Need help in choosing parts!

[donjiva]

Hi guys! i need some help in choosing the parts for my superpc, I'm going to use the pc for gaming, my budget is around 800$ and these are my list :

Case - Antec Sonata III or Antec 900

PSU - Which one should i get?

CPU Cooler - Zalman CNPS9500

Processor - AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400 or Core 2 Duo E6750 > is intel better than AMD? x2 6400 is 3.2Ghz and intel e6750 is 2.66Ghz

Motherboard - ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition or GIGABYTE GA-P35C-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel

Ram - Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 (PC2 6400) or CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2(PC2 6400) or should i buy (2 x 2GB)?

DVD RW - Sony DRU-830A Dual Format Double Layer or Lite-On LightScribe Dual Formal Double Layer DVD RW/CDRW > what's the difference? or do you have any recommendation of a decent dvd rw? i dont want to spend too much in this area

Modem - Zoom Telephonics V.92 V.44 PCI (Model 3025) > should i buy the modem? i dont think i will use modem

Graphic Card - EVGA GeForce 8800GT Superclocked 512MB
LCD - ViewSonic VA2026W Black-Silver 20" 5ms DVI Widescreen Super high resolution LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 2000:1
Hard Drive - Western Digital 750GB SATA
Operating System - Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP2

thanks!!

[The Wise Monkey]

Get the e6750, the Gigabyte mobo and the Corsair RAM. DVD-RW doesn't make much difference tbh, but LG or Sony are good brands to get.

[Jamie Nixx]

Also get the Antec 900 and a serperate PSU, the Corsair HX520w.

No need for a third party CPU cooler.

[donjiva]

i'm curious about why should i choose e6750 over AMD x2 6400? is intel's performance better than AMD?

[Jamie Nixx]

Yes, Intels core 2 duo and core 2 quad CPU's have been record breaking, AMD cannot compete so for the forseeable future Intel is the way to go.

Ignore 3.4Ghz vs 2.66Ghz, it doesn't mean a thing, Intel C2D run faster and they run cooler.

Also, the Intel CPU's have much better chipsets than AMD, trust the experts, AMD is dead for the time being.

[donjiva]

thanks, that's answered a lot of my questions about AMD vs intel!
do you have any other recommendation for the PSU beside corsair hx520w? i think it's too expensive for me, i'm kinda over the budget :)

[Jamie Nixx]

Yeah i thought you might be lol.

Hmm the problem is, you need a quality PSU, thats the one place you can't skimp on, it is easily the most important component when your building these types of machines e.g gaming or high performance media ect.

The next PSU i recommend is the Hiper Type R 580w, i have one as well as the Corsair (and a few others :rolleyes: :D ) and after the Corsair i consider it to be one of the best around and for its price it certainly is, its also the best looking PSU in the world, so it will look nice with your Antec 900 and the side window ;)

[donjiva]

oh well, i guess i will just go with the corsair then because it's the important part!

i'm kinda confused, which one of the 8800gt should i get?

EVGA 256-P3-N791-AR GeForce 8800GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 -- 215$
EVGA 512-P3-N805-A1 GeForce 8800GT KO 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 -- 310$
EVGA 512-P3-N802-A3 GeForce 8800GT Superclocked 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 -- 300$
XFX PVT88PYDF4 GeForce 8800GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 -- 270$

i'm trying to skimp here and there to make my budget lower :)

[Jamie Nixx]

The Hiper is $30 cheaper and they are both excellent, so the saving of $30 is pretty well worth it, in fact in terms of build quality the Hiper is better.

Go for the 8800GT Superclocked for $300.

[donjiva]

is it worth it if i change the 8800gt 512mb superclocked to 8800gt 256mb?

HIPER HPU-4M530-PS ATX12V 530W Power Supply - 80$
HIPER HPU-4M580-PS ATX12V 580W Power Supply - 89$

is the 530w enough or should i get the 580w ?

[Jamie Nixx]

Get the version with 512mb of V-ram.

And get the 580w.

[RickyTick]

I'm curious. How close are you to your $800 budget?

