PLEASE REVIEW MY SYSTEM...

[mastermind59]

Intel BOXD975XBXLKR Socket T (LGA 775) Intel 975X ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Model #: BOXD975XBXLKR
Item #: N82E16813121016
$259.99

NZXT LEXA-NP Black/ Silver Aluminum Construction Plastic Front
$129.99

Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
$229.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) ST3320620A 320GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive - OEM
$94.99

eVGA 256-P2-N615-TX Geforce 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
$129.99

OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI ATX12V 700W Power Supply -Retail
$154.99

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Standard System Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ - Retail
$234.99

Subtotal: $1,234.93

Am I forgetting anything? Is everything compatible, please help me out incase I overlooked anything or any improvements I can make. Your help is greatly appreciated!

(this computer will be for music production, video/graphics editing and possibly a little gaming on the side, i left the audio out on purpose because I will be using a pro audio card)

 

[dmacfour]

you probably don't need that big of a harddrive.

 

[rwaritsdario]

The Asus P5W DH owns any Intel motherboards at stability and features. Get it a zipzoomfly.com for cheaper than the one youve picked.

Raptors have one of the worst $/performance ratios on earth. Get two 7200.10s instead and run them in a RAID 0 config.

I think you can get away very safely with the 600W version.

That RAM you picked is CL5, you will want DDR2 800 with 4-4-4-12 timings. Another Gskill kit happends to be the cheapest one right now.

It seems like you forgot your CPU :lol:

 

[1Tanker]

The Asus P5W DH owns any Intel motherboards at stability and features. Get it a zipzoomfly.com for cheaper than the one youve picked.

Raptors have one of the worst $/performance ratios on earth. Get two 7200.10s instead and run them in a RAID 0 config.

I think you can get away very safely with the 600W version.

That RAM you picked is CL5, you will want DDR2 800 with 4-4-4-12 timings. Another Gskill kit happends to be the cheapest one right now.

It seems like you forgot your CPU :lol:

He'll get that once the system is up and running stably.

 

[mastermind59]

lol.. i'm going with the e6600 i forgot to mention that. Are raptors really that bad, by all means if the seagate is going to perform better speed wise i'll go with that and save the money. About the motherboard, i keep hearing so many different things its confusing the hell out of me. What is the best option Asus p5w or Gigabyte DS3 or intel? Please help me make a decision here so I can order it..

 

[rwaritsdario]

Even that they spin faster, everything else is worse than Seagate 7200.10 trust me youll be better served with two of this in RAID 0.

It all depends if youre overclocking. Since the Intel motherboard is so expesive and doesnt do anything exceptional I wouldnt recommend it.
If you arent OCing or just a tad get the DS3, but if you want the edge at it plus the other features bundles with the P5W DH then thats what youll get.

 

[mastermind59]

I won't be overclocking, what other advantages does the asus have over the gigabyte? What memory would I go with if I went with the giga?

I'd like to go with 4gb's of ram if that changes anything..

 

[rwaritsdario]

If you wont be overclocking at all you might as well just go with dual channel DDR2 533 with low latency (3-4), because there isnt any real performance boost to expensive RAM, unless that youll reach higher overclocks.

You could pick btw the DS3 and the Asus P5B Deluxe they both are very stable. Just pick one you like the best.

Dont go for 4gigs right now. Not only Windows XP Pro 64bit can handle it well due that it has so many bugs.
Go with two and get the other two if you still need them when Vista comes out.

 

[CJK79]

Even that they spin faster, everything else is worse than Seagate 7200.10 trust me youll be better served with two of this in RAID 0.

Are you absolutely sure you want to go with raid 0 for a system drive? I speculated with this too but realized there are factors like access time and R/W performance to consider.

If I've understood it correctly raid 0 will increase your total throughput but increase access time. And then there's the increased risk of data loss...

I'd go for a smaller raptor and have only windows on it and then raid 0 a couple of large enough drives for fast audio and video editing where you really want that monster throughput 8)

 

[mastermind59]

ok here is my latest selection, please someone reccommend the best video card under 300 bucks, and once again please review my choices and let me know anything i may have overlooked.. i want to order asap tonight.

Also, do I need to purchase a heatsink/fan or anything else?

