Building New Machine

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PaladinBrewer

Junior Member
Nov 15, 2006
23
0
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Hey folks,

I was referred to your site by a friend, mostly for your guides section, which were very helpful. Anyways I plan on building a new machine in about a week during Thanksgiving break. I wanted to go a bit more on the high end this time. I was going for around $2000. I ended up around $2100ish. but thats ok :) Anyways Ive listed the parts below with some links to specs in case you need them. The links are not the parts I am buying. I plan on going to Frys for a one stop shop deal heh. I just put the links there for ease. Anyways, any comments or suggestions would be helpful. I dont plan on overclocking or anything either. Thanks much :)

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4Ghz 4MB Shared L2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...82E16819115003R

Motherboard: Asus PSW Dh Deluxe 975X
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...82E16813131025R

Memory: 2 GB of GeiL Ultra DDR2-1000
http://labs.anandtech.com/alllinks.php?pfi...#specifications

Video Card 1: Sapphire Radeon X1900 Crossfire 512MB
http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/product.asp?pid=13720

Video Card 2: Sapphire Radeon X1900XT 512MB
http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/product.asp?pid=13681

Hard Drive: Western Digital 3.0Gbps 500GB 7200RPM 16MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...MP=OTC-d3alt1me

Speakers: Creative 7.1 Surround, thats bout it
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16836116153

Power Supply: OCZ GameXStream 700W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16817341002

Case: Antec Performance I P180
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16811129154
 
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PaladinBrewer

Junior Member
Nov 15, 2006
23
0
0
I read that it was faster.....but fast enough to be worth going with only 1 card and reducing the video RAM?
 
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pkme2

Diamond Member
Sep 30, 2005
3,896
0
0
Good luck on your build. Buy what you need now and be happy. Wait for prices to get reasonable.
 
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PaladinBrewer

Junior Member
Nov 15, 2006
23
0
0
Well I really cant wait at this point. My current computer is on life support, I need a new one next week. Especially since I administrate a few websites. Of course this computer is mostly for a gaming.

So I assume the 8800GTX with the 640MB is a good change then...should I change my mother board then perhaps? I believe I got that one particularly for the crossfire support.

Also, anything else that seems to be a problem, perhaps too little or too much, bad brand, etc etc :) Any help would be greatly appreciated
 
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Geomagick

Golden Member
Dec 3, 1999
1,265
0
76
Get an nForce 680 based motherboard and a GeForce 8800GTX (768MB of ram BTW).

This will offer performance at least on a par with the x1950CF setup and in many cases faster.
Going for an nVidia based board will allow for SLI later if you choose.
 
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brikis98

Diamond Member
Jul 5, 2005
7,253
8
0
only get DDR2-1000 RAM if you are doing some serious OCing... and if you are, then get the nforce 680i motherboard as that is, afaik, the best performing c2d mobo on the market... you should also consider whether the premium on the E6600 is worth it (as opposed to an OCed E6300 or E6400). if you aren't OCing, stick with the E6600 (for the extra speed @ stock settings) but get much cheaper (ddr2-800 or ddr2-667) RAM.

and definitely go with a single 8800gtx instead of any current crossfire solution. it'll be roughly the same price (prob. a bit cheaper, actually) and will be able to run any game up to 1920x1200 with all the eye candy (and even many games at 2560x1600, which is ridiculous). however, it has the advantage of supporting dx10 (future proof!), amazing video & image quality, lower power consumption and heat output (than two cards) and in the future, you could always get a second one for SLI (if you get that 680i mobo) which gives absolutely ridiculous performance. and the 8800gtx has 768mb of RAM which is more than enough for any game out there.

finally, while i'm sure that OCZ PSU is decent, in that price range, i would much rather go with a top-of-the-line manufacturer such as PC Power & Cooling or Seasonic.
 
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blank98

Member
Nov 9, 2006
26
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Originally posted by: PaladinBrewer
I read that it was faster.....but fast enough to be worth going with only 1 card and reducing the video RAM?
Click to expand...

Yes an 8800GTX will be better than any crossfire, and there is no game out there that requires 1024 video ram. 512 is more than enough.
 
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IndyJaws

Golden Member
Nov 24, 2000
1,931
1
81
I went with a very similar build (see sig) and put it together last weekend. I was originally going to go with the same PSU, but the JonnyGuru review scared me a bit, due to the ripple issue he discovered. Decided the Corsair was the better way to go.

Agree with above posters - 8800GTX is definitely the way to go. Fits in P180 case nicely. I took out the middle HD cage and added the front middle fan to improve airflow over the GPU. Case is a bit strange to work with, but overall I really like it. Very quiet. I would suggest, however, that if you go with a modular PSU (like the Corsair), you should hook up the modular cables to your components first before installing the PSU - it got very cramped in there because I did it backasswards.

I can't speak to the new 680i boards, but I am very pleased with the P5W-DH. Early reviews look to have both of them very close in performance, and I like the BIOS stability that a board that has been around for a while offers. Even if you don't plan to overclock, you owe it to yourself to at least do the basic 25% OC by bumping FSB to 333, pushing you past X6800 performance. Even if you go with the stock Intel HSF, you should still have enough cooling that it won't be a problem, especially if you add the optional middle fan.

Good luck with the build!

Indy
 
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PaladinBrewer

Junior Member
Nov 15, 2006
23
0
0
Alright, so ill go with that EVGA motherboard I posted, and the 8800GTX. Since im not OCing ill go ahead and step it down to DDR-800 RAM?

Power supply you are probably correct. Ill just find one when I get to Frys with a better brand, step it down to 600ish watts.
 
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PaladinBrewer

Junior Member
Nov 15, 2006
23
0
0
Hmmm, just to make sure, I only need a 680i mobo if I plan on going SLI, correct? Because I probably will not, especially since it does not support duel monitors. So if I dont need it, I would like to step down my mobo in price, to perhaps, like the:

Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 Intel® P965 Express
Socket LGA775 ATX Motherboard
http://shop3.outpost.com/product/4927201

Also, with my 7.1 surround speakers, is the onboard audio sufficent, or should I pick up a sound card? Id prefer not to have to spend more money if I dont have to :)
 
TBSN

TBSN

Senior member
Nov 12, 2006
925
0
76
I'd also like to know how that board would compare with the 680i. (besides the lack of SLi). Does anyone have the 680i? The only thing that makes me shy away from it is the fact that there aren't as many people who are experienced with the bios settings......
 
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