New Build

[Stg-Flame]

First off, this isn't for me. I am buying and building this for my parents (my mom is hooked on Fallout 3), but considering they don't go too heavy into high-end gaming, I don't wish to go all out like I would for my PC. So here is what I have compiled off the top of my head without even looking at Newegg (considering it's 2am and I just got off work).

CPU - Wolfdale e8400
GPU - GeForce 9000 Series or GTX Series (depending on what is the best buy) nVidia Only
RAM - Undecided, but I love how my Mushkin performs.
PSU - Undecided. Probably another Corsair 540HW
Mobo - Undecided, though ASUS has proven to be quite reliable for mobos. No Gigabyte
Case - Undecided. Good airflow required - similar to my Antec 900.
Mouse - Logitech MX518 probably.
Keyboard - Generic Keyboard
HDD - Undecided. Doesn't need to exceed 200GB.
OS - Vista 64-bit.
DVD Drive - Sony Optiarc
Sound System - Logitech something.1 speakers.

And I think that should cover it.

My budget (rather, mine and my brother's) is ranging between $600 and $800. I do not, and currently cannot, exceed $800. I know it is doable as I built my entire setup for less than $1500 and I had a hell of a lot more than what I am planning on assembling this time.

I plan on buying and having this built before June 12.

 

[PurdueRy]

Motherboard = Gigabyte EP45-UD3P or L
Ram = Most vendors are fine but I look for something with a reasonable voltage(1.8-2V for DDR2)
PSU = Any of the Corsairs will be fine
Case = Up to you. Although given that its for your parents and I doubt(but could be wrong) that they will be overclocking I wouldn't worry about airflow that much.
GPU = I am really impressed with my HIS 4850 ICEQ4. If your parents are anything like me they'll appreciate the silence of the cooling solution.
Hard Drive = They're so cheap I would just get the WD 640 black or blue and call it a day.

Oh and I like my Logitech G5(version 2)

 

[M0RPH]

Do they need a monitor?

 

[Stg-Flame]

Originally posted by: PurdueRy
Motherboard = Gigabyte EP45-UD3P or L
Ram = Most vendors are fine but I look for something with a reasonable voltage(1.8-2V for DDR2)
PSU = Any of the Corsairs will be fine
Case = Up to you. Although given that its for your parents and I doubt(but could be wrong) that they will be overclocking I wouldn't worry about airflow that much.
GPU = I am really impressed with my HIS 4850 ICEQ4. If your parents are anything like me they'll appreciate the silence of the cooling solution.
Hard Drive = They're so cheap I would just get the WD 640 black or blue and call it a day.

Oh and I like my Logitech G5(version 2)

I will never use another Gigabyte motherboard. I would much rather chew on broken glass than try to deal with their customer service ever again.

The case, I will never skimp on cooling - ever. I will most likely tweak the PC before I hand it over completely as they all need some form of fine-tuning before they are set for optimal performance.

The GPU, I will always stick with nVidia until they go out of business. I have tried ATI and I was disappointed.

Thanks for the input, though.

Originally posted by: M0RPH
Do they need a monitor?

No. I am going to RMA my old 22 inch Hanns G and give it to them to use. In the meantime, I will just set up my old 17 inch ViewSonic CRT.

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: Chaoticpenguin666

Originally posted by: PurdueRy
Motherboard = Gigabyte EP45-UD3P or L
Ram = Most vendors are fine but I look for something with a reasonable voltage(1.8-2V for DDR2)
PSU = Any of the Corsairs will be fine
Case = Up to you. Although given that its for your parents and I doubt(but could be wrong) that they will be overclocking I wouldn't worry about airflow that much.
GPU = I am really impressed with my HIS 4850 ICEQ4. If your parents are anything like me they'll appreciate the silence of the cooling solution.
Hard Drive = They're so cheap I would just get the WD 640 black or blue and call it a day.

Oh and I like my Logitech G5(version 2)

I will never use another Gigabyte motherboard. I would much rather chew on broken glass than try to deal with their customer service ever again.

The case, I will never skimp on cooling - ever. I will most likely tweak the PC before I hand it over completely as they all need some form of fine-tuning before they are set for optimal performance.

The GPU, I will always stick with nVidia until they go out of business. I have tried ATI and I was disappointed.

