building new pc ... lookin for input

[stcyryn]

i am lookin to build a new pc ... budget around $1500

kb isn't necessary but it loox cool so if anyone has can you give me your input on how it is

also want 4gb of ram and to go intel and nvidia if possible since they are the best right now but if you can find better performance via amd and ati for the price range roughly 150 for mobo and 350 for both cpu and vid card post it if you would

thx

here are some of the things i'm lookin at:
CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115002
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115003
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115016

Mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131074
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131164
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131071

Memory:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145176
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227199
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227195

LCD Monitor:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16824001088
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16824001094
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16824001095

Case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835108092

Keyboard:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16823126179

Vid Card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814122022
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130082
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130038

PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817702005
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341007
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194019
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681717102

 

[stcyryn]

lso i am lookin for a case that is liquid cooled so i don't have to install the liquid cooling and all that

i am leanin toward liquid coolin becuz the room i play my games in gets very hot

secondly, are they any major issues using a widescreen monitor in game other than if the game doesn't support widescreen things will look a little stretched?

Also if the case has a psu with it that would be a bonus but not a requirement

 

[uberman]

CPU-6600
Mobo-almost any 965chipset just look for cheap price with the features you need
Ram-corsair good, 667 ok
Case-My choice if I was building today,thermaltake armor.Built like a tank,plenty of fans,easy to work on,knockouts for water cooling,etc.,etc.
Coolermaster centurion my second choice.
PSU-seasonic,antec,ocz,pcp&c,etc. 550 or 650 watts would be good
VC-8800GTS320 good
8800GTS640 better
8800gtx best at this point in time these are the only video cards I would consider for my build. Gts320 is the best bang for the buck now.

 

[chuckshissle]

You should go for the low price high overclocking way. Like the E4300 ($125) can be overclocked to over 3Ghz easy. A good cooler like the Tuniq Tower 120 or Thermalright Ultra-120 (both around $50 each ). Evga 680i board ($180) for stable overclocking. Evga 8800GTS 320Gb. DDR2 800 2x1Gb, why do you need 4Gb anyways? Get the Viewsonic VX22 LCD monitor, as it is good for gaming.

 

[uberman]

Never used water cooling .Most good full size cases with some good fans will be fine even with some mild overclocking.Water is good but not necessary.
Monitor-My pref viewsonic,Nec,samsung 22in. or more 5ms or less

 

[uberman]

I agree with chuck get 2gigs of ram . If you want to overclock 4300 good.680i good also.PSU's bundled with cases usually suck.Usually watercooling will have to be set up yourself but I wouldn't bother unless your temps say you need it. I personally like to set up a machine and start gaming or whatever right away with good perfomance not fiddle with overclocking,benches.Only maintenance I have is blow the dust out once in awhile.

 

[stcyryn]

don't need 4 just thought it might help with gaming and all that

any recommendations on a case if i don't go water cooling? wnat to get a good case for keeping everything cool

thanks for the info so far

 

[bigbeef2604]

You should take a look at the Antec 900. lots of people use that because of the cooling.

 

[uberman]

I would go with that Evga8800gts you were looking at.Good warranty and the stepup program

 

[stcyryn]

thx for the input guys

this is basically what i've decided on - have to decide if i want to go liquid or not for cooling and which ram to get but other than that i'm pretty set

i would go air cooled if i could find the kandalf case that way but they don't have the front door the same which sux

can anyone let me know what they think of the build and if they know if the thermaltake case that is air cooled has all the stuff already setup to mount the liquid if i go that route? i'm plannin on next year upgrading to the intel quad core and i've heard u need liquid cooling to keep them in a good range

also, is the first link to ram as good as the second? becuz if so i'll take it and the 50 mail in rebate

lastly, does anyone know of a better choice for sata hd's for gaming or ones that are comparable for a cheaper price? i'd like to get everything from newegg if possible

thx again for all the input guys

case:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811133037
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811133038

mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813188019

vid card:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814130038

psu:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817703009

cpu:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819115003

memory:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820227139 ($50 mail in rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820227178

hds:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822144188

lcd monitor:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16824001094

sound card:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16829102006

cpu cooler (if not going liquid):
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16835186134

 

[uberman]

