Holiday Build - $2000 Budget

[viperman5000]

As all of you know, this is the time of the year when everyone starts asking opinions on their new computer builds for the upcoming holidays. Well, this would be another one of those requests. I am trying to pretty much future-proof this as much as possible. Even though this will be built for some gaming, that will not be it's main use. I have thought about the new Kentsfield processors coming out soon, but without any prices to along with, I am going to hold off on those.

I appreciate and welcome any opinions and thank those in advance.

GIGABYTE 3D AURORA GZ-FSCA1-ANB Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case - $149.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811233002

ASUS P5W DH DELUXE/WIFI-AP Socket T (LGA 775) Intel 975X ATX Intel Motherboard - $269.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813131025

eVGA 512-P2-N573-AR GeForce 7900GTO 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - $253.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814130065
This may be the only thing that is not final due to the new G80 series coming out during the Holiday season.

OCZ GameXStream OCZ600GXSSLI ATX12V 600W Power Supply - $119.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817341001

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 - $315.00
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819115003

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400C4 - $280.00
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820145034

Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200JD 320GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - $109.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822144394
I don't really want to endeavor into the world of RAID I or 0, so I just stayed out.

Logitech G15 2-Tone USB Wired Standard Keyboard - $71.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16823126179

ViewSonic VA1912wb Black 19" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor - $214.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16824116373

SONY 16X DVD±R, 5X DVD-RAM Write DVD Burner With Black front panel Beige E-IDE/ATAPI Model DRU820A - $48.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16827131016
Not sure if this is the best option.

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - $5.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16835100007

ZALMAN CNPS9500 LED 92mm 2 Ball Blue LED Light Cooling Fan with Heatsink - $63.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16835118223
Again, not sure if this is the best option for CPU coolers.


Total - $1,904.90

Just under my hypothesized budget of $2000.

 

[reggie_da_man]

Very nice, have fun!

 

[reckliss]

why not a D3 or P5B? and then get a 6600 c2d

 

[Deathawk]

Why Serial ATA 150?

 

[sickness]

If it were me I would get a cheaper keyboard and ditch the Zalman. The CPU already comes with one, and unless you're going to be overclocking I'm pretty sure the stock one would do. Take that ~80 dollars saved and pick up a larger hard drive or upgrade the processor.

 

[viperman5000]

@reckliss - I really don't know. I know ASUS has been a good brand and whatnot. I was actually waiting for the DFI LANParty board to come out, and probably still will, but as of now, it seems like the best.

@Deathhawk - To be completely honest, I don't know sh!t about HDDs. All I know is the capacity, a little RAID stuff, and that Raptors are expensive, but fast. If you could recommend one, that would be splendid.

 

[viperman5000]

@sickness - That's the thing, I will OC the E6600. It would be a waste not to. So with that said, I think I'm going to stick with the E6600. And by the way, isn't 320GB a lot anyways? I couldn't possibly expect to fill that up, even though I have about 40 GBs of music.

 

[sickness]

My three 120GB drives are almost full...

Sounds like you know what you're doing then with the CPU/Fan. Looks like a nice built, you should be very happy with it.

 

[Deathawk]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136003 for a HDD instead of the one you have now.

 

[Jumping_Bean514]

Motherboard ASUS P5W DH DELUXE $239.99
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=247085

CPU Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 $312.8
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80860

Ram Corsair 2GB DDR2-800 $278
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=85025-5

Hard Drive 1 Western Digital Raptor 74GB $152.4
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=101222-1

Hard Drive 2 Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB $77.9 http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=101220-12

HD Cooling Vantec Aluminum Hard Drive Cooler $13.99 http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=370811

Graphics eVGA Geforce 7900GTO 512MB $259.99
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=322835

Sound Onboard - Realtek ALC882M

Lan Onboard - Marvell 88E805

Optical SAMSUNG Black 16X $31.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827151136

Case Thermaltake Armor Series VA8000BWS $159.99
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=371252

Power OCZ GameXStream 700W $139.99
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=316505

Monitor SAMSUNG 205BW Black 20" $289.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16824001081

Total- 1957.03
After Rebates- 1897.67

I believe that this build is superior because:

- 100watts more on PSU
- Better case (IMO)
- Higher resolution and better quality monitor
- Faster multiple hard drives with cooling
- NO SHIPPING COST!!!!! (except for $5 DVD drive)
- Faster reading DVD burner with LightScibe

With your saved shipping cost you can purchase a CPU cooler or keyboard and mouse.