First Build suggestions ~$1000

[madcow53]

Hello everyone,

I am doing my first build ever and I was wondering if I could get some suggestions. I have been doing some researching on the various options and I have an idea on what I would like to get. Unfortunately I am concerned about compatibility issues between the different components.

I will mainly be using the computer for work running programs like Matlab and VMWare. I would also like it to be good at gaming as I have never really had a decent gaming rig. I would like the build to last me for at least a couple of years (with some upgrades)

Here's what I'm thinking:

Processor - Core 2 Duo E6400 2.13Ghz
Motherboard -
Looked at GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 and ASUS P5N-E SLI, any other suggestions?
PSU - One that would be compatible with the motherboard
Case - Suggestions?
Hard drive - Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 SATA2 16MB buffer 320GB Hard Drive
Memory - CORSAIR ValueSelect 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 667
Video - PNY GeForce 7900 GS Video Card (is it worth paying >$200 for the 8800 GTS upgrade?)
Sound - Integrated sound

 

[bamacre]

Coolermaster CAC-T05-WW Centurion 5 Mid Tower Case
$65.00
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=141782

ENERMAX Liberty ELT500AWT ATX12V 500W
$97.90
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/skusearch.hmx?SCriteria=BA22027

GIGABYTE GA-965P-S3
$108.00
http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?p=MB-965...47e8f5e259f91b7d82a3066901f45bdf46cb8c

Intel® Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe Processor 2.13GHz
$222.00
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDe...jsp?ProductCode=80859&prodlist=froogle

DDR2 2GB PC5300 DUAL KINGSTON
$140.00 ($20 MIR as well)
http://shop4.outpost.com/product/5141546

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200KS 320GB
$93.00
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=101253-12

Liteon SH-16A7S 16X Serial ATA DVD±RW Drive (Black)
$41.80
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=175515

XFX PVT80GGHF9 GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB DDR3
$290.00
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=321113

It's a little over $1K, but it's worth it for the video card.

 

[Roguestar]

Does 320MB still seem a little weird to anyone else? It just doesn't sit right with me. Powers of 2 fo' lyfe!

Bamacre makes some good suggestions, by the way.

 

[Rommel44]

Originally posted by: bamacre
Coolermaster CAC-T05-WW Centurion 5 Mid Tower Case
$65.00
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=141782

ENERMAX Liberty ELT500AWT ATX12V 500W
$97.90
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/skusearch.hmx?SCriteria=BA22027

GIGABYTE GA-965P-S3
$108.00
http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?p=MB-965...47e8f5e259f91b7d82a3066901f45bdf46cb8c

Intel® Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe Processor 2.13GHz
$222.00
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDe...jsp?ProductCode=80859&prodlist=froogle

DDR2 2GB PC5300 DUAL KINGSTON
$140.00 ($20 MIR as well)
http://shop4.outpost.com/product/5141546

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200KS 320GB
$93.00
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=101253-12

Liteon SH-16A7S 16X Serial ATA DVD±RW Drive (Black)
$41.80
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=175515

XFX PVT80GGHF9 GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB DDR3
$290.00
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=321113

It's a little over $1K, but it's worth it for the video card.

I think thats good rig for 1000 bucks.

 

[madcow53]

Thanks!
Yeah that definitely sounds like a good rig.

A couple of questions, mind you I'm a newb when it comes to building computers, so I apologize if some of the answers to these questions are obvious:
Motherboard
1) What is the difference between the S3 and the DS3? is it worth the upgrade?
2) Am I limiting myself with not having SLI with this motherboard?
3) I've read there were some BIOS issues with this motherboard, but I think they've all being cleared up now, have you guys heard this?
4) What is the major difference between a mobo like this and a high end mobo like the ASUS P5B Deluxe?

PSU
1) I don't really know much about PSUs, I've always heard it's a good idea to invest in a good one, but I'm curious, what makes a PSU good?

Hard-drive
1) Something I had heard as well was to have a separate (faster) hard drive for your OS and one for your data. Does this really help that much?

Video card
I was thinking about buying a midrange card and wait for the price drops I've been hearing about in April, but after looking at the benchmarks of the GS 8800 320 MB and the price, I'm going to go with it! I don't have a lot of time and money for constant upgrading and I wouldn't consider myself a hardcore gamer anyway.

LCD - any suggestions?
(I can go a little over my $1000 budget )

Thank you very much for your suggestions!

 

[madcow53]

One more thing,
I've read that the heatsink that comes for the E6400 is not that great. Do you guys have any suggestions on alternative heatsinks?

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: Roguestar
Does 320MB still seem a little weird to anyone else? It just doesn't sit right with me. Powers of 2 fo' lyfe!

Because it is 320bit memory.

