*skip my reflective babble here*
Well, I'm building a new PC for the first time in 5 years...
My Let me show you what's become of my computer after 5 years of abuse traveling around, banged around and tossed into a frat house. 5 years of roommates sabotaging my rig and breaking off the front door.. Note the wonderful cable job courtesy of drunken roommates and drunken adventures in general.
Take note of the artful dead HD resting on a top bay slot.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v431/dd4/IMG_1701Small.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v431/dd4/IMG_1704Small-1.jpg
I have my own place now so future computers should be subjected to less abuse. But as you can see my P4 Northwood 2.5 has to be put to rest.
*/end reflective babble*
I'm using my winter break to build this thing so it needs to be done around December. Although id like to wait till January-February when products are fresh in their cycle I don't think it's going to be an option.
I have a $1500-$1650 budget. Planning on a case that will last me for gaming during the next 3 years (hell this PC with a Geforce ti4200 runs TF2 on low settings). I also plan to overclock moderately so I've tried to research around that. This is going to be my first overclock so if anyone notices any "noobish" hardware mistakes thats why. After those 3 years I'll be deep in grad school with no time for gaming so it'll just be running Word docs and presentations I imagine for who knows how long.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Case- Up in the air really, wanted something with a mobo tray. However current choices are:
Antec P182
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811129025- I like the styling and cable management features, don't care about the noise levels though so all the noise reducing stuff would be unneeded. I also like the fact it's quite sturdy. However, cooling worries me on the P182. Especially during the summer when it's 30C ambient and I'm using air cooling. The lack of a speaker for POSTing and the fact my PCP&C silencer 750w may not fit the bottom bay also bothers me.
Oh and if anyone can confirm that the new P180 revisions are identical to the p182 they would save me much money and I'd love them for life.
Cooler Master 690
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137- This case is nice and minimalistic with the opinions of forum goers seemingly pointing towards the best bang for buck around. However I also hear it has an issue with IDE cables currently. It's not that big of a deal but still a negative. I also Googled "690 review" and found reviews that tested its thermal performance gave it a normal score. Although I don't know how it compares to the P18x
The Antec 900 I just plain don't like astheically, I think it looks like the bastard child of a truck and a pc case. Although I'll admit it's a nice case and an option if all else fails.
Any other case suggestions would be nice as well
Motherboard-
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813128059-Heard good things about it on the overclocking end and it comes with all the options I really need/want. I also hear the P35 chipset is (with BIOS updates for some mobos..) supported by upcoming processors. It's about all I need from a motherboard. Although anyone with alternative suggestions is welcomed as well.
CPU
Core 2 Quad Q6600
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819115017- Chosen for overclocking and "future protection" as well.
Cooler for CPU
Tuniq Tower 120
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16835154001- Apparently one of the best coolers out there for air OC. However I'm terrified the thing is going to snap my motherboard if I move my PC around one day.
I'm also aware of the Thermalright Ultra coolers but Lapping to fix QA issues and its increased size scare me.
Cooling compound-Arctic Silver.. Still used nowadays right?
Graphics Card
EVGA 8800GT
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814130303- Needs no introduction, might change the brand though.
RAM
G Skill 2gbX2=4gb
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820231122- I hear it overclocks well and am planning to purchase two pairs for a total of 8gb. Yes, 8gb is probably overkill but it's part of keeping myself ready for the next 3 years.
HardDrive
750gb Caviar WD7500AAKS
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822136131- Apparently on recent reviews it equaled Raptors on some benchmarks with its use of Parallel magnetic recording. Thus turns out to be a better bang for buck.
TV Card
Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116625-Just a toy I tossed in for the convenience of having TV on my PC. Completely expendable
PSU
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817703009- Reviewed
as one of the top brands on a few sites and comes with some long cables for the P182 if I choose it. However, like I said it might not fit too well. You may notice this is a tad overkill for this machine as well. This is because although the power supply calculator only says I need ~520 I'm accounting for the possibility of adding a RAID card+Extra fans+2extra SATA HDD in the future. Along with 30% capacitor aging to go with it. Might still be overkill but I'm not sure. If anyone can give me input on that I'd also appreciate it.
