Rate my new system... Please critique!

[RetailDirect]

I wanted to wait for Conroe originally but had to go ahead and pull the trigger now. Please critique any of my decisions keeping in mind gaming and the price of the part. The parts are all on the way from various vendors. The prices listed include shipping and taxes if any.

BTW, I use pricegrabber and froogle to check pricing and customer satisfaction ratings. Do any of you use any other sites?

192 - Pentium D 930 (The 65nm was the decider here for overclocking and heat)
55 - Zalman CNPS9500 (I already have some AS5 sitting around too!)
225 - ASUS P5WD2-E (For the Conroe in a few months and OC options)
182 - Mushkin 991382 DDR2-667 2x1GB (The best for the money??)
270 - eVGA 7900GT (I plan to do the volt mod on this bad boy)
108 - Soundblaster Xtreme Music (I've read great things on this)
108 - Hiper Type-R 580W (Gotta love modular and the design is just CLEAN)
90 - Lian Li PC-G50B (The smallest Lian Li tower I could find... also clean looking)
78 - NEC ND-3550A (x2 - great drives and great prices??)
90 - WD Caviar SE16 250GB (seems to be a nice drive for the money)
388 - Creative Gigaworks 7.1 (hasnt been ordered yet - unsure)
70 - Logitech G15 Keyboard (I like the design and the quality look)
50 - Logitech G5 Laser Mouse (The best for gaming right??)
345 - Viewsonic VX2025WM (1680x1050 res, good gaming, great price!)

$2,257 total for IMHO one awesome rig... especially after I'm done with surgery!!

Again, I appreciate all comments and criticisms. If you would change something.... Why? Please keep in mind my price points on these items.

Thanks in advance for your comments!

 

[RetailDirect]

any takers?

 

[Gamer X]

I think it's perfect.

 

[Tig Ol Bitties]

Very nice setup in preperation for Conroe. Do you have the space for and are you really gonna utilize those 7 speakers??? Rather pricey for them.

 

[bamacre]

Looks good, but good luck on the mobo supporting Conroe. If it doesn't, not a biggie, gaming is mostly video card bound anyway. It will be doubly so once games are multi-threaded.

 

[alimoalem]

i wouldn't spend $500 on sound, personally. you can try onboard sound first and see how it is...i REALLY doubt you're going to use more than 200 Watts. what are you doing buying a 700 Watt sound system for your computer? newegg has it for $330AR so i would go there instead of wherever you got your price from if you do end up buying the sound system.

the rest looks good to me.

 

[RetailDirect]

Thanks for the input...

Ive dealt with onboard sound just out of laziness not wanting to install the three or four driver for the SB Audigy and I have to say that I cant deal with onboard anymore. Plus with doing 7.1, don't y'all think it'd be worth going X-Fi?

As far as needing 7.1 goes, I have the four rear speakers already pre-wired in and the room is 11x11. Is there a better 7.1 out there for the money or even for less?

I read that this board would support Conroe (for $250 I dang sure hope so!!)

Does anyone happened to know of any conflicts running an nVidia card on an ATi chipset? Also, is this ATi chipset mature and stable? (I guess its a little late to be asking now but I'd like to know.)

Thanks again everyone for the input and ideas.

 

[akshayt]

I think you should go in for Amd 64bit instead, better still dual core amd 64

graphic card: 7900GTX or Radeon 1900XTX/XT

 

[LOUISSSSS]

ultra psus = fire. google it

 

[pelikan]

For all that money I'd have a better video card.


Edit: and a good psu.

 

[RetailDirect]

Originally posted by: pelikan
For all that money I'd have a better video card.


Edit: and a good psu.

What is wrong with a 7900GT volt modded to a GTX?

What is wrong with Hiper 580W PSUs??

 

[RetailDirect]

Originally posted by: akshayt
I think you should go in for Amd 64bit instead, better still dual core amd 64

graphic card: 7900GTX or Radeon 1900XTX/XT

AMD64 imo is only marginally better than an OCd Pentium 930... and I want the easy upgrade path for Conroe.

Im going to volt mod the GT and get an aftermarket cooler. It'll be better than a GTX.. I like the 1900XT but not for the price...

 

[akshayt]

1900XT comes for arnd 380$ with rebate, so finally you pay arnd 380$

 

[Howard]

I'd go for a different cooler (like the Scythe Mine) if you aren't particularly enamored with the aesthetics of the 9500.

