First Build

[Cirndle]

Budget: 2000 US
Complete build from tower to monitor.

Uses: Homework, internet surfing, moderate cd burning, primarly for gaming.

Do not need: graphics card have a 7600gt ko geforce
Do not need: Wireless card have one.
Do not need: HD have a 300gb Seagate.
Do not need: mouse have g5.
Do not need: speakers atm.

It will probably be a couple months before I will have bought all of the pieces for my new build.

OS: Windows XP Pro sp2 or newest for XP.
Tower: medium-large, wanting good airflow and expansion room.
cooling: aircooled, might moderatley oc' cpu fsb, or graphics card.
RAM: ?
HD: have a 300gb seagate.
CPU: want an intel core 2 duo, whatever is good for budget and still really fast.
floppy drive: a basic one.
optical drives: wanting a cd/ dvd +rw dl might be nice.
heatsink:?
fans:?
speakers: use headphones.
mobo: want to ocsome, but reliable board.
PSU: more power then needed is nice with the actual 12v rails and not the bs about it divided to have 3-4. again for occlocking.
CPU lube: AS5.

If I forgot anything, or you have any good ideas feel free to post them.

Reason for build: selling proprietary hell deminsion dell 4700 with 1.5gb ram, 17lcd dell monitor and keyboard, mouse, speakers, radeon X300 card, for 600us dollars with windows xp home on it registered, and drivers installed.

Or should i only give 512mb ddr2 pc3200 533mhz ram with it?

Anyways,
peace.

[Jamie Nixx]

Whats your maximum budget?, is it the $600 you are getting from selling your old comp?

[Cirndle]

Max is 2k, but would like to stay at 1500.

[dmethoxibit]

dude if ur gaming a lot u should probably get a better graphics card.

CPU:i got the core duo e6550 and it runs at 3.ghz overclocked and its one of the cheaper dual cores(http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3241555)

Floppy Drive: you can get one of those for 20 bucks at a local retailer like i did.
I
got my full-sized case for 99 bucks and its great and has awesome airflow.

Motherboard: you said oc, so definetly get the nforce 680 sli.(http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2945261&CatId=2051)

RAM: defenetly dual channel. i got a pair of 2 gb dual channel 800mhz sli-ready ram and my system screams.(http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3079597&Sku=O261-7054)

Optical Drive: get a cd-rw/dvd-rw combo(got mine for about 30 dollars at compusa)

PSU:650 watts will defenetly do it.

Definetely get an aftermarket cpu cooling fan. most of them come with thermal gel. get a fan or two and configure the airflow to ur case.

and yeah........hope this helps lol

[Jamie Nixx]

$1500 to spend would build a super computer.

Core 2 duo E6750 (will easily overclock to 3.5GHz)

Arctic cooling freezer 7 pro with some arctic silver 5 or if you really want to overclock the Tuniq Tower.

680i boards are slightly better at overclocking than boards with a P35 chipset, but the difference is minimal and overall the P35 will be a lot better.

Case for overclocking, there is no better than the Antec 900.

PSU wise the Corsair HX520w, the laughs in the face of any overclocker.

The 7600GT won't run any new games, Crysis wouldn't even play on one at low settings, go for an 8800GT.

[Cirndle]

So can you list all parts, and maybe prices so I can get specifics, because this will be the last time I sell my old beast.


Will be about:
2months: 600
rest will be about 1-3 month for the rest of the dough.

So basically if I go with what you guys suggest and some of rob's gear on front page I will be good?


Also,
When is a good time to buy this I mean should I wait since price is dropping alot?

Realy a geforce 4 7600gt ko o'clocked to god knows what wont help?

On the Mobo can you change voltages and all the cool stuff like asus and msi boards?

Any other ideas add em, price, part, etc.

Thanks a million.

[Cirndle]

Deciding between cases:

Currently I am looking at Antec since people claim they are very nice.

Antec Sonata III

and

Antec Nine Hundred.


Between these which one has more space, size, expandability, and noise.

The noise is what I am interested in, and how everything fits. Currently, the Sonata looks quieter but smaller and less cooling, but the 900 looks big roomy, and noisy.

Let me know what you think.

[Cirndle]

On Motherboards is this a good one, or is the P35 northbridge ones better?


Motherboards - Intel Socket LGA775
ASUS P5N-E SLI

or this one.


ASUS P5KC LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard

Idk S*%t about motherboards, but here is what i need: A reliable boards, the ability to diagnosis, readtemperatures built in (think asus has that), overclocking abilities, fsb, latency timings, pci express frequency, cpu adjusting (asus sounds good on that), Expandability in mind, Supports DDR2/DDR3 up to high mhz for the ram, alot of ram, good pci slots, X2 express slots.