TOTAL:~$1640 (depending on case with included vista 64 license)
Well, I'm building a new PC for the first time in 5 years...
My Let me show you what's become of my computer after 5 years of abuse traveling around, banged around and tossed into a frat house. 5 years of roommates sabotaging my rig and breaking off the front door.. Note the wonderful cable job courtesy of drunken roommates and drunken adventures in general.
Take note of the artful dead HD resting on a top bay slot.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v431/dd4/IMG_1701Small.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v431/dd4/IMG_1704Small-1.jpg
I have my own place now so future computers should be subjected to less abuse. But as you can see my P4 Northwood 2.5 has to be put to rest.
*/end reflective babble*
I'm using my winter break to build this thing so it needs to be done around December. Although id like to wait till January-February when products are fresh in their cycle I don't think it's going to be an option.
I have a $1500-$1650 budget. Planning on a case that will last me for gaming during the next 3 years (hell this PC with a Geforce ti4200 runs TF2 on low settings). I also plan to overclock moderately so I've tried to research around that. This is going to be my first overclock so if anyone notices any "noobish" hardware mistakes thats why. After those 3 years I'll be deep in grad school with no time for gaming so it'll just be running Word docs and presentations I imagine for who knows how long.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Case- Up in the air really, wanted something with a mobo tray. However current choices are:
Antec P182
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811129025- I like the styling and cable management features, don't care about the noise levels though so all the noise reducing stuff would be unneeded. I also like the fact it's quite sturdy. However, cooling worries me on the P182. Especially during the summer when it's 30C ambient and I'm using air cooling. The lack of a speaker for POSTing and the fact my PCP&C silencer 750w may not fit the bottom bay also bothers me.
Oh and if anyone can confirm that the new P180 revisions are identical to the p182 they would save me much money and I'd love them for life.
Cooler Master 690
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137- This case is nice and minimalistic with the opinions of forum goers seemingly pointing towards the best bang for buck around. However I also hear it has an issue with IDE cables currently. It's not that big of a deal but still a negative. I also Googled "690 review" and found reviews that tested its thermal performance gave it a normal score. Although I don't know how it compares to the P18x
The Antec 900 I just plain don't like astheically, I think it looks like the bastard child of a truck and a pc case. Although I'll admit it's a nice case and an option if all else fails.
Any other case suggestions would be nice as well
Motherboard-
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813128059-Heard good things about it on the overclocking end and it comes with all the options I really need/want. I also hear the P35 chipset is (with BIOS updates for some mobos..) supported by upcoming processors. It's about all I need from a motherboard. Although anyone with alternative suggestions is welcomed as well.
CPU
Core 2 Quad Q6600
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819115017- Chosen for overclocking and "future protection" as well.
Cooler for CPU
Tuniq Tower 120
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16835154001- Apparently one of the best coolers out there for air OC. However I'm terrified the thing is going to snap my motherboard if I move my PC around one day.
I'm also aware of the Thermalright Ultra coolers but Lapping to fix QA issues and its increased size scare me.
Cooling compound-Arctic Silver.. Still used nowadays right?
Graphics Card
EVGA 8800GT
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814130303- Needs no introduction, might change the brand though.
RAM
G Skill 2gbX2=4gb
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820231122- I hear it overclocks well and am planning to purchase two pairs for a total of 8gb. Yes, 8gb is probably overkill but it's part of keeping myself ready for the next 3 years.
HardDrive
750gb Caviar WD7500AAKS
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822136131- Apparently on recent reviews it equaled Raptors on some benchmarks with its use of Parallel magnetic recording. Thus turns out to be a better bang for buck.
TV Card
Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116625-Just a toy I tossed in for the convenience of having TV on my PC. Completely expendable
PSU
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817703009- Reviewed
as one of the top brands on a few sites and comes with some long cables for the P182 if I choose it. However, like I said it might not fit too well. You may notice this is a tad overkill for this machine as well. This is because although the power supply calculator only says I need ~520 I'm accounting for the possibility of adding a RAID card+Extra fans+2extra SATA HDD in the future. Along with 30% capacitor aging to go with it. Might still be overkill but I'm not sure. If anyone can give me input on that I'd also appreciate it.
TOTAL:~$1640 (depending on case with included vista 64 license)