[Gooseberry]

Am considering building my own PC for the first time and thought it wise to bounce the spec off this forum. I have little comp knowledge so any help would be greatly appreciated. The computer will mainly be used for web browsing and MMORPG (2Moons at the moment). So just need a mid-range gaming computer for under $1,000.

Here's the spec (total $892 before tax):
Case $102 = RAIDMAX AZTEC ATX-619WUP Black/ Blue SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower with 500W PSU
MoBo $127 = MSI P6N SLI Platinum LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard (FSB: 1333/1066MHz)
CPU $280 = Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 Conroe 3.0GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
RAM $70 = 2x Patriot Extreme Performance 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
Video Card $92 = EVGA GeForce 8600GT 512MB GDDR2 PCI Express x16 (want the 8800GT 512MB but think this one is good enough for now...and $200 less)
HDD $120 = Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s (4.16 latency; 32MB cache)
Fan for CPU $51 = ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink (LFA 775)
DVD/CD $33 = LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black SATA Model LH-20A1S
Media Reader $13 = Rosewill RCR-103 USB 2.0 Card Reader

Questions:
1) Are there any incompatibilities or other techical issues with this build?
2) Suggestions on improvements without spending much more?
3) The two other CPU options are Quad 2.4GHz for same price or Duo 2.66GHz for $100 less. Thoughts?
4) Any other input would be great!

Note: Prices are from newegg.com as of today and include S/H, instant discounts, and mail-in rebates. And planning on using Vista.

This process is both overwhelming and fun! Thanks in advance for your help!

[Carbon]

Motherboard isn't too great for overclocking, either get a better one for it or lose the fan (you won't need it if you're not OCing, and probably even if you are).

Just get the 8800GT. 8600GT is crap. If it's expensive on NewEgg, look at local places. I saw one at Fry's for $225.

Do you really need the USB reader?

Everything else looks fine.

[Gooseberry]

Thanks for the advice! Is there a decently priced motherboard you can recommend? I don't know if I'll even overclock but just want a decent motherboard that I can use for awhile... maybe about five years.

[Carbon]

The motherboard's OK, I just recommended another because it seemed you were going to OC based on the fact you bought a aftermarket fan.

EVGA 680i is pretty good, though, if you're willing to pay the slight difference.

[Gooseberry]

Thanks again. One other question. The Quad 2.4GHz and the Duo 3.0GHz are about the same price. If the 3.0GHz is really faster than the 2.4GHz, then the Duo makes sense to me. But if I wouldn't see much difference in speed, then I'm thinking the Quad may make more sense for future applications.

And then there's the Duo 2.66GHz for $100 less...which I can put towards the 8800GT video card.

Any thoughts?

So many options!!

Thanks again!

[Carbon]

Go for the Duo 2.66. It's not really a big difference either way, but the 8800GT will be a huge difference.

[marsay001]

ayup gooseberry
you will need an O.S lol i agree with carbon, the 8800gt is gunna play your games well for a while to, plan for the future spend more money now spend less then ;) although if i was you id deff go for an AMD cpu, i think there a lot better you can get athlon 64 x2's wer talkin at least 4000+ for lot less than what your payin for your intel, good luck tho mate, i was pappin myslef when i first did an upgrade, i was installina geforce 2 XD , back in the day with single core cpus and no sli lol,
wasnt bad at all tho, keep us updated when it done, and maybe benchmark it for us so we can see what power shes kicken

[Gooseberry]

Thanks for all the input! I'm learning quite a bit thru this process!

Based on feedback and some more research...I made some changes...and have a few other questions...

Here's the NEW spec (total $957 before tax):
Case $102 = RAIDMAX AZTEC ATX-619WUP Black/Blue SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower with 500W PSU (same as before)
MoBo $207 = GIGABYTE GA-X38-DS4 LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX (FSB:1600/1333MHz) (2x PCI-E 2.0 x16) (DDR2 1200) (up'd to allow for future Quad core upgrade and for PCI-E 2.0 x16 slot for the 8800GT card)
CPU $190 = Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz LGA 775 65W (FSB 1333MHz) (down'd from 3.0GHz C2D)
RAM $42 = 2x Patriot Extreme Performance 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) (same as before but cheaper in 2-pack!)
Video Card $256 = EVGA 512-P3-N801-AR GeForce 8800GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI-E 2.0 HDCP Ready SLI (up'd to bad-ass mo-fo card! well..for the price anyway)
HDD $100 = Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3400320AS 400GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s (4.16 latency; 32MB cache) (down'd from 500GB...don't need that much so save $20)
Fan for CPU $31 = ZEROtherm BTF90 92mm Silent UFO CPU Cooler (changed based on another forum post...is this one better?)
DVD/CD $29 = ASUS Black 2MB Cache PATA DVD Burner with LightScribe(changed based on another forum post...guess no big difference either way)
Media Reader $0 = none (removed...you're right Carbon...I wouldn't even use it)

Questions:
1) How do I know if the PSU is sufficient? Guess question is whether the 500W PSU is more than enough for this setup? Not sure how to tell except the CPU states 65W...and I don't intend to use 2 video cards.

2) The MoBo and CPU both have 1333MHz FSB but the RAM is only 800MHz. Will the RAm bottleneck the MoBo and CPU? Do I need to up the RAM to fully utilize the setup?

3) Case size - Do you think the 9" 8800GT will fit in this case? Not sure how to tell without seeing it...

4) Would you suggest adding a sound card? I don't need premium sounds but should at least be decent...

Unless there are issues with the setup above, I think I feel pretty good about it. And I'll definitely follow-up with the benchmarks.

Thanks again for the input!

[Carbon]

1. It will be sufficient, I like to go 600W or greater but I'm a worrywart about PSUs and without SLI it'll run fine. However, I tend to be very suspect of power supplies that come with cases, they're often complete junk. I suggest getting a cheaper case like the Antec 900 (it's hovering around $50-$70, but is absolutely huge and nice-looking) and a real PSU from a good brand.
2. You're fine, but good observation :)
3. It will fit. If you were running a 8800GTX, Ultra, or GTS, you might have to worry, but the GT is small and single-slot.
4. Onboard will be fine, most likely. There is not really such a thing as a mid-range sound card, only wastes of money over relatively good onboard sound and on the other side of the scale $95 X-Fis. I bought an Audigy SE - it had barely any improvement over the onboard sound.

You could probably get a cheaper motherboard, but that supports Yorksfield. Which is great. No DDR3, but that's fine. 8x USB, two real 16x lanes, I think you're good! A huge improvement over your existing setup and very forwards-compatible (is that a word?) so you can grab a 45nm somewhere down the line if you feel like it.