$1500 budget. looking for suggestions

[nique]

Hello everyone.

It's been about three or four years since I built my first rig and it's somewhat disheartening that I knew a bit more about computer hardware at 17 than I do now. I'm hoping you guys can help me out though. I'm looking for something stable and reliable, I've never been a big OC enthusiast but I'm open to any and all suggestions to get the most bang for my buck. I'm hoping this rig will last me another 3-4 years.

Here is a general list I've come up with after browsing through newegg for the past few days. Again, I'm open to all suggestions as i haven't kept myself up to date with PC hardware for several years:

- Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600 - Retail

- Intel BOXD975XBX2KR LGA 775 Intel 975X ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

- VisionTek 900241 Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail (times 2 hoping to Crossfire)

- CORSAIR XMS2 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-6400C5DHX - Retail

- Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Current total: ~$900. with the addition of a monitor, case and power supply I'm estimating a grand total of about $1,300.

What do you guys think?

 

[aevm]

Looks good, except the MB. Change it to P5Q Pro or P5Q-E or GA-EP45-UD3P. You want a modern chipset with PCI-E 2.0 like P45, not an old 975X.

Change the HDD to a WD 640GB or Seagate 640 GB - those are a bit faster and usually cheaper per GB than the 500GB disks.

Add a CoolerMaster CM690 or Antec 900 to the mix, and a Corsair 650TX or 750TX or PC Power & Cooling 750W. Look them up at newegg and at www.buy.com.

I'm sure others will tell you that an E8500 is better for gaming than a Q6600. It's still true this year. However, long-term, I'd pick the quad. Do some research and decide for yourself. Basically, the Q6600 is better if you also use the PC for Flight Simulator X, work, video processing, and also if you're very optimistic about the game developers finally getting a clue and supporting multiple cores properly soon. Otherwise the E8500 is better. The difference is actually very small anyway, so don't worry too much about it.

Monitor: look for a 22" widescreen (1680x1050) with 2mb or 5ms or at most 8ms response time. Acer and LG make some pretty good and cheap LCDs, for example.

 

[aevm]

Also, if you need a burner, I recommend SH-S223F or SH-S223Q.

If you don't have an OS yet, get Vista Home Premium 64-bit. That way you get DirectX 10 (better looks in some games) and full use of the 4GB of RAM.

 

[nique]

Thank you aevm, for your help.

At the moment I'm on the fence between the P5Q Pro and the GA-EP45-UD3P. Though I'm leaning towards the P5Q Pro.

Also, anyone have opinions regarding: HD 4870 vs HD 4850 (Crossfire)? Really not sure here.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

Between a 4870 and crossfire 4850's, I'd pick the 4870. The 4870 should work great at your resolution and allows the option of adding another card later if needed. The 1GB version of the 4870 isn't a whole lot more than the 512MB version. It's worth getting the 1GB model IMO. This model is particularly interesting:

SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801 $239.99 -$15.00 MIR

It keeps going in and out of stock at newegg, but keep an eye on it. It doesn't stay out of stock for long. The fact that it keeps going out of stock reinforces the fact that it's a great card at a low price IMO.

I personally would pick the UD3P over the P5Q Pro. The UD3 series are excellent overclockers. Either board would work great though.

 

[aevm]

^^ Agreed.

 

[nique]

Thanks for all the help guys. Most of the parts arrived today and seem in good order.

Quick question though. I know this may sound silly, but is there any drawback from leaving thermal paste on the CPU over night without booting the computer? The GPU wont be arriving until tomorrow afternoon but I figured I might as well get everything set up in the meantime.

Also, would I be able to boot without the GPU and tell if everything is in order?

Thanks again for your help guys.

 

[Liderc]

As long as you have the heatsink on the cpu you're paste will be fine. If it's not on, dust could collect on it over night.

 

[aevm]

You can't boot without the GPU, sorry. Your MB doesn't have integrated graphics so it can't display anything by itself. You'd just get some beeps and when you look them up in the MB manual you see it means --- big surprise --- "GPU not installed properly", or something like that. Take it easy, wait until you have everything. Read the overclocking threads to pass the time, if you want.

 

[nique]

oh no. i was also wondering if i'd be able to boot for exactly the reason aevm pointed out. Listen for mobo beeps and make sure everything is OK.

Anyone think a 160gb SATA drive I have laying around from 3 years ago will work? i guess well find out tommorow

 

[nique]

Everything set up easily enough, though I'm having an odd issue with the ethernet connection.

Installed drivers but I'm unable to connect to the internet. LED lights on the ethernet port are only active during reboot but once Vista loads up, LEDs go out and Windows cannot recognize a network device. Any ideas?