almost final NEW PC SPECS... need suggestions

[OnlyCurious]

This is what I have come down to to far. Need all the suggestions I can get b/c this is my first build and I don't want to be disappointed. This pretty much meets my budget, so if I should get something else at the same price or for a LITTLE more, then tell me what I should get. Thanks!!

CASE:
COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail $44.99

MONITOR:
SAMSUNG 216BW Black - Silver 21.6" 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail $259.99

CPU:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80562Q6600 - Retail $266.00 ( JULY 22 )
OR:
Intel Core 2 Duo e6750 for $183.00

MOBO:
GIGABYTE GA-P35C-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $159.99

RAM:
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400C4 - Retail $131.00

HDD:
SAMSUNG SpinPoint T Series HD403LJ 400GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $89.99

VIDEO CARD:
SAPPHIRE 100186L Radeon X1950XT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 VIVO HDCP Video Card - Retail $179.99

POWER SUPPLY:
Antec NeoPower NeoHE 550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply - Retail $109.99

DVD BURNER:
PHILIPS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with 12X DVD-RAM Write Black IDE interface (ATAPI) Model SPD2413BD - Retail $31.99
OR:
SAMSUNG 18X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe and Software Black IDE - OEM $32.99 ( some review said this had horrible audio extration... not sure)

Right now, I'm not sure about the MOBO (b/c I won't be overclocking), not sure about the power supply (brand, quality, etc)

 

[socom36252]

I would go with an ASUS mobo not gigabyte i had problems with them, dvd burner wise i would think philips would be ok but i recommend Lite On. And stick with ur monitor u wont be able to notice a difference is 2ms or 5ms. Plus its 2in bigger.

 

[OnlyCurious]

I would go with an ASUS mobo not gigabyte i had problems with them, dvd burner wise i would think philips would be ok but i recommend Lite On. And stick with ur monitor u wont be able to notice a difference is 2ms or 5ms. Plus its 2in bigger.

I saw many people on newegg buying Lite On drives.... but are they good? I've never heard of them and I thought they were some generic/cheap drives.

 

[saltynay]

the psu is a bit over the top but its a decent model no need to change it

the motherboard is a good board even if your not overclocking

do you really want quad-core? if your not overclocking it will be slower then an E6600

what operating system are you using?

get a 8800gts instead of that graphics card

dvd burners don't matter they are all the same lite-on is quite well known but you do pay for the name any big manufacturer will do I have two sony's and have put them through there paces ripping and burning dvd's no complaints

 

[OnlyCurious]

the psu is a bit over the top but its a decent model no need to change it

do you really want quad-core? if your not overclocking it will be slower then an E6600

what operating system are you using?

What psu do you recommend.... I would like to save money where I can.

I was really thinking about whether I should get the e6850 or q6600 b/c they will be the same price... but for future proof reasons i was thinking i should buy the q6600.

I will be using windows xp. Thought I'd wait until a service pack came out for Vista.... then I MIGHT get it. haha.

Oh and for the 8800gts... I'm not sure.. I thought the ATI was a better bang for the buck(although i heard the ATI was LOUD as ****.... that's all i'm worried about)

 

[Vaanish]

Get Samsung DVD drive: SAMSUNG FTW im glad to see that you have done your research and picked the spinpoint, rather than 99% of people who pick western digital or seagate.

Get G.Skill HZs, or CAS4 XMS2. The q6600 better than e6850 @ the same price. You may want to consider getting an DS3P, and doing some CrossFire when XTs are dirt cheap *prepares to get flamed* but if you were to do that then the noise would be comparable to an aeroplane. You could buy the powercolour or HIS version, that has got a quieter cooler, if noise is an issue.

 

[OnlyCurious]

Get Samsung DVD drive: SAMSUNG FTW im glad to see that you have done your research and picked the spinpoint, rather than 99% of people who pick western digital or seagate.

Get G.Skill HZs, or CAS4 XMS2. The q6600 better than e6850 @ the same price. You may want to consider getting an DS3P, and doing some CrossFire when XTs are dirt cheap *prepares to get flamed* but if you were to do that then the noise would be comparable to an aeroplane. You could buy the powercolour or HIS version, that has got a quieter cooler, if noise is an issue.

haha that's funny I was actually gonna go with a Samsung dvd drive at first and switched it at the last second writing this post. Samsung Dvd drive it is. I also wanted a G.Skill 2x1gb, but they are expensive. I probably won't crossfire... I just want to play games with decent fps. But after Starcraft 2 comes out, I'll probably just play that without fps issues... lol.

 

[saltynay]

crossfire upto 40% performance increase for 100% of the cost = not worth it
overclocking 10-20% performance increase for 0% of the cost = worth a squirt

if he isn't overclocking then the q6600 is an awful processor for him to get simply because it is slow and hot and multi-threading is not yet supported. it is also the entry level cpu for quad core if he's an overclocker then the q6600 is a gift from god otherwise its just a pile of wank. the E6850 would be better by far

The psu i was thinking of was the Corsair 420Hx

hard drive guide:
Seagate barracuda: reliable 5 year warranty their 7200.10 series is marginally faster then hitachi and western digital equivalents. The 7200.11 will be coming out about august with drives from 500gb-1tb. Major producer

Samsung spinpoints: the fastest data transfer 7200 drives, relatively small in the hdd world but are suppose to be reliable but only a 3 year warranty

Western digital Caviar: slower then the seagates and samsungs nothing special about the caviar series quite reliable though. Introducing a new 750gb drive in the coming weeks if not already which will be the fastest 750gb drive available but slower then the upcoming seagate. The jewel in WD's crown are raptor drives which are extremely quick 10,000rpm drives but expensive and in my opinion not worth the cash. Major producer

hitachi deskstars: relatively small in the world of hdd's mixed reports on reliability, only company currently offering a 1tb drive.

Maxtor: Dead company was bought out by seagate still producing a limited stock under the brand name, they are suppose to be the seagates rejects the drives that didn't pass quality testing but still are workable thus very unreliable but extremely cheap. Good for a file server where you need lots of cheap high capacity drives, I would only reccomend for a raid setup with data security so RAID0+1 or at a push RAID5

 

[Vaanish]

slow and hot

I thought that G0 stepping is coming out for Q6600 on July 22nd. That should make the proc much cooler.

Samsung spinpoints: the fastest data transfer 7200 drives, relatively small in the hdd world but are suppose to be reliable but only a 3 year warranty

I also have heard that they are the quetest. Is this true?

just a pile of wank

I L'dOL @ that.

 

[OnlyCurious]

dam, if i'm getting the e6850, i'd rather save a little more and get the e6750. I couldn't stand the fact I could've got a quad core for the same price as the e6850 in the future.

I'll save $83 bucks by going e6750, and then I can use that money to get the 8800gt (hopefully it won't be as loud as the 1950xt).