X-Mas PC Build for my brother - Any Advice?

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njdrew

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Jan 27, 2007
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Hello Everyone and Happy Thanksgiving (soon to be anyway). Im putting together a build list for my brother's X-Mas present from the family. I did allot of research here before I put this together, so I hope it is pretty solid. My goal here is to build him a system that is a mid range gaming pc. Please let me know if there is anything that could be changed to get better performance for a little bit more money or a better bang for the buck deal. Thank you...



Newegg Wish List if you Prefer

or


ASUS P5E LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - Retail

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail

G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL4D-4GBPI-B - Retail

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

2 x SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223F - OEM

Creative Sound Blaster SB0570 Audigy SE 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail

He already has:

- 2 x Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX (768MB)
- Clear Plexi Case with Fans

 
leo2kp

leo2kp

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I wish my family gave me a PC for Christmas. I just got a whopping $75 "bonus" check from work and I'm sure my parents will splurge by buying me a pack of socks, which of course will be the wrong size.
 
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njdrew

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And that is why I ask for advice before I go buying stuff and finding out the hardway that it wont work. thank you.
 
col-p-todd

col-p-todd

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Personally I would also skip the sound card, the onboard sound card is good enough. only if you were thinking about getting a high-end sound card would it be worth it over the onboard.
the rest looks ok (except for the mobo but that has already been mentioned)
 
col-p-todd

col-p-todd

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PC Power & Cooling PSU's are really good but they are loud since the still use 80mm fans. a corsair would be better and a zalman is the best silent psu but also cost more.
 
shortstuff_mt

shortstuff_mt

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That's not true. Despite using 80mm fans, the PC Power & Cooling is a very quiet PSU. The quality is also at least as good as Corsair. They are a very well-known brand. I normally suggest Corsair PSU's, but that deal is just to good to pass up.
 
zodiacfml

zodiacfml

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why two dvd burners? sound card?
anyways, i suggest at least a core i7 920. that will be happier.
if too expensive, limit it to a single 2GB DD3 ram. let him buy the ram he needs.
 
col-p-todd

col-p-todd

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well i disagree, i used to have a PC Power & Cooling PSU and switched to the corsair psu and it noticeably reduced the noise my pc made. as for the quality they are one of the best psu makers that's why I find it a shame they don,t switch over ot a 12cm fan. I like my corsair psu 620HX since it's made by seasonic if i,m not mistaking. Only the 520HX & 620HX are made by this company the 750 is made by a different company (i forgot what company) and the quality is not as good as the 520HX & 620HX.
 
shortstuff_mt

shortstuff_mt

Glorious
Apr 1, 2008
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It may be true that some PC Power & Cooling PSU's are a little loud, but the 750W model isn't. It doesn't matter either way to me. I was just pointing out a great deal on a high quality PSU. I personally have a 520HX and love it.
 
D

dirtmountain

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OK, i just filled out the forms and you are now officially my brother also !

Either of those 2 power supplies would be fine for our other brothers system, under heavy load the PC Power and Cooling would be noisier then the Corsair, it's still not a loud unit, but it is noisier. Good build.
 
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megamanx00

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Sep 3, 2008
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You are such a nice big brother, so much so that I hate you :D. Yeah, you're going to need to get a 750i or 780i based SLi board. Of course it seems like there aren't as many as there use to be. Since you're using 2 vid cards it would be good to get a board that has two slot spaces between the two PCI-E slots rather than just one. Of course that seems only to be the EVGA boards and I still can't figure out why MSI has such crazy SLi boards. Anyway I'd also ditch the sound card. If you want a dedicated sound card go with an Asus Xonar. Creative driver support ain't what it use to be, which is why I'm using the dainel K drivers in Vista. I'm certainly going to have to get a Xonar when I move to 64-bit since 64-bit Vista is a pain if the drivers aren't certified, and the creative drivers kinds suck :D.
 
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njdrew

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Yes, I updated the wishlist with the correct mobo, but it wouldn't let me edit the original post.

I think I will just stick with the corsair psu. The other one is a little cheaper, but I think I will just go with the better safe than sorry approach on this one. If it was allot cheaper, than that would be one thing, but it’s only like $20-$30.

I will remove the sound card. I had it on there because the original mobo I look at had a bundled sound card with it that everyone said was very hard to get working and sounded horrible.

I opted for 2 cd/dvd burners because there isn't much point in getting 1 cdrom and 1 burner. If the burner goes bad you’re stuck with just a cdrom until you get a replacement burner. If you have two burners and one goes bad, you can still burn to the other while you’re getting a replacement.

The i7 920 would be nice, but the cost of that and then only having a hand full of unproven mobos to choose from, killed it for me. I dont wont to stick him with a mobo that could turn out to be junk.

Thank you everyone for your advice, I really appreciate it.
 
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njdrew

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Jan 27, 2007
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Thank you everyone for your help. We got everything in today, so Im going to take some time and put everything together to make sure nothing is DOA. The only thing I dont have is the 2nd DVD/CD burner, because we mistakenly only ordered one.

PC050109.JPG


Thank you again.... :D
 
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