Thanks for the input, though.

Originally posted by: M0RPH
Do they need a monitor?

No. I am going to RMA my old 22 inch Hanns G and give it to them to use. In the meantime, I will just set up my old 17 inch ViewSonic CRT.

Well geez why even ask for input then?!

 

[Stg-Flame]

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: Chaoticpenguin666

Originally posted by: PurdueRy
Motherboard = Gigabyte EP45-UD3P or L
Ram = Most vendors are fine but I look for something with a reasonable voltage(1.8-2V for DDR2)
PSU = Any of the Corsairs will be fine
Case = Up to you. Although given that its for your parents and I doubt(but could be wrong) that they will be overclocking I wouldn't worry about airflow that much.
GPU = I am really impressed with my HIS 4850 ICEQ4. If your parents are anything like me they'll appreciate the silence of the cooling solution.
Hard Drive = They're so cheap I would just get the WD 640 black or blue and call it a day.

Oh and I like my Logitech G5(version 2)

I will never use another Gigabyte motherboard. I would much rather chew on broken glass than try to deal with their customer service ever again.

The case, I will never skimp on cooling - ever. I will most likely tweak the PC before I hand it over completely as they all need some form of fine-tuning before they are set for optimal performance.

The GPU, I will always stick with nVidia until they go out of business. I have tried ATI and I was disappointed.

Thanks for the input, though.

Originally posted by: M0RPH
Do they need a monitor?

No. I am going to RMA my old 22 inch Hanns G and give it to them to use. In the meantime, I will just set up my old 17 inch ViewSonic CRT.

Well geez why even ask for input then?!

To get input on the build... It seems fairly self-explanatory. Just because I did not wish to follow your input, does not mean that I am going to disregard all input. Also, the more people reply, the better chance I have of narrowing the choices I am to make.

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: Chaoticpenguin666

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: Chaoticpenguin666

Originally posted by: PurdueRy
Motherboard = Gigabyte EP45-UD3P or L
Ram = Most vendors are fine but I look for something with a reasonable voltage(1.8-2V for DDR2)
PSU = Any of the Corsairs will be fine
Case = Up to you. Although given that its for your parents and I doubt(but could be wrong) that they will be overclocking I wouldn't worry about airflow that much.
GPU = I am really impressed with my HIS 4850 ICEQ4. If your parents are anything like me they'll appreciate the silence of the cooling solution.
Hard Drive = They're so cheap I would just get the WD 640 black or blue and call it a day.

Oh and I like my Logitech G5(version 2)

I will never use another Gigabyte motherboard. I would much rather chew on broken glass than try to deal with their customer service ever again.

The case, I will never skimp on cooling - ever. I will most likely tweak the PC before I hand it over completely as they all need some form of fine-tuning before they are set for optimal performance.

The GPU, I will always stick with nVidia until they go out of business. I have tried ATI and I was disappointed.

Thanks for the input, though.

Originally posted by: M0RPH
Do they need a monitor?

No. I am going to RMA my old 22 inch Hanns G and give it to them to use. In the meantime, I will just set up my old 17 inch ViewSonic CRT.

Well geez why even ask for input then?!

To get input on the build... It seems fairly self-explanatory. Just because I did not wish to follow your input, does not mean that I am going to disregard all input. Also, the more people reply, the better chance I have of narrowing the choices I am to make.

This is exactly why Blain created the sticky on how to post a comment on my build thread. You never made it clear in your first post that you had a diehard allegiance to Nvidia or that Gigabyte was your worst nightmare.

Out of curiosity, why were you disappointed with ATI?

 

[Stg-Flame]

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: Chaoticpenguin666

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: Chaoticpenguin666

Originally posted by: PurdueRy
Motherboard = Gigabyte EP45-UD3P or L
Ram = Most vendors are fine but I look for something with a reasonable voltage(1.8-2V for DDR2)
PSU = Any of the Corsairs will be fine
Case = Up to you. Although given that its for your parents and I doubt(but could be wrong) that they will be overclocking I wouldn't worry about airflow that much.
GPU = I am really impressed with my HIS 4850 ICEQ4. If your parents are anything like me they'll appreciate the silence of the cooling solution.
Hard Drive = They're so cheap I would just get the WD 640 black or blue and call it a day.

