1st build (wide variety of use)

[el57]

Alright I'm buildign a new pc because the one I use now is slow and can't handle the amount of stuff I throw at it. My uses are pretty wide however. I do alot of home recording and audio production, so I'm goin to be buying a moderately professional sound card. I also do extensive grpahic design in illustrator, 3dsmax, autocad, etc so the cpu must be pretty good. I also like to rip my dvd's and other home editing stuff alot as well. And as far as gaming goes I do game alot although I only play Counterstrike: source and UT2004 (although I play them ALOT by the way, and I will be playing UT2007 when it comes out). MY grafx card probably needs to be decent but I dont think I need one that can handle 1600x1200 res with full settings on and at least 80fps etc. I play both those games now on a shitty 32 mb onboard video card at lowest settings and they suit me alright (but obviously I want a good upgrade). Multitasking is probably the most important thing to me. At this moment for example I have 15 windows open and about 10 different things occuring at once (on a pentium 3 too lol)

The following specs are obviously open to change since I've changed them about 9 times in the past 2 days and I won't be building for a month or two since I need to raise the money. THe price should be between 950-1150 and not really much beyond or below that (othewise my wallet will suffer... I'm only 17 on lousy part time jobs lol)

CPU:
Conroe E6400- ~240$ (I'm not sure I can afford the E6600 although it looks sweet)

Motherboard:
ASRock ConRoeXFire- 86$ (says it supports conroe at bottom of newegg link)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813157096

Memory:
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM- 147$ (when I buy in a month I'll probably pull one with similar specs with a nice mail in rebate btw)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231051

Video Card
PNY VCG7600GXPB Geforce 7600GT- 160$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814133150

Audio Card:
Emu 0404- 71$
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00064YZVK/sr=8-1/qid=1152851470/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-2343525-9706358?ie=UTF8

Case:
COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-WW- 56$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119077

Hard Drive:
SAMSUNG SpinPoint P Series SP2504C 250GB- 72$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822152025

DVD burner:
NEC dvd burner- 31$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152058

CD drive:
BenQ Black optical drive- 11$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827101666

Power Supply:
Sunbeam RGPS-450W ATX 450Watts- 20$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817709009

Monitor:
around 130$ for something 17". I'll wait for something decent with a rebate when i buy so no point in posting anything now.

What I have now should be under $1150 although I haven't check tbh but I'm pretty sure it is.

Any other suggestions or comments?

 

[tyr86]

Spend more money on RAM and get Corsair XMS DDR2 2 GB (2 x 1GB) RAM for $198. I'd stay away from POS G.SKILL and PQI.

Video card, I'd opt for a x1800GT for your price range, or, if you can afford it, a 7900GT for $270.

For your audio card, why not get an X-fi or a 2ZS Platinum? Don't know much about recording audio, but don't you want the best/something decent?

Why get 2 drives? Your NEC burner will do fine.

Ummmm, your PSU, it's good for making your computer into a 5 second grill, toss it and get an Antec or Seasonic for $70 to $100. 450 to 550 watts will do the trick and keep you safe for upgrades.

I know I pretty much just told you to spend more money, but do not skimp on the RAM or your video card or your PSU, you'll thank me later. Especially the PSU, thats the only component to where if it fails, then it may take out other components with it, besides the motherboard.

 

[el57]

For your audio card, why not get an X-fi or a 2ZS Platinum? Don't know much about recording audio, but don't you want the best/something decent?

Well first of all the X-fi is sub par in recording due and is not geared towards that in general (it's made mainly just for listening and gaming). The emu card (also owned by creative btw) is actually probably the best sub150$ card with good recording capabilities I've heard along with the M-Audio Delta 44 (which is about 60 dollars more). I'm pretty sure on the sound card as I've tested many from X-fis to 1000$ professional cards at local guitar shops. The quality of the Emu for what I want is pretty much unbeatable at that price.

you're probably right on the PSU. The comp i have now once failed due to PSU and I definately don't want that again. The corsair looks good and I should probably get pc8000 anyway so thanks for that info.

I'll check some benchmarks for the x1800gt and prices and see if it fits my needs better.

 

[tyr86]

I'll take your word on the sound card.

Your case, HDD, proc, and mobo all seem fine to me.

X1800GT should perform better than a X1900GT but somewhat worse than a 7900GT.

Thanks for not skimping on RAM...

Also, for your intents and purposes, a name brand PSU will suffice, I don't think you'll need to spend beyond $90 or $100.

BTW, doesn't Sunbeam make toasters and bread makers and stuff like that?

You can definitely find a decent LCD monitor for under $150, not the best, and not 19", but decent nonetheless.

 

[el57]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153007

That thermaltake psu looks pretty good and if I drop the second optical drive it doesnt take much more to get it. higher wattage, better company, and I'm guessing quieter

 

[INeedCache]

If you're spending this much money, get a better motherboard. If you're not going to overclock, get an Intel board.

 

[enforcerfx]

dont go with the x1800gt or the x1900gt, i prefer either a x1800xt or a 7900GT. And defintely go with that PC8000 ram.

 

[Gary_Busey]

You could always get an X1800GTO for around $170 and flash it to an XL or XT.