$1,600 - $2,000... what can i get?

[yellowsnow]

$1,600 - $2,000 is my price range for just a computer tower desktop. I have a nice monitor and a projector as well as a set of surround sound speakers.. so I have all neccissary accessories ...I also have a 200GB hard drive from my old computer that just broke. I want to spend my money on something that will last me a while, that is VERY fast, and great graphics (dual screen capabilities for the monitor and projector). I don't really know what's out there, so any help would be great to get me started. Thanks

[Mr.Ferrari]

Load up a Core 2 Duo setup with 2Gigs of ram and a top of the line videocard of your choice. Look at Seagate 7200.10s for hard drive. And a P5B Deluxe for motherboard.

[newbuilder14]

Firstly, are those speakers capable of being hooked up to a computer or would you need a special adapter for them?

Right now, I'd recommend doing a setup using an E6600 Intel Core 2 Duo processor. They are very good for the money (which you seem to have right now, that budget is plenty for a nice setup). You might then consider using an Asus P5B series motherboard, a Seagate 7200.10 hard drive, 2GB of Corsair memory (at least DDR2-667 with CAS5 latency timings), an EVGA 8800GTS video card, a Corsair HX520 power supply, a Lite-On retail DVD burner, etc.

[donsor]

For that amount of funds you can get yourself a real nice rig, not necessarily the top of the lline but it will exceed your needs. While doing my new rig I compiled all the data and information I solicited from various forum groups but in the end I had to do my own research to get the best for my money. One thing I found out, that Ford owners tend to buy another Ford, while Chevy, Nissan, Volvo owners more than likely will opt for the same manufacturer - if you knwo what I mean. First question for you could be Intel or AMD. Good luck.

[yellowsnow]

So this is what I have so far... I don't know if they all work together nicely, but and improvments or suggestions on my list would be greatly appreciated.... thanks a lot


LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black SATA Model LH-20A1S - Retail
$46.99

Thermaltake Armor Extreme Edition VA8004BWS Black 1.0mm SECC Chassis/ Aluminum Front Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
$164.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3400620AS 400GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
$119.99

EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail


TOTAL: $1,503.94 (without Tax or shipping)
$389.99

Antec SmartPower 2.0 SP-500 ATX12V 500W Power Supply - Retail
$69.99

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400 - Retail
$219.00

ASUS P5B Deluxe LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$178.99

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 - Retail
$314.00

[Alaron]

Looks good except for the PSU. The SmartPowers are nice units but that 8800 will really tax it. Bump up to the Corsair 520 that NB recommended. They are excellent for systems with the 8800s.

Also, no need for DDR2-800 unless you're overclocking. If not, go with DDR2-667.

[andper10]

Intel Core 2 Duo's are smoking what AMD has in similar price ranges right now, so I would definitely go with an E6600. When you say dual monitor, do you mean 2 showing the same thing, or like two halves each with part of the desktop? Just about all video cards these days should support either or those, but I guess I am just curious. Here is my recommended parts list:

$314.00 - Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115003

$129.99 - CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 520W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, CE, CB, FCC Class B, TUV, CCC, C-tick - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139001 - I also like the features of the Xclio Greatpower 600 Watt: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817189007

$124.99 - ASUS P5B LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131030 - You could go the 680i and SLI route, but that would make it cost a lot more.

$94.99 - Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148140 - Any of these would be great, just pick one that meets your storage needs: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...NE&N=0&Ntk=all .

$219.00 - CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145590

$32.99 - LITE-ON Black 18X DVD Burner - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106043

$23.99 - LITE-ON Black 16X DVD-ROM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106058 - You might as well get this so that you can burn a DVD or CD without having to wait for it to copy to the Hard Drive first.

$549.99 - PNY VCG8800XXPB GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814133187 - Depending on what games you want to play and what resolutions you plan to play at, this might be overkill. It is the best Video Card on the market right now! If you want to, it's slightly slower yet still very good "little brother" is the 8800GTS (get the 640MB model if you get it).

