Help me(a newb) choose the right parts for my build

[cheeseshred]

Hi guys!

I'm planning on building a new computer in the 850€/1 250$/8 000SEK(swedish currency) range. I wan't a stable machine that effortlessly handles everyday applications(MSN Messenger, Word, various media players, a billion Firefox windows etc), preferably all at once. I also wan't to be able to play new games on some higher settings. I'll be running Vista x64 on this build (if some one who knows better thinks diffrently i'm very open for suggestions). What i'd like to know is what is overkill and what is not when your not planning on overclocking etc.

So far i'm considering an Intel e6850 processor or possibly an AMD Am2 64 6000+(because of the price).
A Nvidia GeForce 8800GT.
500w PSU. I don't know which one, i want good performance/price. I don't need sli support and such, because i'll probably allways be too cheap to buy an extra gfx card.
I can do with a 250gb HD because i don't use that much space
I want 2gb ram for now but also the option to upgrade to >4gb in the future. I don't know what mobo i'm getting because i don't know what features will make a diffrence to me and which will not. I want help finding parts that will work well together and with vista 64 because i know little about that (and computers in general for that matter).

Hope my english is readable and that i haven't gotten too much techstuff wrong.
All input is valued!

Cheers

 

[itotallybelieveyou]

Q6600 is 2 extra for the same price of e6850 might want to consider that. Thermaltake is your best bet. I don't suggest getting Vista 64 but if you do get 4gb ram from the begginning. I suggest XP with only 2GB though. Do you have motherboard in mind?

 

[cheeseshred]

Q6600 is 2 extra for the same price of e6850 might want to consider that. Thermaltake is your best bet. I don't suggest getting Vista 64 but if you do get 4gb ram from the begginning. I suggest XP with only 2GB though. Do you have motherboard in mind?

Thank you for the repsonse.

I've had the q6600 in mind a while but it seems a bit overkill with a quadcore at the moment. The e6850 has delivered well in benchmarks and has a really good reputation among gamers, as far as i have read none the less. But i will keep it in mind.

Performance wise XP seems the better choice at the moment but in sweden a license cost the same, and some times more than a vista license. If i can get a XP license for free i'd go with that, but it feels a bit akward to pay >100€ for an OS the makers them self do their best to make obsolete. Is Vista 64 a bigger drain on performance than Vista 32?

I havent decided on a motherboard yet. I've heared good things about the p35 boards, any input on that? I need a good stable board that works well with mainstream apps and games and as cost efficient as possible.

What about Aegia PhysX? Does anyone have any experience with them? It's a good idea in theory it would be intresting to know if it performs in practise to.

 

[aevm]

The Q6600 is better than an E6850 for "a billion Firefox windows etc), preferably all at once."

Try a GA-P35-DS3R board.

I wouldn't buy a PhysX card.

If you want Vista get Vista 64. The only difference compared to Vista 32 is that it will be able to use more than 4 GB of RAM.

PSU: try a Corsair 520HX, for example.

 

[itotallybelieveyou]

dont get physx card unless your made of money

 

[cheeseshred]

The Q6600 is better than an E6850 for "a billion Firefox windows etc), preferably all at once."

Try a GA-P35-DS3R board.

I wouldn't buy a PhysX card.

If you want Vista get Vista 64. The only difference compared to Vista 32 is that it will be able to use more than 4 GB of RAM.

PSU: try a Corsair 520HX, for example.

Thanks for replying.

Good point about the Quad.

Heres a possible set up:
GA-P35-DS3R
Q6600
Corsair TWIN2X 6400C4 DDR2, 2048MB CL4
8800GT 256mb(will the memory be a problem?)
Corsair 520HX
Samsung SpinPoint T166 250GB SATA2 8MB 7200RPM

How can i make it better(or equaly good to a lower cost) without breaking my budget (which this one almost does)? Is it a better idea to stick with an ATI X1950Pro 512mb(which is just marginaly cheaper than the 256mb 8800GT) and wait for the upcomming cards?

 

[aevm]

GA-P35-DS3L saves you $30 or whatever the equivalent is in Sweden.
Maybe some cheaper memory.
Maybe a cheaper PSU, as long as you still get something good and powerful enough.
I'd stay away from the 8800GT 256MB and get the 512MB version. Even the fastest cards will slow down if they have too little memory.

Give me a URL where you're going to buy the parts, if you can. Let's see what they have there, especially PSU/MB/RAM. It's fine if it's in Swedish, it's more fun that way

Edit: I forgot to answer the question about the x1950pro. God no, the 8800GT 512MB is by far the best choice these days. Don't waste your money on the x1950pro.

