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meg
01-11-2011, 09:42 AM
Hi,
I started reading your forums at Christmas time, and had settled on building Rob’s system when Sandy Bridge came out and I had to re-think my strategy.
This is my first build, I thought about taking an adult school class to do it, but I figure the $250 course fee, is much better spent on components. I have the new O’Reilly “Building the Perfect PC” and all the great info from the “My Super PC” site, and a Can-do attitude. I am a 51 year old female, with one 16 ½ year old son still at home. Our ‘New’ computer is a 2006 Dell XPS 410, still going strong, but the graphics aren’t keeping up with his games. I need a moderate system to get him through the next year and a half, until he gets his college laptop. When he has that, this will be mine, and my needs are small. I don’t want to over build, and am happy to save $$$ where I can. I would love your advice… Thanks for all you do on these forums.
here is what I am thinking (may still be too much machine):
Case: Antec Sonata 3 500W
PSU: included in case
Motherboard: Asus P8P67 Pro
CPU: Intel i5 2500K
RAM: 8 GB (2X4gb) DDR3 1600
Graphics card: EVGA GeForce GTX 460 1 GB
Sound card: none
Hard Drive(s): Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache
Optical Drive(s): ASUS Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW
Cooler: Zalman CNPS 9500 AT

Monitor: may re-use 19”dell from the XPS 410, or get a re-furbished 21”one from them
Speakers: son uses headphones, I'll use the ones from the dell, they are fine for me.

Operating System: W7 home premium OEM

RickyTick
01-11-2011, 11:28 AM
All excellent selections.

Antec has introduced a new Sonata IV that comes with a 620 watt power supply. It's a little pricey though. Just thought you might want to look at it.
8gb might be a little overkill, but I say go for it anyway. :)

I have an XPS410 that my 9yr old son uses. It's a nice computer for the price.

meg
01-12-2011, 08:23 PM
Thanks for all this.

The Sonata III will be fine, and I was able to get the intel i5 2500K at Microcenter for $180 (plus tax, as there is one nearby), but still a deal. Total build without monitor and speakers is under $1000, close to $900, will shoot a total back soon.

I am still a little confused on the RAM. I decided on 2X2GB, and ordered the G.Skill Ripsaw Series Model # F3-10666CL9D-4GBRL from

Newegg.com. Will this work with the ASUS p8p67 pro, or have I screwed it up already?!

-M

RickyTick
01-12-2011, 09:18 PM
This is what you need.
http://www.gskill.com/products.php?index=351&c1=&c2=