Oh and I like my Logitech G5(version 2)

I will never use another Gigabyte motherboard. I would much rather chew on broken glass than try to deal with their customer service ever again.

The case, I will never skimp on cooling - ever. I will most likely tweak the PC before I hand it over completely as they all need some form of fine-tuning before they are set for optimal performance.

The GPU, I will always stick with nVidia until they go out of business. I have tried ATI and I was disappointed.

Thanks for the input, though.

Originally posted by: M0RPH
Do they need a monitor?

No. I am going to RMA my old 22 inch Hanns G and give it to them to use. In the meantime, I will just set up my old 17 inch ViewSonic CRT.

Well geez why even ask for input then?!

To get input on the build... It seems fairly self-explanatory. Just because I did not wish to follow your input, does not mean that I am going to disregard all input. Also, the more people reply, the better chance I have of narrowing the choices I am to make.

This is exactly why Blain created the sticky on how to post a comment on my build thread. You never made it clear in your first post that you had a diehard allegiance to Nvidia or that Gigabyte was your worst nightmare.

Out of curiosity, why were you disappointed with ATI?

I did not like the UI for tweaking the card. Tweaking it was a pain. And most games seem to run better on nVidia. Plus I love eVGA's lifetime warranties and customer support. I received a brand new GPU when my old one burned out due to a faulty SKU in less than two days after mailing my destroyed one in.

Now, if I could get some other input on the build, it would be greatly appreciated. I should have also noted that I need this ordered and delivered before June 12, so time is of the essence.

 

[betasub]

Well, does anything else in the builder's sticky apply?

For the case I'd recommend the CoolerMaster CM690 (Dominator) for the mid-range build, but I fear that you might have an aversion to the brand, or the color, or...

 

[Stg-Flame]

Originally posted by: betasub
Well, does anything else in the builder's sticky apply?

For the case I'd recommend the CoolerMaster CM690 (Dominator) for the mid-range build, but I fear that you might have an aversion to the brand, or the color, or...

I am open to all cases. I have owned a few CoolerMasters in the past and I really liked them. I went out on a limb for my build and chose the Antec 900 due to the amount of airflow it has. I shall check the CoolerMaster CM690 when I get home from work tonight.

 

[Stg-Flame]

Hmm. Does anyone have any input on any particular Mobo? If not, I shall just go with another ASUS board. RAM is up in the air, but I love how my Mushkin performs and how my old Patriot performed. Tonight I shall start compiling a list at Newegg and revise the first post with links to all parts. Hopefully I can get some more input from that list.

 

[krnmastersgt]

Since you like Asus, get the P5Q SE Plus or the Pro (I think the SE is cheaper but only after a rebate, or the same price), one of the cheapest p45 boards around and quite common on the forums.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Originally posted by: Chaoticpenguin666

To get input on the build... It seems fairly self-explanatory. Just because I did not wish to follow your input, does not mean that I am going to disregard all input. Also, the more people reply, the better chance I have of narrowing the choices I am to make.

You are not going to like this at all ...

Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 : $85

Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition Calisto: $110

G.Skill 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800): $65

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB: $75 before $10 off promo code

Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 512MB: $150 AR

That's $485 - you can figure the rest out ...

 

[Stg-Flame]

Originally posted by: krnmastersgt
Since you like Asus, get the P5Q SE Plus or the Pro (I think the SE is cheaper but only after a rebate, or the same price), one of the cheapest p45 boards around and quite common on the forums.

I have the P5K Pro (at least, I think that's the name). I shall check out the SE though.

Originally posted by: heyheybooboo

Originally posted by: Chaoticpenguin666

To get input on the build... It seems fairly self-explanatory. Just because I did not wish to follow your input, does not mean that I am going to disregard all input. Also, the more people reply, the better chance I have of narrowing the choices I am to make.

You are not going to like this at all ...

Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 : $85

Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition Calisto: $110

G.Skill 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800): $65

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB: $75 before $10 off promo code

Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 512MB: $150 AR

That's $485 - you can figure the rest out ...

Thanks a lot. The AMD, Gigabyte, and ATI will probably not be used, but I appreciate you taking the time to link me to them. If my build becomes a bit too pricey, I have a few items to fall back on.