APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: a few days
BUDGET RANGE: $700-800 total (after tax/ship/rebate). I have no actual budget, but it seems to me that I don't have to spend more to get a solid machine.
SYSTEM USAGE: Sadly, no gaming at first, but I'd like to at least be able to if I decide to in the future. Sometimes I rip DVDs, but that's rare. This is really more for general multi-tasking. That said, I'm a developer and I run my machines pretty hard sometimes during day-to-day usage. Maybe I want to be indexing the drive, virus-scanning, torrenting, using some shareware tool to find duplicate mp3's by CRC, run some beefy, inefficient java app and I have a couple of flash vids buried and running in my 60 open Firefox tabs.
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers (will get later, although wouldn't mind rec's on a nice sub-$100 set with good bass). A friend is giving me a case w/650w power supply:
Antec Performance One P180 Silver cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case I hear this case has no speaker, not sure he'll include that.
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: NewEgg/Microcenter (I'm right next door) or maybe Fry's (I can get my wife to go after work, but that's less desirable)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: US
OVERCLOCKING: Highly doubtful, although maybe if it's very simple and safe.
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Doubtful I'll ever need 2 gpus.
MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Goal is to build a machine that will last me 2-3 yrs until I have to upgrade any of it. Would like to be able to stretch it for as long as possible past that point, though. So 6-7 yrs overall lifetime would be great. Basically, gaming or speed when doing heavy, optimized processing are consider bonus, not primary goals. How long can I push this machine til day-to-day usage slows down enough I have to move on?
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Everything is on this wishlist:
New Egg Wishlist
Also, just in case you are really curious, here's other items I've considered but that didn't make the cut for any number of reasons:
New Egg Alternate items
$220 i7-860 Just reserved one at MC. Seems worth the $20 over the i5-750 for HyperThreading when I'm multi-tasking a few yrs down the road. I'm quite confident that chip that will work for me. The only thing I might consider is the i7-920 or i7-930 to allow for a socket 1336 mobo, but at the price difference (requires more $$ mobo, more RAM) it seems like I won't be gaining quite enough to make a difference. Also giving slight* consideration to the AMD Phenom II X6 1055T, but I would only go that route if it were overwhelmingly clear that it were better for my purposes (aka non-gamer, non-encoder, every day multi-tasker. A started a lengthy discussion of processors already, so any serious debate about this should probably go there:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/page-280550_28_50.htm... Edit: removed this due to sale on i7-860: $180 Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I5750
$130 GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3 LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard I realize people are guessing socket 1336 will be more future-proof, but I would guess that in 5+ yrs or whenever I'd be replacing the CPU, it will be time to move to a new mobo regardless. Sata 6 and USB 3 seem like I'll get a visible benefit out them within the next 5 yrs, so a few dollars more seems like a worthy investment. However, I'm not sure in terms of how many PCI slots I need or anything else, whether this is a good board or not.
$105 Patriot G Series ‘Sector 5’ Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model PGV34G1333ELK I am guessing 4GB is enough for the next 2-3 yrs (although I'm not sure how much 64-bit Win7 will change that vs current XP install). At that point I go up to 8 or 16 depending on how cheap DDR3 is. Might reconsider and go with 6GB off the bat and only have to upgrade once (in like 4 yrs?) Co-worker says Patriot is cheap but "awesome"
$37 GeForce GT 240 1024MB DDR3 PCIe 2.0 x16 Graphics Card I know the rankings from the hierarchy page, and I'm happy to find this one that seems decent/low-midrange for a very good price. Won't mind upgrading it in the future.
Edit 2: removed this one after finding out it in-store was a bait n switch: $58 XLR8 GeForce 9800 GT 1024MB GDDR3 PCIe 2.0 Graphics Card Edit: I switched from this one: $72 EVGA 512-P3-N987-TR GeForce 9800 GT HDMI 512MB 256-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
$100 Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive 500GB will be enough for a few years, but might as well go with 1TB (can I add another internal drive on this machine?) Co-worker strongly recommended the double-something(?) on the Caviar black as being worth $15 over the Seagate Barracuda I was looking at (see alternate list).
$22 LITE-ON DL + LightScribe Have ripped a few DVD movie backups but would like to be able to put back onto DVD without having to compress. Minor preference for Lightscribe.
Edit: swapped out this one: $29 LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS424-98 LightScribe Support
$100 Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
Total: around
$680 (I'm in IL so free shipping from NewEgg but 10.25% sales tax at MicroCenter)
Thanks to all who comment! Welcome to suggestions of other stores or missing parts! Don't think I'll need thermal paste since the processor comes w a heat-sink, and it's not like I'm oc'ing.