It;s going to be a gamer to play games like Battlefield 2. Are these compatible? If not tell me what I need to get rid of, and what to put in it's place. Please feel free to suggest any other components that work well. (NO THESE ARE NOT THE ONLY THINGS I PLAN TO BUILD A COMPUTER! Yes it's my first computer but I'm not THAT ill-informed!)

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600

Video Card: EVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card

RAM: pqi POWER Series 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 533 (PC2 4200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model MAB42GUOE-X2

PLEASE BE AWARE THAT I HAVE A $1000 BUDGET FOR THIS COMPUTER!!

Thank You.

If it's going to be used primarily for gaming don't bother with a 7000 series card.
Go with an 8800GTS (either the 640MB or 320MB version) or the 8600GTS if you need to save more scratch.

I'm not familiar with that RAM brand, it might be OK though I prefer Crucial/Micron or Kingston.
You of course have to pick out a motherboard yet, I'd suggest something from Asus or Intel.
My only other suggestion I can think of at the moment is don't skimp out the power supply. Get a name brand like Antec, Thermaltake, or Enermax. You'll want something with dual 12V rails and a wattage rating high enough for the specs of whichever video card you settle on.

Word to the wise on motherboards and graphics cards. Look to the future. A mother board with dual PCIexpress x16 slots will promote further expansion as games require more. Of yeah the more RAM the better (when it comes to mobo capacity). If you plan on only needing 2 GB this year plan on 3 gb next year and 4 gb the year after that.

Meh... dual PCIe/SLI/Crossfire is more for the the people that want to blow $1200 on just the video cards alone so they can brag up their framerates (as well as show off how much money they blew on their rig). It's much more cost-efficient to just use one reasonable card and then upgrade to the next generation when it comes along.

With you on the RAM though, more the better. Of course, more than 3GB is a waste unless you're running Vista x64.

Hey everybody!

I kept the same processor [Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600($222.90)],
but I changed the video card to the BFG Tech BFGR7950256GTOCE GeForce 7950GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 OC HDCP Video Card, and the RAM to the Patriot 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Desktop Memory Model PSD22G6672.

I'm getting an NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI Intel Motherboard, but I'm not quite sure what to look for or what brand. I'm thinking about the EVGA 122-CK-NF63-TR LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard. Let me know what you think (if I can find a cheaper, same-quality motherboard for less).

I'm getting the COOLER MASTER Centurion 534 RC-534-KKN2-GP Black Aluminum & Mesh bezel / SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case.

This is all I have so far. Let me know how I'm doing!

Help me along too! Suggestions are VERY welcome!

Don't know what kind of power supply comes with the case, if at all, but don't skimp on one.Stay with a name-brand
Mark

This is everything I have...

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600
Video Card: BFG Tech BFGR7950256GTOCE GeForce 7950GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 OC HDCP Video Card
RAM: Patriot 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Desktop Memory Model PSD22G6672
Hard Drives: 2x Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600JS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Case: COOLER MASTER Centurion 534 RC-534-KKN2-GP Black Aluminum & Mesh bezel / SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Monitor: Hanns•G HW-173DBB Black 17" 8ms Widescreen LCD Monitor
Disk Drive: SONY 18X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Beige E-IDE/ATAPI Model DRU-835A
Network Adapter: LINKSYS WMP54G 32bit PCI2.2 Wireless-G Adapter - Retail
Keyboard and Mouse: Rosewill RKM810BLK Black USB RF Wireless Standard Keyboard & Mouse Mouse Included

I need a Motherboard and a Network Adapter, but I am already at $966.81 from newegg.com.

I also don't know if there is anything else I need other than a motherboard and a network adapter.

My dad brought up a question and I don't know the answer:
Isn't there a motherboard with the processor (Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600)?

I need help so please, do.

You have the network adapter
Network Adapter: LINKSYS WMP54G 32bit PCI2.2 Wireless-G Adapter - Retail


Combos
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductCombo...e=10&page=1

I dont think this case comes with a power supply, you'll need to select one ( 650watts +)
Do you want a sound card with external speakers? If so,2 more items to select.

Do you have a Wireless router?(linksys match is simpler to setup)

No man, really, you don't want the 7950.
Your BFG card goes for $200 on Newegg, a Leadtek 8600GTS has better specs (Higher core and memory clock, DX10 instead of DX9) and it's going for $160. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814122026

couldnt help but noticing this



would suggest a black one instead since the rest of the PC is black

MY FINALIZED COMPUTER

I'M PUSHING OVER THE $1000 LIMIT WITH A SUBTOTAL OF $1162 AND A GRAND TOTAL OF $1299!

