Building New Computer From Scratch

[browny11]

Hey guys and gals,

I'm kinda new to this whole computer building thing, so please bear with me...

I'm going to university soon, and have about $2000 on hand. I'd like to build a computer with this, but don't really know exactly how much bang i can get for my buck.
I know how to build a computer once I have the parts, and i know what i need, as in m/board, RAM, all that stuff. What i was wondering is if you guys would help me on a specific configuration that would suit the Q6600, like a specific graphics card, ATI or Nvidia, good motherboard to buy, all that stuff. The works, pretty much. I can put it together once i have it all.

I found this up on a website somewhere, can you guys tell me what you think?

Motherboard: Gigabyte P35-DS3P(Pro)
Processor: E6750
Graphics:2x 512mb 2900xt XpertVision
Sound Card: On Board.
RAM: 2G Kit(2x1G) OCZ System Elite 800
Hard Drive: Seagate SATA 400G
Optical Drive: Pioneer IDE 18x 112D
Case:Thermaltake Soprano VX
Power Supply:Antec TP3 Trio 650W

That's the bare bones of it... I'd like to put in the Q6600, but feedback welcome. This list was also posted in May, so it may be a bit out of date. I have no idea.

 

[99tollap]

Looks very, very nice. I would say maybe change the graphics cards to Ati 3870xt's as they're cheaper and more powerful then the 2900xt.

Mobos excellent, as is processor. If you can spare an extra bit of money, upgrade to 1000mhz ram at least.

Id buy an aftermarket cooler as well though to give you a bit more overclocking headroom (arctic cooler 7 pro).

 

[Rudster8161]

what are you going to be doing with this computer exactly? you plan on gaming? are you taking any CAD\Graphic Editing\other computer classes?

 

[MikeReiner]

and with that kind of money you might as well spring for a better sound card.

The X-Fi series from creative labs is pretty nice.

 

[browny11]

what are you going to be doing with this computer exactly? you plan on gaming? are you taking any CAD\Graphic Editing\other computer classes?

It'd be games, CAD, possibly some photoshop. The actual degree would be either mechanical or chemical engineering.

 

[Rudster8161]

no need to go too crazy on the video card, i say a 8800GT would do you very good. very good performance per dollar. since your a college student now, your going to want to say every last penny you have. there is NO need to spend 2000$ on a computer whatsoever. your going to need a lot of money to make it through, even if your parents are paying full tuition other costs are pretty high. specially if you cant find a good paying part time job.

 

[browny11]

Sooo.... You're saying just the single 8800GT. How much would one of them cost me, and what's the performance difference to the other two ATI cards?