1st Time Build-High-End Computer-Need Component Feedback!

[AJAX]

I am a first time computer builder and new member to the forums. My occupation is a web developer and my laptop computer is just not cutting it for freelance development work or gaming anymore. I am planning on building a high-end computer for primarily development and gaming purposes. I have a budget of around $2500 for everything. I've done some research and came up with the following configuration (not including the case) and the roughly expected prices:

DVD-R/CD-RW Drive ($30-$50)
DVD-RW +_ Dual Layer Drive ($50 - $100)
Intel EX6800 CPU (Possibly E6700 CPU) ($900)
ATI X1950 XTX Graphics Card - Crossfire ($380)
200-400 GB HD ($80-$100)
600W Power Supply ($140)
2GB DDR2-800 Memory ($250)
Intel D975XBX2, ABIT AW9D-MAX, or Asus P5W DH Deluxe Motherboard ($200)
2 19" LCD Monitors ($300)

This configuration puts me just under $2500 for the entire system. I am looking for any feedback, recommendations, or other possible configurations. I figure the DVD-Drives, HD, Monitors, and Memory sticks will be pretty comparable accross brands, but I am open to suggestions. Likewise, I'd very much appreciate possible recommendations on a good power supply to buy. This being my first time building a computer, I just want to make sure I don't overlook anything and I want to get the most for my money. Thanks in advance!

 

[LabaR]

I would opt for a Geforce 4 8800 card, but I guess you know your needs better than I do in that area. I would also save myself a couple hundred dollars and get a E6600 processor. But again, you know your needs better and if you have the money to spend, I suppose you should just go for it.

 

[skyguy]

Definitely get the 6600 instead of the 6800.....big waste of money there. You can overclock the 6600 way past the 6800 without breaking a sweat. And if you're not into overclocking, then the 6600 will kick A$$ and at a MUCH lower cost. Truly.

Use the money you save there to upgrade that video card to an 8800GTS. Don't bother with "high end" DX9 cards anymore, it'll be a waste.

Get a GOOD quality PSU, don't skimp on that for this system.

What about RAM? Again, if you're overclocking, get DDR2-800. If not, then get cheaper 667 RAM and a cheaper mobo too. I assume you are overclocking by the specs you show, because they're huge overkill if you're not.

And get 2 hard drives, not one big one. BACKUP DRIVE. Your primary drive takes a dump and you're screwed. When spending this much money, cover your butt and get 2 250gig drives, not 1 big one. EVER.

 

[AJAX]

I was looking at the GeForce 8800 cards and they seemed to perform just about as well on the benchmark tests (as listed on Tom's Hardware) and they appear to be going about $20 - $50 higher than the ATI card. I am seriously considering the E6600 or E6700 CPU because it'd save me $400 - $500 without a significant decrease in performance. I am just trying to figure out whether the X6800 is that much better to warrant the extra money, or will it be a $200 processor in the next 6 months to a year - especially with the expected Quad Core release from AMD this year.

 

[AJAX]

Thanks for the feedback SkyGuy. Any recommendations on a power supply?

 

[LabaR]

For powersupply just make sure your getting one that doesnt have detachable connectors. its sorta popular right now, but most people are against them. Also biggest thing to remember with the cards you are looking at getting and the 8800 is the 8800 is DX10, the ones you are getting are DX9. By march when its expected ATi to release their DX10 cards, and Nvidia to release their budget DX10 cards all DX9 cards are going to see a fairly big price drop. DX10 is the future...DX9 is not

 

[AJAX]

Thanks for all of the great feedback. I'm going to probably get the E6600 processor and a the 8800 card now. I'm not sure I can wait until March for the new releases because I am at a standstill with my development work until I upgrade, but maybe I can hold out . No pain, no gain, right?

