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Help me lower the cost of this build!

A

asdftt123

Senior member
Hi, I'm planning to purchase this build in September (less than 1 month now) but I've been on newegg and the forums researching and playing around with the parts. I need this system for school work, internet, music, video, photoshop, possibly audio/video editing, and gaming (current games + Crysis and new releases). Because I currently only own a laptop now, I will need ALL accessories and peripherals. I plan on overclocking in the future, although nothing crazy...maybe bumping my Q6600 to 3.2 or 3.4 MAX. Here are my current parts that include everything I plan on purchasing:

Case: Thermaltake Armor Series VA8000BWS Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Video: EVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
PSU: SeaSonic S12 Energy Plus SS-550HT ATX12V/EPS12V, 80Plus, Active PFC, RoHS, 2PCI-E(6Pin), 550W Power Supply - Retail
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80562Q6600 - Retail
RAM: 4GB 2x Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model BL2KIT12864AA1065 - Retail
Storage: Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Sound: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail
Mouse: Logitech G5 2-Tone 6 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB Wired Laser Mouse - Retail
Keyboard: Logitech 967738-0403 Black USB Standard Deluxe 250 Keyboard - OEM
LCD: Acer AL2223Wd Black-Silver 22" 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail
Optical: SAMSUNG 18X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write, LightScribe Technology Black SATA Model SH-S183L - OEM
OS: Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Home Premium for System Builders Single Pack DVD - OEM
Cooling: Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM, Tuniq Tower 120 P4 & K8 CPU Cooler - Retail
Speakers: Logitech X-230 32 Watts 2.1 Black Speakers - Retail

That's pretty much it...am I missing anything? The total on newegg w/o shipping is $2299.59. I would like to lower the cost of this build to $2000 while sacrificing MINIMAL loss in performance. I realize there are cheaper parts that I could be using, such as the case, but I want excellent airflow and cooling. Could someone suggest me another one with plenty of room and good airflow? As for the sound card, I'm mainly purchasing it because I don't want any frame rate drops while gaming with onboard sound...or should I be fine? Also, for my optical, should I be purchasing the IDE or SATA version?

Thanks guys...I would appreciate any feedback from the forum. Also, I want this build to last me at least 2.5 -3 years before I consider upgrading my system again.

 
Hrm that already looks like a solid build. You could get the COSAIR 520HX instead at buy.com. it goes for about 80-90 dollars after rebate. That would save you about 40 dollars or so.
 
Thanks, aznguy, I will consider the 520HX instead. Blain, can you be more specific? I seriously doubt I will be willing to make the sacrifice for a cheaper video card or 2GB RAM.
 
even though processors are cheap, you could go less cpu to do what you want to and save a few $$$ there...
 
Go with the cheaper DDR2-800 ram, drop the X-fi because the drivers for 64bit vista are terrible anyway. If that doesn't get you to your budget drop the GPU to the 640mb gts, unless your monitor is larger than 22" you will lose very little performance.
 
How dare you ask him to sacrifice a few FPS just to save $170... How Dare You! :shocked:

Originally posted by: asdftt123
I seriously doubt I will be willing to make the sacrifice for a cheaper video card or 2GB RAM.
Click to expand...
 
OP,

If you are not willing to sacrifice anything in your setup, the only way for you to save money is to look for deals on individual components.

It is convenient to get everything off of the Newegg (and that's what I would have done regardless of the cost), but there is a premium to pay for their customer service.

MWave, ZipZoomFly, Frys - and look for deals at FatWallet.com and Slickdeals.com.
 
Originally posted by: JustaGeek
OP,

If you are not willing to sacrifice anything in your setup, the only way for you to save money is to look for deals on individual components.

It is convenient to get everything off of the Newegg (and that's what I would have done regardless of the cost), but there is a premium to pay for their customer service.

MWave, ZipZoomFly, Frys - and look for deals at FatWallet.com and Slickdeals.com.
Click to expand...
Wouldn't it be more convenient for the OP if people scoured the internet for great deals and posted them here? :laugh:

That way he/she could be about the more important tasks in life, such as...
"internet, music, video, photoshop, possibly audio/video editing, and gaming (current games + Crysis and new releases)"

 
Get rid of that X-Fi XtremeGamer - onboard audio is pretty good + right now Creative drivers for Vista really sux.
 
I agree, get rid of the sound card, use onboard sound for now, get something better later.

Looks like a very solid system though, one of the nicest I've seen for a while.
 
Thanks for the help, everyone! If I drop the sound card, swap the RAM for Crucial Ballistix 800, and the PSU for Corsair 520HX (modular, $5 less, and just as good), I'll be paying around $2100 if I bought it now. I'm sure in the next 3 or 4 weeks the price will drop below $2000 though with sales and price fluctuations. Thanks!
 
try and buy your cooling gear (tuniq, as 5) an accessories from jab-tech or svc.com. you won't get killed by shipping costs.

i would bump your speakers up to the x-530s (or whatever the newer model is). it's worth the 20-30 bucks!
 
Originally posted by: johnnq1
i would bump your speakers up to the x-530s (or whatever the newer model is). it's worth the 20-30 bucks!
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. If you use your speakers for gaming only, a pair of quality headphones will kick 5.1s left and right. The upgrade from 2.1 to 5.1 is only really important for watching movies.

As for the OP... what to save...

-You could get a cheapo mouse for a bit until you find a nice deal on a nice mouse that you like.
-Drop the sound card and either use onboard audio or something like a Chaintech AV-710 (which has great audio quality for usually under $30).
-You might be able to downsize on your LCD and go with something like an Acer AL2051W (20.1" panel, but EXCELLENT image quality for $200).
 
Thank you for the suggestions...I will consider them all. 🙂 I think as of now, with my current modifications, I'll be within budget in 3-4 weeks unless I do something crazy to my build from pure temptation. :/
 
Umm, your build is pretty solid but you can save some money by doing the following:

Get the Corsair 520HX on buy.com
Go down to 2GB of RAM (really, you don't need 4GB yet, you can dump another 2GB in later when it's actually needed)
Get the CM Stacker that's $145 on newegg (better case than the armor, imo, and it's a little cheaper)
Dump the X-Fi and use onboard sound, if you want external audio go for the Auzentech anyway, it's a better card and you can swap in crazy awesome op-amps
Get an 8800GTS 320Mb instead of the 8800GTX, the difference in performance is negligible and you can wait till spring and use the upgrade program that eVGA offers to get a 9800GTX for cheap to play latest/greatest after crysis is released.

That right there will save you a ton of money and you can make smart and obvious upgrades down the road when necessary.

Also, do yourself a favor, don't dump the G5 unless it's for an MX518. You want that style of mouse, they are both superb. The G5 is amazingly awesome. It really does improve the whole overall computing experience having a nice mouse (and nice keyboard).

Also, get a good set of headphones, you will be able to use them for gaming (much better than crappy 5.1 speakers), you'll need them for LAN parties anyway, and they make music listening a much more enjoyable experience. I'd even go so far as to say that movies are better with high-quality headphones than they are with a decent surround system (and I've got both).
 
What kind of overclock are you trying to get on that Q6600?

Remember, it being a 1066mhz (or 266mhz) FSB cpu, you could get it up to 3Ghz using 667mhz DDR2, and you're still not OC'ing the memory.

You may want to consider just getting some cheaper 800mhz DDR2. Two of these...
http://shop1.outpost.com/product/4954981
...aught to save you a lot of money.
 
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