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$2000 build

M

Mountain Hiker

Junior Member
My first post (although, I have been reading a lot here) and my first build. I guess I?m gonna dive right into this insanity.

(Blain, thanks for the format/info)
I?m looking for:
~Video editing with Adobe Premiere
~Gaming (mostly FPS)
~ Personal Video Recorder I would like to incorporate one and I hear a lot of good things about Hauppauge, but I also hear negative things about image quality. I still need to do more research on this.
~Quiet would be great but not a huge factor in my decision.

Budget
neighborhood of $2000
However, this is hard because if the price/return is remarkably better by paying a bit more then I am willing to consider other options. However, I also realize that this can inch a system up to $$$$.

Location
Buying from the US

No current parts to reuse.

Overclocking
I want to learn about overclocking, but, as of now, I am a complete n00b on the subject.


This is what I have been looking at so far (prices from newegg.com):

Processor: $199
Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775

Heatsink: $24-65
Thermalright Ultra-90
Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme

Fan: ?


Motherboard: $135
ASUS P5K LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel

GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Intel
(I looked at this but it doesn?t have an IEEE port for video editing.)

I?m having some trouble determining how many of each I need:
PCI Express x16
PCI Express x1
PCI Slots
IEEE


RAM: $110
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory


Graphics: $280-352
GeForce 8800GTS 320MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16

GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16


Hard Drives: $185 & $110
(Will I really notice a large benefit from having both-do I really need a 10,000 RPM drive)
Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10,000 RPM 16MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive

SAMSUNG SpinPoint T Series HD501LJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive


Power Supply: $120-140
CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 520W

CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 620W


Case: $130-140
Antec Performance One P180B

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower


Optical Drive:
???


Monitor:$669
Dell UltraSharpTM 2407WFP-HC 24-inch Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor

Other: $6
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound

Keyboard/Mouse


Am I missing anything else?
 
Here's what I'd get for your needs:

-Intel Core 2 Q6600 (Lots of FPS games and games in general coming out will use quad cores. It will also be great for your movie editing needs.)

-I was in a tough spot deciding which motherboard I wanted too and I chose this one cause it has everything. For you though I would recommend maybe the Gigabyte DS3P or ASUS P5K Deluxe or Abit IP35-Pro.

-4GB DDR2 800mhz. For movie editing and gaming, you will definitely use 4GB. You can get some decent 4-4-4-12 Corsair sticks for ~$95 if you search for sales. Try NCIX.

-Hard drives look good, I just ordered a Raptor X myself so I'll tell you how it is when I get it, but it should be very fast. The Samsung is a good choice too. Western Digital may be a little faster but the Samsung is a little cooler and quieter apparently.

-Video Cards? Definitely the 640MB if you are gonna play on that monitor. I'd also consider the 8800GTX to power those resolutions better as well. I definitely think if you can find a good deal you will be able to fit it into your budget.

-Power supplies... Either one will be more than enough for the system.

-Any new LG or Samsung DVD-RW should be great. I'd get 2 optical drives, they are pretty cheap.

-Keyboard I would recommend a nice gaming keyboard like the Saitek Eclipse II or Logitech G15 or Razer Tarantula.

-Case I think is pretty much preference so that is your call.

Anyways I personally think that you can fit most of that into your budget and you will have yourself a screamin beast for $2000.
 
Heheh, what he said ^^

Corsair 2x1gb of ddr2 800mhz 4-4-4-12 is still going for 67$ at newegg. Check several places though, clubit.com for example has the 520hx for 80$ AR.
 
I live in Canada so I don't know what the US deals are like, but yeah if you look/wait for deals you can save a lot.

Also, do you need an OS? If so I recommend Vista x64.
 
You might want to take a look at the CoolerMaster TX2 heatsink fans...they're light, quite and work very well for their price and size.

I think that your system will be more than adequate for what you've described. As long as you don't attempt to play every new game at the highest settings, you should be fine.

I would highly recommend looking at the eVGA 680i motherboards. They have great overclocking support, come with several IEEE, and allow for SLI configurations in the future. Furthermore, they're quite stable, and I haven't really had any problems with mine. Even the 680LT or 650 Ultra they're quite nice, and their support is good as well.

The P180 case line is fantastic - I have two systems each in a P180. I have been impressed lately with the build of the Coolermaster cases as well. They're not much to look at (The centurion5) but they're easy to build in, and you can manage your cabling well.

I think that you should get as many PCI-Express x16 slots as possible, mainly because the future of internal peripherals lies in the PCI-Express architecture. NICs, sound cards, video cards...soon all of these will be almost exclusively PCI-Express.

 
Thanks for the replies; especially LightningRider & teclis1023. You gave me a lot of info to think over. This is what I decided:


Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz
ZALMAN fan
ASUS P5K DELUXE Motherboard
CORSAIR 4GB Ram
GeForce 8800GTS 640MB
Western Digital Raptor 150GB 10,000 RPM Hard Drive
SAMSUNG SpinPoint T Series 500GB 7200 RPM Hard Drive
CORSAIR Power Supply
Antec Nine Hundred Case
PHILIPS 20X DVD±R DVD
(Samsung one I wanted was out of stock)
Saitek Eclipse II Keyboard
Logitech MX518 Gaming-Grade Mouse

Thanks again for your replies.
 
Originally posted by: Mountain Hiker
Thanks for the replies; especially LightningRider & teclis1023. You gave me a lot of info to think over. This is what I decided:


Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz
ZALMAN fan
ASUS P5K DELUXE Motherboard
CORSAIR 4GB Ram
GeForce 8800GTS 640MB
Western Digital Raptor 150GB 10,000 RPM Hard Drive
SAMSUNG SpinPoint T Series 500GB 7200 RPM Hard Drive
CORSAIR Power Supply
Antec Nine Hundred Case
PHILIPS 20X DVD±R DVD
(Samsung one I wanted was out of stock)
Saitek Eclipse II Keyboard
Logitech MX518 Gaming-Grade Mouse

Thanks again for your replies.
Click to expand...

Looks like a great build, but I'm not so sure about that Zalman fan... recently, Zalman has been really expensive for the performance. You'll probably be better off with a TX2, Scythe, or Thermalright cooler.

Make sure to shop around, too. I know Buy.com has the Corsair HX520W for $99 with free shipping; that's somewheres around $20 cheaper than the Egg.
 
I still think you'd be better of spending less on the motherboard or Raptor and getting a Q6600 instead. But it will be a solid system either way.
 
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