 

[LabaR]

haha, yep, i think you are making a good choice by switching to those though. I don't have quite as much money to burn, i'm actually planning on just buying me a 7600GT for 90 bucks right now and then maybe by next year upgrade to to something DX10. But if your looking to spend nearly 400 or more on a video card now, DX10 is defidently the way to go and then 8800s are the only thing at the moment thats offering it

 

[LabaR]

One last thing...if your not planning on upgrade to Vista, then the whole DX10 thing might now matter, someone more in the know will have to fill ya in on that.

 

[Newf]

Just because you have $2500 doesn't mean you need to spend it all. You will be amazed how fast the E6600 is.
Here's a list of components that will do what you need. Prices are a week old though.

Gaming Box $2000:

Conroe E6600 2.4GHz 4MB Boxed $316+0 1/19/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115003

Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 LGA775 965 Conroe $149+6 1/19/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128012

Kingston value DDR2 2G 800 1.8v KVR800D2NK2/2G $279+5 1/19/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820134117
OR
No plans to overclock? Then use this:
Kingston value DDR2 2G 533 KVR533D2N4K2/2G $218+5 1/19/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820144157

EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR 8800GTS Retail $400-30+6 1/19/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130071

Creative X-Fi Gamer Retail $90+7 1/19/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102006

WD Raptor 150GB 10Krpm/16MB $220-30+0 1/19/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136012

WD WD500AAKS 500GB/16MB 7200 SATA $160+0 1/19/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136073

Lite-on SHD-16P2S IDE Retail DVD-ROM $20+6 1/19/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827106027
Set up as Boot Drive for OS...

Lite-on SH-16A7S-06 SATA DVD RW $36+6 1/19/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827106046

NEC 1.44MB Black Floppy $6+6 1/19/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16821152005

Antec P180 Silver $120+16 1/19/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129154

OR
Chenming CMUI-P-601AEB-0 Blk SOHO Tower w/o PSU $60+16 1/19/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811125480
(Few here at Tom's like this case, but it's a goodie.)
AND add these fans:
(2) Scythe 3110KL-04W-B19-EB1 80mm 1400rpm Fan $9+5 1/19/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835185034
one for HDD, one for side door (both intakes)

Antec TruePowerTrio TP3-550 PSU Active $100+8 1/19/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817371002

Targus 104 USB Keyboard $20+6 1/19/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16823173003

Logitech G5 931376-0403 Mouse $43+6 1/19/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16826104191

If my math is right, total w/shipping = $2,005

Obviously, many logical substitutions exist.
2x500GB drives instead of 1 + a Raptor, or just 1 partitioned 500GB.
Any brand of 8800GTS is fine. Pick the card based on price.
A single 8800GTS is faster and runs much cooler than a pair of X1950s.
Instead of the Antec psu, FSP/Fortron makes good units. Please avoid the tempting "high-bling" units and focus on what's in the box. PC Power & Cooling Turbo510 for around $200 is also an excellent choice.
Lastly, case choice is very personal. Look for lots of room for good cooling and ease of assembly.

 

[Newf]

One last thing...if your not planning on upgrade to Vista, then the whole DX10 thing might now matter, someone more in the know will have to fill ya in on that.

The nVidia 8800 series cards are blazing fast using Windows XP DX9c applications. The fact that they are DX10 cards is just icing on the cake...

 

[Santino]

Just because you have $2500 doesn't mean you need to spend it all. You will be amazed how fast the E6600 is.
Here's a list of components that will do what you need. Prices are a week old though.

Gaming Box $2000:

Conroe E6600 2.4GHz 4MB Boxed $316+0 1/19/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115003

Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 LGA775 965 Conroe $149+6 1/19/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128012

Kingston value DDR2 2G 800 1.8v KVR800D2NK2/2G $279+5 1/19/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820134117
OR
No plans to overclock? Then use this:
Kingston value DDR2 2G 533 KVR533D2N4K2/2G $218+5 1/19/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820144157

EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR 8800GTS Retail $400-30+6 1/19/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130071

Creative X-Fi Gamer Retail $90+7 1/19/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102006

WD Raptor 150GB 10Krpm/16MB $220-30+0 1/19/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136012

WD WD500AAKS 500GB/16MB 7200 SATA $160+0 1/19/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136073

Lite-on SHD-16P2S IDE Retail DVD-ROM $20+6 1/19/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827106027
Set up as Boot Drive for OS...

