New Rig

[andrus]

Yeah I've made one of these before and not even buying yet for awhile but I'm bored and can't wait till the day I finally order it all so I want to be prepared .

I will try to overlock this sucker for all it's worth.

CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6400 - Retail $222

Mobo - GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $123

RAM - G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ - Retail $170

Case - COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail $50

PSU - HIPER HPU-4K530-MS ATX12V v2.2 530W Power Supply - Retail $80

HD - Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST3250824AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $70

DVDRW - LG 18X DVD±R Super-Multi DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black IDE Model GSA-H42N-BK - OEM $30

Speakers - Logitech X-530 70 Watts 5.1 Speaker - Retail $64

Sound card - Creative Sound Blaster SB0570 Audigy SE 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail $28

Video card - 8600ultra 512mb $180

HSF - ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink - Retail $48

OS - Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Home Premium for System Builders Single Pack DVD - OEM $120

Total with Vista comes out to $1300 before taxes, shipping

Any advice? Any money I can save without losing a lot?

 

[Sora]

So this is what you were doing eh? You do know that by the time you order the E6350 and E6450 will replace those for the same price right? They are E6300 and 6400 with 4mb cache.

Also The E6350 will be better for the money I think since just like now the E6400's extra multi doesn't really make much of a performance difference for 40 bucks more, you could put that towards an 8800GTS 320mb instead.

Then on a budget put in a Biostar 965PT instead of the DS3 and save yourself some money as well as they both overclock excellent.

Then I don't act like your even buying vista for a while since it's buggy right now, instead if you were to buyt that right now I would put that 120 bucks towards that 8800GTS 320mb and put on an old copy of XP.

Although that build was built very well informed from what I can tell so if you WERE to order it, it would work out just fine. Just minor changes like trying to get that 8800GTS 320mb as it will be quite a bit more powerful than 8600 Ultra.

Still one thing I don't recomend every doing is buying Windows Vista right now, it's buggy and I for sure wouldn't buy XP as I think I have 5 legal codes and 2 not-so-legal myself. Once again this only to get you that better video card as it will be really nice to have in DX10.

All just suggestions though and it was a well informed build.

 

[andrus]

Ok changed a few things.. Are you sure getting the Biostar instead is a good idea? The Gigabyte is only $20 more expensive. I just don't want to end up regretting not spending an extra 20 bucks.

I'm also pretty much set on getting Vista anyways. I won't be buying until the Intel price drops so hopefully most compatibility issues will be gone. I have plenty of legal XP codes but I will have to get Vista eventually (Crysis comes out and its all Vista and DX10 for me baby) and it's not like it will become cheaper any time soon so no point in waiting really. Besides, if I really really don't like Vista I can just install XP, not a big deal. Buut.. I may not even have to buy an OS since my friend works as a software programmer and his old company gives him Windows copies for free (well they are SUPPOSED to be for computer in the office but he says everyone uses them for personal computers anyway.) I don't know however if his current company does the same, I'll have to ask him. And no, I'm not going to get a not-so-legal copy even though the friend method is not-so-legal either , not-so-legal copies usually have extra bugs and stuff.

About the CPU, I will probably be getting the E6600. I just put the E6400 there since it's the same price as the E6600 will be. In the case of AMD releasing some new CPUs that kick *** before the Intel price drops, I will consider them as well.

And yeah, I guess I'll probably get the 8800GTS instead. Only thing I'm concerned about is that 320MB might be a little low for upcoming games like Crysis but only time can tell. But then again I won't be running them at very high resolutions (only 1440x900) so maybe not. I still don't want to pay $280 for a video card though as I'm not that much of a gamer. Hopefully once the ATI cards and the full line of nVidias come out, they will drop the price on the 8800GTS 320's to say around $200-$250 .

CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6400 - Retail $222

Mobo - BIOSTAR TForce965PT LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $105

RAM - G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ - Retail $170

Case - COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail $50

PSU - HIPER HPU-4K530-MS ATX12V v2.2 530W Power Supply - Retail $80

HD - Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST3250824AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $70

DVDRW - LG 18X DVD�R Super-Multi DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black IDE Model GSA-H42N-BK - OEM $30

Speakers - Logitech X-530 70 Watts 5.1 Speaker - Retail $64

Sound card - Creative Sound Blaster SB0570 Audigy SE 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail $28

Video card - EVGA 320-P2-N811-AR GeForce 8800GTS 320MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail $280

HSF - ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink - Retail $48

OS - Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Home Premium for System Builders Single Pack DVD - OEM $120

I also just realized that my previous $1300 total was with a 8800GTS in the cart since 8600 wasn't out yet so now my total is even lower with the 8800GTS at $1280

Also a question.... I am considering buying 2x250GB Barracudas and putting them in RAID0(I think it's RAID0, I want the one that increases performance, not data back-up.) I'm a first-timer and while I am partially tech-savvy, I saw somewhere that RAID is difficult for a first-timer? Is it? And do I need any other components or a different mobo for it?

 

[Jrod]

So this is what you were doing eh? You do know that by the time you order the E6350 and E6450 will replace those for the same price right? They are E6300 and 6400 with 4mb cache.

Pretty sure they're actually the E6320 and E6420. Just fyi. I personally would get the DS3, but then again there might be even better boards coming out before you build so keep your eyes open.