A Challenge to the PC Mech Gurus!

[ChiPhiZD]

Ok, so I've been out of the game for a bit. About 2 years ago, I built a PC that was an AMD based rocket ship. Unfortunately, that machine was not for me, but a friend. Today my 8 year old Dell finally croaked and I have been thinking about two options....Build one for myself or buy another Dell. I can say that I am fairly happy with the life of the Dell, but now the 1.8ghz 512mb RAM is crying when I open Notepad, dont laugh too hard

So below is the Dell build for 1500 that I chose from the customization options, but really did not want to spend that much. My PC will be used for the typical photos, mp3s/music, slight gaming, so basically a multi-tasker with a little more punch, and with the ability to have minimal upgrades in the future. I am having a baby so I have a new HDD Camcorder and new digi camera and want to be able to utilize them to the most of their ability and also toss in a game like Half-Life 2 etc when I get bored. I know I can top this build for under 1.5k, just have no clue where to start....Have a 27" monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc, so basically need: Case, PSU, MB, CPU, RAM, Opticals, and anything else I forgot

Dell Build: $1494
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™2 Q6600 Quad-Core

OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium with Digital Cable Support
-Obviously would go XP Pro if built own
MEMORY 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 4 DIMMs

HARD DRIVE 500GB - 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache

OPTICAL DRIVE Dual Drives: 48x Combo + 16x DVD+/-RW w/ dbl layer write capable

VIDEO CARD 512MB Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT

SOUND CARD Integrated Sound Blaster®Audigy™ HD Software Edition

WI-FI AND MODEM Internal PCI 802.11g Wireless Network Card
-Want build to have internal wireless on MB


Thanks in advance for anyone who tosses a helping hand, you guys have always been great on these boards
- Chris

[Alaron]

That is a pretty good list. You can probably save a bit building it yourself. Here is a list to start:

Asus P5K Motherboard
Intel Q6600 CPU
2GB of Corsair DDR2-800 (4GB is overkill and requires a 64bit OS to use all of it)
LiteOn DVD Burner
eVGA Gefroce 8800GT
Seagate 7200.11 SATA 500GB Hard drive
Any case you like
Corsair 550w PSU

[hitchface]

Did you want to stick with Dell?

Either way, chop that video card down. You don't need an 8800GT to play Half-Life 2.

Quad core is overkill for your purposes. A higher end dual core CPU still rules.

The RAM capacity for a 32-bit OS is less than 4 gigs...2 is still plenty. Also, unless you plan on overclocking, you can drop the speed down to 667 mHz when paired with an Intel chip. The performance of the extra few mHz won't be noticeable.

That right there ought to give you a bit more green to play with.

[ChiPhiZD]

I really does not matter if I go w/ a Dell or a home built machine, just looking for the best bang for the buck.

Ok so below is my list of parts from newegg....What will happen when I have to add more RAM in a few years...should I just suck it up and go w/ Vista and spend the extra 50 bucks for 2 additional gigs of RAM, I added the 4GB just for price and to see if they would match with what I have

Motherboard ($209) - ASUS P5K DELUXE/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard

CPU ($280) - Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 Conroe 3.0GHz 4M shared L2 Cache

RAM ($46 each x2) - G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel

Video ($90) - EVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported

PSU ($100) - CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX ATX12V V2.2 550W Power Supply 90

HDD ($125) - Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s

Case ($120) - LIAN LI PC-65B Black Aluminum ATX Mid

Optical (Think I may be able to use the one that I have in my machine now) - NEC 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE/ATAPI Model ND-3550A - OEM

So that puts me at about 1100 without an OS and I believe a better system than the Dell build...could you guys take a peek at the list and see if it all makes sense and if I am going overboard with anything...Thanks again

- Chris

[shadowpr]

Look at this MB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131196 (Will save you a few bucks. Hopefully they will be restocked soon.)

Also, the video card that dell is offering is better then the one you picked out. Not sure if you care, but just pointing it out.

If you're going to get 4gb, I'd suggest getting a 2x2gb pack. And if doing that, I'd actually suggest vista 64.

[DSCHIEF]

Have to throw my .02 in ;
go with the Q6600, for the same price you get 2 more cores & twice the Cache!!

look at this case & save $70.00

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119106