Boy I Hope I Won't Need This Money...

[KBlair]

Ok, I desperately need a new computer. Mr. Celly D with 256MB of RAM just isn't cutting it anymore. In fact, it never cut it in the first place.

So, I'm going to have a new, shiny, and expensive as heck PC. I expect this to run Vista (When I get it), Crysis, all my games maxed, China's economy, you name it.

Here are the parts:

NZXT Apollo Mid-Tower Black Case - $69.99

Gigabyte DS3 Motherboard - $122.99

eGVA 8800GTX Video Card - $569.99

Thermaltake Toughpower 650w Power Supply - $144.99

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Processor - $308.00

G.SKILL NQ 2x1GB DDR2 800 RAM - $129.99

Samsung 1.44MB 3.5" Floppy Drive - $6.99

Seagate Barracuda 400GB Hard Drive - $99.99

Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard - $71.99

Acer 19" Monitor - $179.99

Samsung DVD Burner - $29.99

Creative X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Edition Sound Card - $139.99

Microsoft Windows Media Center Edition 2005 - $109.99

Logitech X-230 2.1 Speakers - $40.99

Belkin Anti-Static Wrist Strap - $7.99

Total: $2,033.86

Any suggestions? Price is not an issue, as long is it's not crazy. And I'll probably wait for price cuts on the processor so I can either save money or buy a better one.

I will buy Vista later on, maybe when they start packaging SP1 with it -- or when Crysis comes out -- whichever comes first.

Oh, and don't tell me to ditch the floppy drive, it makes the baby Jesus cry.

P.S. I already have a mouse, I did not forget it!

 

[Sora]

First off Corsair XMS2 sucks, don't get it. It is just flatout destroyed by this ram.
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

Ask anyone and they will tell you G.Skill HZ's are the way to go.

Second I don't like SLI as it's not worth it. You would think that buying another 8800GTX later on would just be sick and you would be saving mucho dinero but that's wrong. You actually save just a tiny bit usually and then by the time you go SLI it's beat down by an 8950GTX or something. Not to mention all the watts and heat two of those monsters give off, regardless if you have a good case.

The case is very expensive and there are ones just as good around 135-140 but it's fine if you want to go with that one too. I HATE the 680i as it is just bested by the 965 chipset. The only good thing about it is it the only way to go for Ffull SLI support, which is usually stupid anyway.

The PSU is pretty good but there are better brands out there for that money, still it's fine.

Last thing, you don't want a widescreen then?


EDIT: Forgot to say that you should really get an aftermarket CPU cooler. a Zalman, a BT, TT120, Gemini, even an Arctic Freezer 7. Just something to keep temps down if you were to overclock.

 

[nosbusch2005]

Looks pretty good. The only thing I would look into is the RAM. From what I've heard G. SKill is the stuff to have right now. And maybe a widescreen monitor, something in the 20"-22" range would be superb. Thats a personal preferance though so whatever you like. Other than that I think it looks pretty good.

 

[Sora]

He might not want that big of a monitor becuase games will play even better. I know I would never get anything bigger than a 20.1inch anymore since just wasted performance in my eyes. My 19 wide is perfect for me though.

Get the ram I suggested, yes G.Skill is the stuff right now and the model I linked to are high quality D9 Micron chips.

 

[nosbusch2005]

Thats why I said it is a personal preference

 

[KBlair]

I forgot to mention (And this is a shocker):
I am not planning to overclock. Yes, you heard me correctly. A $2,000 PC with no intent to push the limits to extreme. I'm imprisoning my computer parts by limiting them like some sort of FPS cap.

The G.SKILL RAM looks pretty good. I suppose they would run the same if not better not overclocked. But, I want RAM that was SLI-Ready and had EPP.

Soma: I'm very open to this, may I see all of your suggestions?

 

[Sora]

SLI is not worth it....especially on a 19 inch monitor. You probably wont need anything more powerful for a while at that resolution, and when you do just sell that one and get an 8950GX2 or something.

If you don't need SLI then you can get a cheaper case, a cheaper PSU ,a cheaper and BETTER board such as the DS3 or P5B-E.

If you didnt need SLI a really good case is only 70-100 bucks. A good PSU is around 70-90. A good board is around 125-180.

I still hope you will overclock your graphics card as it's so simple and safe it's almost stupid not too. The Corsair is just alright...the G.Skill HZ's I posted are Micron D9's. You could have incredible timings while still running your ram at
2 : 3 and it would wipe that corsair away.

I don't know why you wouldn't want to overclock as it's completley safe but it's your decision and if you are not overclocking all the more reason to get actually slower RAM such 2GB of the G.SKILL NQ series which is only $130. It would be wasted money pretty much since most ram sold in DDR2-800 is made for high performance overclocking, however I would still buy the HZ's becuase one of these days I'm sure you'll want to overclock heh...I just know it.

 

[Apokalipse]

Any suggestions? Price is not an issue, as long is it's not crazy. And I'll probably wait for price cuts on the processor so I can either save money or buy a better one.

AMD's Agena is coming out mid this year (not far off), which AMD says will be up to 40% faster than Intel's quad cores
Intel is also dropping their prices around that time, aswell (most likely in response to Agena)

 

[KBlair]

Ok, I changed a few things around. I changed the eVGA to a Gigabyte DS3, the Thermaltake Armor to an NZXT Apollo, the OCZ GameXStream to a Thermaltake Toughpower 650w, and the Corsair XMS2 to G.SKILL NQ 2x1GB RAM. I also added an X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty sound card.

I assume the issue with the DS3 not booting if RAM is under certain voltages is fixed. Also, I wonder if the 8800GTX will fit in the Apollo. It's 21" deep, and the card is 10.6", so hopefully there will be no problems.

 

[plumber4578]

I was going to get a thermaltake PSU with my recent build and everyone advised against it. I was recomended the 630 watt Corsair. I love it!