Lite-on SH-16A7S-06 SATA DVD RW $36+6 1/19/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827106046

NEC 1.44MB Black Floppy $6+6 1/19/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16821152005

Antec P180 Silver $120+16 1/19/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129154

OR
Chenming CMUI-P-601AEB-0 Blk SOHO Tower w/o PSU $60+16 1/19/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811125480
(Few here at Tom's like this case, but it's a goodie.)
AND add these fans:
(2) Scythe 3110KL-04W-B19-EB1 80mm 1400rpm Fan $9+5 1/19/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835185034
one for HDD, one for side door (both intakes)

Antec TruePowerTrio TP3-550 PSU Active $100+8 1/19/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817371002

Targus 104 USB Keyboard $20+6 1/19/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16823173003

Logitech G5 931376-0403 Mouse $43+6 1/19/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16826104191

If my math is right, total w/shipping = $2,005

Obviously, many logical substitutions exist.
2x500GB drives instead of 1 + a Raptor, or just 1 partitioned 500GB.
Any brand of 8800GTS is fine. Pick the card based on price.
A single 8800GTS is faster and runs much cooler than a pair of X1950s.
Instead of the Antec psu, FSP/Fortron makes good units. Please avoid the tempting "high-bling" units and focus on what's in the box. PC Power & Cooling Turbo510 for around $200 is also an excellent choice.
Lastly, case choice is very personal. Look for lots of room for good cooling and ease of assembly.

yeah pretty good recomdations but i dont know about that whole 1 8800gts is fasters than a pair of x1950xtxs, the x1950xtx can actually keep up with a 8800gts and may even beat it once in awhile

 

[mcgruff]

You don't need a powerful CPU for web development. If you're just text processing and working with lo-res graphics, anything will do from a Sempron up. If you do any programming and either have (a) large test suites to run or (b) lots of compiling to do I'd go for a low to mid range dual core.

A crucial part of a work machine is a proper backup strategy. I like to have one smaller drive for OS and apps: 80gb should be plenty to dual boot windows and the nix install you'll need (I like gentoo but everyone has their own preferences). Add a pair of ~250gb HDDs: one for data and one for backups / scratch disks. You could also RAID but I'm not sure if it's worth the hassle.

I don't game so can't advise you there. I'd probably be thinking about a separate machine for that. It would serve as a backup if the work PC goes down and - with another nix install - could be used as a staging machine for continous integration stuff or general experiments with remote servers. A high-end PC is complete overkill for that of course (at work our ancient Duron is a very capable office server) but if you've got a gaming PC lying around you might as well make it earn its keep.

 

[bberson]

get 2 hard drives, not one big one. BACKUP DRIVE. Your primary drive takes a dump and you're screwed. When spending this much money, cover your butt and get 2 250gig drives, not 1 big one. EVER.

The good news is, you're aware of the need to do backups.

The bad news is, if your main drive craps itself while you're copying data to the backup, you end up with only a partially useful backup as your only copy.

The most minimal decent backup strategy should alternate between two sets of backup media.

Otherwise, spot-on. In fact he could do well with 533 if he's not overclocking.

-Brad

 

[skyguy]

Ya, I even go a step further........have my main drive cloned on another drive that I don't touch. Then I have a data backup drive. And then a "mucking around" drive. I've been bit once too many times and now I'm paranoid

I'd rather spend $100 for another hard drive than lose invaluable, irreplaceable data.

 

[Bobsama]

You can either go with that one hard drive and do DVD-R backups (4.7gb per disc) or have two idential drives in RAID1. I would recommend RAID1... if you want speed and data security, RAID10 is best with four identical drives (drives 1 and 2 are the mains, drives 3 and 4 are backups, respectively).

 

[bberson]

You can either go with that one hard drive and do DVD-R backups (4.7gb per disc) or have two idential drives in RAID1.