Those are some solid choices.
1 If your heart is set on watercooling the Kandalf looks like its got all the gear but with air and the Armor the money you could save would buy a bigger monitor which your equipment would handle nicely.
2 If you are into overclocking good ram is a must but that cheaper ram you were looking at is fine.
3 PSU plenty of power.
4 8800gts320 still,I think,the best card for the money. I want one.
5 Today I would buy the 6600.
6 That rig should do just about everything you want to do.Hell my rig is a year old and even though some would say its outdated or no upgrade path it plays even Oblivion like a champ.
7 Good Luck

 

[uberman]

Oh BTW had a lot of maxtors and never had a problem.Seagate,Western Digital also.I got an old samsung thats probably 10 years old and still works.

 

[totaldarknessincar]

Let me get a crack at the recommendation.

Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112061
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112065
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112121 (Lian Li has a ton of cases that are both big, nice looking, great ventilation and all aluminum for heat, and the A10 even has 2 water cooling holes if you want to go that route. The first two are deep with one being a full tower, while the other being a mid but deep tower. Very perforated for heat disipation.

CPU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115002
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115003
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115013 (either go for good back for buck, or go for easily overclockable and save space)

GPU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130038 (seriously, the 640 GTS is overpriced, the GTX is WAY overpriced. bang for bucks is the GTS 320. Save your money, get a better Case, CPU, ram, or whatever. By the time 320MB becomes obsolete, just get whatever Bang for the buck is out there in 1-2 years.

Memory

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145034 (seriously, Why spend in the $200 bucks range for memory when you can get what he recommended at first for mid 200s. basically, if i'm gonna start flirting in the 200 bucks range for memory, I might as well get 4 GB. He may not need it now, but Memory is something you can never get enough of. And if he doesn't plan of upgrading again in less than 2 years than why not future proof yourself. Plus, 1GB is the REAL min for Vista Ultimate, 2GB is the recommened min for any serious gamers, with 4GB being the Sweet Spot for Gamers.


Sound Card:

Serious Gamer: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102005

Best Sound: Any CM 8788 based sound card. ie. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829271002

the Cheapskate: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102006

But if you can hold out a few more weeks. Auzuntech is set to release a sound card based on Creative's X-Fi chip with the added memory. And you'll get the more advance fidelity that auzentech has been known for. Price will probably be near the $200 bucks range.

 

[uberman]

Isn,t the auzentec able to support EAX now? I thought I read that somewhere.Wouldn't be right without it.

 

[totaldarknessincar]

the Auzentech X-Meridian supports EAX 2.0, all X-Fi based Creative cards support EAX 5.0. basically your losing out on 3 updates on the EAX system. Quite frankly, EAX is a Creative System anyways, so the other cards are lucky they even are allowed to support it.

since EAX is hardwired in the games actual engine, it's clearly meant to be played with it on (at least the games that actually fully support) with that said, if you are going to be a serious Gamer, stick to the X-Fi, if you want the Best Sound for Everything else but games, the Oxygen HD CM8788 cards are the kings right now. At least unless you start going into professional ranges and the prices are out of hand.

 

[stcyryn]

thx for the extra info

last question, is this good ram for overclocking?

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820227159

 

[Gh0stDrag0n]

DDR2 800 running at a 1:1 fsb ratio will give you a 3.6 Ghz OC with that processor(400mhz fsb from 266mhz fsb).To run DDR2 1100 at a 1:1 fsb ratio you would have to up the fsb to 550mhz, a 4.95 Ghz processor OC. I doubt you want to spend the money for an extreme cooling solution.

 

[Gh0stDrag0n]

i am leanin toward liquid coolin becuz the room i play my games in gets very hot

Water cooling will not make your room any cooler.

 

[stcyryn]

can anybody tell me which of these is the best board performance wise?

thx

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813131073
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813131153
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813188019

 

[alcattle]

I would say the Asus 680i closely followed by the eVGA 680i, the 650i is a good board, not all of the 650i MBs give true SLI (2x16x slots)

 

[rammedstein]

well, forget a case with water cooling because the only decent case that has any reasonable water cooling built in is the thermaltake kandalf lcs, it is pretty good for a bundled water cooler, but not really that good as far as water cooling goes, also it is probably out of your budget and you probably don't need that cooling performance... that is starting to make me wonder how well it performs compared to high-end air coolers..