having baby - last chance upgrade, please advise :)

[bananajuice]

hello all, I am about to build a new pc with the help of a friend. The last PC we built was 4 years ago and is finaly breaking down (2.8 intel, 4 gigs, ati 8550?i upgraded several times here, 120 gig ata drive)

edit: My wife and I are having our first baby in october 2007 so this will be my final chance for awhile to get a new rig.

MY budget is around $1400 - $1600

I PC game alot (mainly Battlefield 2 mods and Steam games from valve) My last pc was great and was able to play on medium setting most of the time with great Frames PS and I would like to run this time alittle better on high graphics, but Frames are more important.

I currently have a 2ms lcd from view sonic that i use.

Could u guys/gals take a look and let me know if you think i would have problems, some of this new tech (2 duo, quad, mem , sata ) is hard to figure out and I want to make sure they all work together

thanks in advance, bananajuice


Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail Model #: Nine Hundred
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811129021
Ite m #: N82E16811129021
$129.99


GIGABYTE GA-P35-DQ6 LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813128046
Model #: GA-P35-DQ6 Item #: N82E16813128046
$229.99

EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814130071
Model #: 640-P2-N821-AR Item #: N82E16814130071
$379.99

OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI ATX12V 700W Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817341002
Model #: OCZ700GXSSLI Item #: N82E16817341002
$139.99

Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 Conroe 3.0GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6850 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819115028
Model #: BX80557E6850 Item #: N82E16819115028
$329.99

2 CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) (4 total) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop
Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400C4 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820145034
Model #: TWIN2X2048-6400C4 Item #: N82E16820145034
$111.00 * 2 = $222.00

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3500630AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822148136
Model #: ST3500630AS Item #: N82E16822148136
$119.99

total = $1,555

 

[theuprightman24]

Nice to see female builders/gamers -- hope the birth goes well.

First of many?

 

[bananajuice]

i should of put a disclaimer, My wife is having the baby and I am in panic mode

I have no clue what to expect. But we plan on having 1 more aleast, but i just want to get pass this one for now

Note, she's a big gamer also. HL:S Deathmatches and Oblivion

 

[theuprightman24]

Congrates dude - I thought as much but you know had to comment.

best advice I can give you is.... buy yourself an Xbox 360 - enjoy Halo 3 for a while cause to be honest your upgrade really won't get the use it deserves and better off saving the cash until the little one is a little less demanding.

A consle is perfect as it should be simple and relatively easy to play games -- alot less problematic.

And when kid(s) are a little older then knock yourself out sit back and enjoy an amazing up todate PC thats gonna get used.

Best advice I can give you -- even though you won't take it after a year you will agree -that building a PC this was priority back then..

Enjoy your kids they grow up and move out a PC will always need you and you can miss a few years -- don't get that with a kid they grow up way to fast!

Enjoy

 

[bananajuice]

Yes, my life is about to change and I can’t wait (still nervous however)

But I still need advice on building a PC, I game and my wife knows it and is cool with it, it’s what I like to do.

However, gaming will take a backseat and never consume time over my family and they obvious come first (but babies do sleep right, please tell me they do - lol ).

Everyone tells me they grow fast and I believe them. It seems like yesterday we found out and its already been 8 months. Crazy

I currently have 360/PS3 and don’t use them too much (FPS not to good on consoles, I use to have a smart joy frag coverter to use a mouse and keyboard on the old XBOX)

 

[theuprightman24]

Yeah fair enough your going to get advice coming out of your ears soon lol


Good system - very similar to mine apart from AMD/Intel -- only thing I regert about my system is 320MB card - its ok but I always get the feeling that it should of been better.

 

[bananajuice]

Its funny, all my co-workers know i game alot online and they are counting down the days till no sleep and feed me time for me

(I made the mistake of showing them a pic of me in front of my computer with my big goofy headphones i had on)


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16836504001

lol

 

[theuprightman24]

Nice --

Its not as bad as everyone thinks -- you will know the differences in crys - I am hungrey cry and I am crying for attention sound very much different.

You willl be fine.

hey this has turned into a baby post D'oh!

 

[aevm]

Umm, back to the PC business now...

Nice build, the only thing I can add is to get 2x2GB memory instead of 4x1GB if the price difference is very small. That would allow you to reach 8 GB eventually.

OK, maybe another thing. If you expect this PC to last 4 years too maybe a Q6600 would be better. It won't be better this year, but it probably will after that as games start taking advantage of cores 3 and 4.

Congrats on the baby, by the way!

Oops, which reminds me. Get some decent headphones, you really don't want to wake the baby up with your shooting and kicking and whatever you'll do there. I really like my Shure E4Cs

 

[bananajuice]

thanks,

can u provide a link for the mem and CPU that you think would be better, and if i go with the q6600 can i use the MOBo i selected.

I only selected the intel 2 duo because my buddy who is helping me has it and not sure if getting the 2 quads will be a problem on his end trying to configure it (hes alot better in the tech area then me and i am just tring to do as much of the research as possible)

I just want to make it as easy for him as possible to build

those headphones didn't last long, for 35 bucks i just wanted to test(feel) the vibrations, it was more of gag/gimick buy.