RAID is not a substitute for backups.

BTW, is there any software that you're happy with for easily doing backups to DVD? Tried Novaback and although it works, it's just sluggish.

-Brad

 

[mtlboy]

Definitely get the 6600 instead of the 6800.....big waste of money there. You can overclock the 6600 way past the 6800 without breaking a sweat. And if you're not into overclocking, then the 6600 will kick A$$ and at a MUCH lower cost. Truly.
.

I was looking at the 6800 as well, but I know a bunch of people oc the 6600 here. Is overclocking really hard technically, because I'm buying a system from a place that will assemble it with all the cooling stuff I choose. After the hardware for cooling is installed, is overclocking hard for someone who is really not too good in computers? Also if I am overclocking, then wouldn't the 6800 go higher than the 6600? I mean once I am doing it, I might as well do it with the best chip out right now as long as the value is there.

 

[mcgruff]

The OP didn't say anything about overclocking.

 

[Bobsama]

Bad-Axe needs to be modded slightly (graphite pencil, anyone?) to unlock its OC potential. Non-intel mobos are generally better...

 

[dsidious]

You don't need a powerful CPU for web development. If you're just text processing and working with lo-res graphics, anything will do from a Sempron up. If you do any programming and either have (a) large test suites to run or (b) lots of compiling to do I'd go for a low to mid range dual core.

Totally true for PHP Web development, maybe other types too. However, based on the OP's username, I suspect he's working with Visual Studio.Net 2005. If that's right, I'd recommend E6600 with 4 GB of RAM. That compiler really suffers with a slow CPU and only 2 GB.
As for the graphics, I really love the 8800 GTS. I understand that the Vista drivers are not exactly high quality right now, but for XP it's a great card.

 

[AJAX]

I do plan on overclocking. Also, for development work, I will be using mainly Visual Studio .Net and SQL Server and Oracle for databases. I've gotten some really good advice and I think I'll probably go fro the E6600 and 8800 GTS with initially starting out with XP and eventually upgrading to Vista. I have in the past just backed up my files on DVDs but now my needs are outgrowing that approach and all the backup solutions have been valuable. I only put one HD in my initial specs because guess I've never really had a computer where all the data was critical. Now that I think about it, if I were to somehow hose all of my devlopment projects (especially the DB), I'd be hosed!

 

[skyguy]

MTL, OC'ing a C2D chip isn't really that hard if you're inexperienced. You just need to do a bit of researching/reading, and if you can find someone that has the same mobo as you to help you with some settings, you'll be there in no time. To push a high OC will take some time and experience though.

Also, yes ALOT of people just get the 6600 and OC it past a 6800. Heck, my 6300 matches a 6800. And yes, a 6800 will probably OC higher than a 6600, but there's 2 problems with that. 1) the higher-rated a CPU, the less proportionate an OC you will get; 2) the price difference between the 6600 and 6800 when you look at the OC'ing potential makes the 6800 cost difference a foolish investment. If you're gonna spend that much money, it will be easily beaten by a $300 CPU in a year or so. So why bother wasting that much money? You can get a MUCH, MUCH cheaper 6600 and OC it past a 6800 no problem. And the difference between a 3.4 ghz 6600 and a 3.7 ghz 6800 in real life performance is not very much.

So, the question is: Are you willing to spend $600 more for a CPU that will finish encoding a DVD or WinZipping a file 30 seconds faster? Is that 30 seconds or less worth $600 to you??? If it is, then you are one RICH dude. If not, then get the 6600 and OC it

 

[AJAX]

If I get the 8800 GTS card, do I need to worry about building an SLI machine? Or is the value of building an SLI compliant machine only marginal?

 

[skyguy]

Don't bother with SLI unless you got a 24" monitor or bigger. No need. Poor waste of money as you described.....might as well sell it later and get one better card than two lesser ones. Wise call there.

Besides, the 8800GTS spanks. It's the 2nd fastest card on the market. If it can't handle your resolution and games, then something's wrong in the world