Hi! It's been a while since I've done much gaming, and my PC is so ancient it's existence probably would be contested by creationists! So, I've been looking at building a new one. I know already that I won't have the time for serious gaming, so the PC will mainly be used for casual play of stuff like Left 4 Dead and other Source-based games, but I'd like to be able to play new games if something catches my eye. I'm not after super high-end games that get famous only for their graphics.. Anyways, I've been reading the buyer's guides here at BT and snooping around webshops here in Norway, and have managed to put together what to me seems like a decent system in the price range I'm in (student, no money ). I already have a case, so the only thing missing here is a decent CPU cooler, but I'll see if the stock one drives me crazy before i buy one.. So here goes, and please comment: MB: Asus P5Q CPU: Intel C2D E8400 GPU: XFX GeForce 9800GTX 675M 512MB RAM: Corsair TWIN2X 6400 2x2GB Matched kit PSU: Thermaltake Silent Purepower 680W HDD: Samsung SpinPoint T166 400GB At a grand total of about £480 at todays exchange rate... Does this seem reasonable? I know the GPU is getting old, but it's so damn cheap (ca £100)!
I'm assuming that you already have a case, cd drive etc... The E8400 is a good choice for gaming. With the stock cooler you won't be able to overclock much, but the P5Q isn't so great at overclocking either AFAIK. For the best value in the P5Q line for overclocking, you probably want a P5Q-E, but then you'd need a better heatsink, which drives the price up more. In other words, if you're not overclocking, then those components are fine. You might want to consider an ATI Radeon 4850 instead of the 9800GTX, unless you're getting the 9800+.
If you can, get an ATI 4850 like Moose said, also, I don't know how much that motherboard is but a good alternative would be the Gigabyte EP45 DS3L (just got one myself, highly recommended! Save money on the power supply, get a Corsair, either the VX450, VX550, HX520 or the cheaper 400watt variant.
the thermaltake 680 is rather dissapointing. Skip it, the Corsair VX450 offers just 36w less usable power than it. Not to mention infinatly better built, and costing about 1/23908547082374028354702845 of the price.
Also you could consider the 4830. It goes for around £100, and it can be overclocked with ease to the performance level of the 4850.
Thanks for the input, guys! The reason for the PSU is that it's a cheap demo-model, but if you think 450W will do, I'll definately go for the Corsair.. Seems like the 4830 is a good alternative as well! Plus, it's a good opportunity for me to sink my teeth into some basic OC'ing
