New System - Final Part List

[plaidfro]

I am building this computer for my friend, this is the near final list of parts. My buddy doesn't play any online games. His main uses will be for music(copying, playing, recording, and editing), movies(watching and copying), and typical wordprocessing. His budget was $1000 but He has allowed me to go over a little bit to get some better quality parts. Are there any parts you would consider changing and why? THanks for your input. I believe the Item most subject to change is the Video Card, I could downsize it to a 6500 or a 6200 LE? your thoughts?


Antec LifeStyle SONATA II Piano ATX Mid Tower Case 450Watt SP 2.0 $89 newegg
EPoX EP-9NPA+Ultra Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD MoBo $95 newegg
eVGA Geforce 6600GT 128MB GDDR3 PCI-E x16 Video Card $130 newegg
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 2000MHz HT Socket 939 CPU $135
Patriot Signature Series (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel $80 newegg
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200KS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s HD $115 ne
Logitech Internet Pro Desktop PS/2 Wired Standard Keyboard Mouse Included $18 ne
BenQ FP91G+ Black 19" 8ms LCD Monitor $216 newegg
SONY Black IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model DDU1615/B2s $20 newegg
NEC 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE/ATAPI Model ND-3550A $36 newegg
Creative SOUND BLASTER X-Fi Platinum 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound $132 ZipZF
Logitech X-530 70 Watts 5.1 Speaker - $55

Total $1130 not including the shipping

 

[flamma]

I'd go for the 7600GS over the 6600GT since it's cheaper, slightly faster, and passively cooled. Just a suggestion.

 

[Jdog1718]

If your going with the X-Fi Platinum why not get better speakers to make use of it. The 70 watt logitechs aren't bad by any means, but a step up makes a huge difference.

 

[plaidfro]

Originally posted by: Jdog1718
If your going with the X-Fi Platinum why not get better speakers to make use of it. The 70 watt logitechs aren't bad by any means, but a step up makes a huge difference.

Reasonable suggestions to step up?

 

[Jdog1718]

Not sure what your price range is, but if I was spending $130+ on a sound card I would go with the Logitech THX Z-5300e 280 Watts RMS 5.1 Speakers at Newegg for $134.99. I personally been able to listen to these and they sound sweet and very powerful. This step up also gets you THX digital suround sound and 280 watts of power! If thats too high for your budget, I've heard good things about the Creative Inspire 90 Watt system for $86, but thats not much of a step up. I'm sure you would be happy with the 70 watt package if the thx is out of your range.

 

[gramboh]

Klipsch Promedia 2.1 speakers/sub if you are willing to go to about 170 I think they are selling for new. Superior frequenecy response to the Logitech which have no mid and the bass response includes too high a range so voices/music gets played through the sub. The 5500 is good for games due to the power of the sub, but they are not good for music.

 

[imported_killuminati]

get AMD AM2 .
available fully online .
and get in the DDR2 way .

for Video get 7600GT $155 , Best Bang for Buck , at Main-Stream .or
Get X1800XT for $219 .

Peace & ciao !!!

 

[plaidfro]

Originally posted by: flamma
I'd go for the 7600GS over the 6600GT since it's cheaper, slightly faster, and passively cooled. Just a suggestion.

Hmmmm should be an extremely quiet machine by doing this.. thanks

 

[Howard]

deleted

Just try to leave a large portion of the budget for the sound system since that's what the PC is for.

 

[Ika]

definitely get THX speakers. they will make a huge difference.

also, I would recommend switching to a cheap Intel dual-core (PD 805 would be a good choice, even better if your friend plans to overclock/you plan to help him overclock.)

another rec for the 7600GS as well.

 

[subby]

Originally posted by: plaidfro
I am building this computer for my friend, this is the near final list of parts. My buddy doesn't play any online games. His main uses will be for music(copying, playing, recording, and editing), movies(watching and copying), and typical wordprocessing. His budget was $1000 but He has allowed me to go over a little bit to get some better quality parts. Are there any parts you would consider changing and why? THanks for your input. I believe the Item most subject to change is the Video Card, I could downsize it to a 6500 or a 6200 LE? your thoughts?


Antec LifeStyle SONATA II Piano ATX Mid Tower Case 450Watt SP 2.0 $89 newegg
EPoX EP-9NPA+Ultra Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD MoBo $95 newegg
eVGA Geforce 6600GT 128MB GDDR3 PCI-E x16 Video Card $130 newegg
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 2000MHz HT Socket 939 CPU $135
Patriot Signature Series (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel $80 newegg
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200KS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s HD $115 ne
Logitech Internet Pro Desktop PS/2 Wired Standard Keyboard Mouse Included $18 ne
BenQ FP91G+ Black 19" 8ms LCD Monitor $216 newegg
SONY Black IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model DDU1615/B2s $20 newegg
NEC 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE/ATAPI Model ND-3550A $36 newegg
Creative SOUND BLASTER X-Fi Platinum 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound $132 ZipZF
Logitech X-530 70 Watts 5.1 Speaker - $55

Total $1130 not including the shipping

Since you friend would be doing more multi-tasking of general tasks, I would strongly consider replacing the CPU with a dual-core. Perhaps the AMD Athlon64 X2 3800+ as an entry point is a good start.

As I'm not really into games all the time, I've got myself just a humble GeForce 7300GS. I think nVidia will be releasing the 7300GT, which would be slightly better with its 128-bit memory bus as opposed to the 64-bit on the 7300GS. Perhaps that maybe an option you want to consider?

Just my opinion...

 

[alpha88]

6200 will do all you need if you play no games.

 

[w00t]

K lets see go dual core
why get a 6600gt if there is no gaming get like a x300 or 6200
get a one gig stick so he can upgrade to two later on
get a seagate or samsung
i'd get a better speaker system instead of an expensive sound card

 

[Operandi]

$55 5.1 speakers? Think about that for a second... that?s less then $10 per speaker how good do you really think that?s going to sound?

The biggest waste of money there is the X-Fi, drop it. If you want better sound quality for music and movies go with a ATi based board with integrated HD-Audio.

Get a better case and PSU. PSU, any 300+ watt Seasonic or Forton-Source will be plenty for a build like that. Case is personal preference; I'm partial to Lian Lis.

Stick Corsiar, Crucial, Muskin or one of the bigger players in the RAM market.

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: Operandi
$55 5.1 speakers? Think about that for a second... that?s less then $10 per speaker how good do you really think that?s going to sound?

The biggest waste of money there is the X-Fi, drop it. If you want better sound quality for music and movies go with a ATi based board with integrated HD-Audio.

Get a better case and PSU. PSU, any 300+ watt Seasonic or Forton-Source will be plenty for a build like that. Case is personal preference; I'm partial to Lian Lis.

Stick Corsiar, Crucial, Muskin or one of the bigger players in the RAM market.

I mostly agree. Get better speakers, and a lower end sound card. Even a Live! 5.1 will be great. The onboard ATI HD audio is an excellent option.

RAM... keep it budget I'd say.

Video card: 7300GS. Passively cooled, and has h.264 decoding.

I'd recommend trying for a widescreen monitor too.

 

[TAGImperialMarch]

If he isn't playing games, skimp on the vid card and upgrade the speakers. Other than that, it looks good.