First Time builder- Please advise..

[gscone]

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

Business/Multimedia

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

$1400

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

USA

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc, etc, etc, you get the picture.

No Brand preference as long as parts are reputable

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

All new components

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.

Yes- THanks, as many have been informative.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

No

Here is what I am looking at after some diligent research online:

Case: Antec Performance One P180 Silver cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail ---$120

Hard Drive: Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM ---$170

Video Card- XFX PVT84JUDD3 GeForce 8600GT XXX 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Video Card - Retail $130

Sound Card- Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail $70

PSU- Antec NeoPower 550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply - Retail $100

Keyboard/Mouse- Logitech 967557-0403 Silver/Black USB + PS/2 RF Wireless Slim Cordless Desktop S 510 Mouse Included - Retail $48

Memory- (2)CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400C4 - Retail $100

CPU- Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 Conroe 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80557E6850 - Retail $280

Speakers- Logitech Z-2300 200 watts RMS 2.1 Speaker System - Retail $105

Total- $1,073.00

Please advise of any suggestions as my main goal is a fast system along with solid reputable parts. Thanks!

 

[DSF]

Specifically what tasks are doing under the umbrella of Business and Multimedia? For some people, multimedia means watching videos and listening to music, which doesn't take a whole lot of power. For others, it means encoding video 24/7, which is a lot different. If your business just involves word processing and spreadsheets, that's different than someone who works with a program like Photoshop for a living.

It seems to me that a lot of the parts you've chosen are probably overkill, but it's hard to say without knowing more.

 

[gscone]

Thanks for the reply. My business needs are that i use about 3-4 proprietary applications that we use for financial and acocunting as well as video stuff.

 

[aigomorla]

seeing how were on the road to overkill, why not just upgrade i to a gaming computer?

Seeing how you have some headroom on your budget.

Motherboard: Gigabyte P35-DS3P or DS4 or DQ6 Asus P5K-E -DLX -Premium My top board recomendations.

Change the videocard to a 8800GT 256meg or 512 if you want to spend a little more.

The G92 offers HD Hardware Decode. Its a nice feature to have, if your cpu is lacking, however yours isnt. The G92 should handle anything you intend to throw at it without a hickup.

Step up on your PSU, get modular. That case has so many nook and cranies to shove cables though, you'll wish you had modular. Corsair HX630 or Antec Quattro 850W They should be priced around the same. The Antec offers cleaner power tho with less ripples. Usually helps systems overclock better if your into that thing.

I would replace the raptor with a large class drive. 750gig seagate 7200.11 would be a better replacement. Or the 750GB WD GP drive as well.

I would ask for better sound card recomendation.


EDIT: Grab a quad G0 and overclock it to 3.2ghz. Its a moderate overclock.
Some stores i like to check on. Make sure you always shop around.

Newegg: warning, the more people view the product you want, newegg has a script that raises the price on the item. So make sure you shop aroun.


A few of my favorate stores:
Ewiz.com
ZipZoomFlycom: <--- if they bork your order, you'll go though hell tho.
Directron.com
thenerds.net
Provantage.com sells the antec quattro for fairly cheap. However it will take about a week to get it.

For case and cooling needs:
Jab-tech.com <---- large and wonderful fan collection. As well as almost all cooling needs.
Shoppts.com aka petrastechshop.com



You should get a sink. Any sink will fit in that case. Look at the Thermalright Ultra120 Extreme, and drop a Yate DSL low speed fan on it. Should keep your system super quiet.

Originally posted by: gscone
Thanks for the reply. My business needs are that i use about 3-4 proprietary applications that we use for financial and acocunting as well as video stuff.

Bah.... how well would you rate yourself in building/trouble shooting a computer? if its not at least a 7/10 for business and work purpose, id buy a Dell then.

 

[gscone]

Good suggestions, but I dont think I need an 8800xx video card as I dont do any gaming. My main overall functions are listed above and my main priority is a PC that wil be powerful and last me 3-4 years. What other power supply do you guys recommend? I'm content with the soundcard I've selected.

 

[gscone]

I forgot to mention, I also have a spare 250gb hard drive that will be used for backup.

 

[Mr Fox]

Originally posted by: gscone
1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

Business/Multimedia


Here is what I am looking at after some diligent research online:

Case: Antec Performance One P180 Silver cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail ---$120

A Case is always a personal choice that more is dependent upon your style as a person.

Hard Drive: Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM ---$170

Unless you will be gaming... this Seagate will provide just as good of performance with less cost, and much more space.

Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822148288

Video Card- XFX PVT84JUDD3 GeForce 8600GT XXX 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Video Card - Retail $130

With the cash you saved on the Hard Drive Change you can buy a Better Vid Card.

XFX PVT88PUDF4 GeForce 8800GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814150264

Sound Card- Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail $70

If you buy a decent Motherboard .. this is really not needed.


PSU- Antec NeoPower 550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply - Retail $100

Keyboard/Mouse- Logitech 967557-0403 Silver/Black USB + PS/2 RF Wireless Slim Cordless Desktop S 510 Mouse Included - Retail $48

Memory- (2)CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400C4 - Retail $100

You did not define what operating system that you will be running

This would be my suggestion :

XP or Vista x64 (64 Bit) 4 Gigs for what you were going to pay for two

G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231122

XP or Vista x86 (32 Bit)

Mushkin 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820146699

CPU- Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 Conroe 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80557E6850 - Retail $280

For about the same cash you can get into a Quad Core helps future proof what you are buying.

Intel Xeon X3220 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819117127

Speakers- Logitech Z-2300 200 watts RMS 2.1 Speaker System - Retail $105

Total- $1,073.00

Please advise of any suggestions as my main goal is a fast system along with solid reputable parts. Thanks!

You also have not chosen a Motherboard,

There are three that you should be looking at :

ASUS P5K-E/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
Has WiFi, and a good sound card built in.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131196

GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3P Rev 2.0 LGA 775 Intel P35
Full featured and rock solid good Sound Card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128067

ABIT IP35 Pro LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
Full featured and rock solid good Sound Card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813127030

 

[gscone]

My staff all have Dell's so for my own self interests, I wanted something more robust. I considered getting the Dell XPS line but after i config'ed the system, we were close to $2200.

FOr 100% uptime, should I go Raid 1 or Raid 0? Would I need a dedicated raid card or should i just get a mobo with one built in?

THanks for all the replies..

 

[gscone]

If it makes a difference- I am running XP Pro

 

[Mr Fox]

Originally posted by: gscone
My staff all have Dell's so for my own self interests, I wanted something more robust. I considered getting the Dell XPS line but after i config'ed the system, we were close to $2200.

FOr 100% uptime, should I go Raid 1 or Raid 0? Would I need a dedicated raid card or should i just get a mobo with one built in?

THanks for all the replies..

Just go single drive SATA and Partition the drive keep your valuable back-up data On a USB Or E-SATA.

Set-up two O/S installs, and if something happens Vista has excellent recovery, and repair that is easy to use.

You can set-up Vista to Sync data from certain folders etc... To the E-SATA as a task..

 

[gscone]

I'm def. not going with Vista.

 

[gscone]

Rather than go with 4 gb DDR2 memory, Is it benefical to go with 2GB DDR3 ram? Would there be any performance gains with the DDR3 memory?

 

[Mr Fox]

Originally posted by: gscone
Rather than go with 4 gb DDR2 memory, Is it benefical to go with 2GB DDR3 ram? Would there be any performance gains with the DDR3 memory?

Expense v.s. Performance gain does not justify it.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: gscone
Rather than go with 4 gb DDR2 memory, Is it benefical to go with 2GB DDR3 ram? Would there be any performance gains with the DDR3 memory?

64 bit OS only support 4gb.

32 bit OS = 3gb max.



Raid 1 if your storing client information on it that could compromise the company's standing in any way if lost. I use Raid 1 on my company's storage drive.

Main boot drive, use a regular Sata drive.

Raid the data drive Raid 1.

 

[rgallant]

Originally posted by: gscone
Rather than go with 4 gb DDR2 memory, Is it benefical to go with 2GB DDR3 ram? Would there be any performance gains with the DDR3 memory?

-I would go with 4 gigs of DDR2 you will still see 3 gigs +
-also as "aigomoria" said Raid 1 for sure ,two 250 gig drives + keep the old one for a dump drive
-Q6600 should be used for your apps. as not knowing what you run, they might use the four cores, if not now, could in the furture
-and DVD and Floppy drives


Long time Lurker and just ,my 2 cents

 

[aigomoria]

Definitely agree on avoiding Vista..

I would go 4GB of RAM, you will only see 3+ now but its inevitable that if you keep the systyem 3-4 years you will prob end up with 64bit OS regardless then its all just there already.

You may want to consider getting a newer MB chipset like maybe a X38 gives you room to just swap future CPU's and also supports RAID 10 if you want to have a little speed with your reliability

Good luck.