My 'Workstation' build

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Mk97

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Alright... I'm edging ever closer to getting my new computer...

My budget is roughly $1200 bucks. It will be primarily be used for 3D/2D art and gaming.

OK, here's a final update--------------------------------

Here's an updated list of parts.

CPU Opteron 165
Mobo MSI nF4 Plat.
Case Aspire X-Plorer
PSU OCZ ModStream 520
GFX XFX 7800GT
RAM OCZ DDR500 2x1gb
Sound Card Creative Sound Card
HDDs
Seagate 160GB SATAII
Seagate 250GB SATA I
Optical NEC DVD Burner
'Just in case' Network card MSI Dual Net
Keyboard Saitek Keyboard
Mouse Logitech G7 (gift cards come in handy)
Exterior Sound
Logitech headset
5.1 Speakers
Cooling
Tt Blue Orb II
120mm Fans (replace/add to case)
Rounded IDE
NV Silencer
Other
Multi function panel I need some bloody audio ports on the front of the case(doesn't have any) plus I use a card reader a lot.
Astetics crap

Well, that about wraps up the list.

I can get all of it for about $100ish over my curren total budget which is ok.

Later I'll likely get some good fans that are quieter and I now have the crazy desire to mod a Zalman VGA cooler for the chipset on the mobo... That'll cost me about $50 total so I'll do it a couple months later I guess.

I'll likely get it around the end of Febuary... so close...
 
I feel like buyers should be weary of graphics card purchases right now. PERSONALLY, I would just get a vanilla 6800 right now. They're pretty cheap. That'll tide you over until the next round of video cards becomes available. Now, someone will inevitably come in here and rip me apart, but I don't care. This would be my personal strategy. Always error on the side of caution.

Ryan
 
FghtinIrshNvrDi said:
I feel like buyers should be weary of graphics card purchases right now. PERSONALLY, I would just get a vanilla 6800 right now. They're pretty cheap. That'll tide you over until the next round of video cards becomes available. Now, someone will inevitably come in here and rip me apart, but I don't care. This would be my personal strategy. Always error on the side of caution.

Ryan

yeah i agree with you, then you can get a nicer card in a few months for a lot less, or one of the new g80s if you can afford it. i would have done that too, but i found a great deal on a video card and mobo.
 
Ya... That's what I was thinking. Guess it'll be if I can fit a 7800GT into the budget.. otherwise it'll be a 6800GS. I'll likely be buying by end of Feb. at latest... I doubt newer cards will be out by then tho...
 
FghtinIrshNvrDi said:
I feel like buyers should be weary of graphics card purchases right now. PERSONALLY, I would just get a vanilla 6800 right now. They're pretty cheap. That'll tide you over until the next round of video cards becomes available. Now, someone will inevitably come in here and rip me apart, but I don't care. This would be my personal strategy. Always error on the side of caution.

Ryan

Here's me ripping you apart. If you were always cautious, you'd never get a good videocard. Right now people are saying, "Wait for G71!" Well, when the 7900GT/Xs come out, its going to be the same thing; GeForce 8 is going to be around the corner and people are going to start saying, "Screw 7900GT/X, wait for GeForce 8 when it comes out!" Its a never ending cycle so you might as well get a good card right now. GeForce 7 will last you well into the GeForce 8 era. Look at GeForce 6, its still going strong and a 6800GT/GS can still run new games at max on 1280x1024.

Now that thats over, to address your major concerns;

Memory - None of those 2 x 1GB pairs will overclock as well as the DDR500 G.Skill. But even that is only guaranteed to get you to 2300MHz or so.

I recommend getting OCZ Gold Edition 2 x 1GB. Its a bit more expensive than some of those, but man, does it fly...it can do 270-280Mhz in most cases. Thats DDR540-DDR560. Its enough to take you to 2.6GHz, basically :) .

Something I wanted to add, no need to go with the Fatal1ty. Its just a fancy name for a fancy motherboard. All glam and no skill, in a way. If you're hesitant about the DFI, then go with MSI. The MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum is an excellent motherboard and will serve you will. Its also not as picky or as complicated as the DFI. A more user-friendly motherboard, if you will. Just don't go with the Fatal1ty ;) .

Videocard - Don't worry about XFX. Some a-hole on this forum, a long time ago, had a problem with a XFX and since then XFX has become taboo on TF. Theres nothing to justify it since XFX is as good as the other good brands, and is only one of two of Nvidia's main makers (the other is eVGA). Look at the red part of my sig. It basically sums up what goes on on this forum. People simply keep on repeating what they hear someone else say without having any idea of what they're talking about. XFX IS A GOOD BRAND, JUST BECAUSE ONE PERSON HAD A PROBLEM DOESN'T MEAN THAT THE OTHER 5,000 CARDS OUT THERE ARE CRAP, kthx. And as I pointed out earlier, you might as well get a 7800GT since it'll last quite a while.
 
The only difference between the Platinum and the Regular Neo4-F is integrated firewire and the additional LAN port. Spending an extra 40-50 is worth that, then go for it, otherwise I'd go for the regular Neo4-F
 
Alright, that's exactly the help I need Flanker.

I would have never thought of getting that ram, and for 25 bucks more before rebate it's cheaper than what I was thinking of getting.

I'm planning now to get the 7800GT and will sell it for cheaper to a friend (the one I built that uber budget compt for) and get a DX10 card with Vista when it's out.


EDIT: edited the top post with new stuff...

Found 2 cheaper sound cards wondering if it's worth $30 more for the $75 one.

Thanks again Flanker.
 
No prob. For the sound card, the Audigy 2 ZS is definately better than the Audigy 2 Value, but I think you'll be happy with either. The ZS IS worth the $30 more, but the Audigy 2 Value is a great card on its own as well. I guess it all comes down to whether you want to spend $30 more or not. I'd like to give a suggestion, but it all comes down to how important sound is to you. The Audigy 2 Value will give great sound, and Adigy 2 ZS will give even better sound, and the X-Fi XtremeMusic will give godly sound. Thats basically how it goes.
 
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