Hey guys,

My computer died on me yesterday, and I really don't want to spend money fixing an outdated system any more with so many good options currently available to me. This is going to be another general purpose / gaming rig. I'm trying to keep the budget under $1200 for just the machine as I have everything else. One thing I'm concerned about is that I do want a barebone because I travel during the holidays and want to bring my computer with me between school and home. I realize that this is going to create potential hassle in terms of getting gfx cards that will fit, but I don't like the idea of having to check in a tower for the plane ride

Here is a preliminary list but I'm hoping that I won't have to make too many changes to it.

CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6750 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115029
$194.99

Barebone - Shuttle SG33G5 PRO Intel Socket T(LGA775) Intel Core 2 Quad / Core 2 Duo / P4 / Celeron 400 Intel G33 2 x 240Pin Intel GMA 3100 Fingerprint recognition speed-link Barebone - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6856101042
$349.99

Memory - GeIL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820144062
$79.99 (with $35 rebate)

Hard Disk - Western Digital Caviar RE WD3200YS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136053
$89.99

Video Card - I want the 8800GT but I am not sure how long the wait is going to be for restock. I am debating on settling for an 8600GT for now, but feedback is really appreciated here

Optic Drive - ASUS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model DRW-2014L1T - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827135156
$39.99

Power Supply - Looking for suggestions here.

Thus far, without the price of the power supply + video card factored in totals to 754.99. This is where I'm stuck. I'm expecting to spend about 100-150 on the power supply and anywhere between 250-300 for the 8800GT. As an added note, since the case is small and cooling won't be that great, I plan on running it at stock for the most part.

Thanks in advance for the help!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341002
good powersupply for ya. 8800GT is around 280 probably. Everything else looks fine.

The unit in the shuttle case doesn't look like a standard ATX unit. Looks too thin IMO. Plus there is no room for the power switch on a normal PSU. You may want to consider something else.

You could get the Thermaltake Lanbox Lite and a G33 mobo for less (50 for the case and 135 for the mobo). And then you would be able to use a standard PSU in the system since the Lanbox uses ATX units.

Thanks a lot. I think I'll go ahead and swap to the Lanbox Lite and the OCZ PWS.

Thinking of using this P5K Mobo
ASUS P5K-V LGA 775 Intel G33 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131184
$134.99

The only problem that remains is how long I have to wait until the restocking of 8800GT's take place

it wont take long, give it a week

The Lanbox looks great:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811133044

Other options would be:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] toreType=1

Some of the Apevia have a 120mm fan that will help a lot in cooling the 8800GT which idles around 55-60'c. Any of the above support standard ATX PSU.

Any of these can handle an 8800GT PC:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139003
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341010
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817104037

Keep the bundled psu as a backup for troubleshooting.

The P5K-V is a good board with a lot of upgrade options, unlike the shuttle board.

One thing I want to double check is whether the 8800GT will run on the p5k since it is pci2.0 whereas the p5k is pcie16x

Of course it does. it's running in my pci-e 1.1 mobo.

One positive point - you could get an eVGA 8800GTS and then in two months, upgrade with their plan to a 8800GT. Since it is "at value of the purchase", you should pay about $50.00 for a very decent upgrade when the GT becomes more prevalent.

Of course, I'm a big fan of eVGA cards, as OCing them and frying them does not void the warranty of the card. The only way to void that warranty is to stick it in the microwave or a toaster. Thus, good investment.

Everything in your setup is pretty similar to the SSF I am building save for the CPU - I decided to spring the extra green for a 6600, as it has a good rep amongst OCers and seems like a good bang-for-the-buck entry into duo or quad core. That's not to say the 6750 is bad, I jsut never looked into it.

I think I'm going to just wait it out on the 8800GT but I'm quite torn about it. I really don't want to wait another week as I'm dying without a computer at the moment. It's a hassle to have to wait around for friends to lend me their laptops for short durations too.

Btw, does anybody have any preferences on which brand 8800GT to get? I was thinking either the Leadtek one or MSI. I don't plan to OC much with this set up as it'll probably be pretty hot already.

http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews/8800GTs/index.php

EVGA has got the Step-up program so thats something to keep in mind. That solves your waiting problem as you could pick up the 8600 and move to a better 8X00 later depending on your impression of the 8600.

Im with tron on the graphics card just settle for a good 8600 then upgrade later thats what im doing. I reccomend the Gigabyte 8600gt silent pipe 2 or the gts version for about 60-80 more

I'll probably just wait it out since I've pretty much gotten used to camping the school library's computers by now.

One thing I just realized I forgot to ask about is whether I should just leave my cpu with stock cooling or invest into something a bit better. I don't plan on OCing much if at all, but I do want to try to keep the overall temperature a bit lower.

camping the school library's computers

Those were the days.

I'm wondering if I could fit a Zalman CPU Cooler and manage to fit it in the case or whether just having arctic silver will be fine

and no camping the library computers just isn't what it used to be