Building comp during Hard times, Need help plz

[Tynkb]

Hello everyone this is my first time posting here and I am trying to see if you guys could help me with a few things. About 3 weeks ago my house burnt down with my brand new Alienware desktop in it so now im going to build my own comp to try and save me money. My first question is about 2 Motherboards, I'm in the process of building a new computer and I was wondering what would be a better Motherboard for what im putting into it. Currently I have a Asus p5k deluxe wireless motherboard and I have been looking at the Asus Republic of gamers motherboard to replace it. If you guys could give me any opinons on those two motherboards and which I should use that would be alot of help. Now for the big part of the post this is what im putting into my Computer (alot of this stuff I got huge discounts on being a very good friend of mine is a manager at Compusa (all compusa going out of bussiness so they have %s being taken off plus the employee discount)

OS- Microsoft Vista ultimate

Mobo- p5k deluxe wireless (or the Asus Republic of gamers mobo)

Hard drive- 150gig Western Digital Raptor x2 (Might let one good to help pay for other parts I need)

Ram- 4 x 1gig of Kingston Ram

Graphic card- Gforce 8800GTS OC 640mb (extreme edition Compusa sales Gimick no difference from normal 8800GTS OC)

Sound card- Sound Blaster X-fi Platinum Fatal1ty

Power supply - BFG 800watt ATX

So far thats all I have, If you guys could give me any opinons on a good Intel Processer to go along with everything I posted that would help me very much. I still havent picked out a Case either I think thats turning out to be the hardest part for me so far. Along with Optical Drives (which I think im going to leave that last cause I might change my mind and want to get a DVD/RW or a Lightscribe drive) So all and all if you guys could post anything that could help me on my adventure of building my own comp that would help me out alot or if you need any more info about anything in this post please feel free to ask. Thank you very much for anyone who takes the time to help me with this post.

 

[peterhuang913]

First off, I am very sorry for you and your house. It's the worse that can happen to a man. Was your house covered by HOI?

For the processor, get the Q6600.
For the video card, grab a 8800GT with higher memory.

 

[Tynkb]

Yeah I do, but the pictures and video tape of everything I had was from like when I first moved in, so im in the process of fighting with them over alot of things like appliances,TV,Comp..few other high end things that werent in the pictures or video and they think im just trying to get extra money out of them. So its looking like im not going to get anything close to what I lost. Which really sucks cause its almost christmas and cant even spend it at my own house. Would you have a certain one you would recommend like what amount of memory to try and get with the video card?..Thank you very much for the info im looking into both of them now

 

[Rakie]

Yeah I do, but the pictures and video tape of everything I had was from like when I first moved in, so im in the process of fighting with them over alot of things like appliances,TV,Comp..few other high end things that werent in the pictures or video and they think im just trying to get extra money out of them. So its looking like im not going to get anything close to what I lost. Which really sucks cause its almost christmas and cant even spend it at my own house. Would you have a certain one you would recommend like what amount of memory to try and get with the video card?..Thank you very much for the info im looking into both of them now

Reciepts, or hopefully you used a credit card and you have the info that you purchased it.

8800GT 512mb. If you get that you won't be disappointed.

 

[Durftard]

either get a 512MB 8800GT or a 512MB 8800GTS

the 320/640 MB GTS models are based on the older g80 architecture, the new GTS (512) are based on G92, and offer compareable performance to a GTX (a $500+ video card) -- if you buy an evga one from Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more! it comes bundled with crysis at $360 , and the GT (offering about 90% of the GTX's performance - still a great card) is on newegg at $270


see if you can go with a seagate 7200.11 500gb for a harddrive rather than the more expensive raptors -- the performance difference is minimal (if any), but the price drop is rather large.

you might consider getting either g.skill (Newegg.com - G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail) or crucial (Newegg.com - Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail) RAM... kingston RAM will work though... make sures its DDR2 800/PC6400 atleast

for sound card, get the x-fi xtreme gamer... tbh i think all the fatal1ty stuff is overpriced, most of the reviews i've read on the fatal1ty x-fi have been medicore at best... no sense in paying a premium for a lower quality product with a fancy name on it (Newegg.com - Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail)

as for the mobo.... are you talking about the X38 asus board? a lot of their boards carry the "republic of gamers" name... if so, i'd stick with your current p5k motherboard for now

for power supply, these are all great ones to choose from
Newegg.com - PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610 EPS12V EPS12V 610W Continuous @ 40°C Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, cUL, CE, CB, TUV - Retail (NON MODULAR)
Newegg.com - 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
Newegg.com - XCLIO GREATPOWER X14S4P4 700W ATX12V 700W Power Supply 100 - 240V / 200 -240V UL, CUL, TUV, CB, VDE, FIMKO, DEMKO, NEMKO, SEMKO - Retail

processor... Q6600 G0 stepping (see if your friend can garuntee the G0 -- if not, clubIT.com garuntees it, or you can take your chances with newegg)... if you plan on overclocking much (i think the stock can take it up to around 3.0 ghz), consider getting an aftermarket heatsink... the tuniq 120 ($45) and the thermalright ultra-120 extreme ($60+fan) are both great products, but make sure you get a case that's big enough


case: check out the mid/high cases listed on here http://www.techist.com/forums/f76/recommended-pc-components-159027/
food for thought:
the (silver) cooler master stacker 830 is for sale on newegg atm at $110 after rebate... thats a killer deal, and a very nice(read: HUGE) case
the antec 900 is one of the most reccomended cases on this forum for a reason


sorry about all the newegg links -- newegg.com is one of the best online suppliers in the US (for service and prices) and they might have better prices than compusa (in store prices usually suck -- i hate you, frys!)... if anything, you can atleast use the links as a refence for part models

p.s. dont forget speakers and monitor
p.p.s get vista 64-bit if possible

 

[Peter.Cort]

512mb for the video card.

also, it's terrible to hear what happened to you, especially this close to christmas. but it's good to hear that you're alright and you've planned ahead and will be alright in the long run.

