My Build Using the Info from this Forum

[Jpck]

First of all, I wanted to thank Modoheo for putting together the System Builders Advice Sticky:

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2194271&enterthread=y

and Blain for the PC Builders Asking for Input Sticky:

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2090214&enterthread=y

And of course the people of this Community here who have contributed feedback, advice and suggestions to both those Stickies and the numerous "How's my Build?" threads.

I took all of this in over the last couple weeks while doing my research to come up with my new rig and greatly appreciate all the expertise and opinions given out. My last build was over 4 years ago, so this info basically helped shape my new build.

So to kick it off:

1. What YOUR PC will be used for: Gaming
2. What YOUR budget is:I was looking to spend no more than $1500.00 including tax+shipping
3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from: USA
4. IF YOU have a brand preference. Intel/nVidia
5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are: Will be using my current Monitor (22" LCD Widescreen) Keyboard + Mouse
6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads. Yes
7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds. I will OC. I don't plan on trying to push it to the absolute limits but would like to see a nice, stable OC around 30% or better
8. WHEN do you plan to build it? Will be ordering after June 17th.

With my budget, I knew I would be in the'Mid-Range' Category as far as parts went, so I was looking for something that would let me OC, let me play the latest games at high resoultions now, while lasting me 3-4 years down the road with decent performance at the end of the cycle.

All part prices are from Newegg. I did a lot of comparisons between websites and brick and mortar stores as well (to possibly save on shipping costs), and I found them (newegg) to be consistently the lowest or as low on price points as anyone else. Couple that with their great RMA support and the fact I was able to get a Preferred Newegg account which offers a 6 or 12 month no payment plan (which was the key factor in convincing the wife to give me the green light, heh) and I felt they gave me the best option as to whom to buy from.

The Build: (with prices)

CPU: Intel E8400 - 189.99
*edit* MoBo: Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3R - 119.99
RAM: 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair TWIN2X4096 DDR2 800 - 86.00
GPU: EVGA 8800GTS 512MB G92 - 214.99 AR
PSU: PC Power+Cooling 750W PPCS750QBL - 139.00 AR
HSF: Xigmatek HDT S1283 - 36.99
HD WD Caviar 640GB 7200RPM SATA - 99.99
DVD: Samsung 20X +/- R DVD Burner SATA - 26.99
OS: Vista Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - 99.99
Case: Apevia X-Jupiter G Blue - 124.99 AR


Notes:

GPU Waiting for the release of the new GPU's next week to see if I can catch a price break with this. I believe I will be sticking with this choice.

Case A friend of mine did a build with one of these a few months back and I fell in love with it. Full Tower, Solid Construction, 4 x 120MM fans with the ability to put a 5th 120mm fan in the top vent hole, lots of room, price point was right in there with the big name brands, looks great.

PSU 750w, probably overkill I know. And as far as I could tell, the exact same model as their 750W unit in Black which was $20.00 cheaper AR. This one was blue. I like blue, lol. I could have saved the $20.00 difference in that alone or gone down to something in the 600W range or possibly lower.

MoBo Easily the single most difficult decision. I spent by far the largest amount of time researching and deciding which way to go on this. My old build is an Asus (P4P800 Deluxe), but for me now, it came down between Gigabyte and Abit. I finally decided on Gigabyte and even then I know I could have gone lower to the DS3L for 89.99 or even to the Non-DDR3 supported version of this same board for 119.99. Potentially another $30.00 - $60.00 or so.

*edit* Switched to the Non-DDR3 supported version after recommendations.

These were just personal preference choices I made. The wife gave me the green light with the price as it was and I liked the parts I had decided on, so I felt I didn't need to make any changes or cuts

Total Parts Cost: 1138.92 AR
Estimated Taxes: 90.77
Estimated Shipping: 52.70
Grand Total: 1282.39

I plan on ordering next week and doing the build that weekend. All in all I am very happy and looking forward to 3-4 years of a great rig. Thanks again to all those who have given out advice here, it really does help. Any feedback or comments are appreciated. Thanks.

