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Building New PC

2K views 16 replies 6 participants last post by  crjdriver 
#1 ·
Hi...

I am looking to build a new PC soon. I usually buy a pre-built system every other year, not a name brand (Dell, etc), but from a local company called ACS (http://www.askacs.com). This PC will be used 50% for work (word processing / spreadsheets / VPN connection to work PC & network) and 50% for play (internet / gaming). I also do some limited photo editing. I am also thinking of maybe using it as a video entertainment system in the future (watching TV / DVD's).

I already have a monitor / keyboard / mouse / speakers and do not need to upgrade those. But I am looking to buy the rest (everything from the tower in), as I will pass my old machine off to my son to upgrade the system he uses.

What I am thinking I need / want:

  • Case - Full size tower, prefer black color, no mods, windows, or neon
  • Power Supply - Large enough support as needed (450W?)
  • CPU - Want pretty much best available as it will need to keep me on pace for two years, Core 2 Duo?
  • Motherboard - As needed for CPU and accessories
  • Memory - I have 1 GB in old PC, probably want at least 2 GB in the new
  • Hard drive - Large enough for photo's, video's, games, etc (120 GB+)
  • Video Card -Have an NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700 now, looking to upgrade to possibly include video in / out
  • TV Tuner - Unless video card handles that
  • Sound Card - Have SoundBlaster speaker / subwoofer set. Looking for card that will play good sound for games / videos

Besides the above, I will want a DVD player burner (maybe two), a multi-media reader for various memory cards, any necessary cables and cards that I might be missing. I was also thinking of a Blue Tooth device so I don't need to plug in my phone.

I have attached ACS's latest price list. First, I am wondering what you think of their prices, and second, if I can build a good PC for around $1000-$1500 that will meet my needs and desires for the next two years. I have built PC's before, but that was when someone else had bought all the pieces. I am not good at buying the parts themselves.

Thanks in advance...
 

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#2 ·
Okay, I have looked at their pricing list and kind of picked out some items myself. Does this look alright?

TYPE - NAME - ACS - PRICE

Case - MID TWR MONOCEROS BLACK 500W - CSMONO - $79.79

Motherboard / Processor - Intel 965WHMKR Motherboard
w/Intel E6600 P4 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo
775 Processor and Fan - SPE66 Combo - $339.75

Memory (X2) - DDR2 1GB PC5300 667MHz - ME1D6 - $119.59

Video Card - PCI-EX 512MG 7600GS MSI - VD7600 - $159.00

Hard Drive - SATA2 WD 320GB 7200 16MG - HD320KS - $119.52

DVD Burner (X2) - DVDWLB - DVDRW 16X LITE-ON BLACK W/NERO $45.00

Memory Stick Reader - CARD READER 16IN1 APACER - CSFR5 - $19.75

PCI Controller - SATA300 2PORT PROMISE PCI CONTROLLER - COPS3C - $66.50

TV Tuner - PCI TV TUNER DELUXE KWORLD - VDKTT - $50.00

Sound - PCI SOUND CARD 3D AOPEN - SDSC - $15.31

OS - MS-WINDOWS XP PRO SP2 - SWXPP - $148.76

TOTAL $1,327.56

Am I missing anything necessary? Anything there I don't need?
 
#5 ·
Cool, they tell you it's 500 watts, but nothing about the manufacturer, no specs as to amps available on the rails, etc.

A GOOD 500 watt PSU such as Antec, Enermax, ThermalTake, etc. will cost you in the neighborhood of $80.

I would never even consider putting a 965WH board with an C2D E-6600 in an $80 case that is equipped with a 500 watt PSU.

If you like the case, buy he case, but don't trust a poor quality PSU.
 
#6 ·
I am not sold on the case, so no problems there. A plain black box that is good will do me fine. Do you have any suggestions for a better case from that ACS site or any other? I am looking at NewEgg now for similar items to try and price check.
 
#7 ·
When you buy a case with a power supply many times [however not all] the ps is junk. If you stick with antec you will get a quality ps along with a nice case.

If you want to get a case and ps separate, then you can get any good quality case and put in the ps you choose. Good brand names for ps are antec, enermax, sparkle / fortron, and the more expensive coolmax.

FWIW my kid bought a raidmax case that came with a 420W ps. I would not even let him power up the system with that ps. The case is ok, it just came with a junk ps.
 
#8 ·
CHASSIS

I have used the Antec 3000B case in quite a few builds and have been very happy with it. It DOES NOT come with a PSU (which I like since I can then choose a PSU to my liking to support the internal hardware and provide for future upgrades). The "weak point" of this case is that it seems that the front door hinges are not very strong although I haven't had anyone break the door off "YET". It has a 120mm exhaust fan and a 120mm front fan mount point in front of the the hard drive which helps cool the hard drive.

