Want to build a new computer, help? :)

[tkdromeo]

Some of you might know the troublesi've had recently hehe.

So, i thought is hould build a new system. MonKENy is offering to help, here's a start.

I just put together a dream system at DELL, obviously this is probably an overkill, but how much would something like that cost me and would i be able to put that together myself, or is it way to complicated to do?
Maybe something NOT as expensive? But close in specs so i won't have to upgrade for a few years?

XPS 720 - Black

$4,437
From $4,437
Now from
$4,437
As low as $134/month
XPS 720 Black:
Intel® Core?2 Extreme QX6850 (8MB,3.33GHz Factory overclocked) MBQ685H [223-3738]
4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 4 DIMMs 4GB84 [311-7249]
750GB - Seagate 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache 750S [341-4832]
750GB - Seagate 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache 750SB [341-4852]
Dual Drives: 48x Combo + 16x DVD+/-RW w/ dbl layer write capable VCM6DVR [313-5446][420-6464]
512MB Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT 5NV88 [320-6190]
AGEIA® PhysX® physics accelerator PHYSX [320-4785]
Sound Blaster® X-Fi? XtremeGamer (D) Sound Card VXFI [313-5450]
Windows Vista? Premium VPD [310-8626] 750
Bose Companion 3 Series II Multimedia Speaker System BOSE21 [313-5699]
Norton Internet Security 2007 15-months VNIS15M [412-0959]
Microsoft® Office Home and Student 2007 DVHS [420-6585]

I didn't see an ethernet card in there, just wireless and i don't like wireless...i like broadband! Maybe i'm confused.

I could also settle for the Core 2 Quad 6600 2.4 GHz each, and HDD could be just 500$ I could always get an external one some time later. I'd prefer dual drives, no clue on the sound card, the RAM i could settle for 3GB i think but 4GB would probably be best.


MonKENy suggest this case:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/app...o=2765147&sku=ULT40069

 

[MonKENy]

what about this stuff


Intel® Core?2 Extreme QX6850 (8MB,3.33GHz Factory overclocked) MBQ685H
price (holy shit its expensive)
http://www.intel.com/buy/deskt...U=BX80557X6800&fmlid=0

WOW what a difference
http://www.intel.com/buy/deskt...U=BX80562Q6600&fmlid=2

4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz
http://pcclub.com/product_details.cfm?itemno=A4351502 (get 2 kits)

750GB - Seagate 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...p?Item=N82E16822148134 (get as many as you want)

Dual drive dvd/rw
http://pcclub.com/product_details.cfm?itemno=A1546468 (get 2)

GeForce 8800 GT
http://www.nvidia.com/object/b...results.html?id=8800GT

700 watt PSU

Intel® Desktop Board D975XBX2 http://www.intel.com/products/...ard/d975xbx2/index.htm

Prices
http://www.intel.com/buy/deskt...=BOXD975XBX2KR&fmlid=1


am I missing anything? Are there suggestions to something better? all told It looks like what is there will cost between $1,880 and $2,500 depending on what he gets,

 

[tkdromeo]

Wow, that is a pretty big difference.


CPU and Motherboard
What's the difference between http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819115027 and http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819115017

Is it a big deal or negligible. I could go with the $279.99 one

or a preset one from asus http://www.tigerdirect.com/app...ails.asp?EdpNo=3208228



Ram is either http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820134217 for 79.99$ per 1GB
or http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820145504 for 99.99 per 1GB. Not sure the difference between them.

Or i could get Corsair Dual Channel 2048 MB for 59.99$ pretty good price. Just don't know if it's good.

Hard Drive
Maybe Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200.10 They're 109.99 each, so x2 = 220$


Video Card
If the motherboard supports 2 Video Cards, i could try running 2 512 8800 GT OC, if not, i could just run one. 279.99 Ea.

I don't know anything else about other stuff like dvd drives, and such.

If one of the mother boards i picked is good, we can start with that. We can find the case to fit it and i can take it one step at a time. Once we have a case and dimensions i could get a nice PSU picked out too.

i'm on my lil bro's comp for now.

Thanks again all.

Btw MonKENy, the links don't work for me on the links you posted. I just looked up quad and extreme duo and saw the difference between 1100$ and 300-500$

 

[MonKENy]

Originally posted by: tkdromeo
Wow, that is a pretty big difference.


CPU and Motherboard
What's the difference between Is it a big deal or negligible. I could go with the $279.99 one
its negligible, exceptthe more expensive one is hyperthreaded.

or a preset one from asus
Thats not bad. you could do that and be fine.

Ram is either http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820134217 for 79.99$ per 1GB
or http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820145504 for 99.99 per 1GB. Not sure the difference between them.
the bottom link is an older kind its ddr instead of ddr2

this is good stuff and at the bus speed yu want without getting to expensive
http://pcclub.com/product_details.cfm?itemno=A4351502

Hard Drive
Maybe Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200.10 They're 109.99 each, so x2 = 220$

seems okay.


