My first attempt at building my own computer, could use some

[Mish]

Ok I will list what I have looked at and then add a few comments, if anyone has some helpful insight or just wants to rant feel free and thanks in advance


Mish

For a mother board I was looking at these 2 but if anyone can suggest something else that would be better for future upgrades please do.

1. ASUS P5N32-E SLI Nforce 680I SLI LGA775 Conroe ATX DDR2 2PCI-E16 PCI-E1 2PCI SATA2 RAID Motherboard
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=21494
2. EVGA Nforce 680I SLI LGA775 Conroe ATX DDR2 2PCI-E16 2PCI SATA2 RAID Sound GBLAN Motherboard
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=21081

CPU I am not sure what to do because of the prices that I hear may go down in April. I was thinking either a E4300, E6400 or an E6600. The price difference where I am from is $208, @275 or $375 respectively.

GPU I was looking at the EVGA E-GEFORCE 8800 GTS 500MHZ 640MB 1.6GHZ GDDR3 Dual DVI-I HDTV Out HDCP DIRECTX10 Video Card
but from what I have reaad on this site the 320mb has the same performance just less memory and $100 bucks cheaper. The gtx model is $200 more up here in Canada and it just seems like $675 is way to much to pay for a card especially if newer ones may be out in may that will drop the prices.

For memory I was looking at
OCZ Platinum XTC REV.2 PC2-6400 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-800 CL4-4-4-15 240PIN DIMM Dual Channel Memory Kit
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=19337
Not sure if this is good ram or if I should buy the 1033hz ram, is it really worth the extra $200?

I was looking at this for power.
Coolermaster Extreme Power 600W ATX 12V V2.01 Silent Power Supply 20/24PIN 120MM Fan
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=21183

This for a heatsink.
Thermaltake CL-P0310 Big Typhoon VX Heatpipe CPU Heatsink Fan 1300RPM 54.4CFM 16DBA LGA775 AM2 S939
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=21399

DVD
Samsung SH-S182 DVD+RW 18X8X16 DVD-RW 18X6X16 DL-8X DVD Writer IDE Lightscribe Black OEM W/ Software
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=21331

and this for a hard drive.
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB SATA2 3GB/S 7200RPM 16MB Cache NCQ Hard Drive

I have no idea what would be a good case but what I want is a quite case and I do not need a window, but either way I would not care if it had one or did not.


I pretty much do nothing but play video games so that is what the purpose of this computer would be.

Thank you once again for any answers or helpful hints you may provide.

Mish

 

[alcattle]

Welcome to the Club, we all love to hate these silly boxes.

The motherboard is overkill, I do not think you will ever use the SLI (2 graphic cards) Maybe a 650i will have the same features you need.
Cpu is your choice, you get what you pay for. If you want to overclock some, the e4300 is a nice processor, for just good speed out of the box, you might like the e6600.
Those cards are very nice. I agree that the 320 model is good for most people but in 2 years, you might need the added memory.
I would say the 800mhz is fast for all but the extreme overclocker. Youhave to run the front side bus fairly fast to use anything over PS6400.
The rest of your choices are great, good picks and will work with all the options above.
There should be some of your nieghbors by to advise you on prices and places to shop up north.

 

[Mish]

Can you suggest any good 650i motherboards? Also do you think it would be wiser to spend less on a e4300 to possibly later use that saved cash to buy a faster CPU when the prices drop? I suppose I could also buy better 800hz ram if I save money on the mother board.

 

[Mish]

Can you suggest any good 650i motherboards? Also do you think it would be wiser to spend less on a e4300 to possibly later use that saved cash to buy a faster CPU when the prices drop? I suppose I could also buy better 800hz ram if I save money on the mother board. Thanks for your response.

 

[alcattle]

HEre is a good 650i MB, but I was wrong, they still have 2 pci-e slots. Anyway ASUS P5N32-E SLI Plus LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX

 

[f1nal_0men]

I'm not sure exactly how much your willing to spend, but here are my suggestions:

-I didn't list a case to suggest, since you didn't list one. I'm assuming you don't need one.

CoolerMaster Power Supplies are garbage. They are cheap for a reason.
OCZ GameXStream 700watt
$117.61 after $25.00 MIR
When it comes to value, this PSU is right on the money. 117$ for a 700watt OCZ is a good price. While OCZ doesn't make the best PSUs, this one will definitely handle anything but a dual videocard system.