$89.99 - Microsoft Windows XP Home Sp2b 1pk w/Upgrade Coupon for Vista - OEM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116169 - I would stick with this and upgrade to Vista in a year or so after they release a service pack or two.

It is totally up to you what case you choose. A few nice higer priced ones are:
$174.99 - Thermaltake Armor Series VA8003BWS Black Full Tower Case w/ 25CM Fan - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811133021
$149.99 - Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129021 - That price looks a little high. If you get it, check around and see if other places have it cheaper.

But then again, there are some nice cheaper ones too. However, be sure to check the measurments and/or see if anyone who reviewed it has tried fitting an 8800GTX in it, because they are very big.
$49.99 - COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-WW Black/Silver Aluminum Bezel, SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119077
$34.99 - XCLIO 3060BK Black/Silver 0.6 mm SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811103003 - This (and the two expensive ones) have very large fans that will help alot with cooling your nice parts.
$54.99 - LOGISYS Computer XBlade CS859SL Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450W Power Supply - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...NE&N=0&Ntk=all

That all comes out to $1579.93 before a case and before shipping. Enjoy your new build!

[chuck4456]

Go ahead and have some real fun, and build this:
INTEL C2D E6600.........................................................315.
ABIT IN9 32X MAX .......................................................350.
CORSAIR NAUTILUS 500 CPU COOLER..............................150.
2GB CORSAIR DOMINATOR PC2 8500...............................370. (add 20. for fans)
EVGA 8800 GTX VID CARD ............................................589.
SEAGATE 250GB PRT 16mb Hard Drive............................ 80.
PC POWER & COOLING SILENCER 750 QUAD ...................220.
Cases and peripherals are subjective. Just make sure it's a well ventilated case. The 750 QUAD will have enough to back up an additional vid card, when you get ready to do that.

[Khalil]

Check out my rig in my sig. You can do something like this and have some serious fun. I play EQ2 BF2 D&D SWG in full mode without any drop in performance.
I just started playing Lord of the Rings online Beta and everyone I know is complaining about video lag in the game. I am not, many of those who are complaining are using C2D processors and SLI.

Opterons are server processors that AMD is selling for prices comparable to consumer processors.
Either way, regardless which processor you go with, make sure and get an Asus motherboard. They are hands down the best.

[chuck4456]

ASUS or ABIT. It's like Ford or Chevrolet, BMW or Mercedes, SAAB or Volvo.

[yellowsnow]

Ok, so taking your suggestions into consideration, this is what I've come up with. The only thing I'm worried about is the mobo says under specs on newegg that only a certain type of ddr 800 ram works with it...are these compatible? Also, this case appears to have clearance issues with the first PCI slot. Does anyone know if it's ok to put the video card in one of the other slots with the ASUS board? Oh, last thing...will it be ok cooling wise, without the addition of more fans? Thanks.


LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with 12X DVD-RAM write and LightScribe Technology Black E-IDE/ATAPI Model LH-20A1H-185 - OEM
Item #: N82E16827106055
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

$35.99
1

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Item #: N82E16811129021
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129021

$149.99
1

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3400620AS 400GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Item #: N82E16822148138
Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy


$119.99
1

EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16814130071
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

$30.00 Mail-in Rebate

$389.99
1

CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 520W Power Supply - Retail
Item #: N82E16817139001
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

-$10.00 Instant

$139.99
$129.99
1

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400 - Retail
Item #: N82E16820145590
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

$40.00 Mail-in Rebate

$204.00
1

ASUS P5B Deluxe LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813131045
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131045

$178.99
1

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 - Retail
Item #: N82E16819115003
Return Policy: Processors (CPUs) Return Policy


$314.00

Total - 1,522.94

[aresprophet]

I spent about $1700 on my rig, everything in my sig on an eVGA nf680i mobo. Leaves the SLI option for the future and so far, so good on the 680i. I have my E6600 overclocked to 3.36 (and climbing) on stock cooling (37 idle/46 load) which I attribute to the airflow of this case. I'm aiming for 3.6 on a stock HSF, which is risky but would be awesome. A simple Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 or even a Zalman would make 4GHz a cinch.