 

[modoheo]

Great looking build imho. I've never seen that case before - looks good (if you like blue) and looks like it would be effective at cooling with all the case fans and easy to build out. You'll be happy over the next couple years you went with a 750w PSU. It'll probably be fine, but I'd try to make certain that the xigmatech will fit in that case before you order (check the reviews on newegg, check the measurements, etc).

 

[Chosonman]

My quick impressions

1) 214.99 AR seem a little much for a 8800GTS I've seen them floating around $180 AR. The 8800GT is probably better price/performance still.
2) 750w is probably overkill but I've never heard such thing as too much POWER.
3) I like the WD 640GB I have one (and I own 6 WD 500GB SE16's they make great drives)
4) Great CPU
5) It seem like a lot for that MOBO. I could never get myself to pay more than $50 for a motherboard. But that's just me I guess.
6) Better check your RAM - MOBO: Memory Standard DDR3 1333 / DDR2 1066
7) Apevia is not on my short list of fav case manufacturers (lian li, silverston, coolermaster, thermaltake, zalman) but I guess that case is ok. I could probably find a better made case for $124.99 though.

edit: after examining the case in more detail, it looks solid enough. My only gripes would be I hate drive mounting brackets. CoolerMaster/Gigabyte has the best drive mounts, no brackets just a sliding lock that's built into the case. And I hate drive bay doors. They're cool at first but you keep smacking into them while working around the computer and they impede your access to your drives. A minor annoyance.

 

[Jpck]

Better check your RAM - MOBO: Memory Standard DDR3 1333 / DDR2 1066

Son of a!!!

Thanks Chosonman, I missed that. The Gigabyte website had DDR2 800 on their compatability list, I didn't catch that 1066 was standard. Maybe that's why the board is more $$?

I may have to rethink my plan of attack there. Guess it gives me something to do to today while pretending to work.

Modoheo - Thanks for the feedback. The case does come in black for those not as quite into blue as I am!

 

[DSF]

Originally posted by: Chosonman6) Better check your RAM - MOBO: Memory Standard DDR3 1333 / DDR2 1066

It'll be fine. Generally motherboard manufacturers list the highest supported memory speed, not the only memory speed.

Anyhow, I would suggest that you get the DDR2 only version of the board. Combo boards can be flaky sometimes, and the DDR3 function of the board isn't going to make itself useful. Not only will DDR3 not offer any performance improvement, you'll be limited to 4GB.

 

[modoheo]

DDR2 800 will reportedly work just fine in that board.

If you do get that board, when you install the MB drivers from the CD, uncheck DES and don't install it. That's the "dynamic energy saver" driver software for the board, and reports are it's much easier to overclock if that is NOT installed. And don't forget to hit ctrl+F1 in the bios to make sure all the overclocking settings are revealed.

 

[Jpck]

Thanks for the input everyone, very much appreciated.

I did go ahead and switch to the non-DDR3 board and will follow the advice on not installing the DES feature. I'm hoping to catch a price break on the GPU come next week. That card is a little more costly than others but EVGA seems to be hitting the mark with their GPU's right now.

Looking at hopefully about a week away or so from the build!

 

[Blain]

If you plan on a little OCing anyway... Save yourself $51.
Save yourself another $50.
I would also Save another $40 with this. Review Here.

Originally posted by: Jpck

Looking at hopefully about a week away or so from the build!

That much time will KILL your rebate deals! :laugh:

 

[DSF]

Solid advice all around from Blain. Good part choices, and as he said, if you're looking to buy a week away make sure your rebates are still valid then.

 

[roguerower]

I agree w/ Blain on a couple parts...

I just pulled the trigger on a new rig for everything sans the video card.

I would recommend changing your PSU to the one Blain recommended...750W just seems like overkill for a setup like that.

I would also recommend waiting another 2 weeks til the new cards come out...OR...you could do what I decided to do and buy everything but the video card, set up your system using a cheap (20 dollar) video card then update when the new ones come out.

Also...if you're looking for fans...the Cooler Master Centurion 590 can hold 6

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: roguerower

Also...if you're looking for fans...the Cooler Master Centurion 590 can hold 6

The 690 I linked holds 6 120mm's also.