While the motherboards you picked out are good, I have to agree, they are overkill.
Asus P5N-E
$156.60
This motherboard has all the features you will need, without alot of the glamor. It does do SLI, but only at 8x speeds. If you run only one videocard, you will be granted 16x speed from the PCI-E bus. If your into extreme overclocking (3.5ghz+), then the P5B-Deluxe is probably a better choice.

All Core2Duo processors are good, but this is an area you can save some cash on.
Intel Core2Duo E4300
$208.45
With a little bit of overclocking, without even really trying, you could hit 3ghz without breaking a sweat with this setup. If you did, your CPU would compete with the X6800. No real need in getting a better CPU unless you don't plan on overclocking.

OCZ memory is cheap, and I know that why you picked it. DDR2 800 ram prices in Canada are still high.
Corsair XMS2 2048-5400C4
$198.10
While this memory isn't DDR2 800, it's still plenty fast for this setup. A little extra voltage, and I'm sure you could get this ram running at DDR2 800 5-5-5-15 easily. To get the equivalent memory in the DDR2 800 flavor, expect to pay another 130$. I honostly don't believe it's worth that kind of premium. Even if you had your memory running at DDR2-800, for a 1:1 ratio between your memory and cpu, that would give you a cpu clock of 3.6ghz.

While the 8800gts 640Mb is nice, the extra video memory just isn't needed
eVGA 8800gts 320MB SC
$362.44
If you play at 1600x1200/1280x1050, or a lesser resolution, then the 320MB will be fine... for now. It's only guessing how much video memory DX10 games will require. I am getting that exact same videocard in a few days, and I am also concerned about this, but with eVGA 3 month step-up program, by then they will have the 8900 series out (hopefully), and you can re-evaluate your videocard situation then. If you want more power, you just trade your card in and pay the difference.

Seagate 7200.10 320GB
$98.99

LG DVD Burner
$45.90

Total: $1288.36 w/taxes, w/shipping, before MIR. This is what you pay once you click the green 'accept' button.

-GO BOMBERS! WOO
(I realize I'm slightly off-season)

 

[Mish]

Actually I did not list a case because I was not sure and I meant to ask for suggestions but forgot lol.

 

[f1nal_0men]

Actually I did not list a case because I was not sure and I meant to ask for suggestions but forgot lol.

What do you look for in a case? What kind of style appeals to you? Do you want a door? Do you like pretty lights, windows, and other fancy things? Share some of your preferences.

 

[jcck]

I am doing a similiar project as you are and I found that I spent more time trying to find a case as I did anything else!!! there are so many choices and that is an area where you can get very creative and personal!!, I went for the window and lights as I am very tired of the beige boxes!!!

 

[Mish]

To be honest what I am looking for in a case is something that has lots of air flow, that is about it, I do not care either way if it has or does not have a window to be honest with you, same thing goes for lights. I really just want something that has quite fans and lots of air, that way if I decide to put the comp in my bedroom it will not keep me up at night

I am also looking at a 22 inch widescreen monitor, there's are the models I was looking at. All are about the same price except the first one which is only $300 Canadian! If any of you have experince or opinions on these let me know as well please.

Proview 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor (PL2226)
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10080443&catid


LG 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor (L226WT)
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10084258&catid

LG 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor (L226WA)
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10084266&catid

Acer 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor (AL2216WBD)
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10075933&catid

Samsung 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor (226BW)
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10084230&catid

Samsung 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor (225BW)
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10078295&catid

 

[mads_spazz]

Just an answer to your doubts about RAM: 800mhz is more than enough.
RAM doesn't offer much performance for the money. If you compare some pretty cheap and some expensive, the extra performance you get is not much. Maybe 2-3 extra frames per second, for 60-100$ more..
So don't spend money on faster RAM.
Expensive RAM is mostly meant for overclockers.

 

[f1nal_0men]

Actually I did not list a case because I was not sure and I meant to ask for suggestions but forgot lol.

