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  Tom's Hardware Forums » Homebuilt Systems » New System Build » second build under $1500 for a newbie, please advise
 

second build under $1500 for a newbie, please advise

 



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 Thread : second build under $1500 for a newbie, please advise
 
Profile: stranger
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Hi,

This will be my second build after many years and I am still learning. I am planning to overclock a little if at all because I don't know how to do it, but sure would like to learn. It will be used for gaming,music, and video editing. I have a collection of old cassettes with songs and I would like to convert them to mp3 and get rid of the noise. Would onboard audio work or should I get a sound card?If I need a sound card, which one should I get? Please take a look at the specs. The motherboard choices may sound expensive but I would like firewire and/or esata ports in back panel. I would like a quite pc in a roomier case. I don't care for the clear sides but do like the removable motherboard tray. I am not sure if my choice has that available What do you think about the heat sink? My budget is $1200 - $1500. I have XP professional and planning to use my viewsonic 19" monitor plus keyboard and mouse from an old computer. Please comment. Thanks in advance.


cpu - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor - $219.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115017

Motherboard - ASUS P5K-E/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard $149.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131196

or

GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3P LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Dynamic Energy Saver Ultra Durable II Intel Motherboard - Retail Ultra Durable 2 & Dynamic Energy Saver $156.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128083

Memory - Crucial Ballistix Tracer 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail $149.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820148180

Video card - MSI NX8800GTS 512M OC GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail $224.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814127325

Case - Cooler Master Centurion 5 - Blue ATX Mid-Tower Case with Front USB, Firewire and Audio Ports $49.99
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica [...] 1&CatId=32

Power supply - COOLER MASTER Real Power Pro RS-650-ACAA-A1 ATX Form Factor 12V V2.3 / SSI Standard EPS 12V V2.91 650W Power Supply 90 - 264 V Nemko / TUV / cUL / CE / BSMI / FCC / CCC / CCC / C-tick / GOST - Retail 119.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817171023

or

SeaSonic S12 Energy Plus SS-550HT ATX12V / EPS12V 550W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CE, CB, TUV, FCC - Retail 109.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817151027

Optical Drive - ASUS Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 14X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with
LightScribe - Retail $34.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827135156

Heatsink - ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail 36.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835186134

Hard Drive - Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST3500320NS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $129.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822148294

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Profile: Forum Veteran
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It's very easy to overclock a Core 2 build: up FSB & leave all voltages on auto. If no go, either back down your fsb or read a guide.

The Coolermaster & Seasonic aren't even in the same league. Seasonic for the win!

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cac [...] =firefox-a

Drop the overpriced Freezer. The egg never got tired of gouging popular product prices. Should be $20. Get this XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 for the same price for the much better cooling.

The rest looks great.

Profile: stranger
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Thanks for looking at it. I read in the forum that XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 may be too big to fit in some cases. Do you think it will fit in Cooler Master Centurion 5?

Profile: Forum Veteran
More Information

The Xigmatek should fit the C5 case. Find "Centurion" in this thread.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] alse&Page=


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