Is this a good computer? Is it worth it?

[Sol-Edge]

I'm going to get a new computer for gaming and was wondering if all this would make a good PC.

Mother board
ASUS P5N-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX
Intel Motherboard $116

DVD ROM and Burner
SAMSUNG Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache PATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe - OEM $26.99

Comptuer Case
Sunbeam Transformer IC-TR-BA Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case $75.99

Hard Drive (I would get 2 of these)
Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10,000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 1.5Gb/s Hard Drive $170.00

RAM
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory $64.99

CPU
Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 Conroe 2.13GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor $199.99

Sound Card
Creative 70SB046A00000 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Professional Series $135.99

speakers
Creative Inspire P7800 90 Watts 7.1 Speaker $80.00

Video Card
EVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Video Card $84.99

Is it worth it?

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Sol-Edge on 2008-03-01 21:31 ]</font>

[DLShAdOw]

I would suggest Ram that can run in SLI mode because your motherboard supports it. Also you need a power supply...idk like 750 watts or something. But ya looks fine. Also depends on what you wanna do. Do you just wanna play PSU or are you aiming for Crysis?

[VioletSkye]

Forgo the Raptor and just get a good 500GB Harddrive to start with. BTW, the RAM itself does not run in SLI. SLI-Ready RAM just means it is equipped with Enhanced Performance Profiles to help optimize performance on nforce SLI boards through the use of optimized SPD settings. When the BIOS of a motherboard can make use of the EPP profiles and detects them, the RAM modules run at more aggressive timings by default. Also you can get an E6750 for less than the price you listed for the E6420 and the E6750 runs at 1333MHz (which your motherboard supports.)

Take the lower cost of the 500GB harddrive (vs the Raptors) and put the difference into a better videocard and you're gaming will be much better. I'm not saying the Raptors are bad drives but it really depends on how you use your pc. For gaming you may load levels a little faster but it's not going to improve framerates like a higher end videocard will. I'd recommend a 9600GT. I've used plenty of Raptors in different builds and yes the OS loads faster (slightly) as do programs but the difference literally amounts to mere seconds and in most cases users are better off with more storage as opposed to a slightly quicker seek time.

[Blitzkommando]

That's a rather pricy system for what you are getting. You also list no power supply so I assume it comes with the case. I'd strongly urge you to purchase a quality unit over the junk that comes with cases. You spend all that money on the parts you definitely don't want to see them get fried by a bad unit. Even if you went with the other changes I suggest you could easily run the system off of a quality 500 watt unit and still have room to grow.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256037
Is a good unit. I've used SilverStone before and I was rather pleased with the product and it still runs my secondary system.

Again, forget the Raptor. A good high-capacity drive might actually out perform it in linear tasks due to higher platter density and really the speed difference is hardly worth mentioning (I know I have one of the 150s and I rather regret it due to the high cost and horrible capacity). For $250 you could get 1TB versus $340 for 300GB (unless you go RAID 1 and then it's even less storage at just 150GB).

Also, use the saved money to get a better video card. The 7600 GT is going on three years old this year and the 9600 GT or 8800 GS would be a much better purchase. If you can work it out go for the 8800 GT as it has the performance to price crown right now (just be sure to go with the 512MB version as you'll want that frame buffer).

Also, unless you are going to be overclocking your memory you hardly need Ballistix. No doubt it's some of the best memory on the market (many will say it is the best) the premium isn't worth it over some good Corsair, Kingston, OCZ, Patriot or what have you. Really, you can get 4GB of decent timing DDR2 for just around $100 right now. There's really no reason not to do so even if you are running a 32-bit OS right now.

The Fatal1ty is certainly a good sound card. I have one myself and it works pretty damned well now that they've fixed up their drivers. However, unless you really feel the need for the "X-RAM" I'd say save a bit and go with the regular XtremeGamer. It's still an excellent card with the same features minus the rather useless RAM. I realise this comes off as strange coming from someone who owns one, but in my case the Fatal1ty was the same cost as the XtremeGamer so I went for it. Otherwise I wouldn't have bothered and just saved my money like I suggest.

I realise a computer case in many respects is a personal taste object, however, they are also used for cooling the system down which is very important. I've used a number of cases in the last few years and have finally settled on one. But the case I had just recently was an Antec Nine Hundred. Newegg has them for $40 off right now bringing them to close to the price of the Sunbeam you chose. I can say from experience that it was not only the quietest case I've ever had (even with fans at medium and the "Big Boy" at full tilt) it is by far the coolest. I would still be using it if I didn't need so many drive bays. But if you are using but one optical and one or two hard drives it's definitely a case to consider. There simply isn't another that cools as well and quietly on air in that price range. It is a bit harder to work with, but that work pays off by giving you incredible temperatures.

Finally, don't bother with an SLI chipset unless you plan on going SLI. It frankly isn't worth the premium nor the issues that nVidia chipsets have. Again, I speak from experience. I have a 680i board myself and while it has worked great it is also a bit of a pain at times when an Intel chipset would be less-so. I'd suggest a P35 based board. It would give you plenty of features and give you the same compatibility as the 650i. The choice in boards is up to you obviously based on your wants and needs. I've heard good things about the Asus and Gigabyte P35 boards in particular.

[Sol-Edge]

Thanks alot for the input guys. I will take your words into consideration and change a couple of things.