gurusan
Golden Master
- Messages
- 6,562
- Location
- Portland, OR
"Antec True Power Trio TP3-430 ATX12V 430W Power Supply with Three 12V Rails - Retail"
You're kidding, right!?
You're kidding, right!?
Motherboard
ASUS P5W DH DELUXE/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel 975X ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail [+210]
Newegg.com - ASUS P5W DH DELUXE/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel 975X ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Is Asus' customer service and website as bad as people are making it sound? If so, then
ASUS P5B Deluxe LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail [+180]
Newegg.com - ASUS P5B Deluxe LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
I'm guessing it is just a cheaper option, or are there large differences between the two mobos?
Video Card [+370]
EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail
Newegg.com - EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail
The 8800GTX sounds to me to an overkill, is this similar with the 8800GTS? (for WoW, CSS, and BF2. Oh and how could i forget Diablo (i don't even think it has graphics options lol)
Hard Drive [+85]
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Is there a technical reason for choosing to go with 2x hard drives? or is it just for added space? Also with Cache sizes... is that where you see performance differences in HDs?
Optical Drive [+32]
PHILIPS Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 8X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache IDE interface (ATAPI) 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with 12X DVD-RAM Write - Retail
Newegg.com - PHILIPS Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 8X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache IDE interface (ATAPI) 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with 12X DVD-RAM Write - Retail
Optical Drives are not a big thing for me, as i believe that most games are heading in the way of 'install once' and play off your computer. And i won't be doing alot of copying...
Power Supply [+140]
HIPER HPU-4M730-SS EPS12V v2.91 730W Power Supply 100 - 240 V - Retail
Newegg.com - HIPER HPU-4M730-SS EPS12V v2.91 730W Power Supply 100 - 240 V - Retail
I guess they all do the same job... so if there is anything that distinguishes power supply's could i please know? (i will happily read forums / links, i just can't find them)
Monitor
Never really thought about the monitor, the only regret i have with widescreen is trying to find mods / skins / UIs for my games (built this regret from using my laptop). The BenQ is a very nice monitor (i like the thin black trim around it), however it is probably to "big" for me, (i know how retarded that sounds) i was probably thinking around 19" (wide or normal)
Keyboard
I am a big fan of simple keyboards, + with my uses of wireless, never again (when the battery runs out, the worst). I think it would be cool to find a backlit one, but not essential. Any ideas?
Operating System [+280]
I guess this arises the question XP vs. Vista, its a personal thing but i believe that i will probably stay with XP. All my mates rave about Vista but i have a hunch that it would slow down performance through uneeded running processes. (just a hunch). Plus, with my long use of XP i have come quite attached to tweaking its settings for speed, something i'm not eager to relearn with Vista.
Microsoft Windows XP Professional with SP2 - Retail
Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows XP Professional with SP2 - Retail
I have to go pro, as i cannot stand HOME! its like, start > run > calc... "Cannot find calc..." OMG GO HOME
WIFI
I forgot to mention, i will most likely need some form of WIFI card so i can connect to my network, sadly i have no earthenet plug near my room
Thanks gurusan and sora for your great help, along with everybody else here at the Tech Forums.
This is a simplified version that is very close to my final product.
CPU [+$308]: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
MOBO [+$146]: ASUS P5B-E LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel
RAM [+$180]: G.SKILL 2GB (PC2 6400)
GPU [+$370]: EVGA GeForce 8800GTS 640MB
HD [+$85]: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB
Opt Drive [+32]: PHILIPS Black 20X DVD+R ....
PSU [+$129]: CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX ATX12V 520W Power Supply
CASE [+$50]: COOLER MASTER Centurion 5
MONITOR [+160]: Hanns•G HW-191APB Black 19" 5ms Widescreen
Sound Card [+$80]: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
Subtotal: $1565
Which is a great price, leaving me with plenty of money to spend on games
Are there any guides on installing those sort of heatsinks? could you possibly throw a link my way (would be much appreciated)
Thanks again for all your help