yeah another build thread

[Radioreid]

Just found this site couple hours ago, wealth of info here. Have been gaming on my Dell inspiron 9300 laptop last couple years and it is having hard time keeping up with the new games. I am looking at a $1500.00 budget. Have keyboard,mouse,speakers,monitor,OS.

So far this is what I have in mind:

Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811112132

Mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131196

CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115029

RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820211188

PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817163112

Video
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130312

HD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148288

Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827135148

So this comes out to $1,178.00 with shipping. I have about $300 more I can spend, suggestions on upgrading or changing anything.

Will the case hold everything ok.

I have a copy of XP i can use. Or should I just make the plunge for Vista.

thanks in advance

sorry forgot to mention this is a gaming machine

[doubledragon5]

Looks good only things I would change is the burner to lite-on retail it has nero burning rom software.. Swich the ram to corsair XMS seires everything else looks good.. Is the XP copy the one that came with the Dell? If so you need to buy a retail or oem version as the Dells copy won't run on the the machine.. It is tied into the bios...

[Radioreid]

OK made a couple of updates on burner and the ram.

DVDburner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106073

RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145034
Not sure on this as there is ram anywhere for $70 to $300

OK so i have $300 more I can spend. Where would you put it.

Also copy of XP is from my desktop.

[shadowpr]

I would look at the retail dvd burner so you get the software with it for like $2.

And look at changing the ram to a cas 5 instead of 4. It's been said that cas 4 might give problems with initial post.

[moxing2]

Just to make sure you know ( you probably do ), your mobo has got wifi built in, which obviously costs a little extra, and i am not sure how well it works, but just making sure you know its there, downgrading to regular will save some money.

Put ALL YOUR MONEY INTO GRAPHICS CARD. Are you playing Crysis? Call of Duty 4? Step up to an overclocked GTX or even an Ultra.

Find a single stick of ram of the same brand and speed to bump up to 3 gigs. To maybe bullet proof the future of your pc, go for the quad core q6600 cpu. It wont necessarily help to much with gaming, since games dont quite utalize it YET, but it will help with running multiple applications and for just about the same price.

Also, if you want to overclock your graphics card, maybe consider staying with xp as there are no compatible overclocking utilities that work with vista, unless you manually do it. But vista has DX10 which is somewhat a slightly better improvement if your picky with graphics. ( dust and water etc. are more realistic) Although if you go with 8800 Ultra you will probably handle anything out there today.

[Alaron]

Moxing, the new 8800GTS cards with 512MB are very poweful for the buck. Check out some benchmarks, it is right there with the GTX models: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...8800_gts_512/6 It is the card to go with right now.

[Radioreid]

Ok it looks like I am down to this:

Case:
LIAN LI PC-A16B Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811112132

Mobo:
ASUS P5K-E/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131196

CPU:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115017

RAM:
CORSAIR 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-6400C5 G - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145184

HD:
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148288

DVD:
LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model LH-20A1L-06 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106072

PSU:
SILVERSTONE SST-ST56F ATX 12V 2.01 & EPS 12V 560W Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817163112

Ok so as said before I have OS (which is XP) and everything else needed.

I decided to go ahead and get the quad core, for down the road I think it will be better.
For my budget I have about $500 more I can spend. Guess the last thing I am still debating on is the graphics card. There are so many to choose from, that look the same but are made by different companies. Any thoughts on this?

[Radioreid]

Alright did some more research and it looks like this is the card (Thanks Alaron for the tip on this)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130312

Gonna order up tommorow it looks like if everything is looking ok. Thanks for the help.

[Alaron]

That list looks good. I'm sure you meant the motherboard to be the P5K-E from the first post.

Keep in mind that a 32bit version of XP will only recognize about 3.2GB of RAM. You can still install all 4 no problem. Only 64bit versions of XP and Vista can see all 4GB. Just wanted to point that out.

[piasabird]

I think that case is overpriced. There is a Lian Li Case on sale that is really nice looking for a lot less. I have one of those XION Cases and I like it also. My son bought the XION and it looks a lot nicer than the pictures give credit to the case. Being able to see inside the case can be nice. That is one humongous 140mm fan on the side that runs really quiet. Both of these cases come with at least 2 120mm fans.

This is kind of subjective I guess.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811112099

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811208021



Have not seen that many people using that brand of RAM. Is it any good?

Might find a power supply that has better wrapping on the wiring.
Example:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817153028

I used a Core 2 Quad Q6600 processor and that can make all the difference in the world. It really opens up large photoshop files fast with just 2 gigs of RAM. I am talking about a 300 Meg Photoshop Project file. I think this adds some cost but it would be worth it.

[Alaron]

Piasabird, we recommend Corsair often. It is top class RAM.

Radioreid, I'd suggest sticking with the Silverstone power supply. The beefier 12V rails outweigh any wiring looks in my book.

[Katreat]

There is a nice new review on video cards at tomshardware if you want to read up on it, but as Alaron said, bang for the buck, the new 8800 GTS (512) is probably the best thing going.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/01/...ics/index.html

Kat

[Radioreid]

Thanks for the responses. I couldnt wait any longer and ordered up last night. I think I did pretty well. Came in under $1400. $100 and change under budget.

Final results:

LIAN LI PC-A16B Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

ASUS P5K-E LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Did end up switching to the non wi-fi board. Seems no one uses or it just plain didnt work.

EVGA 512-P3-N841-A3 GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600 - Retail

CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 520W Power Supply - Retail
I did end up switching over to this PSU. It seems it does real well even tho it is only 520w vs 560w which is what other one was. Seems that Corsair make good products.

LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model LH-20A1L-06 - Retail

CORSAIR XMS2 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-6400C5DHX - Retail

As far as the ram I went ahead and got the 4gb knowing that xp will only see the 2.7-3.2 the number seems to vary from what ive read. It seems I would have spent almost as much on trying to come up with 3gb than I did with the 4. Who knows might get a bug and upgrade to vista in the near future. Thanks again for the pointers. Hopefully you wont seem me in the help section next week My 1st construction attempt (crosses fingers)

[Radioreid]

I just wanted to give a quick update. I recieved my new machine and actually got it put together and running with not a hitch. Just got through watching opening movie on call of duty 4. WOW. It was so amazing it nearly brought a tear to my eye. Anyone looking for a good gaming machine that doesnt break the bank this is pretty sweet.

[shadowpr]

Glad you got it working and are enjoying it.