Video Card
If the motherboard supports 2 Video Cards, i could try running 2 512 8800 GT OC, if not, i could just run one. 279.99 Ea.

I don't know anything else about other stuff like dvd drives, and such.

If one of the mother boards i picked is good, we can start with that. We can find the case to fit it and i can take it one step at a time. Once we have a case and dimensions i could get a nice PSU picked out too.

i'm on my lil bro's comp for now.

Thanks again all.

Btw MonKENy, the links don't work for me on the links you posted. I just looked up quad and extreme duo and saw the difference between 1100$ and 300-500$

 

[tkdromeo]

Ok, so...so far we have a

Case - ULT40069 Mid-Tower ATX Case - $169.99
Motherboard & CPU - Asus P5NE SLI & Intel C2Q Q6600 2.4 - $429.99
RAM - Kingston Hyperx 1024x2 DDR2 - $129.99x2 = $260
Hard Drive - 750 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200/16MB - $219.99
Video Card - NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT OC 512MB DDR3 - $299.99
DVD Drives - Philips 20x DVD/RW 2MB Cache - $45.99x2 = $92
Power Supply - Thermaltake 750 Watt ATX SATA/SLI ready PSU - $179.99


So, that's what i got so far. I know is till need a sound card, Windows Vista and probably some stuff i didn't think of yet. Or don't know of yet.

Total price so far is: $1650 Which is good, no? The specs are pretty good, right? And the items will all work together and fit? Thanks!

 

[MonKENy]

you wont need a sound card, that MB has onboard sound that provide HD 5.1 or 7.1 sound.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: tkdromeo
Ok, so...so far we have a

Case - ULT40069 Mid-Tower ATX Case - $169.99
Motherboard & CPU - Asus P5NE SLI & Intel C2Q Q6600 2.4 - $429.99
RAM - Kingston Hyperx 1024x2 DDR2 - $129.99x2 = $260
Hard Drive - 750 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200/16MB - $219.99
Video Card - NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT OC 512MB DDR3 - $299.99
DVD Drives - Philips 20x DVD/RW 2MB Cache - $45.99x2 = $92
Power Supply - Thermaltake 750 Watt ATX SATA/SLI ready PSU - $179.99


So, that's what i got so far. I know is till need a sound card, Windows Vista and probably some stuff i didn't think of yet. Or don't know of yet.

Total price so far is: $1650 Which is good, no? The specs are pretty good, right? And the items will all work together and fit? Thanks!

I think this is a much better deal:
http://slickdeals.net/index.ph...&x=0&y=0&searchtype=fp

(yes, it's expired. Yes, it doesn't come around all the time. Yes, the graphics card is basic.)

That said, it's $600, and honestly, given the deals in the past few months, that's nothing special. Dell had deals for $650 for a similar setup, and before that Acer had deals for $700-750 for their E700 with a similar setup (I bought one).

I think spending much more for a PC is nuts - buy something like the above, slap an 8800GT/etc. in there, maybe add a stick of RAM, and you're off to the races. No hassles, no worries, and someone else covers the warranty.

Imagine your pain if Bestbuy didn't take that PC back. Then read the help forums on all the pain people have when they build their own. It's a PITA.

 

[dclive]

That said:
Your case costs 2-4x what I consider a normal case price.
Your MB/CPU is very expensive as well - for another $150 you can get everything per the deal I posted (yes, it's expired, but they'll be back)
Get a 500GB HDD for $99.
A 88000GTS/320 is $220. What is your monitor's resolution?
Does anyone really need 2 DVD drives? I barely use one...
That power supply is absurdly overspec'd. A normal 300W, 400W if you're feeling spendy, is plenty. Look for a sale and pick one up for $30-$60.
Add another $120 or so for Vista. I suggest Home Premium.

Suddenly those $600 Q6600 deals look better and better...

 

[dclive]

In fact, just get this: http://www.officedepot.com/ddS...earchFlag=true&An=text (confirm it has PCI-E; I'm all but sure it does) and then add a graphics card later. Save hundreds, stay legal, and let someone else support it. Not the best deal (not as good as the HP deal) but there's probably an OfficeDepot near you, and that's a convenience.

 

[tkdromeo]

Wow DClive, that is a pretty good unit...

 

[lardbeetle]

A 300 watt PSU is NOT sufficient for a system that uses a 8800GTS. For starters, the video card alone sucks about 120 watts of power. Add in ram, hard drives, opticals, and CPU's, and you're running near peak. 450 is bare minimum if you want a reliable, long lasting system.

 

[tkdromeo]

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/sy...mer_Infinity_Ultimate/

Is what i want! but, no way i'm paying 4k for a computer. Just thought i'd post that. Looks insanely powerful.

