My personal New Build, Budget 1k ish.....Critique please

February 23, 2008 5:02:59 AM

Purpose of PC, run basic office programs, Quickbooks, word, etc.
Gaming - WoW, hopefully get into more once I have a better PC
Media Center - this will be used to store Music, Pics & Movies then feed through my xBox360 as an extender to have everything on my Home Theater System

I already have copy of Vista Ultimate w/ Media Center for the OS

Case & PSU $110 - Antec LifeStyle SONATA II Piano Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450W SmartPower 2.0 Power Supply -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

* i've always been told Antec is good and their PSU are also good, this case has 2x120 fans, seems a good deal

MoBO $80 - GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Graphics $260 (mib) - EVGA 512-P3-N841-AR GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

RAM $95 - G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
*I was told G.Skill uses the Micron chips...which I hear are very good

OS HDD - $60 - Western Digital Caviar RE WD1600YS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA-300 Hard Drive
Maid HDD - $260 - Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31000340AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA-300

CPU Cooler - $34 - ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm & ARCTIC COOLING MX-2 Thermal Compound

CPU - $145 - Intel Core 2 Duo E4600 Allendale 2.4GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

* I'm open so suggestions whether I could save money and step down CPU for my use or if this is worth,
I can get an e8400 for $190 but i have to wait - is it worth the wait???? and if I do, Do i need to upgrade MOBO to?, if so that becomes a pretty expensive upgrade all together.

DVD Drive - $34 - SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model SH-S203N

TOTAL After MIB - $1078 -

THoughts???? critique please - I'm torn on the case & PSu - but it really seems like good ste-up - dual 12v raild with 32amps on PSU - decent case with 2 120mm fans, which I could upgrade or add more later.

How much of a role does the Graphics Card play in Blu Ray & DVD playback - if I pipe it out to my 60 inch Plasma?

Thanks for the help

More about : personal build budget ish critique

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bigsur

February 23, 2008 5:14:14 AM

hey looks close to what i might do soon minus case/cpu. im building one around same budget for all around student build

i will use e2160 due to price/ease of oc
gigabyte p35 dsl -
evga g92 8800gts
ram - undecided
2 500g 7200.11drives
corsair 520vx
antec 900

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nukchebi0

February 23, 2008 5:40:55 AM

You could also try getting a single 750GB hard drive, upgrading the processor to an E8200 or E8400 (highly recommend the processor upgrade).

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coryburgess

February 23, 2008 7:30:34 AM

I hear its good, if you can, to keep your OS on a separate HD, with Partitions for swap files. The only reason i picked 150G - is that its about the same price as one half that size.

As for the E8400 - I can get one for $190 which I know is awesome, but would i have to upgrade the MOBO to really benefit from it??

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acidpython

February 23, 2008 11:45:42 AM

Well i would defiantly not skimp on the PSU. Remember the PSU is the one item keeping your whole system stable!

Something like this would keep that system stable;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Also do you need the 8800GTS? You could save some $ by getting the 8800GT what resolution would you be better at?

Also that mobo is fine with the E8400

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