- May 7, 2009
- 13
- 0
- 18,510
APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: I'd like to order online in the next day or two
BUDGET RANGE: $700-$900
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Heavy software/database development, internet surfing/apps, VMWare/Virtual PC, productivity (office, etc), gaming (must play upcoming starcraft 2 & company of heroes!), some video editing, photoshop, chatting, porn...
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: hard drives, keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS, floppy drive
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com
PARTS PREFERENCES: Open, but I'm leaning toward Intel CPU based system. I currently have an AMD64 Athlon processor system I build 3 or 4 years ago. This time around, I might consider overclocking.
OVERCLOCKING: I have no experience with this, but am eager/willing to learn, but don't want to mess anything up! I would like to have the option of utilizing another video card (SLI/Crossfire -- don't know the difference) but am not planning it any time in the near future.
MONITOR RESOLUTION: These are the resolutions that look right on my current wide monitor:
1600 x 900
1360 x 768 <-- this looks the best to me
1280 x 768
1280 x 720
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:
-I need a very responsive PC. I can't stand waiting for a window to load on the screen.
-I'd really like to have a Vista/Win7 performance rating (windows experience index) of 5 or higher.
-I run 10 to 30 tasks/programs in my task bar at the same time. Half of them browser windows, the other half, productivity apps, etc.
-I love real time strategy games, but if I buy a cool game to try out, I don't want to be too disappointed.
-I don't want to have to build/buy a new system for 3 years, if not 5.
-I have one good big flat panel monitor (I think it is 21"), but eventually I'd like to have a 2nd one.
-I have tons of USB devices (hard drives, digital cameras, smart phone, dvd burner, more external hard drives, etc. )
====
Here are the parts I'm considering based on a recommendation from a friend:
-CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 (here) $184.99
...but, isn't this one better for a little more? Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor (here) The first one is a newer one, but doesn't have as much memory on it (4MB vs 8MB). But the first one has a faster clock speed!
I'd like to stay under $200. Are there any others that I really should be considering?
-Motherboard: ASUS P5N-D LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI ATX
(here) $129.99
...but, isn't this one better for just a little more? GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel (here ) $134.99 -- It is the "3x Winner of Customer Choice Award - Intel Motherboards" -- A sticky thread here recommends a P45 and to stay away from NVIDIA boards! :-o
-Video Card: EVGA 896-P3-1262-AR GeForce GTX 260 Superclocked Edition 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
(here) $174.99
I'd like to stay under $200. I would like to get "Call of Duty: World at War" free along with it. Maybe this is a good choice.
-Memory: I told my friend I thought 4 gigs would be enough. I currently have 2 gigs and rarely spill over to using hard drive memory. Maybe the OS will make more use of it if I had more, however.
He recommended this: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ (here) $46.99
He told me to overclock the memory to the same speed as the processor. He said there would be no down sides to this. I hope this is true! I'm wondering if I go with the older/slower (1066 MHz as opposed to 1333 MHz) processor I listed above, if this would be safer.
Should I be considering using DDR3?!
-Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling Silencer PPCS750QBL 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI NVIDIA SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply (here) $119.99
He told me not to skimp on the power supply. I hope 750 watts will handle a 2nd video card if/when I do it in the future.
After looking around, I found this one that is cheaper: Antec EA750 750W ATX12V version 2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC "compatible with Core i7" Power Supply (here) $109.99 -- Is this one just as good?
-Case He said this was mostly personal preference. I'm looking for something I can reuse in the future, something strong, something big so I can put anything I want in it. Something cool and quiet. Something that doesn't look cheesy or screams "look at me, I'm so cool looking!"
I found this one: Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case (here) $99.99
-CD/DVD Burner: He didn't recommend anything. I'm looking for something that will read/write anything, and fast, and hoping for something cheap, under $40.
I found this: SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD Burner (here) $25.99
-Hard Drives I have lots of hard drives: IDE's, external USB's, but the best I have are 4x200GB SATA drives. I'd like to have 2 pairs mirrored, one for the OS/Apps and one for data. Doesn't leave me much space, but at least I get decent speed. I get a windows vista rating of 5.5 on one of them I'm running on now (no mirror/raid). I would have liked to get a solid state drive to boot from, but that would blow my budget, I'm afraid.
What else do I need? I'd hate to order all this stuff and realize I forgot something critical to get it running! Everything look compatible?!