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: madcow53
A couple of questions, mind you I'm a newb when it comes to building computers, so I apologize if some of the answers to these questions are obvious:
Motherboard
1) What is the difference between the S3 and the DS3? is it worth the upgrade?

Not much, especially since Gigabyte now has a good BIOS for the board. This board has become MUCH more popular because of it.

2) Am I limiting myself with not having SLI with this motherboard?

No, and like you said, you are not a hardcore gamer anyway. SLI isn't worth it anyway, and Intel's chipsets are much better than Nvidia's, IMO anyway. Much more stable.

3) I've read there were some BIOS issues with this motherboard, but I think they've all being cleared up now, have you guys heard this?

There were, not now.

4) What is the major difference between a mobo like this and a high end mobo like the ASUS P5B Deluxe?

Possibly more features (firewire), but mostly they are better OC'ers. But this board is actually a good OC'er, especially for the price.

PSU
1) I don't really know much about PSUs, I've always heard it's a good idea to invest in a good one, but I'm curious, what makes a PSU good?

Quality parts inside, and capabilities. This one is excellent, and plenty to power that 8800 GTS.

Hard-drive
1) Something I had heard as well was to have a separate (faster) hard drive for your OS and one for your data. Does this really help that much?

Not really, but it is something people would find in higher-budgeted systems. With your budget, your money is MUCH better spent for other things. It's a matter of priorities, and something like a Western Digital Raptor is a low priority, as the performance difference is really insignificant when compared to it's cost.

Video card
I was thinking about buying a midrange card and wait for the price drops I've been hearing about in April, but after looking at the benchmarks of the GS 8800 320 MB and the price, I'm going to go with it! I don't have a lot of time and money for constant upgrading and I wouldn't consider myself a hardcore gamer anyway.

The 8800 GTS card will last you quite a while, it's one of the best cards on the market, and it is well-priced.

LCD - any suggestions?
(I can go a little over my $1000 budget )

What size, 19in or 20in? How much can you afford to spend here?

 

[madcow53]

I'm probably thinking around ~$200
I'd probably be fine with the 19in, but the 20in allows for 1600x1200 native resolution. I guess it's a price/value kindof question.

And I know this is a real newbie question, but what cables should I buy? Do they come with the parts?

As for the C2D HSF, should I go with the stock one?

Thanks bamacre!!

 

[s44]

Originally posted by: madcow53
I'd probably be fine with the 19in, but the 20in allows for 1600x1200 native resolution.

That's good and bad. Higher resolution = more taxing on the video card.

 

[madcow53]

Also, I saw that Newegg has the EVGA GTS8800 320 MB for $299.
I noticed in the XFX GTS8800 you gave me the Eclk was set to 500 Mhz whereas for the evga it's set to 576 Mhz.
I know that the XFX can be overclocked, but up to what?
Do you have any preference on company?

 

[bamacre]

19in...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824112002



You won't need any cables, you'll get everything you need. You may want to pick up some Arctic Silver for the cpu..
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835100007

And yeah, the stock cpu HSF will be fine.

 

[s44]

Forget cables or AS5, but you may want to get DDR2-800 and a decent third-party heatsink (which should come with decent thermal grease). Then that 6400 should OC to 3.2ghz or so easily.

Hyper TX 775 -- and comparison

 

[engiNURD]

If you'd like to overclock to 3.2Ghz, go with some DDR2-800 G.Skill sticks for $170 at the egg (2GBNQ). You'll also need a Scythe Ninja or equivalent CPU HSF. Don't worry about stability, these chips have a ton of headroom. Oh, and OC'ing isnt that hard. If you need to make room for the ram, you could drop to the Sunbeam NUUO 550W for $60 (modular and good, review is at jonnyguru.com), which should free up some cash for the higher speed ram.

http://anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2802

 

[bamacre]

Yes, OC'ing the cpu would definitely add performance, but don't let the extra cost of doing so interfere with the cost of the video card. For gaming, video card performance is MUCH more important than cpu performance.

 

[hellokeith]

Fudin / Raidmax case here

Enermax Noisetaker PSU here

 

[madcow53]

I already went with the ENERMAX Liberty ELT500AWT, bought it for $110 - $20 MIR = $90 + free shipping at zipzoomfly
As for the upgrading to the DDR2800, I'll probably stick with the DDR2667 unless a deal comes around, I don't think I'll be OC'ing that much

 

[bamacre]

You can still get a mild OC with the 667mhz memory.

 

[andy04]

Originally posted by: madcow53
One more thing,
I've read that the heatsink that comes for the E6400 is not that great. Do you guys have any suggestions on alternative heatsinks?

NINJA - it kicks heat n noise's ass

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: bamacre

And yeah, the stock cpu HSF will be fine.