Chaptorial

Distinguished
Oct 3, 2007
7
0
18,510
Well after about 2 1/2 years with my current PC (AMD 3500+, BFG 6800 Ultra) its time for an upgrade. I've been doing some research over the past few weeks and due in no small part to the information I've gathered from this site as well as quite a few others I believe its almost time to put the order in.

This PC is going to be used mainly for surfing the web and for gaming. For me personally 150GB of storage is plenty, no interest in SLI and most likely will be OCing the CPU but nothing extreme. I already have a monitor, keyboard, mouse, network card as well as optical drives. Still on the fence as far as making the switch to Vista so for now I'll stick to XP.

Had a budget in mind of around $2k and I think, prior to shipping, I'm right in that general area. Any and all advice on some last minute changes to what you see below is much appreciated.


Case: $239.99

COOLER MASTER Stacker 832

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119121


CPU: $277.99

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017


CPU Cooler: $55.99

Thermaltake CL-P0401 110mm Full-Range Fan CPU Cooler

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106102


MotherBoard: $109.99

GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059

(Anyone know how the onboard sound is with this Mobo?)


PSU: $169.99

CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX 620W Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139002&Tpk=CMPSU-620HX


GPU: $529.99

EVGA GeForce 8800GTX

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130072


Memory: $159.49

Crucial Ballistix Tracer 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148070


Hard Drive: $239.99

Western Digital Raptor 150GB 10,000 RPM 16MB Cache Serial ATA150

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136034


Thermal Paste: $5.99

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007


Speakers: $129.99

Klipsch Promedia GMX A-2.1 78 watts 2.1 Speaker

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836119105&Tpk=Klipsch+ProMedia+2.1

(I'm in the market for a good set of 2.1 speakers)


Case Fan(s) 5x = $64.95

Scythe S-FLEX SFF21F 120mm

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185006
 

mad-dog

Distinguished
Oct 18, 2006
789
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18,980
2 things i don't like about that case: the power button is on top and my cat would turn the system on when i leave and surf kitty-porn;
the thick side-door really inhibits your choice of CPU coolers, I'm not even sure the heatsink you selected will fit with the door shut,
4-120mm fans in the side door is not my idea of quiet computing anyway.
The 8800GTX is overkill for you when the GTS will serve you just as well for less money.
For $130 we can do a lot better than a 2.1 sound system...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836121121
There's a reason that Western Digital named the Raptor, the amount of noise it makes spinning @ 10,000rpm.
For $240 i would build a RAID5 array using 3-320GB Seagate Barracudas and have complete redundancy in case of drive failure.
The RAM you selected is really nice and should look cool with the led's.
 

nhobo

Distinguished
Dec 5, 2006
561
0
18,980
you can get a nice case for less than 1/2 the price
the processor sweet spot is the e6750
try your OC before buying a cooler
nice simple mobo, but I'd probably get the DS3R
GTS is plenty unless you have a HUGE monitor
LED RAM - you're kidding, right?
raptor is a waste of $
nice speakers
good idea to keep XP
 
Any of these CAS4 DDR2 will do fine for your applications, even if you OC some!

Memory - $100 shipped - $40 MIR = $60!! Solid performing CAS 4 DDR2
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory – Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145034

Memory - $115 shipped - $47 MIR = $68!! Good OC’ing RAM + CAS 4 too.
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory – Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146565

Memory - $93 shipped - $30 MIR = $63!! CAS 4 and good RAM
GeIL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144062

1) Your case is too expensive, if you ask me. Get a Antec 900 or p182 for about 1/2 the cost. Even a Cooler Master case for around $50-75 would do fine too!
2) Raptors are too expensive. Get 2 500gig HD's and put in RAID 0 and you'll be just about as fast as the Raptor and have 350gig's more of space!
3) Mobo is good, but for $30 more get the DS3R, it supports RAID. The DS3L doesn't support raid, but is a nice board either way.
4) GPU is nice to have. Probably the best right now, but that might change in 30-60 days, don't know.
5) Thermal paste, if you going to do some OC later, than consider this. It runs your CPU cooler, for only $6 more.

Shin Etsu Temperature Graphs
http://www.***.com/forums/case-psu-cooling/3902-thermal-interface-material-comparison.html?garpg=3

Shin Etsu CPU Thermal Compound $12 shipped
http://www.crazypc.com/products/50118.html

6) PSU, consider these 2 options. They are cheaper and plenty for your applications.

PSU - $100 shipped - $45 MIR = $55, can’t beat for this price
Antec NeoPower NeoHE 550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, TUV, CE, FCC, CCC, CB, C-tick – Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817103941

PSU - $130 shipped Nice a quiet and cheaper from OEM, not from newegg.
ULTRA-QUIET PSU: SILENCER® 610 EPS12V
http://www.pcpower.com/products/viewproduct.php?show=S61EPS

If you want the Corsair 620, look here, it's cheaper and has $20 MIR = $127!!
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=373110

Just my 2cp's