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Building and Ordering PC parts soon [finished!]

U

Unknown Person

Member
After two months of researching parts, I'm finally about ready to order all of the parts!

1. My PC will be used for a bit of medium gaming (Half Life 2, Counter Strike: Source, TF2, Assasin's Creed, Oblivion, perhaps some headroom for future games), heavy multitasking, Photoshop, Programming, and watching movies via HDMI. The gaming will happen on a 24" Samsung SyncMaster 245B (1920x1200)

2. My budget has already been allocated in total for about $2000 CDN, although that includes the monitor and peripherals. The budget for just the box is about $1500 CDN.

3. I'm buying my parts from DirectCanada, although some cheaper parts I'll go buy at Canada Computers.

4. I don't have any brand preference.

5. I'm reusing my keyboard and two monitors.

6. I have been reading other threads for about 2 months now. 🙂

7. I don't plan on overclocking.

8. I plan to build it right after the Q9550 price drop, when I'll order it.

So I've already posted here quite a bit requesting help, and I've already received a ton of it (thanks!), but I'm posting here just to get people to look at the build to see if there's anything wrong, any more price cuts, or anything that can be improved. Here is the part list.

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 LGA775 2.66GHZ Yorkfield 1333FSB 12MB OEM
http://www.directcanada.com/pr...067N&manufacture=INTEL
$319.99

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro LGA775 2500RPM 45CFM
http://www.directcanada.com/pr...cture=ARCTIC%20COOLING
$19.19

ASUS P5Q Pro Socket 775 Intel P45 Motherboard
http://www.directcanada.com/pr...20Pro&manufacture=ASUS
$138.88

2x OCZ DDR2 PC2-6400 800 MHz Reaper HPC Edition 4GB Dual Channel
http://www.canadacomputers.com...017033&cid=RAM.346.307
$225.98 (already bought a month ago)

Diamond Radeon HD 4870 512MB GDDR5 PCI-E 2XDVI-I Video Card
http://www.directcanada.com/pr...12&manufacture=DIAMOND
$268.32

Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 3450 512MB DDR2 Dual DVI Display PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card
http://canadacomputers.com/ind...017576&cid=999.243.272
$50.99

Antec P182 Advanced Super Mid Tower Case- Gun Metal Black
http://www.directcanada.com/pr...P182&manufacture=ANTEC
$128.15

Corsair HX520 CMPSU-520HX 520W ATX Triple 12V 40A Continuous 24PIN ATX Modular 120MM Power Supply
http://www.directcanada.com/pr...HX&manufacture=CORSAIR
$108.15

2x Western Digital Caviar (WD6400AAKS) 640GB SATAII 7200RPM 16MB Buffer (OEM)
http://www.directcanada.com/pr...Western%20Digital%20WD
$157.76

Samsung 203S Trudirect 20X Sata Dvd Writer Lightscribe Black Oem W/ Software
http://www.directcanada.com/pr...BN&manufacture=Samsung
$26.99

Samsung SH-S223F Black SATA DVD+RW 22X8X16 DVD-RW 22X6X16 16X/12X DL INT DVD Writer OEM
http://www.directcanada.com/pr...BN&manufacture=Samsung
$28.89

1.44MB Black 3.5IN Floppy Drive
http://www.directcanada.com/pr...PPY&manufacture=Others
$7.56

Creative Sound Blaster X-FI Xtreme Audio 24BIT Sound Card 7.1 PCI-E X1 (OEM)
http://www.directcanada.com/pr...acture=CREATIVE%20LABS
$45.25

Samsung SyncMaster 245B 24IN Widescreen Black LCD Monitor 1920X1200 3000:1 5MS VGA DVI HAS
http://www.futureshop.ca/catal...u_id=0665000FS10086756
$349.99 (already bought with the $50 sale a few weeks ago)

Logitech G15 2ND Gen Gaming Keyboard USB Black Silver Amber LCD Panel Programmable Backlit Keys
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=12660ID0385
$68.64

