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12-16-2006, 04:12 AM
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#1 |
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Member (7 bit)
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 109
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New Computer Build for a friend
My friend wants me to put together a computer for him since he doesn't really know anything about them. Here is what I put together so far, if anyone has suggestions for any changes I should make let me know as thats the whole reason I'm starting this thread. The budget is set at $1500 but I already told him it might go a bit over and he was fine with it, he has some money to spend.
I didn't shop around for the best deal, just went onto Newegg and threw things into the cart to get a rough estimate on the total price. The goal is to build him something that will last him his last two years at college. He doesn't really do anything too intensive that I'm worried that the PC will get outdated to the point he gets frustrated at how slow it is. Items at bottom vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv Last edited by SuprchargdMazda; 12-16-2006 at 04:36 AM. |
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12-16-2006, 04:16 AM
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#2 |
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Member (7 bit)
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 109
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Just remembered I forgot to throw in a hard drive. I guess I'd probably put in the new 7200.10 from Seagate, I just got the 400gb version and its been great. He has external hard drives so a 250 or 320gb would be more than enough. So that adds another $90 to the total.
He already has a monitor and keyboard/mouse, we're just focusing on the tower. |
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12-16-2006, 04:22 AM
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#3 |
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Member (7 bit)
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 109
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My plans for overclocking are very mild so I think I might be spending unneeded amounts on the memory. I was just planning on bumping the fsb on the 6600 a bit and thats it. I don't feel completely well OC'ing other peoples computers because if anything goes wrong they would most likely blame my tinkering instead of the virus they just got infected with from surfing porn.
Would this be good enough? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231098 |
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12-16-2006, 04:25 AM
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#4 |
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Member (7 bit)
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 109
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Just also noticed the eVGA 8800GTS I had in the cart didn't get copied over. How is the noise on the stock fan on these new cards? Noise is a small issue I need to worry about so I don't want to put anything in the PC that'll be as loud as my 7600GT was with the stock fan.
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12-16-2006, 04:36 AM
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#5 |
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Member (7 bit)
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 109
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Shopping Cart
1 ABS Stealth CS-05A2s Silver Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail Model #: CS-05A2S $139.99 -$20.00 Instant $119.99 1 Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $94.99 $94.99 1 eVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail $429.99 $429.99 1 FSP Group (Fortron Source) FX Series FX760-E ATX | EPS Quad 12V 760W Maximum Power Supply - Retail $189.99 -$5.00 Instant $184.99 1 G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400PHU2-2GBHZ - Retail $304.99 $304.99 1 [B]ABIT AB9 Pro Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $145.99 $145.99 1 Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 - Retail Model $309.00 $309.00 Total: $1,621.69 |
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12-16-2006, 05:21 AM
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#6 | |
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Forum Administrator
Staff
Premium Member
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Joplin MO
Posts: 37,765
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Please use the EDIT button instead of making 5 posts in a row.
Nice gamer - is that what you are building? Quote:
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12-16-2006, 08:24 AM
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#7 |
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Shiro Usagi
Premium Member
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: Kaneohe, Hawaii
Posts: 34,002
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If I was asked to build a computer for a college student who doesn't do anything too intense (sounds like he's not a gamer) I would put together a much simpler computer that uses a E6300 on a motherboard that uses on-board video, 1GB of RAM (unless the person uses a program that recommends more RAM), a 350 - 400 watt PSU, a decent sized hard drive (250 minimum) and a DVD burner...total cost would probably be less than $800 without monitor, keyboard, mouse and speakers.
 Cricket
Last edited by Cricket; 12-16-2006 at 08:26 AM. |
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12-16-2006, 11:23 AM
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#8 |
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Member (9 bit)
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Indiana
Posts: 500
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Wow, you are building a High End gamer there, not a basic computer! This is what I would recommend:
$181 - Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz 2M sharing L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115005 $126 - ASUS P5B-VM Socket T (LGA 775) Intel G965 Express Micro ATX Intel Motherboard (w/ onboard video) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131043 $108 - CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Desktop Memory - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145568 $95 - Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148140 $31 - LiteOn DVD & CD Burner - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106013 $54 - FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX450-PN, 12cm FAN, version 2.0, 2 SATA, PCI Express, 450W Power Supply - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104954 - This will be overkill for onboard video, but it will allow him to add a PCI-E Video card up to an ATI X1950Pro/X1950XT without upgrading the PSU. $90 - Microsoft Windows XP Home Sp2b - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116169 $45 - Rosewill R6AR6-SL 0.8mm SECC 120mm Fan ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811147045 $10 - 2 Yate Loon 120mm Fan for front intake and rear exhaust - http://www.petrastechshop.com/12yalod1cafa.html - The case comes with a 120mm fan for exhaust already, but it would probably be good to replace it with a yate loon. That comes out to $740 before shipping. I would ask for more specifics on what games he plays/wants to play. You can put a nice video card in there for around $200 like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102070 . I wouldn't worry about OC'ing b/c it will void your warranty for a slight preformance increase. Hope that you and your friend enjoy the build!
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12-16-2006, 01:28 PM
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#9 |
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Wrench Bender
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Plymouth,MN
Posts: 5,961
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Your friend should check with the college and see what they recommend for an OS. Probably XP Pro. He probably can get an Academic version of XP Pro dirt cheap
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"When sliding down the banister of life; look out for splinters pointing up."
