lovespicyfoods
Junior Member
Hello Everyone!
Long time reader, first time poster! 😉 Well...actually I posted quite a few years back and I'm trying to resurrect that username, but I digress...
I've just recently started to do research on a desktop build. I'm in somewhat of a hurry because I'm starting a new full time job next week and I'm starting part time business school in early March.
1. What YOUR PC will be used for.
I'm not a gamer, but I do like the occasional game. I'm addicted to radio control helicopters and I would like to use my software (RealFlight 4) at the highest resolutions. I currently have it setup at medium settings and it works alright on my old AMD Athlon 2.5ghz w/ 2gb of ram.
I'm also into digital photography, but the current system seems to run okay w/ Photoshop CS.
My buddy is purchasing me MSOFFICE 2007 and I plan on using it a lot for business school.
I almost forgot, I just purchased the upgrade Windows Vista Home Premium for $99. I figured I'd give it a try from XP...
2. What YOUR budget is.
I've already spent ~$600 for hardware and software (Office '07 and Vista). This is including the MIR's that I have yet to fill. I'm thinking another ~$300...
3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
U.S.
4. IF YOU have a brand preference.
NONE
5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
Yes, a 21" Dell widescreen, standard CDRW drive, standard DVDR drive, basic speakers for now
6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
Yes, I was going to go w/ a Fry's mobo of an AMD Phenom 9500 and ECS mb for $219, but reading some info on here scared me off...
7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
No, but if it's easy, I might bump it up a little. Since this will be a school computer, stability is my primary concern
This is what I've purchased so far:
Antec P182 Case (~$70 after MIR)
Antec NeoHE 500W ($59.99 at Fry's)
4gb (2X2gb) Aodata DDR2 800 ($75 at Fry's)
XFX GeForce 8600GT 256MB GDDR3 vid card (~$85 after MIR)
500gb sata-2 hd (I forget which brand, I think Seagate) ($99 at Fry's)
As I mentioned up above, I was going to get the AMD Phenom 9500 and ECS mb for $219, but reading these forums, I'm a bit scared. Now I see the Intel Q6600 is highly regarded, but I see it's $275 for the cpu and I would still need to get a mb.
I realize that given my needs, I'm probably looking at too expensive/fast of a processor, but I figure I might as well build it as fast as I can given my budget.
This all being said, if I were to go with the Q6600, what economical mb would you suggest? Currently, Fry's doesn't have it on sale so I'd probably buy it at Newegg. I forgot to mention that I do not have a sound card, so the mb should have that. Or I could put a cheap card in, but I'm not a big sound afficionado.
I'm thinking some people would suggest the Core Duo's, but to me, it's quite confusing. I do know Fry's has a lot of the "E" chips on sale regularly. In fact, I'm looking at the latest ad and they have E6750 with ECS G311T-M mb for $199. Looks like it has built in video (YUCK) but an PCI-E 16X upgrade slot. From my past experience, it seems that when things are on sale at Fry's for mobos, basically the mb is free in the purchase price. I know ECS isn't a GREAT mb usually, but considering my needs, I think it will work.
Any and all advice is much appreciated! Feel free to tell me I've blown my current purchases, I'll understand! 😀 I'm actually somewhat regretting my vid card choice... I wonder if I should have spent more $ on something else, but oh well...
THANKS IN ADVANCE!!!!!
Pete
Long time reader, first time poster! 😉 Well...actually I posted quite a few years back and I'm trying to resurrect that username, but I digress...
I've just recently started to do research on a desktop build. I'm in somewhat of a hurry because I'm starting a new full time job next week and I'm starting part time business school in early March.
1. What YOUR PC will be used for.
I'm not a gamer, but I do like the occasional game. I'm addicted to radio control helicopters and I would like to use my software (RealFlight 4) at the highest resolutions. I currently have it setup at medium settings and it works alright on my old AMD Athlon 2.5ghz w/ 2gb of ram.
I'm also into digital photography, but the current system seems to run okay w/ Photoshop CS.
My buddy is purchasing me MSOFFICE 2007 and I plan on using it a lot for business school.
I almost forgot, I just purchased the upgrade Windows Vista Home Premium for $99. I figured I'd give it a try from XP...
2. What YOUR budget is.
I've already spent ~$600 for hardware and software (Office '07 and Vista). This is including the MIR's that I have yet to fill. I'm thinking another ~$300...
3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
U.S.
4. IF YOU have a brand preference.
NONE
5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
Yes, a 21" Dell widescreen, standard CDRW drive, standard DVDR drive, basic speakers for now
6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
Yes, I was going to go w/ a Fry's mobo of an AMD Phenom 9500 and ECS mb for $219, but reading some info on here scared me off...
7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
No, but if it's easy, I might bump it up a little. Since this will be a school computer, stability is my primary concern
This is what I've purchased so far:
Antec P182 Case (~$70 after MIR)
Antec NeoHE 500W ($59.99 at Fry's)
4gb (2X2gb) Aodata DDR2 800 ($75 at Fry's)
XFX GeForce 8600GT 256MB GDDR3 vid card (~$85 after MIR)
500gb sata-2 hd (I forget which brand, I think Seagate) ($99 at Fry's)
As I mentioned up above, I was going to get the AMD Phenom 9500 and ECS mb for $219, but reading these forums, I'm a bit scared. Now I see the Intel Q6600 is highly regarded, but I see it's $275 for the cpu and I would still need to get a mb.
I realize that given my needs, I'm probably looking at too expensive/fast of a processor, but I figure I might as well build it as fast as I can given my budget.
This all being said, if I were to go with the Q6600, what economical mb would you suggest? Currently, Fry's doesn't have it on sale so I'd probably buy it at Newegg. I forgot to mention that I do not have a sound card, so the mb should have that. Or I could put a cheap card in, but I'm not a big sound afficionado.
I'm thinking some people would suggest the Core Duo's, but to me, it's quite confusing. I do know Fry's has a lot of the "E" chips on sale regularly. In fact, I'm looking at the latest ad and they have E6750 with ECS G311T-M mb for $199. Looks like it has built in video (YUCK) but an PCI-E 16X upgrade slot. From my past experience, it seems that when things are on sale at Fry's for mobos, basically the mb is free in the purchase price. I know ECS isn't a GREAT mb usually, but considering my needs, I think it will work.
Any and all advice is much appreciated! Feel free to tell me I've blown my current purchases, I'll understand! 😀 I'm actually somewhat regretting my vid card choice... I wonder if I should have spent more $ on something else, but oh well...
THANKS IN ADVANCE!!!!!
Pete
