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05-22-2007, 12:17 PM
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#1 |
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Member (3 bit)
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Katy, Texas
Posts: 7
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$4000 gaming build
Hi all, I'm going to be building a computer for primarily (make that exclusively) gaming. I don't want to canniballize anything from my current computer except for my mouse (logitech g5). My budget is a loose $4000 dollars (it can run a few hundred dollars more but I'd say my absolute maximum will be $4500). By the way, this is my first build, and I'm what most of you would consider a computer noob (I know my way around a computer but compared to the wealth of knowledge you all display on these forums, I don't know jack).
Case: Waiting to determine how much space i will need, as long as it weighs less than 150 lbs. when its all put together, it doesn't matter what size it is. A clear sided one would be nice to show off but not at all necessary. I favor air-cooled towers b/c if a liquid cooled system fails and ruins my $4000 investment, I will sink into a depression so deep I may never recover. PSU: Depends on how much power I will need Mobo: No idea CPU: I'm leaning towards intel, is the extreme core worth it? Could i OC a lesser (1/3 the price) cpu and get the same performance? Is Intel still better than AMD or have they caught up? Would it be smarter to save the money for an extra video card instead? HDD: I'm thinking about getting a smaller drive for my system software (~80gigs) so that i can reload that software if anything goes wrong without having to reinstall all my games and other software, assuming that's possible with a self-built pc. Aside from that I was thinking about a 500 gig drive. RAM: How much will i need? 2, 4, 8 gigs? money is not an object Pri Optical: DVD/R, I don't think I want to get a blu-ray yet b/c of the cost and how little I would use it to justify that cost (They aren't making blu-ray disc games yet are they?) Sec Optical: DVD/R Sound Card: Do I even need one? my build originally was going to be ~2500 dollars so i wasn't going to get speakers, but now I'm thinking about a 5.1 speaker system. Video Card: I'm leaning heavily towards the nvidia 8800 ultra (~$750), the early reviews say that ATI's new card (2900) still falls short of nvidia's best offering. Should I get two of them? or is that just a huge waste of money? FDD: mitsumi internal usb 2.0 digital card reader w/ floppy drive (anything wrong with that choice, it looks cool on newegg) Keyboard: Something with illuminated keys Modem: I will never again use dial-up Lan: I think I'm going to upgrade my home network to wireless-N if its worth it. Is it worth it? I'd also like this Tower to be connected without the 75 foot ethernet cable dragged across my house like it is now (read: wireless connection) Monitor: Doesnt need to be huge, my friend's 24" is almost too big for me to see everything on it, so anywhere between 19" and 24" is great. I want a flat screen LCD, preferably with 1080i capability, and I'd like it to be around $500 (I haven't looked into monitors too much for this build yet, don't know if these expectations are unnatainable). Speakers: A decent 5.1 system that is not terribly expensive, sound is the most minor consideration of mine for this build. OS: Vista (I know, I know, but i want to play dx10 games when they are available, plus I'm leaving my current computer intact so I can play any incompatible games on it) I'm not sure what version of the OS to get (i.e why would i get ultimate over home-basic version) Extras: Did I miss anything? |
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05-22-2007, 12:59 PM
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#2 |
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9mm wins.
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Behind my Glock 34.
Posts: 4,544
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Just to get you started...
**MOTHERBOARD ASUS P5B LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131030 **PROCESSOR Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115003 **MEMORY CORSAIR ValueSelect 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Desktop Memory - Retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145098 **VIDEO CARD EVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130072 **POWER SUPPLY 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 **PRIMARY HARD DRIVE Western Digital Raptor WD740ADFD 74GB 10,000 RPM 16MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136033 **SECONDARY HARD DRIVE 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 **OPTICAL DRIVE LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X 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 with LightScribe - Retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106072 **CASE Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129021 **MONITOR SAMSUNG 226BW Black 22" 2 ms (GTG) DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 1000:1(DC 3000:1) - Retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824001096 Last edited by minsonngo; 05-22-2007 at 01:04 PM. |
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05-22-2007, 01:06 PM
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#3 |
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Member (11 bit)
Premium Member
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Boston, MA
Posts: 1,616
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Welcome to PCMech heavyd,
I think you're going to find that 4k is serious overkill around here. The catch phrase at PCMech is Price vs. Power. With your price range your looking at Core 2 quad core processors. Other forums would tell you to just blow the cash on the $900 chip since you can, but the speed difference between that and the $500 quad core is minimal. And actually most around here will probably suggest a standard Core 2 Duo 6700 max since most games wouldn't know the difference. So I'd expect your final list to be well under 4k most likely.
