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Buying System Today - Final Advice Needed

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For my first gaming config; primarily used to play WoW and other strategy games.

I think this is a nice setup for the price. I may be experimenting with OCing down the line but nothing extreme. Please advise. I will be in eternal gratitude.

Here are my questions:

The thing that stopped me from buying this today was that I may want to run RAID 0 or 1.

Should I buy an x38 Mobo for this? If so, which?

Also, I want to run dual monitors in the future and allow for expandability. I also am interested in HDMI connectivity.

Can this be achieved with my mobo and graphics card? Is HDMI worth it?

Is my power supply efficient for what I have?

Am I getting the right OS? I want to run Vista Ultimate.

1 Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor
Item #:N82E16819115017

$229.99

1 GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard

$89.99

$1,494

1 G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Memory

-$40.00 Instant
$114.99
$74.99

1 MSI NX8800GTS 512M OC GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

$224.99
-$49.99 Combo
$30.00 Mail-in Rebate

1 ASUS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model DRW-2014L1T

-$4.00 Instant
$39.99
$35.99

1 Western Digital Caviar SE16 640GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

-$20.00 Instant
$129.99
$109.99

1 ZALMAN 9500A 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler

-$11.00 Instant
$63.99
$52.99

1 Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 64-bit English 1pk DSP OEI DVD

$189.99

1 CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W Power Supply

-$50.00 Instant
$10.00 Mail-in Rebate
$179.99
$129.99

1 Acer AL2216Wbd Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor with HDCP support

-$20.00 Instant
$249.99
$229.99

1 Logitech G5 2-Tone Laser Mouse


$10.00 Mail-in Rebate
$49.99

1 Logitech Silver & Black Gaming Keyboard

$58.99

1 GIGABYTE GN-WP01GS PCI Wireless Adapter

$16.99

Total System Cost: $1494

More about : buying system today final advice needed

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I think thats a fair price for the system. I have a similar system and have been happy with it. The PSU is fine for the system. I am not familiar with dual monitor set ups, but the choice for Vista Ultimate is great. The 64 bit version is very stable now, drivers and such have been worked out. I do not see anything that jumps out as bad with the system as you have it. Be careful on the PCI wiFI adapters. Some of them will only operate with systems that have under 2GB or ram. Not sure why. Only advice is that I didnt see a case, so you either have one or you are buying one. Make sure all that will fit in the case you get. So get one with alot of room. The GPU is a big card, some cases have issues with it. I have the Enermax Chakra and it is awesome. Enjoy your new rig.

Oh and sorry for the RAID question some people like it some dont. The main issue with it is that if one of the dirves fails then you almost always loose all the data. The speed is not really enough for me to want to worry about it.

Get an IP35 Pro for $140. It is one of the best P35 mothebroards and will let you have RAID and up to 4 monitors.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813127030

With the DS3L you don't get RAID, and there's only one PCI-E x16 slot which means only one video card which means only 2 monitors at most.

That being said, I'm not a big fan of RAID and I don't see why you'd need it for a gaming machine.

Don't know about HDMI. I'm using DVI and it's just fine for playing regular DVDs. I don't have an HD or BlueRay player.

DS3L/8800GTS will allow you two monitors, yes. You could probably use 3 or more with a PCI video card like GeForce 6200, but i haven't tried that. I don't know if nVidia's drivers can support such an ancient card and an 8800-series at the same time.

Yes the 750TX is a good PSU and overkill for your setup. Nice price, by the way. Go for it.

Vista Ultimate: it should work fine on the Q6600/8800GTS 512MB/4GB of RAM, plenty of power there.

I won't comment on mouse/keyboard/wireless adapter - no idea about them.

I don't particularly like Zalman's coolers. There are others that cost less and cool just as well and don't get noisy at high loads.
The Xigmatek HDT-S1283 is probably the best deal around these days.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003

Have you picked a case yet? This one is pretty good:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137
COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower

Great hard disk/burner/CPU/video card choices.

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Thanks for the great responses guys. Much obliged.

I like the IP35 Pro for $140 a lot. The reason I may want RAID capabilities is that I plan on doing a lot of web programming on this computer and need some form of redundancy. I also really like the dual PCIe x16 slots.

My apologies, I forgot the case. I was thinking of going with an Antec 900 case as it is extremely popular and I can pick it up at CDW. I think I'm going to stick with the PSU as it seems robust and I just don't like the looks of the one you recommended, but I appreciate the help.

Here's another question: Do I need to buy any fans along with the Antec 900? I think it comes standard with 3.

Also, in regards to the HDMI...can anyone shed some light on this? I would be willing to buy a HDMI monitor if there is a vast difference. And if so, what card would I need?

Thanks!


You're going to trade the 8800GTS 512MB, one of the fastest 5 gaming cards out there, for an 8600GT, something designed for playing movies and Solitaire? I think you'll regret it. And then you'll also realize that the case is too small to fit a powerful video card, and the PSU is too weak, and maybe the case is too small for a larger PSU, and the cooling may not be good enough for a high-end video card, etc. Those PCs also won't let you overclock, which is particularly silly with a Q6700 - one of the best overclockers out there IMO.

Look, HP boxes are great deals as long as they do all you need.
If they don't, they are bad deals because upgrading them is a nightmare.
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