This is the third computer im building. the first was a pentium 3 when i was like 10, the second used an athlon xp about a decade ago, and now im trying to build a good budget gaming system, and would appreciate any help. Here it goes...

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz <---edited
ASUS P5K-E/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel P35 <--- edited, recommended by ati, just a few bucks extra
Antec NEO-HE 550 Watt <---not a scam
Patriot Extreme Performance (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) <---better deal methinks
SAPPHIRE 100226L Radeon HD 3870 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express <---amped up to 512mb and 3870
Cooler Master Stacker 830 <---cooler than before
Vista home premium
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro
Samsung's SH-S183L Super-WriteMaster internal DVD burner
Western Digital Caviar 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s
Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste <---also edited

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115018
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http://www.compsource.com/po/3870P [...] 6/#options
http://www.directron.com/rc830kkn3.html
http://www.3gplaza.com/estore/cont [...] srccode=PW
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New price: $1001.47, including shipping and $190 in rebates. Woot 12/22/07

Throw in some Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste. I say it to everyone but it is worht it if you're thinking of overclocking. Overall a pretty sweet build, although I'd rethink the graphics card (simply because I prefer nVidia to ATI), however for that kind of price you'd need to shop around to find something as good bang-for-buck, but since you want Crossfire in the future, it's great.

Wouldn't go so far as to say kickass, but for that price it's a very solid machine.

Just my two cents worth so take it as you will... however I would change out the DS3R for a DS3L unless there is a feature you REALLY need on the DS3R. Also as far as the processor goes; if you are wanting to overclock, I would go with an E2200 or a E4500. The E6550 is already at a 1333 Mhz FSB so probably won't be able to OC it as much as you could the E2200 or the E4500. The 800 Mhz FSB on these two processors is really what allows you the most flexability. Take the money you save from the cheaper processor and buy a 8800GT 256 MB for $210.

Or look at a Q6600...that is probably $100 more than the E6550, but it has plenty of room to OC and it will scream...

BTW, 2xHD3850 in Crossfire beat an 8800GTX in benchmarks...at least, that is what I have read several times...

I wouldn't go with that CPU, I'd either go down to the E2160 and OC that to the E6550, or I'd get the E6750 (Just a few dollars more than the 6550).

Going to the Q6600 wouldnt be bad either. Also, why the P35C-DS3R? That's been known as a bad board for OCing, well not bad, but more problems than the P35-DS3R. And the DDR3 capability isn't very good for it as it will only support up to 4GB of it. By the time DDR3 is affordable, you may want 8GB of it. Save yourself $30 and get the P35-DS3R or save even more and get the $90 P35-DS3L. I have the DS3R and love it, great OCing board.

The 3850 is a pretty good choice for a budget build. Especially if you go Crossfire later, although I think dual GPUs at this point are still a waste. (Although Crossfire is much better than SLI, but SLI is getting better)

looks pretty solid. i like it as is, though i also like the suggestion about the q6600. i'm not sure what the DS3L does, though it sounds like it drops the ICH9R in favor of a ICH9 without raid support. if you do that, you'll gain some cash for the q6600. people said i was a fool when i went dual-core over single-core when it came out. i laughed at them when my system smoothly coasted by their single-cores which began to struggle. also, i was encoding dvd's while playing games, etc. i could multi-task like crazy. i think the q6600 will give you OC headroom, as well as future headroom, and multi-tasking like you wouldn't believe now.

ok, thanks.
I'll definitely get the thermal paste, i completely overlooked that.
As far as the cpu, if the price of the quad processor drops a little in the future, ill definitely buy that
For the motherboard i was looking at ddr3 ram in case it turned out to be a worthy investment in the future. Do you all disagree? I as planning on using almost this same configuration when the penryn comes out

ps, will i need slower/faster ram for the Q6600??

DS3L + E6750, clocks to 3.2 with OEM fan and no extra voltage.

dump DDR3, dude. what a waste of money. no real speed advantage yet. also, even dual and quad core CPUs aren't maxing the bandwidth from dual-channel DDR2.

Okay here's my tidbit for a "budget" gaming system.
CPU - ~$89
e2180 - OC on stock HSF to 2.8-3 gHz

GPU - ~$170
3850 - Good budget gaming card and when you add another later, you'll be close to current 8800gtx speeds!
$180 shipped - $10 MIR = $170
HIS Hightech H385F256NP Radeon HD 3850 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814161211

Mobo - ~$90
DS3L/IP35-e/P5k-se If your sticking with 1 GPU and no RAID options
$90 shipped - Best buy right now for the $.
GIGABYTE Intel P35 + ICH9 Chipset DDR2 1066 ATX GA-P35-DS3L Motherboard Retail
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Prod [...] e=10006307

Memory - ~$50-60 DDR2 800mHz CAS4, OC'ing friendly Crucial/Corsair/Patriot/GSkil are all good brands.
$49 shipped and is CAS4 !!! No MIR's needed!!!
Crucial Technology Ballistix BL2KIT6464AA804 1GB Kit DDR2-800 PC2-6400 Memory Retail
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Prod [...] de=80061-3

Case - $40 shipped - $15 MIR = $25!!! Can't beat this quality at this price!!
COOLER MASTER Centurion 534 RC-534-KKN2-GP Black Aluminum & Mesh bezel / SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119106

PSU - $60-$100
$100 - $30 MIR = $70!! Nice PSU!
Antec NeoPower 550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, TUV, CE, FCC, CCC, CB, C-tick - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817103941
or
$101 - $10 MIR - $10 google checkout = $81!! One of the best in this price range.
Corsair 520W SLI Certified Modular ATX Power Supply - CMPSU-520HX
http://www.buy.com/prod/corsair-52 [...] 70716.html
or
$72 - $10 MIR - $10 google checkout = $52 shipped! Plenty of power for any single GPU setup.
Corsair VX 450w Power Supply - CMPSU-450VX
http://www.buy.com/prod/corsair-vx [...] 66485.html

CPU cooling, if you want more cooling
$22 shipped!!!
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835186134

Total ~$550 - $45 = $505!! just ad HD/DVD/Thermal paste. You have one nice rig and still be ready for more upgrades later when you can afford them.

I'd stick with XP pro, since it's the gaming king at the moment, but if you get vista, I might consider the 64bit version, since you'll be able to take advantage of 4gig's or more of DDR2 later.

By the time DDR3 is affordable and worthwhile, you may be building a new computer again. At the very least you'd need a new GPU and CPU, so you'd probably want a new mobo for all that stuff.

DDR3 is pretty pointless right now.

nice build, i have the same procesor, it runs sweet. I recomend it to you

I would highly recommend that you invest another $30 or so and buy a 512MB HD 3850. They are faster and will have a much longer lifespan due to the larger memory size.