Custom Build

[Woodham]

Kinda new to the Custom Build game, anything i should add/change to this, all input is welcomed . I know all the URLs are tiger direct, but that was simply for a quick splash page on each item, ill probably do more price comparisons after this gets finalized.

Mother Board and Processor
--EVGA nForce 780i SLI Motherboard CPU Bundle - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 Processor 2.66GHz OEM (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3714946&CatId=2406) <$449.99>

Graphics Card
--[2] XFX GeForce 8800 GT Video Card - Alpha Dog Edition, 512MB DDR3, PCI Express 2.0, SLI Ready, (Dual Link) Dual DVI, HDTV, Variable Fan Speed (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3592056&Sku=P450-8830) <$109.99 X 2>

RAM
--[2 Sets] Corsair XMS3 DHX 2048MB Dual Channel PC10600 DDR3 1333MHz Memory (2 x1024MB) (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3135566&CatId=3433) <$114.99>

Case
--Apevia X-Jupiter G Type ATX Full-Tower Case - Clear Side, Front USB and FireWire Ports (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3424759&CatId=1510) <$179.99>

PSU
--OCZ / GameXStream / 850-Watt / ATX / 120mm Fan / SATA-Ready / SLI-Ready / Active PFC / Power Supply (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2776974&CatId=2036) <$159.99>

HDD
--[2] Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB Hard Drive - 7200RPM, 32MB, SATA-300, OEM (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3564505&CatId=8) <$69.99 X 2>

CD-Drive
-- Sony DRU-V200S/BR DVD Rewritable Drive SATA - 20x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 8x DVD+R DL, 12x DVD-R DL, 12x DVD-RAM, 16x DVD-ROM, 48x CD-R, 32x CD-RW, 48x CD-ROM, Black (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3986421&Sku=S167-4520) <$39.99>

Monitor
--ViewSonic VA2226w 22" (21.6" View) Widescreen LCD Monitor - 5ms, 2000:1, WSXGA+ 1680x1050, DVI, VGA, Black (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3329362&CatId=2775) <$219.99>

Mouse
--Logitech G5 Laser Gaming Mouse (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3092938&CatId=2390) <$49.99>

Keyboard
--Logitech G11 Gaming Keyboard (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2479498&CatId=142) <$59.99>

 

[frankjohn]

Compare your board price and other items with[newegg.com] bigger savings

 

[Woodham]

Yuh was going to shop around first.

Is the power supply going to be good enough?
and any better or parts that should be subbed out for another brand or model?

 

[Compiler]

22" is kind of small for monitor. Get a 24" monitor for $350~450 - nothing to cheap like Acer as the display quality suffers. Samsung has several to choose from... a 25.5" Samsung is $450. That'll give you 1920x1200 res.

Some performance tests: http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-charts-q3-2008/Call-of-Duty-4-v1-6,746.html

Are you planning to OC? The Q6600 OCs better than the Q6700 and costs about $50 less (I think)... its $190 at newegg.com

Want an impressive tower Check this one out: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...A=0&Description=thermaltake+Mozart+tx&x=0&y=0

Very nice to work with. Lots of space on the inside - but also its not DEEP... just tall.

 

[frankjohn]

Every one has their own preferance on hardware ECT. I like gigabyte boards & intel. the power supply is enough.

 

[Compiler]

I gather you're going with WindowsXP with just 2GB of RAM... get the MCE edition (which what vista is designed off of).

I'd prefer a single video-card solution... but you have a far larger budget than mine (LOL) but my goals are silence and less heat/power. The extra requirements for dual video cards is costing you an extra $150~200. But a single 4870card is $270 but would work with a $100 650watt PSU. But the 8800GT SLI is still among the fastest configurations... for now

 

[Woodham]

Getting 2 sets of the 1024 sticks, but right now im looking in to upgrading to get 2 sets of 2048 instead. also i do like large towers, helped a friend build his rig, and had to do some fandangling to get his PSU in, also keeping the extra room for upgrades and such. at the very end planning on having a third 8800 in there. but thats not going to be for a while.

I've been saving up to buy this stuff for a couple years now (hard to save money in college )

Thanks for the input too.

 

[Compiler]

3rd video card = waste of money at this time... You'd need a board that'll properly support 3 cards, power supply, etc... also the returns are just not there...

That Thermaltake for $250 - is awsome to work with... and its very very light-weight... which fulls people into thinking its heavy. You can spend a lot of time on wiring because of the windows You want it to look nice... and it does.

 

[Woodham]

LOL, I can't believe what a beast that case is. and im thinking of switching to the EVGA nForce 780i SLI Motherboard CPU Bundle - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Processor 2.40GHz OEM. if i were to go with a single card is there a better motherboard for that setup?

 

[Compiler]

Gigabyte P35 board - on newegg.com - $85.00 - I have more info/links on a subject today "3870 or 9800 video card?".

In the next 4-6 months, the replacement of Core2 will start hitting mainstream... P45 boards are not quite there... but that's up to you... it does have PCIe 2.0, but that won't make much difference until 2009~2010.

 

[Woodham]

Won't the replacements be more expensive? and if so would it be reasonable to wait until then, i have a laptop that is working fine, and have the time and patience to wait. I'd like to get the best deal for my money.

 

[Compiler]

You'll always be waiting... also those new computers will very very expensive and the tech maybe buggy. Those who wait about a year, save the most money... and still get good performance if correct parts are choosen.

If you spend $3000 today or 4 months from now - it'll still be valued at about $200~500 in 2-3 years... If you spend $1000 today... it'll still be worth $150~300 in 2-3 years.


Think about the "fools" who bought Pentium Extreme CPUs 2 years ago for $1000 (just for the CPU)... and yet todays $70 AMD X2 CPUs are faster.