Starting Fresh - Need advice on a whole new system

[PolymerTim]

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
General home office use + light gaming + distributed computing

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
$1000 - $1100 for the box and everything in it.

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
USA

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc, etc, etc, you get the picture.
I have my opinions, but no, I'm not set on any particular supplier, although I would like to give ATI/AMD some business when performance is reasonable.

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
None - all new

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
Hehe, I started reading up again a few months ago and didn't stop. So yeah, I've read a lot, but don't have a lot of practical experience.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
I won't have time to fiddle with this when I first put it together, but I definitely plan on getting it up to around 3.6-4GHz in the next few months. I figure I won't buy the aftermarket HSF until I'm ready to OC.

8. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Next 2 weeks.

EDIT: OK, I've just recently ordered my parts. I made a few upgrades and noted them below for those interested. I'll post an update next week when I get it all installed.

OK guys. I've been trying to start this build for several months now, but I think the time (and the money) has finally come together. You might call me a moderate computer enthusiast who likes to tinker with his computer occasionally, but then go months without having to mess with the settings. For all intents and purposes, I don't really "need" a powerful computer, but I want one that responds quickly even when dealing with the latest bloatware that is Vista 64 with Aero and several open applications at the same time. I also do some distributed computing and would like to increase my output, although I can't quite justify going quad for just that.

I've got some experience building my own computers. I think this will be about #3 that I've done on my own, although I do it so rarely that I have to completely read up on all the tech again every time I do it. The last thing I did with my computer was to rebuild MB-CPU-RAM with an Athlon 2500+ (Barton) and some nice CAS3 DDR RAM (unfortunately could only afford 512MB of it and have regretted it ever since). I'm getting my first real job this summer, so I may be able to start upgrading at a more reasonable rate in the future (~3 year cycle), but I would like to build a system that will perform reasonably fast for general use at least 5 years from now.

With that intro out of the way, I'll jump in with my current thoughts and then I'll follow up with any questions/ramblings I may have. I would appreciate any thoughts you guys have.

-Tim

Price Description
$89.99 GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L EDIT: Went with GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3R for $120
$199.99 Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz
$84.99 G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 CAS5 EDIT: Went with G.SKILL DDR2-1000 for $90 (just missed the new pricing)
$164.99 DIAMOND Viper 3870PE4512SB Radeon HD 3870 512MB EDIT: Went with ECS 8800GTS-512 for $170 AMIR
$140.00 Antec P182 Gun Metal Black (already bought)
$129.00 CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX
$109.99 Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB
$29.99 LITE-ON Black SATA DVD Burner - Retail
$6.99 Samsung Floppy Drive - Black

Grand Total $955.93 ($891.45 AMIR)


My thoughts:
MB - I considered going with a higher end MB, but I doubt I will use raid or dual network ports. I've heard the DS3L overclocks reasonably well. If it can get me to 450 FSB, I will be happy. I know the DS3L onboard sound isn't as good as others, but with $20 speakers, will I notice the difference?

Video - I haven't played 3D games in a couple years, but I want a card that can handle reasonable games (read "not Crysis") if I choose to pick one up. I also find that my currently ancient MX2-400 couldn't even playback the Crysis preview videos reasonably well and has trouble with google maps satellite views (maybe due to other parts of my system as well). I'd like a card that can at least handle new-fangled internet stuff 5 years from now when it will probably end up as a hand-me down to somebody. I'm not set on the 3870, but its about the price I'm willing to pay and, as I mentioned before, I'm willing to give a slight edge to ATI/AMD for similar performance. Now I'm just wondering if it matters which manufacturer I go with. Diamond is the cheapest. Does it matter much which I pick?

Floppy - I know, I know... believe it or not, I still need this for some of my other ancient electronics.

So I've got a little wiggle room in the budget for minor upgrades. Anything you guys could recommend that would be worth my money?

vvvvv Your thoughts 🙂

 

[Urtho]

Random thoughts:

1. If you're building completely new, you're missing some items. Namely an OS and a display. I'd go with 64-bit Vista HP and whatever the popular picks are in the 22" - 24" LCD arena these days.

2. I'm confused - you say distributed computing is important to you but then you say you can't justify a quad? Your processor is fine as it is, but if you're really into DC you'll probably want one of the newer Peryn quads. For about $80 more you can pick up the lowest end Q9300, it should serve you well in most any task. If gaming is more your thing and DC is more of a side issue than stick with the E8400.

3. That PSU can be had $25 cheaper on Buy.com HERE.

4. If overclocking is in your future, give yourself some headroom by picking up this ram instead for $5 less as it's on sale this week. You'll need to be an email member to use the discount code.