[donjiva]

hmm.. way overbudget :p so this is my final list, i will buy all of them from newegg.com
any suggestion in which area i can cut to make the budget lower? thanks!

case - antec 900 - 120$
PSU - Hiper 580w - 88$
RAM - 2x1gb Corsair PC2 6400 - 46$
Mobo - GIGABYTE GA-P35C-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX - 150$
Processor - Intel e6750 - 190$
DVDRW - LITE-ON LightScribe Black 20X DVD±R Burner - 35$
LCD - ViewSonic VA2026W Black-Silver 20" 5ms DVI Widescreen Super High Resolution - 220$
Graphic Card : evga 8800gt overclocked 512mb > newegg ran out of stock! i need to find another website to buy this.. around 300$

Total : 1169$ [after substract the rebate and shipping]

Harddrives - to save money i will take it from my old 2001 PC, i cancel the 750gb western digital :p

[subbu68]

I made a PC last Friday with almost same config. If you are not going for a Crossfire go for the GPU check G33 chipset. Intel G33BU is about $40 less than Asus P5K (P35 chipset) here in Abu Dhabi. And got Kinston 2 x 1GB PC 6400 for about $30 less than Corsair. Corsair has a heatsink whereas Kingston is without it.

Regards
Subbu

[donjiva]

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/3216/psu-164/Hiper_Modular_Type-R_580W_Power_Supply_-_SLI_Ready_-_Blue_HPU-4B580-MS_V2.html

jamie, is this the HIPER 580w you are talking about? i got it cheaper than newegg :)

anyway, most of the 8800gt 512mb is out of stock, does anybody have a store recommendation? i dont want to buy stuff from some shady online stores. thanks!

[Jamie Nixx]

Thats the one, that is almost to good to be true lol that is a bargain.

You will have to wait for the 8800GT, newegg has the EVGA ones back in 2 days time so buy one quickly when they are back.

[donjiva]

yep i thought it was too good to be true too, but the store is has 9.7 resellerrating :) so it's all good :)

[RickyTick]

The Antec 900 is under $100 at both Mwave and Zipzoomfly.

Newegg had it for $69 last week after MIR.

[donjiva]

The Antec 900 is under $100 at both Mwave and Zipzoomfly.

Newegg had it for $69 last week after MIR.

i had bought it on newegg for 120$ :mad: ! they had it for 69$? damn

[donjiva]

in newegg there are several other brand for 8800gt 512mb besides xfx and evga, like pny.. msi..leadtek, is it ok to buy these brand? or should i wait for the xfx or evga?

[Jamie Nixx]

Those brands are fine but the EVGA one has the step up program, this basically means that when a newer better card comes out, you can upgrade to that version and only pay the difference in price.

The EVGA should be back in stock tomorrow :) .

[donjiva]

hi, so i bought the antec 900 case and GIGABYTE GA-P35C-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128048. i got 2 questions :

on the front paneling of the antec 900 there is a ieee 1394 cable, where should i plug the cable in the motherboard?

for the HDD LED, reset switch, power switch cables how can i differentiate the +/- ?

thanks!

[Redd]

Yes, Intels core 2 duo and core 2 quad CPU's have been record breaking, AMD cannot compete so for the forseeable future Intel is the way to go.

Ignore 3.4Ghz vs 2.66Ghz, it doesn't mean a thing, Intel C2D run faster and they run cooler.

Also, the Intel CPU's have much better chipsets than AMD, trust the experts, AMD is dead for the time being.

I have been reading most of these posts for over a month now------trying to decide what components to use for my computer......I have never posted. I decided from Jamies' suggestions to go with the intel P5K with P35 chipset. I am also going with the 6750, corsair RAM, and the Antec 900 case. The issue is this: I am not a gamer......and I know that everyone said that all this was overkill for someone that is not gaming. I DID however want my computer to be fast---and I figured that the gaming structure would be good for that also. I would appreciate input on which components you would reccommend for an economical build for general web-surfing and possible dvd editing that would have the best function and speed?

[Jamie Nixx]

It would be best if you created your own thread, we could help you a lot more.