I want to express deep thanks for you knowledgeable guys who have read through all this. I appreciate your help and knowledge!!
BUDGET RANGE: $700-$900
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Heavy software/database development, internet surfing/apps, VMWare/Virtual PC, productivity (office, etc), gaming (must play upcoming starcraft 2 & company of heroes!), some video editing, photoshop, chatting, porn...
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: hard drives, keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS, floppy drive
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com
PARTS PREFERENCES: Open, but I'm leaning toward Intel CPU based system. I currently have an AMD64 Athlon processor system I build 3 or 4 years ago. This time around, I might consider overclocking.
OVERCLOCKING: I have no experience with this, but am eager/willing to learn, but don't want to mess anything up! I would like to have the option of utilizing another video card (SLI/Crossfire -- don't know the difference) but am not planning it any time in the near future.
MONITOR RESOLUTION: These are the resolutions that look right on my current wide monitor:
1600 x 900
1360 x 768 <-- this looks the best to me
1280 x 768
1280 x 720
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:
-I need a very responsive PC. I can't stand waiting for a window to load on the screen.
-I'd really like to have a Vista/Win7 performance rating (windows experience index) of 5 or higher.
-I run 10 to 30 tasks/programs in my task bar at the same time. Half of them browser windows, the other half, productivity apps, etc.
-I love real time strategy games, but if I buy a cool game to try out, I don't want to be too disappointed.
-I don't want to have to build/buy a new system for 3 years, if not 5.
-I have one good big flat panel monitor (I think it is 21"), but eventually I'd like to have a 2nd one.
-I have tons of USB devices (hard drives, digital cameras, smart phone, dvd burner, more external hard drives, etc. )
====
Here are the parts I'm considering based on a recommendation from a friend:
-CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 (here) $184.99
...but, isn't this one better for a little more? Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor (here) The first one is a newer one, but doesn't have as much memory on it (4MB vs 8MB). But the first one has a faster clock speed!
I'd like to stay under $200. Are there any others that I really should be considering?
-Motherboard: ASUS P5N-D LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI ATX
(here) $129.99
...but, isn't this one better for just a little more? GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel (here ) $134.99 -- It is the "3x Winner of Customer Choice Award - Intel Motherboards" -- A sticky thread here recommends a P45 and to stay away from NVIDIA boards! :-o
-Video Card: EVGA 896-P3-1262-AR GeForce GTX 260 Superclocked Edition 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
(here) $174.99
I'd like to stay under $200. I would like to get "Call of Duty: World at War" free along with it. Maybe this is a good choice.
-Memory: I told my friend I thought 4 gigs would be enough. I currently have 2 gigs and rarely spill over to using hard drive memory. Maybe the OS will make more use of it if I had more, however.
He recommended this: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ (here) $46.99
He told me to overclock the memory to the same speed as the processor. He said there would be no down sides to this. I hope this is true! I'm wondering if I go with the older/slower (1066 MHz as opposed to 1333 MHz) processor I listed above, if this would be safer.
Should I be considering using DDR3?!
-Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling Silencer PPCS750QBL 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI NVIDIA SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply (here) $119.99
He told me not to skimp on the power supply. I hope 750 watts will handle a 2nd video card if/when I do it in the future.
After looking around, I found this one that is cheaper: Antec EA750 750W ATX12V version 2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC "compatible with Core i7" Power Supply (here) $109.99 -- Is this one just as good?
-Case He said this was mostly personal preference. I'm looking for something I can reuse in the future, something strong, something big so I can put anything I want in it. Something cool and quiet. Something that doesn't look cheesy or screams "look at me, I'm so cool looking!"
I found this one: Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case (here) $99.99
-CD/DVD Burner: He didn't recommend anything. I'm looking for something that will read/write anything, and fast, and hoping for something cheap, under $40.
I found this: SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD Burner (here) $25.99
-Hard Drives I have lots of hard drives: IDE's, external USB's, but the best I have are 4x200GB SATA drives. I'd like to have 2 pairs mirrored, one for the OS/Apps and one for data. Doesn't leave me much space, but at least I get decent speed. I get a windows vista rating of 5.5 on one of them I'm running on now (no mirror/raid). I would have liked to get a solid state drive to boot from, but that would blow my budget, I'm afraid.
What else do I need? I'd hate to order all this stuff and realize I forgot something critical to get it running! Everything look compatible?!
I want to express deep thanks for you knowledgeable guys who have read through all this. I appreciate your help and knowledge!!
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