Need some comments on a upgrade for my brother

[Spike]

Here is a link to the newegg wishlist of the parts for his new machine. He is going to keep the 80gb drive as well as his cd burner but the rest is going to be new. He has a budget of $400 (I hit just over that) and I will be getting him a 6800GS for Christmas as the final piece.

He is not a hardcore gamer nor overclocker but I plan to do a mild oc on the venice (say, 2.2-2.4ghz) so thats why I included the better cooler. He is more concerned about silence as his current machine is a freaking loud monster. That is why I chose the Sonota 2, warm but pretty quiet. I am debating dropping that and trying to get one of the lanboys at the BF CompUSA sale for $30 and combine that with a Fortron psu but the sonota 2 seemed like a good combo (especially with the current $20 MIR).

Let me know your thoughts on it. I know the asrock is not a great overclocker but it seems like it has the best performance for it's price.

-spike

 

[Spike]

No comments at all?

 

[forumposter32]

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=37&threadid=1736290&enterthread=y
Here's a thread on some silent components.

Keep in mind, the socket 754 3700+ is on sale at newegg with a free 80 GB HD or free motherboard for a total of $205 US.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103461

Then, to save money, you can choose the case and fans I choose in the first link.

Just some ideas.

 

[Spike]

Originally posted by: forumposter32
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=37&threadid=1736290&enterthread=y
Here's a thread on some silent components.

Keep in mind, the socket 754 3700+ is on sale at newegg with a free 80 GB HD or free motherboard for a total of $205 US.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103461

Then, to save money, you can choose the case and fans I choose in the first link.

Just some ideas.

I am a little curious how choosing the case and fan you did would save money? The sonata 2 comes with a good PSU as well as a quiet(er) 120mm fan, plus I have a few yate-loons I could give my bro as they are what Nexus uses in there quiet line. That case is $75 alone and ulgy to boot, so I would have to say no on that.

As for the SKT 754 cpu I am a little hesitant. A 3000+ venice and mobo is less than $200 and he does not need a new hdd. Plus the venice should be able to oc to 2.2-2.4 without a sweat putting it right on par with a 3700+ and he has the option to go to a cheap 165 dual core when they come down in price in a few years.

Also, there is the small point that I mentioned getting him a 6800GS for this setup. As far as I know, they don't offer this in a AGP flavor so a mobo with PCIe is a must.

Thanks for the suggestions, I will take them into consideration if I decide to give my bro my 6800GT instead of a new 6800GS.

-spike

 

[DEredita]

Ughhhhhhh CORSAIR ValueSelect - I had a very bad experience with that ram lastnight. That ram smoked up and died a smokey toxic smelling death.

Link to thread on bad ram: http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=27&threadid=1737080&enterthread=y

 

[Spike]

Originally posted by: DEredita
Ughhhhhhh CORSAIR ValueSelect - I had a very bad experience with that ram lastnight. That ram smoked up and died a smokey toxic smelling death.

Link to thread on bad ram: http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=27&threadid=1737080&enterthread=y

I have heard just the opposite many times, that this ram is some of the best value ram. I will take your words into consideration when the purchase is made, perhaps a set of the OCZ value ram is in order...

-spike

 

[DEredita]

I'm sure it is, it seemed that it was packaged very poorly by newegg. I'm assuming it could have been damaged while shipping. You would think that they charge something like $5 per strip of ram to ship that they would take more care in handling and shipping it.

 

[Spike]

Originally posted by: DEredita

I'm sure it is, it seemed that it was packaged very poorly by newegg. I'm assuming it could have been damaged while shipping. You would think that they charge something like $5 per strip of ram to ship that they would take more care in handling and shipping it.

I read the thread, seems strange that it would "go up in smoke" like that, especially for what is usually a good product. I have no idea how inproper handling could have caused a failure like that, you might have gotten one of the <1% of defects that come out of the corsair plants 🙁