NZXT LEXA-NP Black/ Silver Aluminum Construction Plastic Front Panel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Model #: LEXA-NP
Item #: N82E16811146018
$129.99

2 Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Model #: ST3320620AS
Item #: N82E16822148140
$189.98

OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI ATX12V 700W Power Supply -Retail
Model #: OCZ700GXSSLI
Item #: N82E16817341002
$144.99

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM
Model #: ARCTIC SILVER 5
Item #: N82E16835100007
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$5.99

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL4D-2GBPK - Retail
Model #: F2-6400CL4D-2GBPK
Item #: N82E16820231087
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$259.99

GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Model #: GA-965P-DS3
Item #: N82E16813128012
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$142.99

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 - Retail
Model #: BX80557E6600
Item #: N82E16819115003
Return Policy: Processors (CPUs) Return Policy
$317.99

Subtotal: $1,191.92

Would I be better off going with a 74gb Raptor for my system drive?
Raid is not an option because I found out pro tools software will not work with raid.

Once again please any suggestions, feel free to let me know, I would like to order tonight within the next few hours. Thanks, to everyone who has helped me so far, I appreciate the help.

 

[mandraque]

it looks nice, but i would hold up a bit....i wish i had money to upgrade my pc right now....

 

[mastermind59]

hold up? what do u mean?

 

[mastermind59]

anybody...? I'm about to order this, please someone give it a quick look...

 

[aShiQ]

Graphic Card Under $300:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130065

Can be overclocked to be faster than the 7900GTX which costs on average ~$450.00. Not to mention its a pretty damn good card for the price.

 

[mastermind59]

alright, well this is what i ordered, hopefully i don't have any problems and everything works great:

Qty. Product Description Total Price
Item(s) shipped from CA Tracking Number:
1 eVGA 512-P2-N573-AR Geforce 7900GTO 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - RetailItem #: N82E16814130065
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy $249.99
1 NZXT LEXA-NP Black/ Silver Aluminum Construction Plastic Front Panel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Item #: N82E16811146018
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy $129.99
Item(s) shipped from NJ Tracking Number:
1 G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL4D-2GBPK - RetailItem #: N82E16820231087
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy $259.99
1 OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI ATX12V 700W Power Supply - Retail
Item #: N82E16817341002
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy $154.99
2 Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Item #: N82E16822148140
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy $189.98
1 Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEMItem #: N82E16835100007
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy $5.99
1 ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler - RetailItem #: N82E16835186134
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy $29.99
1 Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 - RetailItem #: N82E16819115003
Return Policy: Processors (CPUs) Return Policy $316.99
Item(s) shipped from TN Tracking Number:
1 LITE-ON 16X DVD±R DVD Burner W/ LightScribe and 5X DVD-RAM Write Black ATAPI/E-IDE Model SHM-165H6S - OEMItem #: N82E16827106019
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy $30.99
1 GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813128012
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy $142.99
Please be aware that Newegg does not deliver packages on Saturdays or Sundays. Delivery attempts will be made on weekdays only.
Subtotal: $1,511.89
Tax: $0.00
Shipping: $32.39
Total: $1,544.28

 

[angry_ducky]

Ditch the raptor, and change the video card to this Sapphire X1900XT 256MB, which will beat the pants off of that 7600GT.

EDIT: I see that you ordered a 7900GTO. It's a good card, providing that you overclock the pants off it.

 

[Qeldroma]

"pro tools software"


MMMmmmm Pro Tools. Man if you had said pro tools you should have ordered an Apple. Kidding! KIDDING! LOL Im gonna get eaten alive for saying that.

My bro runs pro tools off of a G5 Laptop. He loves it.

BTW Are you getting an M-Audio Soundcard? If not what are you getting?

 

[mastermind59]

I have the digi 001 soundcard which is a bit old but still does the job, I plan on getting an RME soundcard... those have the best converters and overall quality, either that or getting an apogee a/d converter for the digi.. we'll see. I considered a mac, for logic pro 7 but for the price and having to buy all the software plugins and vsti's which i already have for pc it was way out of my budget even with the student discount. As far as m-audio i avoid them for anything other than their midi controllers, their soundcards aren't so great.