 

[Invisible]

either get a 512MB 8800GT or a 512MB 8800GTS

the 320/640 MB GTS models are based on the older g80 architecture, the new GTS (512) are based on G92, and offer compareable performance to a GTX (a $500+ video card) -- if you buy an evga one from Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more! it comes bundled with crysis at $360 , and the GT (offering about 90% of the GTX's performance - still a great card) is on newegg at $270


also, see if you can go with a seagate 7200.11 500gb for a harddrive rather than the more expensive raptors -- the performance difference is minimal (if any), but the price drop is rather large.

you might consider getting either g.skill (Newegg.com - G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail) or crucial (Newegg.com - Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail) RAM... kingston RAM will work though... make sures its DDR2 800/PC6400 atleast

for sound card, get the x-fi xtreme gamer... tbh i think all the fatal1ty stuff is overpriced, most of the reviews i've read on the fatal1ty x-fi have been medicore at best... no sense in paying a premium for a lower quality product with a fancy name on it (Newegg.com - Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail)

as for the mobo.... are you talking about the X38 asus board? a lot of their boards carry the "republic of gamers" name... if so, i'd either stick with your current p5k motherboard

for power supply, these are all great ones to choose from
Newegg.com - PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610 EPS12V EPS12V 610W Continuous @ 40°C Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, cUL, CE, CB, TUV - Retail (NON MODULAR)
Newegg.com - 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
Newegg.com - XCLIO GREATPOWER X14S4P4 700W ATX12V 700W Power Supply 100 - 240V / 200 -240V UL, CUL, TUV, CB, VDE, FIMKO, DEMKO, NEMKO, SEMKO - Retail

processor... Q6600 G0 stepping (see if your friend can garuntee the G0 -- if not, clubIT.com garuntees it, or you can take your chances with newegg)... if you plan on overclocking much (i think the stock can take it up to around 3.0 ghz), consider getting an aftermarket heatsink... the tuniq 120 ($45) and the thermalright ultra-120 extreme ($60+fan) are both great products, but make sure you get a case that's big enough


case: check out the mid/high cases listed on here http://www.techist.com/forums/f76/recommended-pc-components-159027/
food for thought:
the (silver) cooler master stacker 830 is for sale on newegg atm at $110 after rebate... thats a killer deal, and a very nice(read: HUGE) case
the antec 900 is one of the most reccomended cases on this forum for a reason


sorry about all the newegg links -- newegg.com is one of the best online suppliers in the US (for service and prices) and they might have better prices than compusa (in store prices usually suck -- i hate you, frys!)... if anything, you can atleast use the links as a refence for part models

p.s. dont forget speakers and monitor
p.p.s get vista 64-bit if possible

everything i would've said
i second every comment
especially against the raptors they're outdated

 

[Tynkb]

Wow is all I can say so far for the info. As of the things I have being top dollar but not worth the money that they cost is I got everything really really cheap. The 2 Raptor 150gigs there being sold at 199.99 a piece I paid 90$ for both of them (45$ a piece).. The sound blaster card is being sold at 149.99 I paid 62$.. The kingston ram I paid 22$ per 1gig so $88 for 4gigs. As for Speakers a friend is selling me some Logitech G51s? for 100$..I have a Logitech G15 keyboard with LCD screen (the new non flip out screen one) I got from my sister as a early present. Montior I got a 24inch dell from my work for free. As for the Motherboard I posted its the
ASUS Striker Extreme "Republic of Gamers" Series ATX Socket LGA775 Motherboard CompUSA.com - ASUS Striker Extreme "Republic of Gamers" Series ATX Socket LGA775 Motherboard - ASUS » Computer Upgrades » Motherboards
VS
ASUS P5K DELUXE/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard CompUSA.com - ASUS Striker Extreme "Republic of Gamers" Series ATX Socket LGA775 Motherboard - ASUS » Computer Upgrades » Motherboards (being the one I already have)
Reason I am looking at getting the Striker one is for in the future if I want to SLI my graphic cards, and a few Other little things, Retail on it is 299.99 I can get it for $130 so I thought maybe just get the higher end one while I have the chance to get it cheap. As of today after looking at cases I picked out the Silver CoolerMaster 830 Stacker (funny you said that). And already having the BFG power supply do you think I should get a new one? Compusa is going out of bussiness and they have a strick no return policy so I cant bring it back ill just have to sell it to someone whos looking to get one, if you think I should let it go. And with the graphic cards I think im going to go with the 512 8800GT. I think thats everything I might have missed something... Again I want to thank everyone for any and all help you have been giving me. Its really helping me out alot (being my head is in 137 different places right now)

P.S. I happen to be a Plastic pusher and dont use cash so I think thats going to be the only thing that saves my *** proving I bought new things that I dont have proof of.(I save any and all reciepts just as a habit..Glad I do now)

 

[Invisible]

in that case....keep the raptors and x-fi (HOLY **** thats some good deals)
whats the speed of kingston?
get this combo deal
Newegg.com - ABIT IX38 Quad GT LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
now its $30 for 4gb DDR2 800 with mobo, better than kingston deal
and get either Crossfire 3870 or a single 8800gt
i suggest crossfire so you get better performance on that rather large monitor

 

[Raziel-Zero]

Those are ridiculously good deals. Wow.

Sorry to hear about the house near Christmas. Do you know how the fire started?