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600
Video Card: BFG Tech BFGR7950256GTOCE GeForce 7950GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 OC HDCP Video Card
RAM: Patriot 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Desktop Memory Model PSD22G6672
Hard Drives: 2x Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600JS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Case: COOLER MASTER Centurion 534 RC-534-KKN2-GP Black Aluminum & Mesh bezel / SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Monitor: Hanns•G HW-173DBB Black 17" 8ms Widescreen LCD Monitor
Disk Drive: Pioneer 18X DVD±R DVD Burner Black E-IDE/ATAPI Model DVR-112D - OEM
Network Adapter: LINKSYS WMP54G 32bit PCI2.2 Wireless-G Adapter - Retail
Keyboard and Mouse: Rosewill RKM810BLK Black USB RF Wireless Standard Keyboard & Mouse Mouse Included
Motherboard: EVGA 122-CK-NF63-TR LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
Power Supply: Thermaltake W0093RU ATX 12V 2.0 Version 500W Power Supply
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM

THANKS FOR THE HELP GUYS!

Just remember to read the mobo manual thoroughly and to double check all you jumpers and connections
Mark

Personally, I'd take the time to lap the heat sink

This is not true. the 7950GT has twice as many pipelines than the 8600GTS and about 10% more bandwidth. Just because the G70's are last generation doesnt mean the G80's are hands down better. The G80's were built to support any budget with DX10 so there are indeed some 7000 series cards that are better than some 8000 series cards.

But the 8600GTS (HERE by MSI was benchmarked as better than the 7950GT on lower resolutions and ran equal to it at higher resolutions and according to pcstats.com, it has lower power consumption than the 7950GX2. Below, respectively, the number of watts consumed and the 3DMark05 scores are the number farthest to the right.

Did you place that order yet? I may be wrong but just at a glance I dont think that PSU will work for you. Possibly with conversion cables, but it doesnt have any 2x3 pin connectors and the 12V+ rails are a little weak on their own but I dont know what the maximum combined amperage is. I'll keep looking.

Are you basing this off of a newegg review? Hardly a helpful benchmark considering we know very little about the hardware the test ran on.

What I am comparing are specification values given by the manufacturer. If you find a legitimate benchmarking comparison between the two I'd be happy to look at it.

---------------------------------------------8600GTS------------------------------7950GT
ROP's------------------------------------------8--------------------------------------16
Core Clock (MHz)-------------------------675------------------------------------550
Memory Clock (MHz)--------------------1000------------------------------------700
Memory Amount---------------------256MB GDDR3----------------------512MB GDDR3
Memory Interface------------------------128-bit--------------------------------256-bit
Memory Bandwidth (GB/sec)-------------32------------------------------------44.8
Texture Fill Rate (billion/sec)------------10.8-----------------------------------13.2

sorry Im having formatting issues.

Everything Ive read points to the 7950GT > 8600GTS

See, if it were me I would get the 8600GTS as a measure of future-proofing, as with the 7950GT you're going to be limited to DX9, and DX10 games are really going to start rolling out as early as this fall.

But you're correct in that while the 8600's performance is comparable, the 7950GT edges it out.

Dont quote me on this, but I believe 7000 series cards were built to partially support DX10. I believe that you will not be "screwed" when DX10 games come out, rather you will be limited in the graphical settings you can choose and wont be able to take advantage of what the game can really do. I may be wrong though.

Back-tracking here:
Someone double check my earlier post about the PSU. I dont think it will work for the OP's build.

That model doesn't look like it has a PCI-E connector, so a different model would be better.

cough, cough
pass the robitussin, last I heard sli meant 2 pci-e 16x slots

I meant the power supply, not the motherboard. Although I'm seeing some conflicting info on that as the newegg product tab says it doesn't have the connector: "PCI-E Connectors No"
but the Thermaltake product page says it does.

I'm assuming the manufacturer's page is accurate, so that one is probably actually OK.

newegg's picture shows it, they probably were too lazy to change the specs after the new pci-e models came out

For the Graphics Card Discussion heres a comparison of the 8600GTS vs the 7950GT. 3DMarkPro was used BTW 86GTS 256 Wins here (but the 8800 really kicks butt) http://www.digital-daily.com/video/palit_8..._512/index2.htm

You should check www.evantive.com, they do loads of components and they are quite cheep too.

Michael

Did you buy Vista or XP (Pro or Home)...

Also if you didn't place your order yet I personally would go with a Thermaltake PSU (Power Supply)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16817153038

This PSU has good power (750W) and is very reliable .. much cheaper then when i bought it

As for Nvidia I couldn't help you there because i went with ATI (which craps out alot on me)

I love ATi but right now they are just not in the right place (Linux Drivers are a mess) and am currently looking at getting a last gen nVidea (I dont do much so I dont need a $300 video card)