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Returning Devil Dog looking to build a new PC

S

sgt0351usmc

Junior Member
Whats going on all? Just looking for some thoughts and/or recommendations on whether or not the set up that I have selected is a good one. Just got out of the Marine Corps and I need a new computer, my budget is around $1500 (flexible though). Looking for something that will last a while, I'd like to be able to handle any of the newer games of course, and I'll be doing a little video editing here and there. Overall I would like knowing that I have a pretty powerful machine but obviously I don't have to get too crazy. I haven't built a computer since around '98 so I am definitely rusty. I have been trying to research as much as I can and would appreciate any thoughts anyone can give me on the following rig:

Motherboard
GA-965P-DS3 $109.99

Processor
Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz 2M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 $164.00

Cooler
ZALMAN CNPS9500 LED 92mm 2 Ball Cooling Fan with Heatsink $53.99

Memory
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory $119.00 after $40.00 Mail-In Rebate

Case
COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 49.99

PSU
Corsair HX Series CMPSU-520HX 520W Power Supply $95.00 After rebate

Video Card
GeForce 8800GTS 320MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card $279.00

Hard Drive
250 GB 7200 RPM Caviar SATA Internal Hard Drive $79.19

DVD Burner
Sony NEC Optiarc Black 18X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 18X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner - OEM $31.99

Sound Card
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card $90.99

Monitor
Hanns·G JW-199DPB Black 19" 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 700:1 Built in Speakers $164.99

OS
Windows XP Pro SP2 $286.99


Thanks for your assistance.

Semper Fi
 
I would change the processor to an E6320 (4MB cache instead of 2MB for the same price) or raise it up to a E6600 or so. And there are price drops coming up on the 22nd for the quad core chips.

I'd also recommend changing the 320MB 8800GTS to the 640MB version. It'll come in handy, especially if you upgrade to Vista for DX10 games down the road.
 
Hmmmm
change motherboard to GA-P35-DS3R... should be about 130$

CPU E6320 or E6600...
Change cooler to something like Tuniq Tower, Scythe Ninja.... something along those lines

Change memory to crucial ddr2-800 2 x 1gb... cheaper, and better
those corsair sticks are usually promos chips

nice psu

videocard is a bad choice... 8800GTS 640MB or 2900XT

Get a seagate 7200.10 320GB HD, comes with 5 years warranty as opposed to 3 years from WD.

Change that burner to a Pioneer DVR-212D, much better in terms quality.

Soundcard's good

Monitor is so-so

XP SP2 should be cheaper.

you can pm me for suggestions and explainations if you want
 
This is what I came up for a little over $1500:
I left some of your original hardware.

Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R $130

Processor
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 $223

Cooler
Scythe SCINF-1000 120mm CPU Cooler $58

Memory
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail - $168 (AR)


Case
COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 $50

PSU
Corsair HX Series CMPSU-520HX 520W Power Supply $95.00 After rebate

Video Card
MSI NX8800GTS-T2D640E-HD OC GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail
$349 (AR)

Hard Drive
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB $80

DVD Burner
SAMSUNG Black 18X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 18X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache IDE DVD Burner with LightScribe and Software - OEM
$33


Sound Card
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card $90.99

Monitor
Samsung 226BW
$309 (AR)


Just to summarize... E6600 on a good P35 board with a very nice cooler, should be able to overclock the CPU to at least 3.0ghz without any problems. 2Gb of 1066mhz Corsair ram - it was on the motherboard qualified ram list, always good. 640mb 8800GTS will be able to handle 1680x1050 resolution very nicely, unlike the 320mb version. An award winning 22" inch 2ms 3000:1 contrast Samsung monitor.

You can change the CPU for E6850 on July 22nd or Q6600 without any extra cost. I recommend waiting.

Total is $1586 after the rebates and excluding the OS.

You won't be sorry if you go with the system above.

P.s - If you can stretch the budget to $2000 you can get an OC'ed MSI 8800GTX for $150 more and an extra 2GB of ram. If not this will do just fine for quite a while.

Good luck.

 
Originally posted by: sgt0351usmc
Sounds good, so nobody cares for the Zalman?
Click to expand...

There is nothing wrong with them I just don't like the idea of overpaying for the brand name alone... same with X-fi Fatal1ty.
 
Mornin' all, just wanted to say thanks gain for the recommendations on the parts. Got everything in yesterday and spent all night getting everything together and it's running like a dream. Thanks again folk, Semper Fi.
 
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