Building a build after four years without a computer - advices needed

Need advice on new build.
It will be used mostly on gaming.
I havent had a computer in four years, so no old parts to share with the new one.

So heres the list I was thinking about, let me know what you think - I really need some advices on compability issues.


PSU: Corsair VX550W, 550W ATX 79.90e - is it enough?
CASE: NZXT Apollo Steel Orange ATX 91.90e this or antecs 900 - but advices taken
MEMORY: OCZ DDR2 2GB PC2-8500 1066MHz Reaper HPC 117.80e x 2 - Dont know anything about memories
MB: Asus P5Q Pro ATX- 119.90e
MONITOR: Samsung SyncMaster 226BW 22'' 1000:1/2MS 292.90e - Dont know about monitors either
HD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500 GB SATA 3. 125.80e x 2 - Advices taken
VC:MSI RX4870-T2D512 OC ATI Radeon HD 4870 259.90e - 10 € more for the OC model with warranty
CPU: E8400

I need advice on OS, im going OEM so Vista ( which version ) or XP ( I dont know if DX10 and the new features are even worth it ).
Also for mouse I was thinking about G9 from logitechs - but it`s quite expensive.
DVD/RW I need advice, aswell on keyboard.
Also I was thinking about getting a soundcard, but I guess intergrated audio is quite good these days.

Overall I have 1400€ to spend tops, but as always cheaper the better.

Hope you guys can help me - and thank you in advance

For a moment i thought my build was more expensive then i realized you have listed everything in euro.


TSD-500M4 :: Maxtor DiamondMax 21 500GB Hard Drive - 7200, 16MB, SATA-300, OEM X2
$69.99 45.23e

H231-4870 :: HIS Radeon HD 4870 Video Card - 512MB GDDR5, PCI Express 2.0, CrossFireX Ready, (Dual Link) Dual DVI, HDTV, HDMI Support
$289.99 187.41e

V18-2216 :: ViewSonic VX2240w 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor with DCR - 2ms, 1000:1(4000:1DC), WSXGA+ 1680x1050, DVI, VGA, LCD Monitor
$289.99 187.41e

P33-5076 :: Patriot Dual Channel Viper 2048MB PC9600 DDR2 1200MHz Memory (2 x 1024MB) X2
$71.99 46.53e

T925-4102 :: Thermaltake Soprano RS101 Black Mid-Tower ATX Case with Clear Side, Front USB and Audio Ports
$59.99 38.77e

CP1-AM2-9850 :: AMD Phenom X4 9850 Quad Core Processor HD985ZXAGHBOX - Black Edition, Unlocked 2.50GHz, 4MB Cache, 2000MHz (4000 MT/s) FSB, Agena, Quad-Core, Retail, Socket AM2+, Processor with Fan
$199.99 129.25e

G452-2350 :: Gigabyte MA790X-DS4 Motherboard - AMD790X, Socket AM2+, ATX, Audio, PCI Express 2.0, CrossFireX Ready, Gigabit LAN, S/PDIF, USB 2.0, Firewire, Serial ATA, RAID
$139.99 90.49e

S35-1205 :: Silverstone / Olympia / OP1000-E / 1000-Watt Power Supply - 8x PCI-Express, SATA Ready, Active PFC
$299.99 193.89e

Payment is described on their sight as
"TigerDirect.com currently ONLY accepts international payment via wire transfers. International credit cards and checks are not accepted. Note: Wire transfer orders may be subject to an additional processing fee. This fee is waived on orders over $500."


Order total comes to roughly $1,600.00 USD and 1,010.91€ EUR

I know international shipping will add a decent charge to that but it should still be under your limit.

As far as my choice in parts. The psu is 1000 watt designed for going crossfire if you want later on. the motherboard is also setup for crossfire. The amd processor i chose because for the price its performance is better in 75 percent of the benchmarks i looked up, not to mention its quad core vs the intel dual core you chose. the video card is the same but the particular manufacturer includes a free game. the hard drives are maxtor simply because with my experience maxtor is the best. same capacity size and interface.

Integrated audio is more than good enough now a days. As far as a keyboard and mouse its not a big issue pick something you think looks nice a keyboards a keyboard.

I didnt see your note about dvdrw till the end of this so toss this in

L12-1142 OEM :: Lite-On DH-20A4P-04 SuperAllwrite OEM DVD Burner - 20x DVD±R Burn, 16x DVD±R Read, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 8x DVD±R DL, 12x DVD-RAM, 48x32x CD-R/RW, PATA, Black
$24.99 16.15e

Final Total 1,028.06e

If shipping puts you over on budget please tell us any european computer parts suppliers we can dig through to find local prices.

To order from tiger you need to go to their help page. click on how do i make an international order. theres a phone number to call and they will hook you up. Hope this helped

go for it

About the monitor - last time I had CRT monitor and back those days TFTs were having problems with shadowing - does this still occur, or more so, is it possible that viewsonic / syncmaster would be suffering from the same problem?

Thanks for the headsup on the memory, I read few articles here and found more info on it.

Hard drive is still a big question for me - I would like to set it up on RAID but I guess im going bit over on those HDs - how does the buffer 8 / 16 / 32mb affect on the performance?
And about the prices, it`s almost the same here in € than it is in US with the $. I live in Finland and everything is kind of "bit" more expensive here.