Subtotal: $1,944.73
Total with Taxes: $2,197.54

A few notes:
- I put in the Q9450 in the part list for now until the Q9550 drops in price in DirectCanada, which should be tomorrow I guess.
- I'm running two GPUs because I intend on running 3 monitors + an HDTV via HDMI. The 4870's purpose is for gaming and watching movies while the secondary GPU is used for running the two sub monitors (Sceptre 17" 1280x1024, and BenQ FP202W 20.1" 1680x1050)
- I already bought the RAM, so yeah I know that I kind of got an expensive model. A bit too late to return it.
- I'm getting two different models of DVD drives because I usually do copy discs. Also, one of the models has LightScribe, while the other one is slightly faster and runs at 22x speeds.
- I do not intend on overclocking, nor using RAID 0 on the two WD harddrives.
- I run my computer on 24/7.
- I do not plan on upgrading this computer any further in the future, and I want it to last about 3 or 4 years.

Some questions:
- There is an ASUS EAH3650 Silent Magic selling on Canada Computers for about $76. Is it worth spending $25 more on that card? It is more powerful, but then again, the monitors are only seeing 2D and minimal 3D work (no games or movies). I'm only looking for secondary cards with passive cooling to minimize the amount of noise (my existing computer is already extremely noisy). However, that card has a rebate for $25, but I haven't had luck with rebates from Canada Computer (my OCZ RAM rebate was denied because of an "unauthorized retailer".
- Do I really need a floppy drive? My motherboard case came with floppy drivers, but I'm getting the feeling that barely anyone uses floppy's anymore. The P182 only has one 3.5" bay, so it'd be a compromise between a floppy drive or a small flash card reader. The price of a floppy drive is small enough to be a non-issue.
- Are there any good quality yet inexpensive internal flash card readers? I occasionally need to read data from microSD and SD cards, and I'm bit sick of using a USB adaptor. I don't need any USB or FireWire plugs on it. If I'm using a floppy, a 5.25" would be necessary.
- Sound card okay? I've been using integrated sound (which apparently doesn't produce much of a difference), but it's cheap and I'm looking for a change.

Thanks for all of the help that I have already received from the community!
 
Do I really need a floppy?
Unless you're a sysadmin who works with a bunch of old PCs, nope.

Sound card okay?
I'd stick with the integrated on that board; it's very good - you'll not notice a difference with a dedicated sound card so why spend the money?
 
Since you're running 2 GPU's, I would recommend going with the 620HX power supply. I have the 520HX and the HD4870, and that card uses both of the PCIe power connections on that PSU - in order to power your other GPU you'll have to use an adapter or something to one of the other connectors. I believe the 620HX has four PCIe power terminals, so it would seem better suited to the HD4870/HD3850 combo.

Other than that, I have that case, love it; I have that HDD, love it; I am using that CPU cooler and it seems to be doing great - in RealTemp max Prime95 load temps on my E8500 are 48/50 at a very mild overclock of about 3.25 GHz

I think you'll have a very nice rig there - happy building!
 
I'd love to buy that case, I'm looking at some new ones at the moment but the P182 seems to be at the top of my budget range; you guys pay what is equivalent to £63 for it but we get it at £94 🙁.
 
Originally posted by: Roguestar
I'd love to buy that case, I'm looking at some new ones at the moment but the P182 seems to be at the top of my budget range; you guys pay what is equivalent to £63 for it but we get it at £94 🙁.
Click to expand...

Ugh - that hardly seems fair. You should have someone on this side of the pond purchase it for you and ship it to you - maybe you could cut the price differential in half? It is a sexy case...
 
Hah, I just looked it up on ebay.co.uk and it's going for ~£100 plus shipping, but one international seller from canada has kindly listed it as only £87.

Plus £100 shipping :shocked:.
 
Originally posted by: Roguestar
Hah, I just looked it up on ebay.co.uk and it's going for ~£100 plus shipping, but one international seller from canada has kindly listed it as only £87.

