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Its been good but after 6 years its time

C

crashem

Senior member
Core 2 Duo E6600 $223 -
Motherboard EVGA 122-CK-NF63-TR $159 -
Memory OCZ Flex XLC 2GB Kit DDR2 PC2-6400 $179 -
Video Card 2x EVGA NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS 640MB $700 $60
Hard Drive Samsung SpinPoint HD501LJ 500GB $112 -
Optical Drive Pioneer DVR-212BK $42 -
Operating System Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 SP2B (OEM) $110

Acer AL2216Wbd 22" 5ms 1680x1050 $250 -
Case Apevia Aspire X-Cruiser $59 -
Power Supply Corsair CMPSU-620HX $126 -
Keyboard and Mouse Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 with Optical Mouse $28 -
Speakers Creative I-Trigue 3300 $73

This is Anadtechs basic highend system.

I have built my last 3 systems from Anandtechs recommendations and I have been happy with my choices. However I am not the gamer I used to be but I still play Empire Earth that is about it. I do have 60 gb of video and mp3s and this is growing. I would also like to build something that is resonably quite and does not put out alot of heat, in other words if I have to get an after market heat sink fan to get a quiter running machine I would. I am not into over clocking as this usually affects heat, sound and reliabilty. I want to stay away from vista until it later. So what would you change from Anandtechs recommendations. Also I prefer multiple USBs on top of the case or at least in the front. My budget is around 1500 - 2000.

😀
 
If you're not much of a gamer why are you buying 2 8800 GTS's? 😕 If there is nothing you want to play now then just get something cheap and decent to hold you over and then if you ever see a game you really want to play, put some money on a good video card that's available then. Otherwise everything else looks pretty good though I'm not sure how good those speakers are. Could probably find some better ones at that price range.
 
Your configuration doesn't really add up when you explained your usage.

If you want to build a fast, quiet Core 2 Duo system capable of playing Empire Earth, you can do it for under $1000 easily.

Core 2 Duo E6600 $223 Looks good.
Motherboard EVGA 122-CK-NF63-TR $159 Get a cheaper, newer P35-based motherboard, like a Gigabyte DS3R.
Memory OCZ Flex XLC 2GB Kit DDR2 PC2-6400 $179 Complete waste of money. Get DDR2 667 value RAM for $30/GB or less.
Video Card 2x EVGA NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS 640MB $700 Another complete waste of money. A single GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB is more than enough to play Empre Earth (and whatever sequel they make for it).
Hard Drive Samsung SpinPoint HD501LJ 500GB $112 Looks good.
Optical Drive Pioneer DVR-212BK $42 Samsung's DVDRWs are quieter.
Operating System Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 SP2B (OEM) $110 Vista isn't so bad, but XP is fine.

Acer AL2216Wbd 22" 5ms 1680x1050 $250 Looks good; might be on sale somewhere; check the hot deals forum to save a few bucks on this.
Case Apevia Aspire X-Cruiser $59 Looks chintzy.
Power Supply Corsair CMPSU-620HX $126 Overkill. Get a Corsair 520HX.
Keyboard and Mouse Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 with Optical Mouse $28 Looks good.
Speakers Creative I-Trigue 3300 $73 No comment.
 
If the dude only upgrades once every 6 years, then I think that config is good. It should be fast enough to run what he wants to do in six years time.
 
Originally posted by: AMCRambler
If the dude only upgrades once every 6 years, then I think that config is good. It should be fast enough to run what he wants to do in six years time.
Click to expand...

I would go with Vista if he's not going to upgrade for another 6 years,especially for DX10 games etc.. down the road.
 
Hey lots of good advice. I did not intend to buy 2 video cards but I do want one because I do tend to keep my systems for a while. So as far as the Mother board is concern if it is only a few bucks more but it leaves room for upgrades say in a couple of years when these cards are cheap I could buy another (good or bad idea?). Also the issue of vista I wanted it but not now, I want to wait until it matures and other programs and software or hardware is compatable with it; I am not the enthusists I used to be so it is hard to keep up with the pulse of it all. Also most of the recommendations from Anandtech is still recommending XP pro or media. I will need a mother board that I can add mem to get 4 gb ram when I do upgrade to vista.

Now as far as the monitor I do want one that is nice because I keep those even longer (currently using ViewSonic A70 ) I read that 24s have much better technology for the money and with mercanucaribe suggesting to stay away from TN I think I will look at the 24s(now which one?). We use autocad, watch movies, play some older games and surf the web.

How about a decent case with usb ports on top or in the front as my systems sits on the floor.

Hey thanks Jpeyton I will look at your recommendations close.

I hope I have this fig. out this week as I hope to order early next week.
 
SLI is a very poor future-proofing technology. The only people who need it are those that need the extra speed RIGHT NOW for running all their games at the highest resolution.

Buy one video card now. Years down the line, if you ever need better gaming performance, use the $350 you saved to buy the best video card you can (GeForce 9900, ATI 3900, whatever bad ass card they have on the market).
 
