If I build it, will it run?

[StevieRay]

Can anyone confirm my compatability? Processor to mobo and RAM? I just want to make sure I am optimizing. I will go for the bigger HD's you all recommended also. I want to run RAID 0...have to figure that out. Also any opinion on 8800 gt v. 8800gts?

Antec 900 has won the case war...$99.99. Had to look around but found one.

Getting close to pulling the trigger!

[screwballl]

GT (and GTS-512 I think) is newer technology
GTS 320 and 640 are older technology

Performance with each of then are pretty close to each other so it is a matter of preference.

[gvblake22]

Your processor and motherboard look fine.

If you are going to go for a RAID 0 setup, then you will want to get two identical drives. Remember that RAID 0 combines the two drive capacities (so two 320GB drives in RAID 0 will show up as one 640GB drive) and there is no fault tolerance (meaning that if one drive fails, the whole thing goes down and you lose all your data).

These are arranged in order from least performance to most (generally speaking):
8800GTS 320MB, 8800GTS 640MB, 8800GT 512MB, 8800GTS 512MB
For the most part, the 8800GT 512MB gives you the best bang for the buck. What resolution will you be playing your games at?

[StevieRay]

Would you recommend for me the best way to go? I was told by a friend that the Raid 0 was the way to go. But, I need to learn more about it and what set up I would want.

The 8800 Gt 512 , I will stick with that.

As for game res, my desktop is weak and I run pretty low but I want to give that all up with this system. May need a new monitor. Most of my higher end gaming is done on my laptop now (Asus g2 b2) and the res on that is very high. 1900 x 1200.

I wonder if you would mind commenting on the Asus Rampage v. the Gigabyte mobo? Both say Quad Socket...is my E8400 good for that or do I need a Q processor? Forgive me for my cluelessness.


$289.99
ASUS Rampage Formula Intel X48 Intel Core 2 Quad Socket 775 1600 MHz ATX Motherboard Retail


$288.00
GIGABYTE GA-X48-DQ6 Intel Core 2 Quad Socket 775 1333 MHz PC2-9600 (DDR2-1200) ATX Motherboard Retail

[screwballl]

I have had good luck with both Gigabyte and Asus boards although resently Asus has been slipping so my suggestion and opinion would be the gigabyte board.

For the memory, look for DDR2-1066 or 1200. The 1200 still has a bit of price premium right now but it is typically around $30-50 more for the 1200. Also higher quality 1066 will run about the same price as the standard 1200 so that may be another thing to consider.

$99 2GB DDR2-1200 Newegg.com - Patriot Extreme Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1200 (PC2 9600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory
$62 2GB DDR2-1066 Newegg.com - Kingston HyperX 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

Personally I would get the 1200 and be done with it.

edit: another point of fact, as DDR2 slowly fades away, it may be worth it now to get a motherboard with the X48 chipset with DDR3 memory and maybe start with 2GB of memory now and when the prices drop, get another 2GB or sell your 2GB set and buy a 4GB set. Again it all depends on your plans for this system. DDR3 will keep the system up to date for at least 2-3 years whereas DDR2 limits your upgrade path.

[StevieRay]

Just when I am on the verge of click, purchase...DDR3 brings me back in! I doubt I am going to run anything state of the art in gaming all that much.

I can go DDR3 or go DDR2 with a quad maybe?

Q6600 or the E8400 (cant find any E8500's)

And I think the gigabyte GPU 8800 GT is the best card I have found...

Gigabyte GeForce 8800 GT NX88T512HP v1.0

From all that I read on HL and OCC, the Quad and the E8400 are close but am "I" really going to notice the difference except for when I run OC benchmarks?

[stinger608]

Originally Posted by gvblake22

Your processor and motherboard look fine.

If you are going to go for a RAID 0 setup, then you will want to get two identical drives. Remember that RAID 0 combines the two drive capacities (so two 320GB drives in RAID 0 will show up as one 640GB drive) and there is no fault tolerance (meaning that if one drive fails, the whole thing goes down and you lose all your data).