5. Why would you not buy a good solid HSF now if you're going to be overclocking at some point in the future? Save yourself some removal and rebuilding annoyance and pick up a solid unit now so you just have to mess around with settings rather than hardware as well when you do OC. This unit from XIGMATEK has been all the rage in here of late.

 

[PolymerTim]

1) Yeah, I plan to handle that separately from this thread. I will be getting Vista 64 though, for those curious.

2) I like DC, but it is not the primary purpose of the computer, more like a fun hobby. I considered the quads, but I don't think the extra $100 for the penryn quad plus lower OCs (when I get to that) would be worth it for me. Maybe on my next build. Of course, I still wonder if the quad will blow away the dual in many apps 3 years from now. I'm still a little uncertain on the dual vs quad thing.

3) Thanks for the PSU info. I thought some components were cheaper elsewhere, but I haven't done a full search yet. What are the primary sites you guys check when comparing prices?

4) I considered that RAM. I think it's well worth the $5. The only concern I had is if it will work at 1.8V. I don't have any other DDR2 RAM and I was worried about getting any that don't work at 1.8V. Can someone confirm for this set? Also, I figure I won't be going over about FSB 450 (gets my e8400 to 4GHz) and most likely any DDR2800 can get there in synchronous mode. Thoughts?

5) That's a good point. I forgot a lot of the good ones require MB removal so that would be a real pain. I've never installed a tower HSF before so I'm a little worried how difficult it is to install one of the massive 120mm towers. But I think I will bite the bullet and go for it. I'll update the OP a little later today.

Thanks for the suggestions! Any others?

 

[mharr7]

omg do not get vista.....

 

[Denithor]

Pick your display before you choose your video card. If you want to go with a 24" 1920x1200 you are going to want more muscle than that 3870 will provide. For 22" 1680x1050 and lower resolutions your build looks fine.

 

[PolymerTim]

Originally posted by: Denithor
Pick your display before you choose your video card. If you want to go with a 24" 1920x1200 you are going to want more muscle than that 3870 will provide. For 22" 1680x1050 and lower resolutions your build looks fine.

Good point. I wasn't sure how far I could stretch the 3870. I would like to get a 24inch *VA type display, but I'm not sure if I can fit that in the budget, so there's a pretty good chance I will end up with 22".

I kept up with the video cards pretty well up through the 3870 and 8800gt, then saw all the duals that I don't need and I know nVidida put out a bunch of others recently in the sub $200 range I think that I haven't kept up with.

Which cards should I consider if I want to spend sub-$200 on a card that can handle 24" 1920x1200? I'll choose between this option and the 3870 once I've determined the monitor I can afford.

Thanks very much!

 

[Urtho]

1. Ok, sounds good.

2. From what you say it looks like you're leaning towards the E8400. It's a great processor and it should serve you well. If you're really trying to future proof a PC for 3 years (bad idea in my view), go for the highest end Peryn quad you can swing. I wouldn't do this at all in the first place, mind you, but if that's your goal than there's your solution.

3. You're welcome on the deal, OOS right now FYI. For deals, there's our own Hot Deal's forum as well as the other similar sites like Slickdeals and Fatwallet. For direct price comparison, the old standbys are still around:

http://www.pricewatch.com/
http://www.pricescan.com/

4. FSB 450 synchs with DDR2-900 so you'll be overclocking your memory at that speed. Sticks of DDR2-800 will almost certainly overclock that high but why take a chance when you can get basically the exact same memory designed to work at FSB 500 for less money?

5. My meaning was more towards needing multiple CPU removals and installs with their potential for bent pins or other mishaps as well as the HSF cleaning and thermal paste wasted, but complete motherboard removal is also a concern if you go for some of the massive HSF's out there.

Which cards should I consider if I want to spend sub-$200 on a card that can handle 24" 1920x1200? I'll choose between this option and the 3870 once I've determined the monitor I can afford.

Cheapest 8800GTS around - $170 AR

There's slightly more expensive cards if you're looking for an included game but that one above is the cheapest deal seen yet on the 8800GTS cards.

 

[PolymerTim]

Originally posted by: Urtho

Which cards should I consider if I want to spend sub-$200 on a card that can handle 24" 1920x1200? I'll choose between this option and the 3870 once I've determined the monitor I can afford.

Cheapest 8800GTS around - $170 AR

There's slightly more expensive cards if you're looking for an included game but that one above is the cheapest deal seen yet on the 8800GTS cards.

Thanks for the tips. And for that price, I will defintely go for the GTS. I didn't know any of them went sub $200.

Thanks again!