 

[cheeseshred]

GA-P35-DS3L saves you $30 or whatever the equivalent is in Sweden.
Maybe some cheaper memory.
Maybe a cheaper PSU, as long as you still get something good and powerful enough.
I'd stay away from the 8800GT 256MB and get the 512MB version. Even the fastest cards will slow down if they have too little memory.

Give me a URL where you're going to buy the parts, if you can. Let's see what they have there, especially PSU/MB/RAM. It's fine if it's in Swedish, it's more fun that way

Edit: I forgot to answer the question about the x1950pro. God no, the 8800GT 512MB is by far the best choice these days. Don't waste your money on the x1950pro.

Thanks for the advice.

Here's the site im planing to do most of the purchases(perhaps all of them) http://www.komplett.se/k/k.aspx I hope you'll find swedish a bit more sofisticated than the swedish chef on the sessamy street make it out to be. My target is to not go over 8000kr but my roof is 10 000kr. If you have time to check it out it would be much appreciated.

 

[Shadow703793]

GA-P35-DS3R
Q6600
Corsair TWIN2X 6400C4 DDR2, 2048MB CL4
8800GT 256mb(will the memory be a problem?)
Corsair 520HX
Samsung SpinPoint T166 250GB SATA2 8MB 7200RPM

The ^ set up looks good. I would recommend you wait a while for the 8800GT prices to drop.

 

[cheeseshred]

GA-P35-DS3R
Q6600
Corsair TWIN2X 6400C4 DDR2, 2048MB CL4
8800GT 256mb(will the memory be a problem?)
Corsair 520HX
Samsung SpinPoint T166 250GB SATA2 8MB 7200RPM

The ^ set up looks good. I would recommend you wait a while for the 8800GT prices to drop.

Thanks for helping!

You're probably right. The question is when it's going to drop. It would be intresting to wait for the ATI HD3800 to and see how it measures up. Likewise with the processors, it's hard for me, who isn't that up to date on the market, to know how much the release of the penryn is going to affect the prices on the current dual cores. And with the tricore AMD comming out soon to, it might be intresting to wait and see what that can do for the price. I'll probably buy after christmas and hopefully the new stuff is out by then and has showed the things on my list down a notch in pricing, or offered me a new solution to an atractive price.

 

[aevm]

Thanks for the advice.

Here's the site im planing to do most of the purchases(perhaps all of them) http://www.komplett.se/k/k.aspx I hope you'll find swedish a bit more sofisticated than the swedish chef on the sessamy street make it out to be. My target is to not go over 8000kr but my roof is 10 000kr. If you have time to check it out it would be much appreciated.

GA-P35-DS3L, 829 SEK
http://www.komplett.se/k/ki.aspx?sku=341638

The Corsair RAM you found is good. I liked the Crucial BallistiX PC6400 1024MB too but it's more expensive.

Q6600: 2425 SEK

The 520HX is actually the best thing under 1000 SEK there, go for it.

EVGA GeForce 8800GT 512MB GDDR3, SC (includes Crysis game), 2899 SEK
http://www.komplett.se/k/ki.aspx?sku=342835

Antec 900, 1079 SEK
http://www.komplett.se/k/ki.aspx?sku=332085

WD5000AAKS, 925 SEK
http://www.komplett.se/k/ki.aspx?sku=331024

I think it's all about 9800 SEK.

Edit: I'm way too old to watch Sesamy Street, never heard that Swedish chef. I do have the complete works of Roxette and Abba though, including a bunch of songs in Swedish

 

[cheeseshred]

Edit: I'm way too old to watch Sesamy Street, never heard that Swedish chef. I do have the complete works of Roxette and Abba though, including a bunch of songs in Swedish

Thank you, you have been most helpful!

Swedish chef just cook meatballs and speak gibberish. Way to perpetuate a stereotype :lol:. It's intresting how people in different countries look so diffrently on the cultural heritage of one another. The leadsinger in Roxette for example is well known and recented for writing the most banal crap ever in swedish , that of course changes the way i look on Roxette (although i do not think roxette is crap, just the singers solowork). Abba rules though!

 

[aevm]

I have to agree with you there, those solo albums stink.

Back to the PC business: if you're not in a hurry it may be worth waiting until January. There will be a new $300 CPU called Q9450 from Intel which will be at least 10% faster than Q6600. AMD will release new graphics cards, some of which are rumored to cost less than the 8800GT, same performance, lower noise and consumption. Of course, this may all be lies, we have to wait until they are released and reviewed. Then there's the new "G92 8800GTS" from nVidia, which is supposed to be a bit better than the 8800 GTX and consume less.