Hey guys,
I am going to be building a new computer for my friend and we are gonna order most of the parts (except the CPU unless we can find the new prices) this weekend. So I just wanted to ask for any suggestions and opinions if any of you have any. He is not going to be overclocking. He does a lot of general usage stuff and he uses a lot of video editing software and does a lot of DVD encoding and ripping as well. He will be using this for school come the end of August. He does like to game, but not very much, just a few games casually here and there. He is interested in Crysis though.
Especially read the Motherboard and Case/PSU comments. I especially need suggestions on which would be best there, but comment on anything you want. BTW he is using his old optical drive for now with the system.
Specs:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Q6600 RETAIL - $289 CDN
I am going to try and find him the G0 steppings one, but if he ends up not wanting to wait we might just get the regular. Actually just talking to him, he doesn't really care which one he gets. He's not going to be OCing at all anyway. It will be using the Stock Cooler.
Motherboard: ASUS P5K OR the Gigabyte GA-P35-S3L - $148 CDN OR $99 CDN
I'm not sure which of these motherboards I should get him. I guess the ASUS is the better board, since you usually get what you pay for, and I've always known ASUS to be a good mobo company, but I've seen a lot of people recommending the Gigabyte as well. He would like to keep his costs down as much as possible but is willing to get the ASUS if it means better stability etc. His last board wasn't so stable... Remember he won't be overclocking so if that's the only real difference between the two that would be nice to know. He really just needs something stable with decent standard features like SATA II support, onboard LAN and sound etc...
EDIT: Another board I am considering for him is the ASUS P5B, again if anyone could note the difference between this and the other boards, it would be nice.
Memory: OCZ Gold XTC OCZ2G8002GK 2GB PC2-6400 DDR2 Kit - $70 CDN w/ rebate
Great price on this I think, so I see no reason to change. Again, not OC'ing. Timings are 5-5-5-12 though.
Video Card: eVGA 8800GTS 320MB - $288 CDN w/ rebate
He's not planning on doing tons of gaming, but he does want to be able to game. He's particularly interested in games like Crysis and StarCraft II (whenever that comes out). He plays on a really small monitor for the moment (15" LCD), but does plan on getting something nicer in the future.
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB - SATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive - $99 CDN
I heard the WD's were faster, quieter and more reliable than the Seagate 500Giggers. I know my Seagates are quite noisy, but they are pretty reliable, unlike my Maxtor...
Windows Vista Home Premium x64 - $123 CDN
Not much to say here, he likes Vista, I figure 64 bit is the way to go now, especially since he uses those video editing softwares which can take quite a bit of memory, even though he is only getting 2GB for now he does plan to upgrade later.
Case & PSU: Apevia X-Navigator Aluminum ATX Mid-Tower and PSU - $100 CDN
He is buying this from me, it's barely been used, only a few months old for $100. I am also giving him a power supply but I'm not sure which one to give him - the Apevia 500W that came with the case which has never been used, or an Enermax Noisetaker 485W which has been used for several years but still seemed to be running strong last I used it. The Apevia has a BLUE LED fan and UV green sleeving that he likes but I suspect the Enermax is the better product...
Thanks a lot for your input guys.
I am going to be building a new computer for my friend and we are gonna order most of the parts (except the CPU unless we can find the new prices) this weekend. So I just wanted to ask for any suggestions and opinions if any of you have any. He is not going to be overclocking. He does a lot of general usage stuff and he uses a lot of video editing software and does a lot of DVD encoding and ripping as well. He will be using this for school come the end of August. He does like to game, but not very much, just a few games casually here and there. He is interested in Crysis though.
Especially read the Motherboard and Case/PSU comments. I especially need suggestions on which would be best there, but comment on anything you want. BTW he is using his old optical drive for now with the system.
Specs:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Q6600 RETAIL - $289 CDN
I am going to try and find him the G0 steppings one, but if he ends up not wanting to wait we might just get the regular. Actually just talking to him, he doesn't really care which one he gets. He's not going to be OCing at all anyway. It will be using the Stock Cooler.
Motherboard: ASUS P5K OR the Gigabyte GA-P35-S3L - $148 CDN OR $99 CDN
I'm not sure which of these motherboards I should get him. I guess the ASUS is the better board, since you usually get what you pay for, and I've always known ASUS to be a good mobo company, but I've seen a lot of people recommending the Gigabyte as well. He would like to keep his costs down as much as possible but is willing to get the ASUS if it means better stability etc. His last board wasn't so stable... Remember he won't be overclocking so if that's the only real difference between the two that would be nice to know. He really just needs something stable with decent standard features like SATA II support, onboard LAN and sound etc...
EDIT: Another board I am considering for him is the ASUS P5B, again if anyone could note the difference between this and the other boards, it would be nice.
Memory: OCZ Gold XTC OCZ2G8002GK 2GB PC2-6400 DDR2 Kit - $70 CDN w/ rebate
Great price on this I think, so I see no reason to change. Again, not OC'ing. Timings are 5-5-5-12 though.
Video Card: eVGA 8800GTS 320MB - $288 CDN w/ rebate
He's not planning on doing tons of gaming, but he does want to be able to game. He's particularly interested in games like Crysis and StarCraft II (whenever that comes out). He plays on a really small monitor for the moment (15" LCD), but does plan on getting something nicer in the future.
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB - SATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive - $99 CDN
I heard the WD's were faster, quieter and more reliable than the Seagate 500Giggers. I know my Seagates are quite noisy, but they are pretty reliable, unlike my Maxtor...
Windows Vista Home Premium x64 - $123 CDN
Not much to say here, he likes Vista, I figure 64 bit is the way to go now, especially since he uses those video editing softwares which can take quite a bit of memory, even though he is only getting 2GB for now he does plan to upgrade later.
Case & PSU: Apevia X-Navigator Aluminum ATX Mid-Tower and PSU - $100 CDN
He is buying this from me, it's barely been used, only a few months old for $100. I am also giving him a power supply but I'm not sure which one to give him - the Apevia 500W that came with the case which has never been used, or an Enermax Noisetaker 485W which has been used for several years but still seemed to be running strong last I used it. The Apevia has a BLUE LED fan and UV green sleeving that he likes but I suspect the Enermax is the better product...
Thanks a lot for your input guys.
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