Here are some suggestions:
(I'm using newegg because they have more pictures, so you can get a better idea of what the case looks like)
CoolerMaster Centurion 5 w/ window
*Good, affordable case. Comes with and without windows. Good airflow.
NZXT Apollo w/ window w/ door
*Another affordable case, looks classy and "1337" at the same time. Airflow is average.
Thermaltake Armor Jr. w/window w/door
*The miniature of the well-known Armor case. Looks rigid, good airflow. Also comes in silver (aluminum), while this model is black (steel).
Thermaltake Tsunami w/door
*More reserved style, comes with and without window. Airflow looks restricted, as it only has a few slots in the front for air to be pulled through.
Thermaltake Soprano DX w/door
*Similair to the Tsunami, this is a brand new model. Aluminum gives it good heat dissipation properties, but airflow looks restricted.
CoolerMaster Praetorian
*An older case, no window, no door. Small, loud fans, but has good airflow. A classic.
Antec P180 w/door
*One of the quietest cases. Good airflow, dual chamber design. HEAVY!
Lian-Li PC65B w/window
Lian-Li is the cadillac of case manufacturers. Extremely high quality, but high price as well. This is a very basic case, but the price is equal to that of P180, Praetorian, and other high end cases from other manufactorers.
CoolerMaster Praetorian 730 w/door
*My person favorite. I'll be ordering the same case shortly. Build quality is excellent, it looks absolutely amazing. Airflow is mediocre though.

There are ALOT of cases out there, and these are just some I recommend. I haven't even touched full-tower ATX cases. These ones are all mid-tower. Look around, check out reviews. The best thing to do is go through Newegg's list of cases, pick out a few you like, do some research on them and then you'll have your case picked out.

As for monitors, get the Samsung 226BW if you can afford it. Also a brand new model, but for gaming, there is no better 22".

 

[Mish]

They all look good.

 

[alcattle]

If at all possible, go to a store and look at cases, you would be suprised when you see a case from a web site that the size is so much different. Also local cases often save $20 shipping.

 

[Mish]

So this is what I ended up buying. It will not be shipped for 3 days so if you see anything that you think is a bad idea to buy please let me know, I appreciate all the opinions you have been giving me.


Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB SATA2 3GB/S 7200RPM 16MB Cache NCQ Hard Drive
In stock 18409 1 $99.99 $99.99

Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 Dual Core Processor LGA775 1.8GHZ 800FSB 2MB Retail
In stock 22149 1 $224.86 $224.86
Price Match Request(subject to approval) $208.45 $208.45

Silverstone Zeus ST65ZF 650W ATX12V 20/24PIN Power Supply W/80MM Fan Active PFC SLI Ready *IR-$30*
In stock 19648 1 $109.99 $109.99

OCZ Platinum XTC REV.2 PC2-6400 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-800 CL4-4-4-15 240PIN DIMM Dual Channel Memory Kit
In stock 19337 1 $224.99 $224.99

LG GSA-H22L DVD+RW 18X8X16 DVD-RW 18X6X16 DL 8X Lightscribe DVD Writer IDE 2MB Black OEM W/ SW
In stock 21044 1 $42.99 $42.99

Antec Nine Hundred Mid Tower Gamer Case 900 ATX 9 Drive Bay No PS Top USB2.0 1394 Audio
In stock 21123 1 $119.98 $119.98

Thermaltake CL-P0310 Big Typhoon VX Heatpipe CPU Heatsink Fan 1300RPM 54.4CFM 16DBA LGA775 AM2 S939
In stock 21399 1 $63.86 $63.86

EVGA E-GEFORCE 8800 GTS 576MHZ 320MB 1.7GHZ GDDR3 PCI-E Dual DVI-I HDTV HDCP DIRECTX10 Video Card
In stock 22689 1 $349.98 $349.98

ASUS P5N-E SLI Nforce 650I SLI LGA775 Conroe ATX 2PCI-E16 1PCI-E1 2PCI SATA2 Sound GBLAN Motherboard
Note: Combo Deal (22689)
In stock 22082 1 $153.70 $153.70
Shipping and Handling $56.07
Shipping Insurance with 30 Days Express RMA (3.00%): $41.97
SUBTOTAL: $1,496.97
PST(7%): $104.79
GST(6%): $89.82
YOUR TOTAL:
All quoted prices are in CANADIAN DOLLARS $1,691.58

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[Mish]

bump

 

[f1nal_0men]

Looks good.

 

[Eviltwin17]

everything looks good to me, but yeah the price drops are a good reason to wait as well as the upcoming release of AMD's new line of processors. You may change your mind as to what processor you want to use so I think you should wait and see what happens.

 

[Mish]

I actually just canceled the order a few mins after I had bumped it, I decided with all the price cuts people are talking about I will just grab a used x800xl for now and wait to see what happens.