Plus £100 shipping :shocked:.
Click to expand...

Yowza - how would you say it over there - that Canadian's got some big bollocks? he's probably lucky you can't send a death ray over the internet... yet 😀

Edit: sorry Unknown Person (I'll call you UNSUB like in my old job) - we seem to have completely hijacked your thread
 
Originally posted by: sonnygdude
Since you're running 2 GPU's, I would recommend going with the 620HX power supply. I have the 520HX and the HD4870, and that card uses both of the PCIe power connections on that PSU - in order to power your other GPU you'll have to use an adapter or something to one of the other connectors. I believe the 620HX has four PCIe power terminals, so it would seem better suited to the HD4870/HD3850 combo.

Other than that, I have that case, love it; I have that HDD, love it; I am using that CPU cooler and it seems to be doing great - in RealTemp max Prime95 load temps on my E8500 are 48/50 at a very mild overclock of about 3.25 GHz

I think you'll have a very nice rig there - happy building!
Click to expand...

The HD3450 video card doesn't need a PEG connector. It draws power from the PCI-E slot. He would be "fine" as far as power is concerned. The Corsair delivers a max of 40A on the 12V rails, which should be just enough even if every component was under full load at the sme time. I haven't seen a review for the HD4870 measure total power consumption over 300W for the entire test system - which include more power hungry motherboards and overclocked QX processors.

But I do think the OP should play it safer and grab the 620W Corsair. It won't have to work as hard to deliver the same amount of power, which would hopefully increase the life span of the PSU.
 
I have previously gotten the okay that the 520W modular Corsair would work fine with my rig. But then again, if I get rid of the sound card and the floppy drive, I can fit an extra $50 for the HX620, which sounds about right, since apparently a sound card and floppy drive aren't necessary. I'd rather be safe than sorry, since I do want this computer to last a while, so rather not leave too much stress on the PSU. Any suggestions on any internal flash card readers to fill up the empty bay? Also, same goes with the 3650 option: is it worth getting that card instead of the 3450? Thanks for the help!
 
Originally posted by: cusideabelincoln
But I do think the OP should play it safer and grab the 620W Corsair. It won't have to work as hard to deliver the same amount of power, which would hopefully increase the life span of the PSU.
Click to expand...

And could potentially lead to quieter operation, although the 520HX is already pretty darn quiet as it is.

Basically I agree - he would be fine with the 520, but getting the 620 wouldn't hurt anything.
 
How much does the 620hx cost? It's a nice powersupply, but there might be other, cheaper ones, or more powerfull ones for the same money. AR the 620hx is $115 at ncix.com

Be sure to check out ncix.com as well, to compare prices. And make sure you can't find a cheaper videocard with 2 dvi-out ports. I've seen some fanless ones, but they use a dvi-sub instead of 2 dvi out ports, and I don't know what limitations that brings to the table.
 
Originally posted by: MarcVenice
Be sure to check out ncix.com as well, to compare prices. And make sure you can't find a cheaper videocard with 2 dvi-out ports. I've seen some fanless ones, but they use a dvi-sub instead of 2 dvi out ports, and I don't know what limitations that brings to the table.
Click to expand...

I've been checking NCIX and Canada Computers, and most of NCIX's prices are a lot higher than Direct Canada's. Canada Computers also has the HX620 on sale with a $30 rebate, and since I live in Toronto, I can get parts at one of the local stores.

On the video card issue, the 3450 has two models: the 256MB and the 512MB versions. With a bit of looking around, the 256MB version has a DVI+VGA while the 512MB version has two DVI slots, which is what I have posted in my original post. My question is if there would be an advantage on picking up the ASUS 3650, which would be more powerful. Both of these models have passive cooling, so that isn't an issue.

 
No use getting the 3650, it will only be doing 2d stuff, any dedicated videocard is in fact overkill, integrated graphics could do the trick too ...
 