 

[tkdromeo]

How's this for a bargain? http://www.pcusa.com/shopKitCo...,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,

* Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 CPU
* NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI board
* 4G (4X1G) PC6400 DDR2/800 RAM
* 320GB 7200RPM SATA-II HD
* 2 x NVIDIA GeForce 8500GT 512MB SLI
* 18X DVD Rewritable Drive
* High Definition 7.1 Sound
* Setup for Overclocking Ready

$879

 

[Build it Myself]

Do what I did I just bought this and will be putting it together tomorrow:
Intel dual core 2180 OC'ed to 3Ghz $90
4gigs Patriot extreme ($60AR on clubit) $60
Vista Premium 64bit OEM $110
Abit IP35Pro 165AR $165
Western Digital Caviar 250GB HD $70
2 DVD/RW's 1 NEC and 1 lite-on $70
1 sythe cooler (this thing just looked really cool!!) http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835185045
8800GT KO 279 @ EVGA's website $279
card reader/floppy combo 40 @ clubit $40
SopranoRS case 70
2 120mm LED case fans 5each $10

TOTAL: $994 and it's pretty high end, you could spend another $50 for a better processor but I wanted to experiment on OC'ing.

As for a monitor, I used the money I saved and got a nice ASUS 22" with a 2ms refresh rate @ newegg.

All in all total was $1294 and I think it's well above entry level gaming...what does everyone else think?

Sorry, forgot earthwatts 430 PSU $60'ish bringing it to $1354

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: lardbeetle
A 300 watt PSU is NOT sufficient for a system that uses a 8800GTS. For starters, the video card alone sucks about 120 watts of power. Add in ram, hard drives, opticals, and CPU's, and you're running near peak. 450 is bare minimum if you want a reliable, long lasting system.

Please read the Anandtech reviews. A 300W PSU is plenty, 400W is fine if you feel spendy. My system, once again, had an 8800GTS, 4x500GB HDD, 2 TV tuners, 4G of RAM, and some USB things and the power to the wall was still around 250W. See the Anandtech reviews on actual power used (www.anandtech.com, go to reviews of the Core2Duo and early 8800 cards) for more info.

 

[lardbeetle]

Right, and I had a similar setup with a 400 watt PSU, and it wasn't sufficient to boot.

If you got a really good 300 watt PSU, you'd probably be fine. I'd go higher, just to be safe - a power supply is not something to cheap out on, especially because if it fails catastrophically, you can lose other components as well.

 

[dclive]

Again, please read Anandtech's own reviews for the power supply wattage requirements. 300W is enough, and usage under load was, naturally, under 300W for my system with Q6600. You may have a rail issue on that 400W PSU, but the wattage was more than enough if you had a similar system to what I had.

 

[tkdromeo]

What about this? http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ol...03686058#productdetail I could just pick up something like this.

P.s. Robis keeps hoping that HP will chargme fully for the computer i returned. He's not a very happy person.

 

[dclive]

...or you could pay about half as much by buying a Q6600 Gateway, adding an 8800 yourself (I'd stick with the 8800GT) and you're done... How are you selecting these machines that you are interested in? What is your criteria?

 

[tkdromeo]

My criteria is q6600, mainly and a big enough case that i can put an 8800 into it. The other stuff that comes with it is just extra stuff i might not have to replace later. The gateway case is pretty much the same size as the HP case from the HP I returned. The Velocity case is 4" deeper and 2 inches taller. So a little bit more breathing room. Plus, i saw that it has 2PCI-E x16 slots, so maybe eventually i could go dual cards. Etc. And the card that is in there right now is not that bad, which will allow me to hold off from a new card for a lil while, right? I dunno, what are your thoughts?

 

[dclive]

Well, it the possibility of going to SLI (which I think is a PITA, and not needed for modern cards - what's your monitor resolution right now?) worth $1200? By the time you want SLI (assuming you don't have a 30" monitor right now) cheaper, faster single cards will be out, so why bother with SLI? Someone who'd even consider an 8400/8500 doesn't need to worry about SLI when they can get an 8800GT. And bear in mind an 8800GTS/320 fits just fine in an Acer E700 case, so I suspect other smallish consumer cases will work just fine with the 8800GTS/320 - and should easily work with the 8800GT, which is thinner and smaller and requires less power.

You're literally paying 150% more money - almost 200% more money - 3x the price, nearly - to get the ability to do SLI. Is it worth that much to you? Personally I'd rather have the 2.5 to 3 computers, or the money in the bank....

 

[tkdromeo]

Hmmm, ok That's all very good points. So the Dell is the best option so far...+ 8800GT.

Err, i meant the gateway.

 

[dclive]

What is your monitor resolution right now?

 

[tkdromeo]

800x600

 

[tkdromeo]

JK! hehe, it's the 1280×1024, I could probably use a new monitor, maybe a 19" mine is only 17"...or is it 15.... But i like it. I don't know much about good monitors either.