Wanting to build 1st system - rather than buying a Dell.

[xray328]

Hi all noob here. I've decided I want to build my own system instead of calling 1-800-DELL.

I want to build it slowly over the next year so I want something that I can upgrade the heck out of in the future.

I came across this list on another board.

http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=6913348

How's that look?

I' using it for a gaming system. My total budget is in the $6-700 range. I already have a 20" monitor I'll reuse.

The only thing not on that list is the video card.

Thanks in advance!

 

[xray328]

I was looking at that board. It has a 6 channel audio I/O, I assume you still need a sound card? Sorry, I'm way new at this.

 

[paparazi]

As you state that your main priorities are buying components that have the best upgrade path...you might want to look at several motherboard options that have the facility to switch to DDR3 in the future.
Here is one; Gigabyte and Asus also have combo options.See this thread:

http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=1435464&page=1

http://www.foxconnchannel.com/product/Motherboards/detail_overview.aspx?ID=en-us0000355

I think your PSU is also too weak, good brand but look for 450watts plus to allow the headroom for those upgrades.

Martin

We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[xray328]

Ok, if I go with this...

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...A455-2322&SRCCODE=SHOPPINGDF&CMP=OTC-SHOPPING

Can you recommend a case to handle a 450W PSU since I'll be buying the case first?

 

[paparazi]

Nice DDR2 motherboard.
Martin

We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[xray328]

Can you recommend a case to handle a 450W PSU since I'll be buying the case first?

 

[paparazi]

This coolermaster should be ideal

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2541413&Sku=C283-1138

And this PSU is a decent choice especially after the rebate.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2932371&Sku=T925-1177

Martin



We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[Crowley16]

over the next year, the core2 penryns will be comming out (the quad core is already here), those will probably require a new chipset so I'd wait a bit first...

--------------------
Procrastinate Now!

 

[wahnula]

Case choices are highly subjective. One man's POS is another man's Mona Lisa, so buy what appeals to you. As long as you stay with a good brand like Antec, CoolerMaster, SilverStone, Lian Li, ThermalTake etc. you should do OK. I personally like SilverStone and Lian Li's designs, but that's me. My favorite case is a no-name aluminum box, clean and simple, although I wish it had tool-free drive mounts, that's a useful feature. An all-aluminum case acts like a giant heat sink. Make sure you keep an eye towards "quiet computing" if that's important to you. Antec power supples in general I have found to be silent, along with ThermalTake's ToughPower series.

Personally I HATE PC noise, so all three of my home PCs have Nexus PSUs available from

http://www.endpcnoise.com

. My chair is within six feet of all of them and I hear NOTHING. I also use ThermalTake's V1 CPU cooler on one and Zalmans on the other two and have a front-panel fan controller on my "big rig" to keep the case fans throttled down.

Congratulations on your graduation from Dell!!!

Tony

"Buy what you like, or you'll be forced to like what you buy"...me

 

[ceh4702]

That motherboard is overkill for the processor. If it will take a Quad Core processor, then use it. The Asus P5K is probable what I would get for a motherboard. You need at least a Core 2 Processor:

E4400 IS $124 AT 800mHZ FSB and that is the lowest you should go.

E6300 is $174 1066 Mhz FSB 2M L2 Cache

Q6600 Core 2 Quad is probably a good choice at $279.00

You can probably buy cheap but you will be sorry later, So I recommend the Q6600. It is possible that after Xmas some prices may fall. It depends when Intel starts releasing the 45nm Processors. May not be worth waiting.

For RAM if you dont overclock go with the Corsair Value Select. There may be some RAM deals to be had around Xmas time if you watch the sales and buy at just the right time. I usually buy Crucial or Corsair, but I dont overclock. Crucial Ballistix is sometimes on sale this time of year.

I would estimate that around $1000.00 is about right for a gaming PC. Maybe as low as $800.00 if you can reuse a case or some parts or go midrange on the Video card and buy a 8600GT. 8800GT would be better, but it pushes the price up another $200.00.

Computer cases are a hard call and they just seem to keep going up in price. Some of the Antecs are a pretty good deal, but they are up there in price. I like them because they are usually pretty good quality. The P182 would be a nice cool running choice, but then you would have to buy a new power supply also. Maybe the Antec Solo or the Antec Sonatta III which comes with the Earth Watts 500 power supply would work for you. Hard to say with computer cases. Some people like the more flashy models with the windows on the side. The new models with the power supply in the bottom seem like they would run cooler.

I kind of would like to get one of those Dremel Tools and mod the case a bit. Just take an old case and cut out the exhaust holes and open it up a bit. Then just put on the new exhaust guards or use some metal screens. Maybe I am just a bit too crazy.



If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.

 

[kmcferrin]

I think that $1000 is probably overkill for a gaming PC, unless you want to go high-end.

As far as which case to use with a 450W PSU, any ATX case should be fine as long as you're using an ATX power supply. That's the beauty of industry standards. I think that the Coolermaster Centurion is a nice choice. I used a Centurion 534 to build a PC for my father recently, and it was roomy, cool, relatively quiet and looked good. Plus it was a tool-free case.

G.Skill is a good memory brand, that's what I used on my last two builds. They both worked well with Gigabyte boards. I highly recommend subscribing to the NewEgg newsletter. I see you have 2Gb of DDR2-800 listed for about $70. Last week they advertised a special on a 4GB kit (2x2GB) that is normally around $130, but they sell for $109 and there was a special discount code that took it down to $79 or so. That was a sweet deal. There's usually a coupon code every couple of weeks.

The motherboard is fine, if a bit pricey. If you don't need SATA RAID then you can get a really good P35-based board for $90 or less.

Your CPU will come with a cooler already since it's a retail model, and that should be more than adequate unless you plan on doing extreme overclocking.

Things that I would do:

Drop the dual 8MB cache hard disks and buy a single, larger disk drive. I recommend this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822144701

That saves you $30. Then drop the CPU cooler. That's another $22 saved. I'd switch to a less expensive mainboard unless you really, really need RAID. I'd go with something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059

That saves you another $40. Total savings so far, $92. Then swap out the CPU for this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115029

You'll get a much faster system for only about $7 more. The only functionality that you're really losing is RAID, but you're getting more storage capacity on a faster hard disk instead.

So then you'll just need to pick a video card. You didn't mention what exactly you were looking for, but an ATI HD 3870 runs about $250 right now, and the nVidia 8800GT is probably $20 more (both for 512 MB versions). If you look around you can get a 512 MB HD 3850 for about $200. I recommend staying at 512 MB if you're playing at higher resolutions (1600x1200, 1680x1050, etc) because you'll get some thrashing from texture swapping with only 512 MB.

Total cost for this very competent gaming machine would be under $800.