Preliminary Build

[Eldric IV]

This is my preliminary build based on Rob's guide combined with a lot of online searching and one trip to Frys Electronics wherein I forgot to take a list with me.

As far as my build goal, I have never been a big computer gamer. I have also always owned computers that sucked and could only run games that were years old at the time. For example, my previous computer 4 years ago could not run Neverwinter Nights 1 (maybe not an intensive challenge for a computer compared to other games, but it's what I play) and my current computer cannot run Neverwinter Nights 2. So I want a rig that can handle new games even if they do not blow them away.

I do watch a lot of videos and listen to a lot of music on my computer. I do not typically do anything like convert 250-page PowerPoint presentations to pdf.

Case and PSU: Antec Sonata III Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply - Retail
$107.63

Motherboard: ASUS P5N-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$124.99

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6750 - Retail
$194.99

CPU Cooler: ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail
$19.99

Memory: CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
$58.00

Video Card: EVGA 256-P2-N765-AR GeForce 8600GTS 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
$149.99

Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail
$79.99

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
$109.99
* My current computer uses just over 100GB of space, so I think 500GB is overkill but cheap enough to not worry about it.

Optical Drive: Sony Internal ATAPI EIDE DVD/Dual Layer CD/DVD RW Drive (DRU835A)
$59.99

OS: Microsoft Windows Media Center Edition
$108.00

Necessary Software: Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007
$124.99

Total: $1135.30

I would still need to buy a monitor but that would be it. I can get a 22" widescreen from Dell for $270 but I would probably be fine with a 19". If I wanted to lower the price (sans recommendations of a cheaper available price), I could cut the sound card and get a smaller hard drive.

Edit: I am heading out to Frys Electronics with a list of all my components to do a price comparison. I have found that, when Frys does have a cheaper price for something, it is a LOT cheaper. Like Windows XP MCE for $108.

[The Wise Monkey]

Unless you are going to be overclocking your CPU, you don't really need an aftermarket cooler - the Intel cooler is very good.

GFX card wise, I'd recommend a 7600GT, or something around that price bracket . This is a good card for a reasonable price. The 8600 series are really only for DX10.

[Jamie Nixx]

Wm is right, the stock Intel coolers are good if you are not overclocking.

An 8600GTS is much better than a 7600GT, but not as good as a 7900GS, so you may stuggle to play games that are coming out in the near future, but it should be good for most games out now, having said that, you are using windows media centre edition, so the DX 10 feature on the card would be rendered useless, so a 7600GT would be a cheaper option, or you could save up and buy an 7900GS, that would handle any games now and would be more future proof than a 7600GT.

[The Wise Monkey]

^ makes sense. :)

[Jamie Nixx]

:p :D

[acidfire]

Just to give you an idea. The computer I just built has Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 Allendale 2.2GHz with stock fan. Ran torture test that rob tells you to run and cpu temp never went above 34c :) I did only run the test for a couple hours and plan to run long after I solve a audio problem I ran into. No load I believe it stayed around 32c. I agree with wm and jamie to stick with stock fan if not over clocking.

[Jamie Nixx]

Even for overclocking the stock fan is good, i overclocked an E6400 to 2.6 GHz and it never went above 38DegC idle and 45 under load.

Thats not an encouragement to overclock with it, its just to show how good the stock coolers actually are :D

[Eldric IV]

Looking at the charts on Tom's Hardware, I think I will go with the 7600GT. It performs about 50% better than the 7600GS. The 7900GS only performs about 10-20% better than the 7600GT but costs proportionally more than that (especially given the rebate I found).

XFX PVT73GUGD3 GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
$89.99 after rebate

[Jamie Nixx]

The 7900GS is significantly more powerful than the 7600GT, at least by 40%.

10-20% LMAO.

It all depends on the games you want to be able to play, a 7600GT will play Neverwinter nights no sweat, but if you want to play Bioshock or another high end game you will struggle.

I would get rid of the soundcard, you don't need one, the onboard sound on the Asus is excellent, and with the money you could buy a 7900GS.

[Eldric IV]

The 7900GS is significantly more powerful than the 7600GT, at least by 40%.

10-20% LMAO.I mistyped earlier. The video card charts at Tom's Hardware show a 20-30% increase in fps between the 7900GS and 7600GT, for multiple games (particularly Warhammer, Oblivion, and MS Flight Simulator, games I would like), resolutions, and video options. I do not remember seeing it perform 40% better on any of them.

[Jamie Nixx]

I would say 30% absolute minimum and that depends on the cards, i have Gainward ones in one of my computers, and they are actually more powerful than 7900GT's so :D

Oblivion, Warhammer ect you should be fine with a 7600GT, but then you know that one day, a game will come along you really want to play, and you may struggle, thats all i am saying.

[Eldric IV]

Looks like I will be going with a 7900 because the 7600GT I want is sold out.

The best I found (without really looking) is a BFG GeForce 7900GT 256MB OCed PCI-Express Graphic Card for $179.99 from Frys.

Which manufacturers besides XFX and BFG offer good lifetime warranties?

Edit: Found an XFX GeForce 7900GS 256MB DDR3 RoHS ExTreme Video Card for $134.99.

[Jamie Nixx]

An XFX 7900GS for $134.99, thats a bargain. I would definately go for that.

[Eldric IV]

All the purchases have been made and this is what I ended up getting:

Case: Antec Nine Hundred
$101.00

PSU: Antec Earthwatts 380W
$19.99

Motherboard: ASUS P5N-E - Retail
$124.99

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 - Retail
$194.99

CPU Cooler: Zalmann 9500 AT
$47.53

Memory: CORSAIR XMS2 2GB - Retail
$58.00

Video Card: XFX 7900GS 256MB - Retail
$134.99

Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer - Retail
$50.99

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracude 500GBG - OEM
$109.99

Optical Drive: Sony DVD/Dual Layer CD/DVD RW Drive
$59.99

OS: Microsoft Windows Media Center Edition
$108.00

Necessary Software: Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007
$124.99

Total: $1135.46 (almost the same as when I started)

Monitor: Samsung 906BW 19" Widescreen
$186.00

My cousin builds and repairs computers for a living (well, building them is his life; repairing them is his job). I changed to the Antec 900 case and Zalmann cooler at his request (he has the Zalmann in his Antec 900 gaming rig right now and showed me how it installs this past weekend). He also recommended the Seagate HD, the XFX video card, and confirmed that the rest of the hardware Rob recommended on his build page was quality. I stuck with the sound card even though I do not need it because I got it almost half price. I did even better on the memory and PSU and very well on the monitor and video card.

Now I just need to get a new computer desk. My laptop fits neatly on a glorified TV tray. My monitor would take up almost all of it.

[Jamie Nixx]

I hope the build goes or went smoothly, i don't like that Earthwatts PSU, too much bad press and rightly so, i would go for a more powerful one but if you already have it it should be okay.