Hey All,
I want to get my kids a new PC for Christmas as their's is my old one, that I built with a skilled friend back in 2000. It has seen better days and they need a new one. OK, that PC is the first and last I ever built and I did it with a friend who built them regularly. I am wary of building one myself but it isn't out of the question. I am, however, leaning towards buying one from cyberpower pc. The config is as follows:
Case: CM Stacker 830
PS: Thermaltake Toughpower 700W Power Supply - Quad SLI Ready[+0]
CPU: Core 2 Due E6550
CPU Cooling Fan: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro (Read good things about this)
Mobo: ASUS Striker Extreme (I am wanting a 680i chipset and from what I have read prefer this mobo)
Memory: 2X1GB Corsair XMS2 Extreme
Video Card: EVGA 8800 GT 512MB (Just one for now)
HDD: 320GB SATA-II
OD#1: 18X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER
OD#2: SONY 16X DVD-ROM
Sound: On-Board
NIC: On-Board
OS: WinXP Pro w/SP2
OK, all of the above comes to $1420 plus tax. Here is where I need your help:
1) Does anyone think I can build a better system for the same $$ or less? Or at least a comparable system for less $$? If so, what would you recommend for the config?
2) Do you think I am overdoing it with the PS? Ultimately, I will want to upgrade the CPU, GPU's, and mem one day.
3) Is the CPU overkill, not enough kill, or juuuuust right? My kids will want to keep playing there fave old games but I want them to be able to play the new ones that are coming out and will come out in the near future. What I want is "just enough CPU for now and as long as I can get away with it and then upgrade in the future."
4) I am hoping this mobo is futureproof for some CPU, mem, and GPU upgrading. Am I wrong?
5) With regard to the GPU, I believe the one I note above, the 8800 GT 512 is that new one that everyone is raving about as far as cost/performance nirvana. Is this accurate? Now, I don't want to spend the money now on two cards as I need to keep this at around $1K and I am already over that. But do you think there is a lesser card that if I buy two and put them in an SLI config it will perform better and by chance cost less? I am assuming no. I figured when this one starts to get strained that I could buy another one at that time, run them in SLI, and that might help to give it a boost in performarce...is my thinking on point or flawed?
6) Sound...to save money I am foregoing on adding a sound card...I have heard that on-board sound has come along way. Is this true? My kids don't need 5.1 window shattering sound. They will probably continue to use their 2.1 setup. Is on-board sound good enough?
7) I am thinking it better to stick with XP-PRO as I read mixed info regarding Vista. I would rather just go with 64 bit Vista and be ready for the future, however, my kids are married to many of their older titles and if going with Vista was going to interefere with the playability of those games, they would rather keep their old and tired current PC. Am I off-base on this? Has Vista finally gotten the kinks out? Or should I stay with XP Pro for now and upgrade in a couple of years?
Now, allow me to please throw something else out there as well...normally, what I do is get a new MASTER PC, the one my wife and I use (we too are gamers although I also use it for work) and then give the kids our old one. This has worked out well in the past. I made the mistake of buying an Alienware in 2003/4 and with a new video card, it is still holding up. With our PC still holding up and the kids PC basically a paperweight it is putting us in a screwy position. I don't want to replace ours yet as it is still holding tough, even though it is an AGP (I have the Radeon X1950), and I also hear of some next level type technology coming out soon so I am thinking I should hold off on buying a new one for us. But yet, I need a new one for the kids...hence why I don't want to spend so much on their's now and then need to get a new one for my wife and I in a year or so. Do you agree with this being a bad time to buy new top shelf stuff?
Well, there you have it. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!!
13BRAVO -- USHA!
I want to get my kids a new PC for Christmas as their's is my old one, that I built with a skilled friend back in 2000. It has seen better days and they need a new one. OK, that PC is the first and last I ever built and I did it with a friend who built them regularly. I am wary of building one myself but it isn't out of the question. I am, however, leaning towards buying one from cyberpower pc. The config is as follows:
Case: CM Stacker 830
PS: Thermaltake Toughpower 700W Power Supply - Quad SLI Ready[+0]
CPU: Core 2 Due E6550
CPU Cooling Fan: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro (Read good things about this)
Mobo: ASUS Striker Extreme (I am wanting a 680i chipset and from what I have read prefer this mobo)
Memory: 2X1GB Corsair XMS2 Extreme
Video Card: EVGA 8800 GT 512MB (Just one for now)
HDD: 320GB SATA-II
OD#1: 18X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER
OD#2: SONY 16X DVD-ROM
Sound: On-Board
NIC: On-Board
OS: WinXP Pro w/SP2
OK, all of the above comes to $1420 plus tax. Here is where I need your help:
1) Does anyone think I can build a better system for the same $$ or less? Or at least a comparable system for less $$? If so, what would you recommend for the config?
2) Do you think I am overdoing it with the PS? Ultimately, I will want to upgrade the CPU, GPU's, and mem one day.
3) Is the CPU overkill, not enough kill, or juuuuust right? My kids will want to keep playing there fave old games but I want them to be able to play the new ones that are coming out and will come out in the near future. What I want is "just enough CPU for now and as long as I can get away with it and then upgrade in the future."
4) I am hoping this mobo is futureproof for some CPU, mem, and GPU upgrading. Am I wrong?
5) With regard to the GPU, I believe the one I note above, the 8800 GT 512 is that new one that everyone is raving about as far as cost/performance nirvana. Is this accurate? Now, I don't want to spend the money now on two cards as I need to keep this at around $1K and I am already over that. But do you think there is a lesser card that if I buy two and put them in an SLI config it will perform better and by chance cost less? I am assuming no. I figured when this one starts to get strained that I could buy another one at that time, run them in SLI, and that might help to give it a boost in performarce...is my thinking on point or flawed?
6) Sound...to save money I am foregoing on adding a sound card...I have heard that on-board sound has come along way. Is this true? My kids don't need 5.1 window shattering sound. They will probably continue to use their 2.1 setup. Is on-board sound good enough?
7) I am thinking it better to stick with XP-PRO as I read mixed info regarding Vista. I would rather just go with 64 bit Vista and be ready for the future, however, my kids are married to many of their older titles and if going with Vista was going to interefere with the playability of those games, they would rather keep their old and tired current PC. Am I off-base on this? Has Vista finally gotten the kinks out? Or should I stay with XP Pro for now and upgrade in a couple of years?
Now, allow me to please throw something else out there as well...normally, what I do is get a new MASTER PC, the one my wife and I use (we too are gamers although I also use it for work) and then give the kids our old one. This has worked out well in the past. I made the mistake of buying an Alienware in 2003/4 and with a new video card, it is still holding up. With our PC still holding up and the kids PC basically a paperweight it is putting us in a screwy position. I don't want to replace ours yet as it is still holding tough, even though it is an AGP (I have the Radeon X1950), and I also hear of some next level type technology coming out soon so I am thinking I should hold off on buying a new one for us. But yet, I need a new one for the kids...hence why I don't want to spend so much on their's now and then need to get a new one for my wife and I in a year or so. Do you agree with this being a bad time to buy new top shelf stuff?
Well, there you have it. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!!
13BRAVO -- USHA!
The P35 is mature now and a good buy... Suggest Asus,Gigabyte or Abit boards. personally ive got the P5K-e Wifi and love it. Antec 900 is nice and open to plenty of moving room.
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