Every game I've thrown at this so far is CPU limited, the eVGA 640MB 8800GTS can handle everything at 1280x1024 res just fine without even getting over 72C. I'd only consider a GTX if you play at 1600x1200 or better, and even then only if you're going to massively overclock the E6600. The GTX really only goes well with an X6800, otherwise your CPU will slow you down long before your GPU gets strained.

So all this:

E6600
nForce 680i mobo (or an Intel chipset, your pick)
2GB DDR2 800
2x 320GB Seagate SATAs
8800GTS

...plus a case with good airflow (P180, Nine Hundred, a380, Stacker) and a 600+W PSU should be within your price range, $1700 or $1800. You're future-proof with SLI as an option and can stick in another 2GB of memory if you simply must. You'll have plenty of room to overclock (can even get the GTS up to 650MHz core and almost 1GHz memory clocks) too. There's nothing like getting the same performance as a $3000 rig, for well over a thousand bucks less.

[glc]

The CAS 5 version of the Corsair XMS is proven to work well with the P5B, even though it's not on the official Asus QVL.

[yellowsnow]

What I have is 4...so it won't work or...?

[Disgrace]

Originally Posted by yellowsnow What I have is 4...so it won't work or...?

No, it should work easily. I have 2 sticks of 1GB Corsair CAS 4 RAM... they worked fine alongside 2 sticks of 1GB Corsair CAS 5 RAM so it should be all good.

[glc]

Don't try to run it at CAS 4 though - set it to 5-5-5-15.

[yellowsnow]

Is that just a BIOS setting?

[Mr.Ferrari]

Yes, but it should already be on auto-detect. The motherboard handles it.

[yellowsnow]

Ok, thanks a lot all! Shouldn't be any more ?'s till I'm setting it up.

[yellowsnow]

Ok, so build went great, Windows up and running, and then I installed my keyboard and mouse, reboot, and it gets to the desktop and reboots by itself. It hangs on the XP load screen, then goes straight to the desktop where it looks like all the programs have loaded extremely quick, then goes black and starts over.

It does boot to safe mode, and I tried a repair install, which does fix the first problem, but now, shortly after it reaches the desktop I will get a blue screen saying something to the effect of "Windows will shut down so as not to hurt anything." This was preceded by a "serious error" message that said something with the video card/graphics was off (video error I think?) It mentions a stop error and the file adidts.sys as the culprit. I'm ready to do a fresh install after reformatting, but I was wondering if anyone knew anything or had any ideas.

Ugh...haha

[moodyblues100]

Make sure you have the latest video card drivers and see if there is a firmware update for it also. If the machine boots in safe mode than I would say definately a driver issue.

[Mr.Ferrari]

Do you see any kind of error code while in the blue screen or is it just adidt.sys?

I would try an out of the case build with minimum parts if you haven't already.

[glc]

In safe mode, turn off restart on error and next time it bombs, read the bluescreen carefully.

Control panel, system, advanced, startup and recovery, restart on error - UNcheck.

[yellowsnow]

Stop: 0 x 0000008E

Adidts.sys

There's more numbers too...we'll do it again and get everything.

[DarkPacMan77]

I'd save money on a graphics card and get a quad core (in April when prices drop)

[Mr.Ferrari]

Read through the whole thread. He already built his machine.

[DarkPacMan77]

well it's still what I'd do lol

like the pacman avatar btw Ferrari

*edit* I feel that I should apologize. I am young/ naive and haven't slept for nearly 42 hours so reading/ comprehending really isn't my strong suit right now. I will get off pcmech to prevent more posts like this lol.

[yellowsnow]

It's ok. It's the thought that counts.

[glc]

Your sound driver on the CD is bad. After reformatting, install all the latest drivers from the Asus site, not the ones on the CD.

[yellowsnow]

Should I first just try to boot in safe-mode and update all the drivers? Before attempting to reformat I mean?