It's basically better value to buy one better card now than a decent one and a later mediocre card to add on.

If you can wait until (I think...) 22nd June the Q6600 will be $266.
 
Wait for Q6600 price cut. Who cares if you dont need quad core right now, for the price it will last you for a long time.
 
Originally posted by: jpeyton
Your configuration doesn't really add up when you explained your usage.

If you want to build a fast, quiet Core 2 Duo system capable of playing Empire Earth, you can do it for under $1000 easily.

Core 2 Duo E6600 $223 Looks good.
Motherboard EVGA 122-CK-NF63-TR $159 Get a cheaper, newer P35-based motherboard, like a Gigabyte DS3R.
Memory OCZ Flex XLC 2GB Kit DDR2 PC2-6400 $179 Complete waste of money. Get DDR2 667 value RAM for $30/GB or less.
Video Card 2x EVGA NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS 640MB $700 Another complete waste of money. A single GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB is more than enough to play Empre Earth (and whatever sequel they make for it).
Hard Drive Samsung SpinPoint HD501LJ 500GB $112 Looks good.
Optical Drive Pioneer DVR-212BK $42 Samsung's DVDRWs are quieter.
Operating System Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 SP2B (OEM) $110 Vista isn't so bad, but XP is fine.

Acer AL2216Wbd 22" 5ms 1680x1050 $250 Looks good; might be on sale somewhere; check the hot deals forum to save a few bucks on this.
Case Apevia Aspire X-Cruiser $59 Looks chintzy.
Power Supply Corsair CMPSU-620HX $126 Overkill. Get a Corsair 520HX.
Keyboard and Mouse Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 with Optical Mouse $28 Looks good.
Speakers Creative I-Trigue 3300 $73 No comment.
Click to expand...

This is fantastic advice, i completely agree with everything said here.
 
Originally posted by: crashem
Hey lots of good advice. I did not intend to buy 2 video cards but I do want one because I do tend to keep my systems for a while. So as far as the Mother board is concern if it is only a few bucks more but it leaves room for upgrades say in a couple of years when these cards are cheap I could buy another (good or bad idea?). Also the issue of vista I wanted it but not now, I want to wait until it matures and other programs and software or hardware is compatable with it; I am not the enthusists I used to be so it is hard to keep up with the pulse of it all. Also most of the recommendations from Anandtech is still recommending XP pro or media. I will need a mother board that I can add mem to get 4 gb ram when I do upgrade to vista.

Now as far as the monitor I do want one that is nice because I keep those even longer (currently using ViewSonic A70 ) I read that 24s have much better technology for the money and with mercanucaribe suggesting to stay away from TN I think I will look at the 24s(now which one?). We use autocad, watch movies, play some older games and surf the web.

How about a decent case with usb ports on top or in the front as my systems sits on the floor.

Hey thanks Jpeyton I will look at your recommendations close.

I hope I have this fig. out this week as I hope to order early next week.
Click to expand...

That, I can help you with. Definately lose the 22" since it seems to be the 'fad' for the LCD manufacturers. Great value, but if you're going to use it for ~6 years, get something better. Right now, some really good 24" are starting to come down a lot in price. Most popular ones are Dell 2407WFP and BenQ FP241-W/VW/WZ and LG246. Stay away from the Gateway: crap warranty and a lot of dissatisfaction.

Of them all, Dell should be cheapest at ~$600 US, the BenQ models may be about ~$75-$100 more. In terms of performance, all roughly the same, the use S-PVA and P-MVA panels respectively. Heard the newer BenQ revisions/models (forget which is which) are using 'better' variants of MVA. I know the Dell has 1:1 pixel mapping (got one at home🙂), BenQs SHOULD (hear certain revisions are still screwy). The general consensus is that BenQ ones are slightly better in terms of picture quality. However, you'll still have to deal with some color shifting (i.e. you know how TN panels turn black if you look from down-up? PVA/MVA panels do this from left-right, but ONLY with very dark images/colours). It is a small annoyance, especially in dark games and image editting/viewing, but I've gotten use to it. Still a lot better than TN panels since you'll still get pretty good detail from large vertical/horizontal viewing angles. If you can't live with this, you can go for the only IPS 24": the Nec 2490, which is about double the price. Personally, I'm very happy with my Dell, although it's a bit on the blindingly-bright side when viewing white backgrounds. But that can be said for lots of LCDs these days🙁.

As for the rest of the system, refer to jpeyton's advice. However, I do have a comment about the speakers, but then you'd need to spend about $500 more🙂...



 
I beleive I will wait for the q6600. I will stay with one good card probably not the best on the market but the best value of the higher end. As far as the monitor I definately want a nice one. I can spend 600 for a monitor but not much more. May be will save a few bucks when july comes around.

 
Oh, if you want a HUGE, but Sweet, and easy to work with case, check out Thermaltake's Armor series. They are massive, but I love working in them. Plenty of room for everything, even makes an 8800GTX look a normal size.
 
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