Basically just tell me what is good for performance, overclocking, reliability; upgradability. Good CPu support as the future holds (core2duo-quad extreme is good) and good ram support as far as mhz and DDR2/3, slots for ram, pci, express,etc. Zomg going crazy!.

Thanks Jamie and others on your post they are helping, just trying to find cheapeast prices.

I have no clue about chipsets and what not.

[The Wise Monkey]

The Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R is a very good motherboard which has all the features that you mentioned. :)

[Jamie Nixx]

The Asus P5K is a better overclocker than the Gigabyte ;)

The Antec 900 is very roomy, you would think it makes a lot of noise with all those massive fans but it is actually pretty silent, the fans all come with speed controllers on them anyway.

The P35 chipset only supports crossfire, the ATI equivilant of putting two graphics cards into a system whereas if you want SLi which is two nvidia cards together you need the 680i, overall though the P35 boards are better.

[Cirndle]

So Which graphics cards are better?

The 8800gts nvidia, or the ATI equivalent?

I mean is that board good enough to sacfricie 1-3 fps, I mean because if ATI is cheaper sure.

[Cirndle]

Currently looking at, but am in no way sure besides the case and processor:


Case: Antec 900

PSU: Corsair 520HX *Note: When it says 3 12v rails what does it mean because I heard these kind that aren't single 12vrail divided it up and you can't utilize all the power on say two 12v rails, there will be power left on the third one? I can't remember the article, but it was really good. Does it support Crossfire or SLi

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 *Note: Is this a decent overclocker, and two how long should I wait to get the price decrease from AMD new processor coming out?

CD drive: Sony internal DRU802A *Note: I don't know if it is good, but I hope it is great at DVD, mainly I burn rarely some DVD DL, but I burn alot of CD-R, and CD-RW so I thought Combo drive is the best, since the comp I am selling had one in it. (let me know if you know a better one, LG and Sony seem to be the best.)

Floppy Drive: 20 bucks idk what kind

CPU Cooler: Zalman AT

Lube: AS5

Motherboard: P5N-ESli Asus P35 chipset. *Note: Can someone tell me what is good about this board like the features and what not, ram support, etc. Comon Jamie! Does it support Sli, crossfire? Dual channel, and will 8500 ram work for it or what is best ram for it?

Monitor: Hanns G-2160PO 22" Wide Screen 5ms *Note: I don't know much about monitors, I am looking for one around 200 or less US dollars, and have good veiwable size, widescreen, good response time, contrast, resolution, let me know what you guys think.

Graphics card: 8800GTS, or with this board what is the ATi eqauvalent? *Note: What is the price difference? Also, the board supports crossfire, but what about the PSU?

HD: WD caviar Se16 500gb 7200rpm SATA 3.0 gb/s 16mb cache

RAM: Crucial ballistix 1024mb PC2-8500 DDR2 X4 (4 sticks) *Note: Does dual channel right? Is this supported by the board?

Sound card: Xifi Sound Blaster *Note: Optional just checking prices.

Speakers: Logictech off of the website list. *Note: Probably will get cheapies if not in budget.

Keyboard: Logictech G15 or whatever is good and gamer friendly. *Note: I play gunz online, ultima online, CC generals, LOTR offline, Whatever else I can get my hands on, there is more but cannot remember. I have a bigger desk now, so keyboard size is really problem, but any will do. Is there any decent ones with keys lighting in the back, and maybe a light on them like the G15 only reason I liked it really. (Would go good with my G5 mouse best mouse ever once you go back to a dell, you wanna cry, garunteed morekills, better scores, less noobletness, I promise 1,000dpi owns in gunz.)

OS: Windows Xp Pro upgrade version, or my windows Xp pro that I already have. * Was thinking of getting robs book, and also the windows upgrade disc for Xp home, so if I need to use on other computers, but I think I will save the money.

Ending notes: Thank you for reading, suggestions, advice, product reviews, comments, *where to find the lowest prices for the stuff* is all greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Crindle.

[Jamie Nixx]

The Corsair HX520w is SLi/Crossfire ready, great PSU not really any others that can compete with in its price range.

All Core 2 Duo's are good overclockers.

CPU cooler go for an Arctic freezer 7 pro, Zalmans have too many problems.

Asus P5N-E SLi supports SLi, it only supports upto 800Mhz memory and it has a 650i chipset.

Asus P5K has a P35 chipset, supports crossfire, supports DDR2 and DDR3 memory, the chipset is also newer and better.

The Graphics card to go for now is the 8800GT NOT the GTS, even ATI's new card cannot compete with it.

Keyboard wise the best gaming keyboard around has to be the Zboard Merc.

Newegg is probably the best place to buy components from as they are nicely priced.

