First build candidates : We've got a winner & other news

[roscoe46]

Morning everyone; I iposted this past Saturday I believe it was, on
my first build candidates. Well, I've got the winners here & I'll tell
who they are & kinda suprisingly, some came from completely out
of left field. I've been digging here on the net for about 3 weeks
almost nonstop & I think I've got a good setup planned here which
should turn out to be a real banshee.
OK, here we go:
1. Motherboard - DFI LT LP35 T2R; came across this on another
forum & then started doing some digging on my own. Very stable &
solid board, also an execellent overclocker, with a bios where the
sky is the limit. I'll probably leave it stock for the present & probably
have it tweaked a little later down the road. From motherboardpro.com
at $190.00.
2. Processor - Here's the big one, Intel C2D E8400 Wolfdale. I stumbled
across this Microcenter $200.00. If you live close to Microcenter
location, pickup the phone & give 'em a call; chances are 50-50 they'll
have one there for you. For some reason or another, their website
won't let you order one. Hope this piece of info may help some of you.
3. Memory - 2 gigs Crucial Ballistix Tracer DDR2 6400. I've checked
Crucial's site already & they say this'll work great.
4. PSU - PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610 watts. Every site I've been
to say PCP&C hands downs the very best; these guys are the
Ferrari's of PSU's.
5. Videocard - this one may be a little weird, but I'm getting a good
price from friend on it. eVGA 8800 GTS Superclocked 640mb. Yeah, I
know the 8800 GT Superclocked is a little better, but I still think I'll
be very happy with this card.
6. DVD Burner & floppy - I'll be ordering these this weekend or early
next week from Newegg. I've also alreday got a WD 320 Caviar here
at the house waiting for everyone else to get here.
All of this is going into the Antec 900 case thats here also.
One more question should I get a CPU cooler for this setup & if
so give me some good choices to look at; I'll also probably get one of
the Antec fans to mount in the side panel.
Well, there it is & I'm really sure that I'm going to be very happy
with it. And, if I sounded like I'm bragging I'm sorry, but what
can I say LOL.
Hope everyone has a good day today.

Later,
roscoe46 AKA Alfred

[chunkylover53]

I think I'm one of the only poseters here with a Zalman hsf, so before all of the other recos come in for something with a good price to performace ratio :rolleyes: like the freezer pro, might I suggest something that looks bad_ss in addition to working well? :p

L&G, meet the 9700 NT. [cue "Bad to the Bone" music]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118020

http://www.quietpcusa.com/Zalman-CNPS9700-NT-Ultra-Quiet-CPU-Cooler--P131C0.aspx

[shyster]

Well personally I am cheap as hell, so badassness does not override overpricing for me. The zalman does look pretty nice with the multicolored led but paying $30-40 more is no good for me. This is more me arguing with chunky than any attempt to get you to stay away from this fan.

I personally have the artic freezer pro and it seems pretty good, but I have not got my computer up yet so I cannot give actual experience with it.

As for the video card, I do not know what you are planning to do with your new computer, like heavy gaming, video editing, graphic designing? In regards to the price I do not know how much of a deal you are getting, because you did not list the price, but you can get an 8800 512GT for around $200 now.

Are you buying used from a friend or does he own a shop and is selling it to you discounted? If you are getting it new, you could probably do the step-up program, if it is used then you probably cannot.

I again have no personal experience, but if you are planning to do a lot of gaming unless you are getting the 640 one for like 50 dollars it might be worth it to just get the 512 GT instead. I cannot remember the link now, but the GT mops the floor with the old 640's in terms of game playablity, that is to say they can run much higher graphic settings and have a decently higher FPS. And I have not looked into it much, but if you buy it new you can do the stepup program which as I understand it will get you the newest version of the card if they go to the 8900 or 9000 series within 90 days.