I use these

SENNHEISER PC165 2 x 3.5mm & USB Connector Circumaural Headset - Retail (newegg sold out awhile back)

Love them, i thought paying 110 bucks at the time was a waste but it was worth it in the end

 

[theuprightman24]

Ear phones and babies don't mix-- or should I say wearing ears while the baby is crying = one pissed off wife lol

 

[bananajuice]

lol, so true,

i'll be sitting there and all of sudden, bang i am hit with dora " i'am fill of lead" the explorer toy (we had to get rid of 1 toy her parents got us)

i'll be sure not to wear them to often.

 

[theuprightman24]

All good stuff...

if you got the money go for a Q6xxx CPU and/or better get the GTX, 320MB version might as well keep the 360 going.

p.s. which do you think is better 360 or PS3?

 

[aevm]

I got this memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227195
and a Q6600/GA-P35C-DS3R.

I don't know if it's really the best choice out there. Probably not, if you want to overclock to very high levels. It is good and relatively cheap. I didn't actually pick it myself, I told the guys at the local shop to use whatever they got best for that motherboard and CPU. I'm sure newegg has more choices than a small store in Ottawa

I understand that Crucial Ballistix is a great brand if you are into overclocking, or Corsair XMS.

 

[asoccerplayer99]

I just ordered some Crucial Ballistix myself - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146565

I've heard nothing but good things about this memory. I'm pairing it with a Q6600 G0 and a Gigabyte P35/P35C.

And congrats on the baby, and good luck...Lord knows you'll need it!

 

[zeroyb]

Your build looks good, as far as I can tell.

Just FYI, Frys.com is selling Antec Nine Hundred cheaper than New Egg.
http://shop1.outpost.com/product/4991611?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

 

[starcraftfanatic]

If you want to save some money, just get the 320MB version of GTS, theres basically no dif in performance between it and 640, and remember you need 64bit Windows to get more than roughly 3.25 gigs of memory

 

[bananajuice]

Thanks,
so far this is what i am leaning towards

I will go for the cheaper video card (320MB version of GTS)

i'l take the suggestion of pairing it with a Q6600 G0 and a Gigabyte P35/P35C

Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
Cas Latency 4

next question (maybe a stupid one)

should i run vista or xp pro sp2

 

[aevm]

should i run vista or xp pro sp2

Probably Vista. You'll need it anyway at some point, because XP won't get any more security updates when Microsoft decides that's it. Might as well get it now and not pay for XP too.

Last I heard the Vista drivers for nVidia 8800 were just as good as those for XP. A few months ago it was a tragedy, but now it's pretty safe.

If you have a bunch of old devices (printer, scanner, whatever) make sure they have Vista drivers. If you find drivers for all of them on their manufacturers' sites then go for Vista.

Edit: I forgot the most important point. If you have older applications that were designed and tested on XP and you can't afford to take the risk that they might not work on Vista then stick with XP. I did, just for Diablo... I will get Vista too after the service pack is out (around December, I suspect).

 

[bananajuice]

aevm, thanks

the buddy who's going to help me tried vista (a few months ago and had problems and went back to XP, I rather go with vista myself) I am going to orded it with this build anyways and hope for the best.

I have a old cheap printer (all in one from target for 80 bucks back in the day), i''ll pick up a new one later on

mouse keybouad are pretty new.

I have a really old win 98 computer that i use for office and other apps,

my current gaming pc is mainly used for HL2:2 and battlefield 2 and mods.

 

[starcraftfanatic]

Get 64-bit windows, you'll need it if you dont want to waste all that RAM, otherwise you wont see more than about 3 gigs

 

[crazlunatic]

why not get this instead?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128047

100 bucks cheaper

 

[zenmaster]

Gratz and Condolences on the Baby - I have a 6month old.
Its both the hardest and best thing in my life!

1) Cheaper Motherboard - There are lots of nice P35 for much less.
2) Quite a bit more than you need to spend on a good case.

3) Get a second HDD. You should always have a second drive that you can use to schedule backups from your primary to secondary so you always have two copies. Even RAID will not protect you from damaged or accidentally deleted files, just drive failure. The second drive can also greatly improve performance by splitting load from the main drive by putting the swap file and temp files on the second drive.

4) Nice Aftermarket CPU Cooler.

 

[rodney_ws]

I suppose you could try to sell one of your child's kidneys on the black market in some foreign country... then you would look at your child as a bringer of new gaming rigs and not a taker.

 

[emp]

Well that's an interesting concept of how babies could benefit you... I'm definitely going to give that some thought! maybe I won't have to work at all to keep my gaming PCs coming.

Well my advice would be to drop the GA-P35-DQ6 ($229.99) and get a GA-P35-DS3R ($129.99), the only difference worth mentioning between the two is that the DQ6 can support Crossfire configurations while the DS3R can only support single card setups (Doesn't seem to be an issue for you).

You've already been pointed in the right direction with the Q6600 and seeing how you're going to need this thing to last a while, I suggest you go for the GTX with the money saved from the motherboard.

BFG Tech BFGR88768GTXOCE GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143080

Also to save some money and get a better quality PSU in my opinion because newegg sells PSUs way too expensive (Im assuming you will cash in the rebate)

Corsair HX Series CMPSU-620HX 620W Power Supply Retail ***Free Shipping***

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=373110

OR

ANTEC NeoPower 650 Blue NeoPower650Blue 650W Power Supply Retail ***Free Shipping***

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10006251