 

[acegazda]

saphire has their 1900xt @ newegg for $375 shipped after MIR.
Also, a good budget cooler choice would be the arctic cooling freezer 64 pro.

Link...
x1900xt

 

[pkme2]

For $2000 rig, I would spend $40 more for a Seasonic PSU for $139

Recommend PC-60 for $100 for better cooling for your Pentium. Also more room for future expansion.

 

[Operandi]

Is this another one of those threads asking for advice after they already made the purchase??, WTF is the point of these??, you're supposed to ask before you make the purchase.

Anyway, the Hiper-R is $30-40 PSU, the remainder of the of the $100 is bling; it's a rip-off. You would be much better off with a Seasonic, Forton-Source, or Enhance (they have modular offering), if you want a real high quality PSU.

I would have also dropped the X-Fi, it doesn?t make any sense from a dollar point of view and HD-Audio is very good from a sound quality perspective.

Lastly did you take a look at the Lian Li PC-V600?

 

[acegazda]

For $2000 rig, I would spend $40 more for a Seasonic PSU for $139

Recommend PC-60 for $100 for better cooling for your Pentium. Also more room for future expansion.

good call :thumbsup:

 

[RetailDirect]

Originally posted by: Operandi
Is this another one of those threads asking for advice after they already made the purchase??, WTF is the point of these??, you're supposed to ask before you make the purchase.

Anyway, the Hiper-R is $30-40 PSU, the remainder of the of the $100 is bling; it's a rip-off. You would be much better off with a Seasonic, Forton-Source, or Enhance (they have modular offering), if you want a real high quality PSU.

I would have also dropped the X-Fi, it doesn?t make any sense from a dollar point of view and HD-Audio is very good from a sound quality perspective.

Lastly did you take a look at the Lian Li PC-V600?

I am rather impulsive so when I decided it was time for a new computer... It was time for a new computer The point of this thread is to get the opinions of other enthusiasts.

So the Hiper Type-R 580W isnt a good power supply? I had thought it was the best modular power supply out there. I thought I had read somewhere that it was good...

So Enhance makes a modular power supply? Or is it the Mushkin Enhanced? And after seeing the specs of my system, what makes it better for me than the Hiper??

I do like the looks/size/quality of the PC-V600 but I dont like the thought of all those little holes letting dust in all over my computer. I also like the PC-60 for looks and quality but it is too big for my tastes. I have a Thermaltake Tsunami right now and I just dont like the size of those cases.

Lastly, what makes the Scythe Mine better than the CNPS9500?? I was under the impression that the Zalman was the very best CPU cooler money could buy hands down.

Thanks again everyone for the input

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: RetailDirect

Originally posted by: Operandi
Is this another one of those threads asking for advice after they already made the purchase??, WTF is the point of these??, you're supposed to ask before you make the purchase.

Anyway, the Hiper-R is $30-40 PSU, the remainder of the of the $100 is bling; it's a rip-off. You would be much better off with a Seasonic, Forton-Source, or Enhance (they have modular offering), if you want a real high quality PSU.

I would have also dropped the X-Fi, it doesn?t make any sense from a dollar point of view and HD-Audio is very good from a sound quality perspective.

Lastly did you take a look at the Lian Li PC-V600?

I am rather impulsive so when I decided it was time for a new computer... It was time for a new computer The point of this thread is to get the opinions of other enthusiasts.

So the Hiper Type-R 580W isnt a good power supply? I had thought it was the best modular power supply out there. I thought I had read somewhere that it was good...

So Enhance makes a modular power supply? Or is it the Mushkin Enhanced? And after seeing the specs of my system, what makes it better for me than the Hiper??

I do like the looks/size/quality of the PC-V600 but I dont like the thought of all those little holes letting dust in all over my computer. I also like the PC-60 for looks and quality but it is too big for my tastes. I have a Thermaltake Tsunami right now and I just dont like the size of those cases.

Lastly, what makes the Scythe Mine better than the CNPS9500?? I was under the impression that the Zalman was the very best CPU cooler money could buy hands down.

Thanks again everyone for the input

Enhance is the manufacture not Muskin, I'm not sure on the exact model.

As far as comparing it to the Hiper-R, it's not really a fair comparison. Enhance make very high quality units; Silverstone bases their highest end units off of Enhance PSUs. Hiper-R on the other hand is somewhere between barely acceptable and junk. If it wasn't for it's eye catching paint job and modular cables no-body would give it a second look. its really just an average PSU that they are trying to pass of as high-end to unsuspecting.