This is a TAC case (Thermally Advantaged Chassis) with a side air guide. You can leave the air guide as a "passive" unit, or if additional cooling is necessary add a fan for additional cooling. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129152

PSU's

Both Antec and Enermax have a very good line of PSU's and personally I would choose one in the 500-600 watt range.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...16&Submit=ENE&Manufactory=1516&SubCategory=58

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...00&Submit=ENE&Manufactory=1400&SubCategory=58

ThermalTake, FSP and Seasonic also produce good quality PSU's.

The 965WH board with the C2D E-6600 is an EXCELLENT combination. The 965WH board has very good integrated sound so I would hold off buying the Aopen PCI sound card until I listened to the integrated sound on the board.

I would look for a comparable video card made by eVGA with the 7600GS chip since IMHO this company builds better cards than MSI and the prices are about the same. I have been using eVGA cards for the last couple of years and their performance has been excellent.

In any event, whatever components you decide on, the very best of luck to you in your build.
 
#9 ·
One VERY IMPORTANT fact that I neglected to mention in post #8 is memory.

The 965 chipset and the C2D processors are very "picky" about memory. I suggest that you go to www.crucial.com or www.kingston.com and use their memory configurators to choose the memory since both companies guarantee compatability.

I suggest that if you are going to use 1GB of memory you use two 512's rather than one 1GB so that you have dual channel mode. Pages 16-22 of the following manual explain the memory configurations;

ftp://download.intel.com/design/motherbd/wh/D5600801US.pdf
 
#10 ·
As others have said, should be a good rig, I noticed a couple of items you might consider.
I dont really see the need for two DVD burners, all you really need is a DVD rom as your souce drive and a DVD writer to burn.
Also that mobo has capacity for 6 SATA @ 3gb drives, I dont see the need for the Sata controller card.
 
#11 ·
Thanks everyone for the info. I am going to do a little more research and see what I can find. Building a similar machine from NewEgg ended costing the same before shipping. Looking to go locally so if I have any problems I can get it resolved faster.
 
#12 ·
I finally placed my order on Saturday. I went ahead with the case that I mentioned. Since ACS is building it, it will all be covered under warranty, so if anything goes bad, they'll fix / replace. This will be my fourth PC from there, and I have had only one issue, which was power supply related (fan going bad), and they took care of it no problem.

What I ended up ordering:

Case - MID TWR MONOCEROS BLACK 500W
MB - INTEL SKT775 ATX INTEL 965WHMKR DDR2
Processor - 775P E6600 2.4GHz CORE 2 DUO 1066MHz 4MG
RAM - DDR2 PC5300 1GB DIMM 667MHz (X2)
Video - PCI-E 512MG 7600GS
TV Tuner - TV TUNER XPERT PCI KWORLD
HD - SATA2 160GB WD 7200
DVD - DVD+/-RW 16X LITE-ON BLACK W/NERO (X2)
OS - XP Pro with future Vista upgrade (maybe)

Price: $1491.47

I do want to thank you all for your suggestions. Can't wait to get it. Now I need something to run on it to test it out. Hmmm... New game time?

Also, anyone have a link to one of those test sites so I can see how she does, please let me know.
 
#15 ·
Hi there... I just wanted to correct you on something... a $80 case w/ a 500 watt powersupply does not automatically mean it is a sub-standard power supply... hell, even a $50 case... I work for a PC manufacturer.. and we sell Coolermax/Enermax power supplies and cases... Our cost for an case w/ a 450-500 watt psu is around $20-$25 ... Then selling it at $50 is 1/2 profit... a nicer case migth cost us $40 and then we will sell tht for $80.... A Enermax 450wat PSU alone costs us $11 in a retail box..... I think we retail it for $30ish.. So, before stating that the PSU will be bad, they should check it out. Just thought you should know...
 
#16 ·
I agree with crjdriver 100% about cases with included PSU's. Except for a couple such as Antec and ThermalTake the vast majority of cases with included PSU's, the PSU's are pure JUNK.

Now something you should check out is the archives here at TSG and see how many threads you find that deal with cheap PSU failures.

I am also an OEM builder, and I would love to see a receipt where you are purchasing a NEW 450 watt Enermax for $11.

And yes, I have checked it out and that's why I use PC P&C units in about 85% of my builds. In PSU's you get exactly what you pay for and that's why I wouldn't even consider a build with an Intel DG965WH board and a C2D E6600 processor running with a $30-$40 PSU.
 
#17 ·
Teej1878 said:
Hi there... I just wanted to correct you on something... a $80 case w/ a 500 watt powersupply does not automatically mean it is a sub-standard power supply... hell, even a $50 case... I work for a PC manufacturer.. and we sell Coolermax/Enermax power supplies and cases... Our cost for an case w/ a 450-500 watt psu is around $20-$25 ... Then selling it at $50 is 1/2 profit... a nicer case migth cost us $40 and then we will sell tht for $80.... A Enermax 450wat PSU alone costs us $11 in a retail box..... I think we retail it for $30ish.. So, before stating that the PSU will be bad, they should check it out. Just thought you should know...
As I said most however not all are junk. You need to check the specs on any ps you buy. The important concept is that a wattage rating means very little in regard to quality; you must check the specs of whatever ps you are going to buy.
 
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