So I finished this build

[hydroshock]

https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=4168526&WishListTitle=Build

Looks good to me, any suggestions to cut costs? I picked that ram as it was suggested for OCing later on if I wanted to. Also the mobo I don't know much about, but it was the first one I came across that had 2x PCIe slots.

 

[hydroshock]

well I was planning on throwing another 1gb in later also and um, what case would suggest? I'm looking to just buy the case and PSU together, I don't mine an extra $20 or so in a bigger PSU with the case.

 

[hydroshock]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129155

I really don't care much about how the case looks, what kind of PSUs are good to buy seperately? I do have a nice looking case already but it's an older smaller PSU.

 

[SciPunk]

"Also you may want to get 2 512mb sticks of RAM instead of a single 1 gb stick. Then the RAM can run in dual channel and you will get better performance from it."

Agreed. Ram really ought to be installed in pairs so you can take advantage of dual channel.

Of course you still need to spring for an opperating system (unless Linix is the plan).

Do you plan on mirroring the two hard drives? Or using one for OS and apps, and the other for data?

 

[hydroshock]

Oh yeah I forgot to mention, the 2HD will be RAID 0, I already have several copies of windows at home, I don't need to worry about that =P.

Ummm so would buying a pair of 1gb sticks work better? I sopposed since i'm buying on credit I can just pay for that later anyhow >.>.

 

[purdueguy]

The case/PSU that mpilchfamily is referring to is probably the Antec Sonata II with a 450W PSU. You can find it for $106 at pagecomputers.com. This is over 20 bucks cheaper than Newegg.

EDIT: Newegg has an instant savings of 10 bucks putting this case 13 bucks more than pagecomputers.com.

Personally, I don't think SLI or Xfire is worth it. You can save almost 60 bucks right of the bat by getting the ASUS P5B-E, Abit AB9Pro, or the Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3.

But if you want SLI capability then this ASUS P5NSLI - $120 is the only board that I know of that will currently allow you to use SLI with a C2D. Though this might have changed. Don't know. It's 80 bucks cheaper than the ASUS P5B Deluxe which would allow you to get 2x1GB sticks of memory.

You never mentioned overclocking. That memory will only be beneficial if you overclock. If you don't plan on overclocking then this PQI Turbo 2x1GB for $180 is a bargain.

For the video card, I'd get the X850XT PE for $126. It's faster than the stock 7600GT. Against the OC'd XTX 7600GT, I would assume it'd still be faster since the X850XT PE pretty much destroys the stock 7600GT.

These benchmarks only allow you to choose the X850XT vs the 7600GT. The X850XT PE is only going to be better.

Now, if you have to have a card with SM3, then the 7600GT is the "mainstream" card to get.

I'd recommend getting the Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 250GB Perpendicular Drive - $80. It's only 10 bucks more but it's better than the one you selected threefold. First, it has 50GB more space (more bang for your buck). Second, it has 16MB of cache instead of 8MB. And third, it's a perpendicular drive.

The E6400 is a good choice.

Total: $912 (with P5NSLI mobo) or $35 more than the system you put together.

EDIT: If you have a case that you can reuse, then get this Enermax Noisetaker II - $89. This is only 17 bucks less than the combo but this PSU is much better than the one that comes with the Antec case.

 

[hydroshock]

Wow you just went and threw everything around lol.

I did mention future over clocking first of all.

I'm also not looking for extended drive space, I got 200gb right now and it's more than enough, i'm lookin for read performance from stripping the data on RAID 0. I don't know the performance difference with a perpendicular drive so some info on that would be nice.

As far as the video card, on those benchmarks the only place I see it really be 'destroyed' is in Oblivion.

Edit- Oh were you suggesting I get 2x of those drives instead? Reviews saying it's loud drive, I was looking for quiet ones that were good =X.

 

[TSIMonster]

I second the x850xt pe. Also, I didn't see an optical drive, check out the NEC 3550A (I believe thats the model) For case, the Antec Sonata is a GREAT deal

 

[SciPunk]

Oh yeah I forgot to mention, the 2HD will be RAID 0, I already have several copies of windows at home, I don't need to worry about that =P.

Ummm so would buying a pair of 1gb sticks work better? I sopposed since i'm buying on credit I can just pay for that later anyhow >.>.

Striping (RAID 0) is risky. If/when either of those two drives breaks, you loose EVERYTHING... your OS, your apps, your data, all your MP3s and family photos... EVERYTHING. Consider that carefully when opting for the speedy configuration. Unless you are doing audio/video work, RAID 0 is probably overkill. You won't see a huge performance increase in most game applications. Of course, you will see a perfomrance increase in DISK INTENSIVE applications, but most home users don't need this.

And yes, I would bite the bullet and go for two 1gb sticks.