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Laptop HP DM4t / i5-560M / 14.1 WXGA Widescreen / 1GB Radeon Mobility 6370 / 4GB RAM / 320 GB 7200rpm HD / DVD-RW / 802.11n & BT wireless First Build Abit IC7-G Max II Motherboard / 2.8C 800mhz P4 / 1024 DDR 3200 (2x 512 in Duel Channel) / Saphire Radeon 9800 Pro 128 / Samsung 120 GB SATA HD / Lite-On 16x DVD-ROM / NEC DVD-RW Last edited by Staren; 05-22-2007 at 01:10 PM. |
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05-22-2007, 03:25 PM
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#4 |
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Member (9 bit)
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Indiana
Posts: 500
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$4000 is a lot of money to spend for a gaming PC. I would agree with you on the air cooling. Here is my suggested list:
$329.99 - ASUS Striker Extreme LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX The Ultimate Gaming Motherboard - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131074 - You would be fine with an Asus P5B, but you have money to spend, and the motherboard is the base of the system, so I figure that you might as well get the best. Plus it says that it will support the future Intel 1333Mhz FSB CPU's when they come out. $225.90 - Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115003 - You could also get the Core 2 Quad, but I doubt you would notice the difference and I personally would be afraid that the quad core would have problems with games. $214.00 - CORSAIR Dominator 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145043 - You would be fine getting some Cas 4 DDR2 800 as well, but I think that you can run your Ram and CPU in a 1:1 ratio with the DDR2 1066, and I think that is a good thing. You could also get 2 kits of this for 4GB of ram but then you need a 64bit OS to utilize all of it and then you have driver problems with 64 bit. $199.99 - PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad (Black) EPS12V 750W Continuous @ 40°C (825W Peak) Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, ULC, CE, CB, RoHS - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817703009 - This PSU will power another 8800GTX for 2 in SLI if you decide to get one in the future (or now). $599.99 - EVGA 768-P2-N835-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SUPERCLOCKED HDCP Video Card - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130079 - You might as well get the superclocked version since you have money to spend. I don't know if that PSU will be able to handle 2 8800GTX Superclocked versions in SLI, that is something that you might want to call and ask about. $169.99 - Thermaltake Armor Series VA8003BWS Black Full Tower Case w/ 25CM Fan - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811133021 - The case is a very personal thing. I have seen the Armour and the Antec 900 in person and both are awesome. There are plenty of other good cases too. $44.99 - LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X 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 with LightScribe - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106072 - The lightscribe isn't necessary, but you have money to spare, so you might as well spend the extra $5 for it. $17.99 - LITE-ON Black 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model SHD-16S1S-05 - OEM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106039 - This will let you burn disks immediately without waiting for it to transfer the data to the hard drive. You will also probably want to pick up some extra SATA 3.0 (aka SATA II) cables since you will probably have 4 SATA devices in your system. $43.99 - Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST380815AS 80GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148231 - You could also get a 10k Rpm Raptor drive for you OS(es), but they are suppossed to be loud and I wouldn't bother. $129.99 - Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) ST3500630AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148136 - You could get another one of these if you have a ton of data that you will be storing, but I think this should be plenty of room. $189.99 - Microsoft Windows Vista 32-Bit Ultimate for System Builders Single Pack DVD - OEM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116213 - Last time I heard, 64 bit drivers were still having lots of problems. The 64 bit version is here if you must have it: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116215 $89.99 - Microsoft Windows XP Home With SP2B 1 Pack - OEM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116056 - I would grab a copy of XP in case some games still don't work in Vista well. But it is not needed since you said you will have another XP machine available if incompatibility arises. $139.99 - Creative 70SB046A00000 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Professional Series - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829102005 - If you aren't picky about sound, integrated should do just fine. $54.99 - Logitech X-530 70 watts RMS 5.1 Black Speaker System - OEM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16836121126 - Personally I think that these would be fine, but if you are really into audio you can spend $300 on a really nice pair of wireless 5.1 speakers, so that's your call $269.99 - Hanns·G HW-223DPB Black 22" 5ms HD 1080P supported DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 1000:1 Built in Speakers - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824254020 - This one says it supports 1080P. Not really sure exactly what that entails. This one also supports 1080P: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824112009 . I don't know which one is better. Hopefully someone else around here can help you out with the monitor choice. $64.99 - Tuniq Tower 120 P4 & K8 CPU Cooler - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835154001 - This is suppossed to be one of the best CPU air coolers. You might be able to find it a few bucks cheaper elsewhere if you want to look. $19.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835704001 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835704001 - These fans are designed for the type of ram that I recommended. They will help keep the ram cool. I would say that they aren't really needed though. That totals $2806.75 without shipping and without Mail in Rebates. That doesn't include your floppy drive/card reader combo or your modem or your extra SATA 3.0 / SATA II cables or your illuminated keyboard. When you sign up for high speed internet they will probably give you a high speed modem though. You might also want to select your monitor in person at a brick and mortar store. That would be an absolutely amazing PC! Beware of the mail-in rebates because they void your warranty for that part. I wouldn't recommend sending them in, especially since most of your parts are very expensive and if one breaks, you want to have a warranty. Enjoy your dream machine!
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| i7 950 @ 4.0 Ghz | Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme | 4870 1GB | 6GB DDR3 1600 Kingston | Gigabyte X58A-UD3R | 1TB, 500GB, 320GB, & 160GB Seagates | Corsair 520W | HDTV Tuner | Logsis Green Transparent Case | Windows 7 Home Premium | 25" Hanspree 1080p LCD | Cyber Acoustics 5.1 Surround Sound | Chaintech AV710 w/ Via Envy 24 | 17,478 3DMark06 (Old CPU) | Last edited by andper10; 05-22-2007 at 03:34 PM. |
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05-22-2007, 08:09 PM
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#5 |
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Member (11 bit)
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: tfp
Posts: 1,923
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Some one correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that SLI is overkill in this situation. One 8800GTX Superclocked will be able to handle absolutely anything for a while.....to see the difference with 2 of them you'd need an enormous monitor. That's assuming the rest of your system doesn't bottleneck that pair of cards.
I realize you've got a lot of money to throw at this now, but you might consider putting ~500 away to upgrade to the latest and greatest video card in six months.....you'll be able to keep your system current AND top of the line that way. (If you agree with this reasoning, you'll be able to switch the motherboard for something a little cheaper/stabler....also, it gets around the issue of whether your PSU will handle 2 superclocked cards)
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System: ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe AMD Opteron Denmark 165 Sapphire Radeon 4850x2 2X1GB G.Skill DDR400 Ram Corsair 850W PSU Thermaltake Soprano case Seagate 7200.10 320GB |
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05-22-2007, 08:48 PM
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#6 | |
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V12
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Houston, T.E.X.A.S
Posts: 3,488
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Quote:
No way you could effecitively use 4k without going totally obnoxious on the choice of components. I would however invest in a nice monitor. $400-1k.
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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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05-23-2007, 06:38 PM
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#7 |
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Member (3 bit)
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Katy, Texas
Posts: 7
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Thanks for the advice thus far guys. I will be building the computer in June, so if anyone else has some recommendations, please suggest them. I will post another reply with my final build list in about a week so you all can make sure that what parts I intend to use will be compatible with each other. Thanks again. You guys rock.
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05-24-2007, 04:19 PM
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#8 |
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Member (10 bit)
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Posts: 536
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hmm 4K? Thats a little tight there :-0
Well for the motherboard, I think you should stick with the P5B line because of it's stability, but considering you have 4K, I don't think you need to stick to the basic. I'm not saying spend your money just cause you have it but the P5B Deluxe has some nice features and still has the stability. ASUS P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard= $192.99 3 Business Day Shipping $6.94 (Not available in HI, AK and PR) For the power supply, you defiantly need quality for a gaming rig and you want to be able to upgrade the video card without worrying about the power supply. Stick to the blue ones in this list. http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=131195 I would hold off on quad core, there arn't any games that utilize it yet except supreme commander. Go with a E6600 or E6700 linked in the other posts The 8800 Ultra is overpriced. Go with a Evga 8800GTX. It will eat anything right now. EVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card = $559.99 ($529.99 after $30.00 Mail-In Rebate) 3 Business Day Shipping $6.13 (Not available in HI, AK and PR) You don't need blu ray for games anytime in the near future. PC games are still moving to DVDs. When blu ray is needed and price is better then buy it (few years). Stick with lite-ons in other posts. Id stick with XP with a upgrade coupon for now. Games are preforming worse on Vista then XP. For the case its really a person thing but check out the Antec P182 Put the money into a nice moniter. Like a 22-27". Samsungs are great. Last edited by jer888; 05-24-2007 at 04:22 PM. |
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05-28-2007, 09:18 AM
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#9 |
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Member (3 bit)
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Katy, Texas
Posts: 7
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Alright, the time draws near for this build to begin. Here is my list, please let me know if there are any glaring incompatibilities, or if any of these parts are problematic. Thanks again.
Case: SILVERSTONE TJ09-BW Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16811163073 PSU: PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad (Black) EPS12V 750W Continuous @ 40°C (825 W Peak) Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, ULC, CE, CB, RoHS http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16817703009 Mobo: ASUS P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131028 CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 Conroe 2.66GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6700 http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16819115002 HDD: Western Digital Raptor WD740ADFD 74GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16822136033 Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3500630AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16822148136 RAM: CORSAIR Dominator 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-8500C5D http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16820145043 Pri Optical: LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model LH-20A1L-06 http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16827106072 Sec Optical: LITE-ON Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model SHD-16S1S-05 http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16827106039 Sound Card: Creative 70SB046A00000 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Professional Series http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16829102005 Video Card: EVGA 768-P2-N835-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SUPERCLOCKED HDCP Video Card http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16814130079 FDD: MITSUMI Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal USB 2.0 digital card reader with Floppy Drive http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16821104104 Keyboard: Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16823126179 Mouse: N/A Modem: N/A Lan: Linksys wireless-N setup Monitor: NEC Display Solutions LCD2470WNX-BK Black 24" 6ms(GTG) DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor with HDCP & USB ports http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16824002334 Speakers: Logitech Z-5500 505 Watts 5.1 Speaker http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16836121120 OS: Microsoft Windows Vista 32-Bit Ultimate for System Builders Single Pack DVD http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16832116213 Extras: Tuniq Tower 120 P4 & K8 CPU Cooler http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16835154001 CORSAIR CMXAF1 Fans http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16835704001 Total: $3,717.85 w/o shipping |
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05-28-2007, 09:22 AM
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#10 |
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Kickin' it
Staff
Premium Member
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: USA
Posts: 7,723
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If you don't plan on overclocking, the Dominator ram is overkill. DDR2-667 is all you really need, and DDR2-800 will still give you some headroom if you do want that option.
Otherwise, your list is solid.
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Fold for PCMech: Team 13761 |
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05-28-2007, 11:06 AM
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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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I would hold off on the 811 N. The N specs haven't been finalized yet, would stick with the G standard for now.
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"When sliding down the banister of life; look out for splinters pointing up."
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05-28-2007, 11:08 AM
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#12 |
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V12
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Houston, T.E.X.A.S
Posts: 3,488
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^^^To expand on Alaron's suggestion..
We also can't guarantee that the ram will boot on first attempt due to the high voltage. |
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05-28-2007, 03:20 PM
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#13 |
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Member (3 bit)
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Katy, Texas
Posts: 7
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Ok, the dominator is overkill, how about either of these:
1.)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...82E16820145589 2.)CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400C4 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145034 |
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05-28-2007, 03:24 PM
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#14 |
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V12
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Houston, T.E.X.A.S
Posts: 3,488
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