I haven't built in AGES. Looks like I finally have justification since due to the craaaaaaaazy neighbor we are installing a home security system and putting up cameras. Rather than use one of those $600 dvr boxes, I thought I'd use an old pc with a 2ghzcpu and a 9800pro, and a pci card for the cameras, and keep it in a cool part of the attic - I'd access it through a long vga cable to monitor down below, and remote desktop.


That means I can spend the same amount as the dvr box on new parts to replace my sad 2.3ghz 1gbram, geforce8600(basic) video card.


What I already have: Antec p182 case (got it to keep the pc quieter). 250gb seagate hd, 500gb wd hd. 610 Silencer PSU.


The pc parts I was thinking of getting.. Im not looking for anything outside the tried and true norm. I know most of this stuff has been around for awhile and is likely to be replaced this summer with better technology, but this stuff is affordable and considering the lawsuit we have against the neighbor, it's what let's me afford it.

I like to OC a little, because it's fun. I never push it too hard. I also like quiet and efficient. A new OS isn't in my budget, I don't mind not getting all the ram, because ram is just really cheap.


e8400
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Prod [...] e=10007603 retail 197 noship
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115046 oem 185 out of stock

gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L Rev 2.0 Intel P35 + ICH9 Chipset Core 2 Duo Socket 775 DDR2 1066 ATX Motherboard Retail
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Prod [...] e=10006307 retail 89 +6.60ship

4gb ddr2 800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231122 retail 80 noship

EVGA 512-P3-N801-AR Geforce 8800 GT 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 Video Card Retail
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Prod [...] e=10007134 retail 190-30=160 +7.90ship


I had thought to get a 9600gt, because it is well known as a very power efficient and quiet card. That quiet matters! But the 8800gt is just so cheap at 160, compared to the 9600 at 140 [http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10008092]


That puts me at 197+ 96+ 80+ 168= 541 [less cooler]

Still undecided on the coolers, and if I'll need to replace the stock coolers with something quieter. Likely so, I am very picky about noise.
Does the 8800gt draw a lot more power than the 9600gt? Is it a lot louder? If you cared about the noise and power, would it be worth the performance drop? I'll likely not replace this stuff for YEARS. I had at first thought to get 2 9600gts, but the SLI mobos are pretty expensive, and that 8800gt will probably do most everything I want for some time to come.


Nothing wrong with this combo - with the ram or anything?

Looks like a solid build to me. If you want to check out coolers, go to frostytech.com, they have a list of the top 5 hsfs, with noise information as well.

Would a Scythe Infinity [ http://www.frostytech.com/articlev [...] 214&page=5 ] fit into a p182 case?

For the cooler, go for the XIGMATEK HDT S1283 ...its the boss of coolers out there right now

For the GPU, since you said you wont be upgrading for a very long time , you could wait for th Radeon 4800 series of cards..they're very promising indeed ... and they'd be out in 3 weeks.

Yeah that DDR5 looks really promising to me, since I'm big on saving energy to keep my footprint as small as I reasonably can... but budget is a serious concern right now due to these legal battles, so I'm not keen to spend over $150 atm. I could wait a month and maybe not do much better than $160 for an 8800gt.

Prices of the 8800GT and the other cards are bound to drop further when the new 4800s arrive...so even if the radeons aren't impressive, the current cards would be much cheaper than they are now...either ways you win..... anyways not a concern, since 8800GT is a very good card indeed and its not a bad idea to buy it now for that amazing $160 price...