting edge and I hear the E2160 is very OC friendly as is. As far as the 8800GT, I feel good about that choice but its availability makes things a bit more complicated -- is the one linked here a decent buy if I'm trying to purchase things sooner rather than later? (I already have a monitor, DVD drive, and keyboard/mouse, btw.) My goal is to run games like CoD4, Oblivion, and Bioshock smoothly at high settings, and hopefully Crysis on medium (or whatever it lets me, haha). Does this seem like a good build for that purpose? I'd like to maximize price-vs-performance without getting too expensive (i.e. under $1000 ideally, which this easily is). Also, please give me an idea of any extras I need to add, like fans or cooling or thermal paste. I don't really have a good feel for the power/heat management side of things. Thanks a lot for your help.
I know these arent the same cpu's you were looking at but they are very similar. They are a little cheaper than what you looking to spend here at Tigerdirect. There is a bundle with a similar Mobo and an E2180 for 140. Hope that saves you a couple of bucks. Try tigerdirect for the same stuff you are looking at. I usually find stuff cheaper there than at newegg.
I personally prefer the Radeon HD3870 graphics card to the 8800GT. Almost as fast, but much better image quality, and new DX10.1 support.
Listed parts are looking good, but why not go for a processor with a bit more power and a higher FSB? Sure, it might cost a bit more, but its worth it. Ideally as you said its a moderate gaming system, so you might want to at least look at something like an E6750 later down the track for an upgrade. Oh and that HD3870 is probably another good choice =]
Well in crysis, there is a good difference between the shadows/textures on the 8800GT vs the 3870. In short, Nvidia "cheated" their drivers to make Crysis look worse, but perform better and that's why its faster than the 3870. I'd go with the 3870 though... Got 2 of them comin on Thursday... Other than that, looks pretty good. @ DedShadow, you can buy a cheap core 2 duo, and overclock it to be faster than the most expensive one out there. The C2Ds have amazing over clocking potential!
actually, in alot of the newer reviews, eventhough the GT has less image quality, the speed really does a number to the HD3870. look here: http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=10685&page=3 and read on. it gets trounced.
Cheers REAM, the 3870/3850 is looking like the card for me! I just wanna see how well the 3870 does in Gears Of War.
The 3870 will play it, no questions asked. Also, REAM, I guess you get what you pay for... A 30fps increase is quite a bit, but I bet if you were to look at a 3870 review, then they would put the 3870 closer to the GT.
Those 8800GTs are overclocked, while the HD 3870 isn't. Trust me it makes a big difference. Also there is noway in hell that a 8800GTS is about to beat a HD 3870! Hell my HD 3850 performs almost the same! Look at the other reviews, this one seems badly skewed.
Those tests were biased, the 8800GT is nowhere near that much faster than a 3870. My X1900XT will run Gears of war at 1680x1050 on max with an acceptable frame rate of around 35-40fps. An HD3870 is twice as fast as my card.
I know that's what I'm saying. The other reviews have differences of maybe around 10 FPS, not THIRTY!
