Building a new PC!!

[fishstix]

I'm making a new PC, and most importantly, I want to use it for hq graphics ffxi. Currently, I have a 1.9ghz Athlon x2 with a pci-e 128mb geforce 6200, 1gb of ram that runs at 1280x1024 and 1024x1024 background resolution. Any higher resolution results in too low of an FPS D: Along with wanting those high resolutions for ffxi, I want to keep myself open for upgrading to better stuff along the lines, playing newer games eventually.

This is what I have so far:
ASUS VH222H Black 21.5" 5ms HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor: $189
SAPPHIRE 100265L Radeon HD 4830 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card: $89
OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI 700W ATX12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply: $49
OCZ Fatal1ty Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2F10664GK: $34
ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler: $53

AMD Phenom II X4 940 Deneb 3.0GHz Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Black Edition Processor Model HDZ940XCGIBOX
BIOSTAR TFORCE TA790GX A2+ AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard: combo $284

All from newegg, after rebates, comes out to about $701. I plan to use my old hard drive and case to save some money, but what I'm asking, is if anyone could give some tips on anything excessive I have/should change, to cut down on the price.

[Epical]

Only thing I would change is the CPU/mobo combo -- go with an E8400/8500 and a well-priced Gigabyte/ASUS board.

[Shuemue]

Get this and save $16: Newegg.com - ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - CPU Fans & Heatsinks

Also do as Epical says, Intel are awesome at the moment

[Shuemue]

Actually fuck that, buy this instead: Newegg.com - Open Box: ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler

[Solefald]

Definitely save some money by going with a dual-core CPU, as it's not as important for game performance as the graphics card is. You won't really need an aftermarket heatsink unless you plan on overclocking.

[Shuemue]

Considering how cheap that cooling is, and how stupidly easy it is to OC these days, it'd be daft not to

[Olo401]

I really need to finish that build your own gaming PC thread..

First up, if you're gonna get a Phenom II get the 920. You can overclock it to reach the same speed as the 940 easily on stock cooling, so use the $40 you save to pay for better OC cooling and pump that sucker up to 4gHz. BTW on coolers - the Zalman cooler is good, but the AC is just as good or better and is 30 bucks cheaper ($16 cheaper for Intel builds, as Shue mentioned.. no idea about the price discrepancy there).

I can't say I've read too much about Biostar's motherboards aside from the reviews on Newegg, but from what I can see in the most recent ones there's some kind of issue between the board, the Phenom IIs and Windows that is causing people to have problems. So if you're definite on going with a Phenom II I'm going to recommend this board from Gigabyte instead.

Reusing an old hard drive is fine. I did it with my 8-yo 40-gig IDE drive. Only thing I'd say is if it's not a SATA-300 drive, look into getting one just so your machine isn't bottlenecke by the hard drive seek speed. They're so damn cheap it's totally worth it, even for a small 160-gig.

Memory looks fine, monitor looks OK but I'm no expert on ASUS there (I have two Samsungs, they're amazing) and the video card should be just fine for FFXI's purposes, tho I'd say bump up to the 4850.

[Olo401]

Definitely save some money by going with a dual-core CPU, as it's not as important for game performance as the graphics card is. You won't really need an aftermarket heatsink unless you plan on overclocking.

Actually with the way things are going and how damned cheap quad core CPUs are getting, I think it's probably more worthwhile to go that route. AMD bringing out the Phenom IIs and then almost immediately slashing the price $40 on 'em probably had something to do with it too. They kinda forced Intel into a mini price war.

[levish]

get a 4850 or a 4870 or a 260gtx-216 if its in the budget, they're getting pretty cheap nowadays and for a gaming specific build they are worth the extra few dollars