maukaguy

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Jun 12, 2008
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Hi I was hoping come people form the forums could look over my list for my wife's new comp. She will mainly use it for gaming, but she doesn't let me over clock her machines or tinker with them much so OCing is not important. We do live in Hawai'i and it is warm almost all year round in our apartment, high 70's to 90f. With that in mind I need something that will stay cool but is not to noisy. I'm thinking of going with one VGA card as my wife's screen is 1600x1050 and SLI/CF does not really kick in until higher res and heat might be an issue with two cards. I'm not totally sure about the MB I have so any suggestions would be nice. My budget for the build is $1500 with shipping, and my current list is under that. I will be ordering the heavier items form Amazon.com as they will ship them to Hawai'i for free with super saver, saves me $90 in shipping on the case alone. I'm about $150 under budget so if you can see any thing that might help please let me know. Thanks much

CPU Intel E8500
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115036

CPU cooler COOLER MASTER Hyper TX2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103031

Thermal Compound Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007

MB GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3L
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128345

Ram mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) x2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146731

VGA MSI R4870-T2D512 OC Radeon HD 4870
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127358

PSU CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

Case NZXT TEMPEST
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146047

HDD Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148288

DVD LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106057

OS Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Ultimate for System Builders Single Pack DVD - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116215

 

slayeron444

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Jun 17, 2008
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I would go for the WD caviar 640gb HD. It is only 5 bucks more and you will get another 140gb of storage!
Other than that it looks good!
The MOBO you have selected won't allow crossfire, but you said that wasn't important so I think you will be fiine.
 

zipz0p

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Jun 24, 2008
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Everything looks great. Spend that saved money on... beer :D Or fun periphery, like a nice new mouse/keyboard or some good gaming headphones.

You should overclock it when she's not looking :) I bet you could just step it right up to 3.6GHz with minimal fiddling.
 

SirCrono

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Sep 9, 2006
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Damn you, you got yourself a gaming wife.

Also, the rig looks good, change the drive for a 750 GB version to get the benefits of PMR, it isn't than much expensive.
 

maukaguy

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Jun 12, 2008
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Thanks for the info on the HDD, I switched to the 750 WD. I was unaware of the PMR benefit. Yeah I lucked out marring her, playing online games with your best friend in the same room rocks, and gives you an edge not having to use Vent or Teamspeak. :na: I still wonder about the MB, I read some people had problems with it when using Vista 64. Does any one know of a decent p45 board at about the same price?
 

maukaguy

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Jun 12, 2008
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I changed the MB, PSU, HDD, and VGA.

PSU XIGMATEK MC NRP-MC651 650W I wanted the modular cables to reduce clutter in the case.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817815001

MB ASUS P5Q LGA 775 Intel P45 It's more expensive but had better reviews/features.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131295

HDD Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD7500AAKS 750GB Thanks for the info on the 750gb and PMR SirCrono
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136131

VGA ASUS EAH4870/HTDI/512M Radeon HD 4870 Not a huge difference here but the Asus MB should be able to help control fan speed and energy use.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121258
 

zipz0p

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Jun 24, 2008
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Hmm... I don't know anything about Xigmatec PSUs, but that unit seems to have a fairly low price and good reviews - not two things that usually go together with PSUs on Newegg.

I think your wife is going to have a very nice rig. I'm envious... of the rig, of course ;)