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12-16-2006, 02:17 PM
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#10 | ||
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Member (7 bit)
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 109
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The reason its a high-end gamer is because he has money. A lot of money. I know he wants to play Oblivion so onboard video and a 1gb of ram won't be enough, and I'm sure when some new game comes out next year thats going to need a strong graphics card he wants the computer to be ready.
He already has an OS disc. And he will probably be getting Vista as soon as its out. Anyone know how the noise is on the new 8800s? How about the Intel cpu's stock heatsink/fan? Quote:
Quote:
Don't you think the VS RAM and E6300 would be a bottleneck for the 8800? Anyobody have a link to any good articles addressing which RAM to go with which P965 board? I know a lot of people seem to be complaining about incompatible and DOA memory. Last edited by SuprchargdMazda; 12-16-2006 at 02:46 PM. |
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12-16-2006, 03:23 PM
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#11 |
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Wrench Bender
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Plymouth,MN
Posts: 5,961
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Andper suggested that combo based on "nothing too intensive".
Since the guy is a gamer, then go to your orginal plan. Since video games are video card intensive and not CPU/ram, the value ram and the E6300 would have little effect on the speed of a game. |
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12-16-2006, 03:45 PM
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#12 | |
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Member (9 bit)
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Indiana
Posts: 500
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Quote:
$129 - ASUS P5B Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - ASUS P5B Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - You can get one of the other versions versions of the P5B if you want built in wifi, or crossfire/sli compatibility. You could also get the P5W if you want the 975 chipset. $309 - Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M sharing L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115003 $430 - eVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130071 $263 - CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145590 $31 - Liteon CD & DVD Burner - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106013 $95 - Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148140 $115 - OCZ GameXStream OCZ600GXSSLI ATX12V 600W Power Supply - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817341001 $120 - ABS Stealth CS-05A2s Silver Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811215004 - Make sure that you consult with your friend and have him pick out a case that he likes. Thats $1492 before shipping, and whatever the OS from your friend's college costs. You could get an X1950XT or a lesser Nvidia if you need to save money. You could also downgrade the HD to 250GB, downgrade the PSU some. Just curious, what monitor does your friend have now? Enjoy the build! |
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12-16-2006, 05:30 PM
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#13 |
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V12
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Houston, T.E.X.A.S
Posts: 3,488
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This would be a good choice on powersupply. Can handle any single card on the market.
Corsair 520W HX
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“We must not let ourselves get driven off course, no matter what happens we must stick to our natural game” -Zenedine Zidane |
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12-16-2006, 06:36 PM
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#14 | |
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Member (7 bit)
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 109
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He just told me he's going to need a monitor too, but that doesn't factor into the 1500 budget. I thinks he's been running a CRT and he finally wants to get an LCD since college dorms aren't exactly spacious. And yes I'm looking forward to the build. Its always fun to benchmark something new and see how it compares to everything else.
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12-16-2006, 06:47 PM
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#15 |
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Not so new
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Maryland, United States
Posts: 2,576
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They are very reliable, Seasonic OEM'd units.
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“To me there are three things everyone should do every day. Number one is laugh. Number two is think -- spend some time in thought. Number three, you should have your emotions move you to tears. If you laugh, think and cry, that's a heck of a day.” - Jim Valvano |
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12-16-2006, 06:54 PM
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#16 |
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V12
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Houston, T.E.X.A.S
Posts: 3,488
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Its a very nice unit, puts out very clean rails, has a modular interface to boot. Corsair's pretty new in the game.
If your thinking of downgrading due to the monitor, I would think about putting in a X1950XT or X1950XTX. And use some Valueselect ram. |
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12-16-2006, 07:45 PM
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#17 | |
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Member (7 bit)
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 109
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Quote:
Is it just me or did RAM get more expensive?! |
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12-16-2006, 08:06 PM
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#18 |
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Moderator
Staff
Premium Member
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Richmond, VA
Posts: 7,835
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Memory prices, more than anything else, tends to fluctuate a lot largely due to the general supply and demand trends. There is no "MSRP" for memory.
kram
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"For today, goodbye. For tomorrow, good luck. And forever, Go Blue!"
University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman |
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12-16-2006, 08:49 PM
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#19 |
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Wx geek
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Indiana
Posts: 6,638
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When I built the system I'm on now over the summer (late July) 2 gigs of DDR2-800 cost $200...couple months later it was $300 and now it's $260. I think of memory like gas...
It's hard to say how the 8800 series handles DX10 since I don't think there are any DX10 games yet (are there?)...
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"It is the way of man to make monsters and it is the nature of monsters to destroy their makers." |
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12-16-2006, 08:51 PM
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#20 | |
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Moderator
Staff
Premium Member
Join Date: Aug 2003
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Quote:
kram |
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12-16-2006, 08:54 PM
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#21 | |
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Wx geek
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Indiana
Posts: 6,638
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Quote:
I haven't seen any performance reports on it on DX10 hardware (and software), but I haven't been looking for it either. I suspect we'll hear more once Vista is released. |
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12-16-2006, 08:57 PM
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#22 | |
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V12
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Houston, T.E.X.A.S
Posts: 3,488
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Quote:
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