is this a good setup for a custom built gaming pc?

Question

i am on a budget of 1100$ and i have found these aprts but befor i buy them i want an opinion. any obvious changes or incompatibility.
-intel core 2 duo e6300 processor running at 1.86ghz(i will overclock)
- EVGA 122-CK-NF67-T1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i LT SLI ATX motherboard
- G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) ram
-BFG tech geforce 8800gts 640mb gddr3 video card
-Seagate barracuda 320gb 7200rpm hard drive
- COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel computer case that comes with 2 fans.
- Rosewill RP550 ATX V1.3/ EPS12V 550W Power Supply(is 550w enough or should i get 600)
- SONY 16X DVD±R DVD Burner With 5X DVD-RAM(is this ok i dont know much about dvd and cd roms/burners.)
- Hauppauge WinTV-PVR 500 MCE White box PCI Interface Personal Video Recorder(to make my computer a dvr)
this totals up to about 1200$, but i think its worth it to spend the extra 100$
any big mistakes i made...something is not compatible
better parts availible

Answer 1

It looks fine, but if you plan on using it as a DVR I would add another SATA hard drive so you can game and record TV at the same time. Doing both on one hard drive would result in severe lag and/or glitches in both the game and the TV show.

How far do you plan on overclocking? If more than 2.3ish GHz I would recommend an aftermarket HSF cooler. Something like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185038
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185027
Along with:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007

Also, for $1 more more than the e6300 I would grab the e6320 that has double the L2 cache:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115015

Rosewill isn't known for good PSUs. In fact, I think they're neweggs own cheap brand. I would stick with:
Seasonic
FSP
Silverstone
or PC Power & Cooling

I would also go with this Lian Li ALUMINUM case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112025
Not only is it aluminum (cools much better), it has 4x 80mm fans and a removeable motherboard tray which is a huge help. Trust me, this case is well worth the extra money.

The motherboard is really nice (quad support), but if you don't plan to OC your e6320 to the sky it's kind of overkill.

Have you read everything about OC'ing the e6320? What multiplier it has, what RAM is best, etc?

Answer 2

I think you should get the...

- newer e6320 for the extra 2mb cache
- evga rather than bfg tech because evga is known for their nvidia cards
- and for the power supply, the watt doesn't mean anything. but rather, look at how many amps the 12volt line is pumpin out.
- for case fans, you should not cheap out on them and get one that has a 3 speed switch. i bought 10 of these masscool ones http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835150007. they are great in cooling, but u cannot control the speed unless you use a resistor and all that stuff and i do not think the work is worth it. i bought these and are excellent is cooling and quiet. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835209001. i think this is the one. i cannot remember.
think about getting a sound card if you really want high audio for games and music. most ppl think it is a waste, but if you have extra money for a future upgrade, it is worth it. i admit, the motherboard sound is decent, but if you have 7.1 surround, i would definately go for a sound card. a very good one is the soundblaster x-fi extrememusic. i got one recently for around 69.99 oem at frys.com. it comes with very nice options such as "entertainment, game, or audio creative mode" you choose the mode that u want. it is a hassle to change it, but otherwise the computer wouldn't know which to choose. i wouldn't buy one for 2.1 speakers or headphones. it sounds better, but you won't fully take advantage of the card unless you have 7.1.

oh ya, i forgot to mention, i have had bad experience with sony computer parts. i think you should get a 18x samsung or lite-on. i have two samsung dvd-rw/cd-rw and are still working. one of them is at least 1-2 yrs, the other is about 6 months.

good luck with ur build.

Answer 3

$3000 is a lot and you in all risk won't desire that lots till you're into severe build. you're able to have the 2nd era of Intel middle i7 cpu, NVIDIA GTX version or ATI Radeon sequence 6 at 2 GB image card, 8 or sixteen GB of RAM, and a few 21-inch complete HD demonstrate screen on your gaming exhilaration. regardless of all those spec I doubt you will spend $2000. yet.. in case you're sense like spending yet another grand, you're able to have the severe version of Intel middle i7 and a bigger 3 GB of image card.

Answer 4

Wow! That's a real gaming rig.

Your 550W power supply is ATX V1.3. It could have just a single +12V rail and may not be strong enough to support your 8800GTS. Better get an ATX V2.01 w/ dual +12V rails (18amps per rail).

Answer 5

Youve got a monster of a pc!!!At least you can play any game you feel like.Although you should have gone wit AMD cuz dey kick *** with games compared to intel

Answer 6

i don't like nVidia, i like ATI.

:)