[Cirndle]

So artic cooler 7, on the mobo what should I go for jamie, because it is going to affect my graphics, what would you chooice P35 or the other one?

Also, i am going to be 32bit and I read something about over 3gb of ram not read so should I just get 3gb then?

And, is crucial ballistix what I should get or is there something better?

[Cirndle]

Should I go with more wattage to make the system churn well, and be upgradable?

[Jamie Nixx]

No, the Corsair is perfectly adequate, don't let the number of watts fool you, its one of the best around.

Personally i would just stick with 2GB of ram 3GB actually slows the computer down.

Corsair XMS2 Ram comes with a bid rebate on newegg and i would class it as better than Crucial, it overclocks a lot better as well.

It all depends on you as to the motherboard, if you would like to use SLi in the future then i would recommend the Asus P5N32-E SLi.

But if you are just going to stick with one card then the Asus P5K with the P35 chipset is the one to go for.

[Cirndle]

Okay so for the mobos one is sli and I thought the other one was crossfire I guess not. I guess I will get the sli. How much do you think all of this will cost with speakers, sound card, and a good keyboard, then without speakers, sound card, and keyboard, also how much is the geforce 8800 gt?

[Jamie Nixx]

I would say the maximum this could come to is about $1200 with speakers and such.

The 8800GT is cheaper than the GTS.

The P35 board does support crossfire but its crap so i didn't mention it.

[Cirndle]

Should I get most off of newegg, or a mix or newegg and amazon?

Also on processor should I wait a month for price drop?

[Jamie Nixx]

Nah i wouldn't wait, the Core 2 duo's are already very good for the price.

I would order most from newegg, i have found that when i am pricing computers for people in the US they are the cheapest.

[Cirndle]

So for the motherboard I should go wtih the non P35 one, since it supports sli? The more expensive of the two? Is that what you would do or only single graphixs card, and the P35? I want to know you opinion.

*Atention* If you really want to blow my mind, then look through all my post and answer the odd questions in each of them, then I will name my system Jamie Nixx when I am done building it on the boards.

[Cirndle]

I am stuck again.

On motheboards.

I don't care the brand, looking for reliability, stability, expandibility, and oclockability. Please give me a model and brand for an Intel core 2 duo, and sli ready.

[Cirndle]

The 8800gt graphics card can u give me a link to it on newegg I can't find it?

thanks.

[Jamie Nixx]

Asus P5N32-E SLi motherboard, wicked overclocker and very stable.

But i would still get a board with a P35 Chipset, SLi can be very annoying sometimes, its hard to setup, sometimes it doesn't work and games such as Stalker don't even support it, plus its very expensive.

The Asus P5K is a very good P35 motherboard, great overclocker, very stable.

Heres the link to the 8800GT on newegg http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=40000048&Description=8800GT&name=Video+Cards

Not really sure what else i can answer for you lol :o

[Cirndle]

I am going crazy here, I have decided on the following.

Case: Antec 900
CPU: 6750 C2D
PSU: Corsair 520HX
RAM:Corsair XMS DDR2 800 (PC2-8500) 2GB 1gbX2
HDrives: Western Digital SE16 Caviar 300gb 16mb 7200rpm.
MOBO: Asus P5K board (is this the right one Jamie) ASUS P5N-E SLI
CD drive:Sony 20X does it all hd found in newegg offer for like 50 bucks.
Floppy: cheapie from anywhere
Monitor: Hanns G HW-223DPB 22'" blah blah let me know if you know any better ones for cheaper 5ms, 1000:1, 300c/dm widescreen,blah blah
CPU Cooler: Artic Freezer Pro 7 92mm fan.
Lube: AS5 OEM
RAM cooling: Corsair fan for the Diablo, (i forgot the name only one like it.)
Tiny ram heatsinks: I forgot the brand, but I heard they were good to use on the motherboard, but idk if I would need them with this P35 board.

GPU: Evga geforce 8800gt (these things are expensive, more then GTS)]
Sound Card: Xifi sound card gamer etreme
Speakers: logitech 5.1 off mysuperpc.com site
Keyobard: Logictech G11 (like 15 but cheaper)

Look good?

Now the most important part.
I have spent 2 days looking for the cheapest prices, and I need some help with shipping it is crazy hard.

It looks like 1548 Us dollars, but I am really antsy to buy all of this stuff and beat my machine. So please, help me find the lowest prices, because I have to wait like till december for the 600 bucks, and allocate funds from my check about 500 from each check, so please please help me check prices, because I am just overfilled with joy.

Also:
Rob I will be getting your book possibly, and secondly, who here has actually applied for the amex blue card? I am thinking of it as a way to build credit, even though I have the money since I am only 20.

Thanks,
Cirndle