I built my first system about 5 years ago. Since then I have never needed to reinstall Windows and have not needed to do any upgrades other than add an extra .5 GB of RAM to the system. But ... nothing lasts forever and the old gal is in need of replacing.
I was hip to the latest news and trends before I built the last system but since then I've kinda fallen off on the new technologies that have happened since then (which is a lot!) ... though I am slowly reading through various forums and reviews to catch up.
I am starting to plan out a rough idea of what my next PC is going to end up being. Keep in mind I am not an uber geek who absolutely must have the tip top end of every single component ... nor am I an overclocker. Though I do play some higher end graphics-intensive games so I tend to keep my video card and ram on the higher end. And my budget is limited to within reason. I shell out a good amount for the video card and motherboard but everything else needs to be about mid-range in the payscale.
I am aiming at making a system which will not need upgrading for a few years ... and if I do decide to do so ... shouldn't need to to any major system upgrades to do so.
With all that in mind, here is what I am thinking. If my thought processes are flawed on anything here please drop me a response.
-Asus Striker Extreme motherboard (Yes, I have heard it has some BIOS issues, I'm watching that carefully. If they can't resolve it I will choose a different board).
-Core 2 Duo E6400 w/factory heat sink
-2 GB DDR2-1066 ? (or maybe 800)
-nVidia 8800GTX (this is the major expense of the system)
-kworld video capture card (to record TV shows a la DVR)
-MB has built in GB Ethernet so no network card needed
-Creative Soundblaster XtremeGameer Fatal1ty Pro
-2x Seagate Barricuda 150 GB 7200 RPM SATA-150 in Raid 1 using the MB onboard controller. (This is just for the C: drive, will probably add another drive later for data storage).
-Mad Dog MD-18XTLI DVD-RW
-Generic DVD-ROM for 2nd drive
-PC Power and Cooling Turbo-cool 510 SLI (not sure about this since I haven't researched all the components and thus do not know all their power draws)
-Windows XP Pro SP2 or ... considering that by the time I save up enough to get all the components I would imagine SP1 for Vista will be out .. and all of the above vendors will have their drivers straightened out ... maybe go with Vista 32 bit SP1 (This I can likely get from work or friends for free).
All in all ... since I'm not including the cost of the Op Sys ... I figure I can squeak this system out for about $2,500. But with the motherboard capable of accepting up to quad processors and SLI video cards ... I would imagine that this rig will be upgradable to last a good long time without having to upgrade many components.
So ... first off, be nice. It's been a long time since I've gotten my hands dirty building a system from the ground up. And keep in mind I've been out of the loop for a while in regards to hardware trends. So if I'm missing some important aspects then clue me in.
Thanks all.
I was hip to the latest news and trends before I built the last system but since then I've kinda fallen off on the new technologies that have happened since then (which is a lot!) ... though I am slowly reading through various forums and reviews to catch up.
I am starting to plan out a rough idea of what my next PC is going to end up being. Keep in mind I am not an uber geek who absolutely must have the tip top end of every single component ... nor am I an overclocker. Though I do play some higher end graphics-intensive games so I tend to keep my video card and ram on the higher end. And my budget is limited to within reason. I shell out a good amount for the video card and motherboard but everything else needs to be about mid-range in the payscale.
I am aiming at making a system which will not need upgrading for a few years ... and if I do decide to do so ... shouldn't need to to any major system upgrades to do so.
With all that in mind, here is what I am thinking. If my thought processes are flawed on anything here please drop me a response.
-Asus Striker Extreme motherboard (Yes, I have heard it has some BIOS issues, I'm watching that carefully. If they can't resolve it I will choose a different board).
-Core 2 Duo E6400 w/factory heat sink
-2 GB DDR2-1066 ? (or maybe 800)
-nVidia 8800GTX (this is the major expense of the system)
-kworld video capture card (to record TV shows a la DVR)
-MB has built in GB Ethernet so no network card needed
-Creative Soundblaster XtremeGameer Fatal1ty Pro
-2x Seagate Barricuda 150 GB 7200 RPM SATA-150 in Raid 1 using the MB onboard controller. (This is just for the C: drive, will probably add another drive later for data storage).
-Mad Dog MD-18XTLI DVD-RW
-Generic DVD-ROM for 2nd drive
-PC Power and Cooling Turbo-cool 510 SLI (not sure about this since I haven't researched all the components and thus do not know all their power draws)
-Windows XP Pro SP2 or ... considering that by the time I save up enough to get all the components I would imagine SP1 for Vista will be out .. and all of the above vendors will have their drivers straightened out ... maybe go with Vista 32 bit SP1 (This I can likely get from work or friends for free).
All in all ... since I'm not including the cost of the Op Sys ... I figure I can squeak this system out for about $2,500. But with the motherboard capable of accepting up to quad processors and SLI video cards ... I would imagine that this rig will be upgradable to last a good long time without having to upgrade many components.
So ... first off, be nice. It's been a long time since I've gotten my hands dirty building a system from the ground up. And keep in mind I've been out of the loop for a while in regards to hardware trends. So if I'm missing some important aspects then clue me in.
Thanks all.