The holes aren?t really any different then the intake on any other case, just here the entire front is an intake. But you should be fine with the Lian Li you choose as long as it?s cooling capability is up to that hot running Intel CPU

The Zalman CNPS 9500 is one of the best HS/Fs out today. It may not be number one in any one category but it is very strong in the performance to noise ratio. I wouldn?t 2nd guess your choice in this category.

 

[DasFox]

RetailDirect, I recommend:

Corsair or OCZ for memory
AMD 64x for CPU
Logitech MX-518 for mouse

As far as modular PSUs, can't say I understand them, but the Antec NEO 550 I use seems to be somewhat modular in design, if we mean the ability to plug in the back what you need.

What exactly is the definition of a modular PSU?

Good Luck
Aloha

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: RetailDirect

Originally posted by: Operandi
Is this another one of those threads asking for advice after they already made the purchase??, WTF is the point of these??, you're supposed to ask before you make the purchase.

Anyway, the Hiper-R is $30-40 PSU, the remainder of the of the $100 is bling; it's a rip-off. You would be much better off with a Seasonic, Forton-Source, or Enhance (they have modular offering), if you want a real high quality PSU.

I would have also dropped the X-Fi, it doesn?t make any sense from a dollar point of view and HD-Audio is very good from a sound quality perspective.

Lastly did you take a look at the Lian Li PC-V600?

Lastly, what makes the Scythe Mine better than the CNPS9500?? I was under the impression that the Zalman was the very best CPU cooler money could buy hands down.

Not really. The 9500 is a great cooler (one of the best), but does not deliver great value because it's so damn expensive. The Scythe Mine performs on par with the Scythe Ninja when a fan is used, and the Ninja is generally considered (but not by JediYODA ) to perform better than the 9500, especially considering the noise output. Too bad the Ninja doesn't fit AM2 (yet).

 

[SuperSix]

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
ultra psus = fire. google it

You're an idiot.

OP - I think it's a GREAT rig, you did a great job.

I run the 930/CNPS9500 combo, and love it. Damn near silent, and well worth the $$$. (IMO). You can get the 9500 w/o LED fan for a few bucks less. I don't think the Zalman is THAT intrusive, Here's pics of my rig: http://ihadav8.com/gallery/ComputerPics

I will also be getting a Zalman VGA cooler, the stock cooler on my 6800GS is a bit loud, and I want it to run as cool and quiet as possible. Maybe you mshould consider that too, as you plan to do the volt mod on your vid card.

I am partial to Corsair, but Mushkin is good as well.

I agree with most - I would recommend a different power supply.

Do what Howard says or Jonnyguru or Galvanized Yankee recommend, they are the true power supply gurus on this thread, and you would be safe to disregard most other's input.

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: SuperSix

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
ultra psus = fire. google it

Do what Howard says or Jonnyguru or Galvanized Yankee recommend, they are the true power supply gurus on this thread, and you would be safe to disregard most other's input.

Whoah, this is heavy. Compared to those two, I'm like a newborn baby.

 

[RetailDirect]

Originally posted by: SuperSix

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
ultra psus = fire. google it

You're an idiot.

OP - I think it's a GREAT rig, you did a great job.

I run the 930/CNPS9500 combo, and love it. Damn near silent, and well worth the $$$. (IMO). You can get the 9500 w/o LED fan for a few bucks less. I don't think the Zalman is THAT intrusive, Here's pics of my rig: http://ihadav8.com/gallery/ComputerPics

I will also be getting a Zalman VGA cooler, the stock cooler on my 6800GS is a bit loud, and I want it to run as cool and quiet as possible. Maybe you mshould consider that too, as you plan to do the volt mod on your vid card.

I am partial to Corsair, but Mushkin is good as well.

I agree with most - I would recommend a different power supply.

Do what Howard says or Jonnyguru or Galvanized Yankee recommend, they are the true power supply gurus on this thread, and you would be safe to disregard most other's input.

Too bad my case doesnt have a window because I think the Zalman 9500 (in your pics) is just plain gorgeous - no ugly fan to look at!

From what Ive read, the Hiper seems to be a great PSU but you and some others in here have recommended against it..? Im just so in love with modular PSUs with braided cables ever since I built a buddies rig and used an Ultra 500W PSU (I do know that those are crap).

I'll definately look into that Zalman VGA cooler as I know I will have to do something once I perform that voltmod.

Thanks for the input!