These are arranged in order from least performance to most (generally speaking):
8800GTS 320MB, 8800GTS 640MB, 8800GT 512MB, 8800GTS 512MB
For the most part, the 8800GT 512MB gives you the best bang for the buck. What resolution will you be playing your games at?

Yep, the 8800GTS 512 is the new G92 core and just a little better performing than the 8800GT 512 at higher res's.

Originally Posted by StevieRay

Just when I am on the verge of click, purchase...DDR3 brings me back in! I doubt I am going to run anything state of the art in gaming all that much.

I can go DDR3 or go DDR2 with a quad maybe?

Q6600 or the E8400 (cant find any E8500's)

And I think the gigabyte GPU 8800 GT is the best card I have found...

Gigabyte GeForce 8800 GT NX88T512HP v1.0

From all that I read on HL and OCC, the Quad and the E8400 are close but am "I" really going to notice the difference except for when I run OC benchmarks?

I would kind of rethink this if I were you! I would pick a card from Evga, XFX, or BFG. All three of these companies carry a lifetime warranty on there cards.
Also, I believe this is still going on, but XFX had what they called a double lifetime warranty. What that means is, if 6 months or a couple of years go by, and you sell the video card, the lifetime warranty goes to the second owner of the card
I do believe they were/are the only one of the video card manufactures to carry such a warranty.

[screwballl]

stinger touched on the video cards, I will touch on the memory....

With the budget you stated, it is kind of between a rock and a hard place. You can go with DDR3 memory and board which means you may have less to use on other items or the need to increase your budget slightly.

In the end it is your system and your preference.
Myself, personally, the only thing I would change about my system right now (in my signature) is a better video card, but the money is next to nadda right now so its not going to happen anytime soon. I do light gaming, light video and audio encoding so this dual core E6600 and 2GB DDR2-1066 and ATI X1950GT works well for me (it has to ). Besides, I can't complain (too much), I had fun knifing most everyone in COD4 tonight, and sniping simple_inhibition earlier today, and my system averaged around 50fps with settings almost as high as it will go.
Basically, look at what you do now, expand that some to see how the new system will be affected and make the choice from there. DDR3 will not get much cheaper until Intels next socket and AMD releases new chipsets that use it but the performance gains of using DDR3-1600 is definitely there.. so is the extra performance worth the extra money to YOU.

[StevieRay]

I just noticed that some video cards differ in price but to me appear to be the same. Check this out...

Any idea which is the best 8800 gt for the buck here?

10007134
EVGA 512-P3-N801-AR Geforce 8800 GT 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 Video Card Retail
($30.00 Mail-In-Rebate) You Save: $70.00 $189.99

10007595
EVGA 512-P3-N802-AR Geforce 8800 GT 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 Video Card Retail
($30.00 Mail-In-Rebate) $209.99
and this GTS
10007796
EVGA 512-P3-N841-AR Geforce 8800 GTS 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card Retail
($30.00 Mail-In-Rebate) $269.99

[Hitman]

Originally Posted by gvblake22

Your processor and motherboard look fine.

If you are going to go for a RAID 0 setup, then you will want to get two identical drives. Remember that RAID 0 combines the two drive capacities (so two 320GB drives in RAID 0 will show up as one 640GB drive) and there is no fault tolerance (meaning that if one drive fails, the whole thing goes down and you lose all your data).

Adding to what Blake said, the whole point of RAID 0 is performance. There are quite a few variables that affect the amount of performance you gain in comparison to a single drive. The drives you use, the controller you use, the settings you're using are just a few of the things that affect the performance of your RAID 0 Array. Then add in double the risk of data loss.

Me personally I would suggest buying a Single 750gb HD (Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3750330AS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives) for about $30 less then you would pay for 2 320's (Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3320613AS 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives.