places to buy parts + new build

[Triangle Man]

so i've decided to build my own PC, and i've been doing some research (a lot of it on these forums. and luckily i have a buddy who's built his own comp before to help me assembly/choose parts). I've picked out my parts already, and the price comes out to somewhere around $1300 on newegg.

I was wondering if you guys knew of any places to get the same parts for a little cheaper. newegg is great for many reasons, but i wanna try and bump the price down as much as i can while still having a computer good enough to run Crysis. The main reason is, besides for the sake of saving money, that my parents are helping me pay for most of it (hopefully), and the lower the price, the higher the chance of them agreeing.

Here are the parts i've chosen. If there are any shortcuts i can take in terms of part selection (hopefully without compromising the performance too much), i would love it if you shared. As you can tell, i want it for gaming and, uh. writing essays. although i will, actually, be using it for video editing and animation, too.

and, of course, if you have any advice on the build, price aside, do share.

processor - Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail $222.90

motherboard - ASUS P5K DELUXE/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $219.99

RAM - CORSAIR ValueSelect 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Desktop Memory - Retail $75.99

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 $124.99

hard drive - Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $79.99

DVD - LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black SATA Model LH-20A1S - Retail $37.99 (actually, this is different from the one in the link. i don't know which one to choose, although i think the other one's better and cheaper)

video card - EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail $369.99

OS - Microsoft Windows Vista 32-Bit Ultimate for System Builders Single Pack DVD - OEM $189.99 (i was told i should change this to 64-bit)

case - COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail $49.99

THE LINKS-----------------------------------

processor - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...%2bshared%2bL2
motherboard - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131182
RAM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145098
power supply - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...52c%2bCUL%252c
hard drive - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2b(Perpendicul
DVD - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827136118
video card - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...40MB%2b320-bit
OS (soon to be 64 bit instead of 32) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116213
case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...lack%2bAluminu

[xraycatj]

the E6750 is cheaper and runs at 2660 Mhz stock - it'll also work well with the P5K series. Speaking of the P5K, If you don't need the WiFi the regular P5K will do just fine.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...5029&Tpk=E6750
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131180

that oughta save you around $100 without compromising performance.

[Triangle Man]

oooh, 100 bucks is good, indeed. even better, since my brother's laptop recently cost about 1200 (with a student discount), so i can compare it and my to-be computer, so my wonderful parents can see how great of a deal it is.

and thanks for responding so fast, too.

[xraycatj]

Hold off until a senior member checks the rest of your list though. I'm not sure about the Vista 32bit/64bit and the memory requirements of each.

edit: you could save another hundred by getting the 320MB 8800GTS if you don't plan on gaming at higher resolutions/screen sizes. check the VGA charts: the 320MB version doesn't do too bad at 1024x768
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130082

[Alaron]

Weelcome to PCMech.

Your list is very solid.

You only need Vista 64bit if you were using 4GB of RAM. So the choice you have is fine.

This is the dvd burner you want: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106072 It comes with burning software.

[thaigecko]

I recently ordered a build almost identical to yours (except I ordered E6750 and regular P5K, for the same reasons posted above). The only part I didn't order from newegg was the PSU. I got that from www.zipzoomfly.com for about $20 cheaper than newegg, based on recommendations from others on this forum. www.buy.com listed even cheaper last I checked, but has been discouraged because of poor customer service.

Check out http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=174704. You can save money getting a different version of Vista which still meets your needs. XP is still currently an option, although perhaps not a money saver in the long run if you know you're going to upgrade to Vista in the near future.

Thai

[Triangle Man]

thanks for the help, guys.

i think ill stick with the 320 unless the powers that be decide it's still too expensive. It's the most expensive thing on the list, tho, so i'm sure they'll zoom in on it.

but ill definitely be switching the processor and motherboard to what you suggested, plus getting a cheaper version of vista, although there are lots of things i don't understand on the guide you gave me (i have no idea what they do, but that probably means i don't need them. although i can figure most out just by the name). and ill be sticking w/ 32 bit, since i doubt i'll go above 4GB unless i wanna play Stranglehold. which i don't.

EDIT - I have some questions about the OS/vista.

what does it mean when something is for System builders, when it says OEM, and when it's a 1 or 3 dvd pack (i know 3 is way more expensive, tho. and OEM/system builders usually means it's cheaper). Will i have to work some crazy voodoo on my machine to get it work if it's one of these things? I really want the discount, so im willing to learn extra, but i just wanna know so i can find out before everything comes.

i came across one that's about $90 ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116195 ) but i feel like there must be some horrible catch.

[bd1886]

The larger "packs" have multiple OS's for more than one build. OEM versions have restrictions on upgrading components, using the OS again on a new build, and there is no service on questions you could have concerning the OS.

MS is trying to stop people from using the original OS through multiple builds and upgrading (that for all intents and purposes) creates a vastly improved (ie.. new build) machine.

Not servicing inquiries is no deal, as help is everywhere, Trying to reuse the OS is not that big of savings (
as a new OEM version is so affordable),and people are being allowed to do switch outs of opticals, video cards etc... without to much of a fuss as long as it's due to component failure.

Others may have had different experiences with that last point, but as time goes on, they're seeming to relax a bit on those types of upgrades/repair reinstalls of those components. A good motherboard is a must as the OS is irrefutabley "married" to it.

My advise is go with OEM.

That link is to Vista Basic (No aero interface so it has minimal eye candy) Heck...that's to nice a thing to give up.

[Triangle Man]

So here's my final list. probably with -$20 on that power supply thanks to thaigecko.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PROCESSOR - Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail $211.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...5029&Tpk=E6750

MOTHERBOARD - ASUS P5K LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $136.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131180

RAM - CORSAIR ValueSelect 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Desktop Memory - Retail $75.99

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 $124.99

HARD DRIVE - Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $79.99

DVD - 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 $37.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106072

VIDEO CARD - EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail $369.99

OS - Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Home Basic for System Builders Single Pack DVD - OEM $89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116200
(64 is the same price as 32, so why not?)

CASE - COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer case - Retail $49.99

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The total comes out to $1177.91, down from about $1371. you guys saved me $200! woot! thankyou! at this price, i hopefully won't need to change the video card.

EDIT - I have a friend with an extra psu that wasn't compatible w/ his system. once i get all the info on it i'll post it. while $125 off is great, i don't wanna be stuck with a crappy psu and have to buy a new one, neways. i know it's 500w, though.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817148001
it's apevia, which is on the bad list, but its free. and it's free, too.

[flanzig1]

Wouldn't use that Apevia in that build of yours. 1: Apevia's are fairly low on the quailty list 2: it doesn't have PCI-E power connectors 3: Low efficiency 4: Not Sli supported.

[Katreat]

The last review I saw on a apevia PSU it melted during the testing. Now, the problem is that a melting PSU might just destroy itself, but it might also fry your MB, CPU, and RAM while it melts. I know money is tight, but do you really feel like risking $1000 of quality components on a crappy PSU? You might ask your friend why he chose not to use it on his build?

Kat

[Triangle Man]

alright, thanks guys. free stuff is so tempted, yet so dangerous. i'll just stick with the corsair.