I have just bought about half of the parts from Direct Canada a few minutes ago. This includes:

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
ASUS P5Q Pro
Antec P182
2x WD Caviar SE16 640GB
2x DVD drives
Logitech G15
Flash Card Reader
Some MX-2 thermal paste + ArctiClean for good measure

And I plan on buying the rest from Canada Computers and PC Village (PC Village has the new dropped price for the Q9550, which is nice, and also sells the video cards for a bit cheaper than Direct Canada)

I can't wait until all the parts arrive! I'll be sure to update this thread when it's all built. Thank you all for your advice, and the vast amount of resources that the AnandTech community has in these forums! I couldn't have done it without you guys. 🙂

[Edit @Aug 13th]

I just bought the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 at PC Village for the nice price of $340. Oddly enough Direct Canada hasn't even updated for the new pricing yet. Now to wait for the shipment to be able to test it out. Planning on buying the power supply and 2 video cards this weekend in anticipation of the package coming on Monday.

[Edit @Aug 16th]

Went to Canada Computers and PC Village, ended up buying a Sapphire 4870, and a Corsair HX620. They didn't sell the secondary video card that I wanted (dual DVI, passive, single slot), so I'll have to find another solution. (see: http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2218133&enterthread=y ) Can't wait till the rest of the components come on Monday!
 
I didn't think this would happen, but I just found a killer deal on NCIX for an EVGA 9800GX2

http://forum.ncix.com/forums/i...age=1&product_id=29030
$299

I don't know whether I should reconsider buying the 4870 (I haven't bought it yet, planning to on the weekend) in lieu of this amazing deal. I know the GX2 performs better, but what about in the long run? Does the HDMI port output audio as well? Why does this have to happen the day before I buy the card!?
 
Originally posted by: Unknown Person
I don't know whether I should reconsider buying the 4870 (I haven't bought it yet, planning to on the weekend) in lieu of this amazing deal. I know the GX2 performs better, but what about in the long run? Does the HDMI port output audio as well? Why does this have to happen the day before I buy the card!?
Click to expand...

Better now to tempt you, than after you've ordered to frustrate you.

My GX2 has just arrived, and yes, a hot deal tempted me away from my planned HD 4870. As for the long run, who knows what lies ahead - I bought for gaming now.

BTW, the GX2's HDMI port handles audio using a pass-through cable included in the box - not as neat as the ATI solution if you are a tidy case/cable freak.
 
Ended up getting the 4870, found many remarks that the 9800GX2 probably wouldn't be well suited for what I'm doing. I originally was going to go with the 4850, and I don't game enough to warrant a dual GPU video card. Don't like the heat output, nor the audio implementation that much. 😛 Oh well.
 
About two months in with the computer, and it's very nice. Triple monitor configuration is very convenient, and the ATI drivers make it fairly easy to position the screens to my liking. I could never get a 3450 with dual DVI, so I just went ahead and got an ASUS EAH 3650 SILENT MAGIC. A bit overkill, but the price was right with the rebate, and I wasn't going to waste any more time finding another video card.

If anyone here is interested in this type of configuration, here are some things to watch out for:
- drivers crash quite a bit, not sure if it's the 4870 PowerPlay issue here (disabling it via Profiles prevents some crashes from happening from playing Spore, that's about it). Will usually get a blue screen after the driver "fails" several times in a row, and it happens at seemingly random times. Usually never happens when playing a game or watching a movie, so probably something to do with PowerPlay
- I had to reset the monitor's colour pallette using Vista's colour management tool. Not a big issue, but could be very annoying if you don't know what's making things go yellow in the Picture Viewer
- HDMI out works very well, yet I still haven't figured out how to get Windows Media Center to output through the HDMI-out audio controller. I have to manually set all audio to go out there before trying. I also had to make a new CCC profile adding the HDTV as an extra monitor

Other than that, though, it's really a dream machine, and has been an enjoyable first build. Thanks for all the help! Here's a picture for good measure: http://www.byond.com/members/U...n/files/comp_final.jpg
 
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