Another NOOB without a clue ... and only $1300 to spend

Stu1961

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Nov 24, 2007
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Another first time poster and builder here. :sweat: Despite doing a ton of reading, I'm very anxious (read: confused) about the following components in regard to their value & compatibility (not to mention my own ability to put them all together successfully 🙁 ). I would like to keep costs in the $1,300(ish) range.

PC profile will be for general family use including: internet, Audio & Video burning/encoding, and gaming (probably in that order, but games like Crysis would be a minimum requirement).

The following item/price list actually represents two builds. One if I choose the Q6600 & DS3R mobo ($1370.89), and the other is if I go with the E6750 & DS3L ($1250.89). Do I really get that much more for $120 ... or is it just insurance for the future?

Any thoughts on what needs "fixin", or where I can do better (with either system) would be greatly appreciated - especially if it didn't increase the bottom line significantly! 😉

CASE Antec Nine Hundred 69.99
MOTHERBOARD GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R 129.99
MOTHERBOARD GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L 89.99
CPU Intel Core2Quad Q6600 2.4GHz G0 Stepping 269.99
CPU Intel Core2Duo E6750 2.66GHz G0 Stepping 189.99
GRAPHICS nVidia GeForce 8800gt 512mb 249.99
RAM Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 59.99
HARDDRIVE Western Digital Caviar SE 16 500GB 149.99
CD/DVD Lite-On 20x LH-20A1H 30.99
PSU CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 87.99
CPU Cooler ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 26.99
Monitor Acer AL2216WBD 22" 199.99
OS Windows Vista (32) 94.99

Total 1270.89
Alt. Total 1390.89

Thanks to all!
 
Some forum veteran here said never buy for the future. And he is dead right as far as I know. Simply put, buy what you think suit your needs. You said you do encodings, so a q6600 might be better.

My suggestion:
Q6600
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L
Western Digital 750AAKS (750gigs)

Pick what you want, you can't go wrong with what you have.
 
i've got a simple fix for you that should work... i'm not saying there won't be bumps because i havn't built it yet... but i did TONS of research to find out some of the best stuff for the price. go to newegg.com and look at my wish list. it's under "public wish lists" after you log into your account or whatever. it's titled "brand spankin new pc" everything is there except the operating system.. if you want to buy windows... i suggest a 64bit shista oops, i mean Vista. for your gaming needs. you can tweak most of the parts to your liking, like the case, harddrive, and what not, but the main components should do you right. like the proc, will over clock to 3.2ghz, the memory. i have not used patriot yet, but that's the best deal for 4 gigs i could find that runs smooth and the reviews say it's good. umm... can't think of anything else off the top of my head. but that build comes in just under 1300... no keyboard or mouse or operating system... but thoes are minor expenses, unless you want "gaming" mouse/keyboard... then you might go beyond your budget.... for a fast harddrive if you want to "upgrade" the one i set there, get a wd raptor for now, at 1300 dollars you obviously can't afford your primary drive to be a SSD. but all of thoes parts are primary price point objects that should be quality and give you the ability to play any game out. including crysis. not to mention just be a wicked fast/pretty pc. oh... if you don't decide to go that route. give me a rating while you're looking at it. 😛 (there is an 8800gt that has crysis bundled with it for 300 bucks, when it comes in stock... i'd wait till after x-mas, that's what i'm doing.
 
Hey Stu,

Good choices on all your components.

CASE Antec Nine Hundred 69.99
MOTHERBOARD GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L 89.99
CPU Intel Core2Quad Q6600 2.4GHz G0 Stepping 269.99
GRAPHICS nVidia GeForce 8800gt 512mb 249.99
RAM Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 59.99
CD/DVD Lite-On 20x LH-20A1H 30.99
PSU CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 87.99
CPU Cooler ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 26.99
Monitor Acer AL2216WBD 22" 199.99
OS Windows Vista (32) 94.99

You might be able to know off another $40 with the HDD.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148136

Total $1290

Your going to have a great computer either way.

Happy Holidays 😉


 
haha... well, i actually took the time to look through your build, you need to shave off a few bucks here and there and you can put the money where it counts. I don't know if you really need a proc with a price tag that heavy... this is why i like amd, mobos and procs are cheaper... and get the job done very well. 😛 but hey, it's your money, so far I don't really see anything wrong with it, but I havn't done anything with intel for some time... and that's because I like my money where it is... in my pocket! 😛
 
Thanks everyone! 😀







Wow, I never expected this kind of consensus ... I'm sold! :)



I think Newegg's server crapped the bed :lol: ... the link page won't load for me. What was the product (eager to save $40)?



I'm pretty sure it was an OEM Home edition, not an upgrade (which I selected because ... it was cheap). What would the advantage of Home "premium" be?

Thanks again,

Stu
 
You say you're a noob? That is one hell of a build there, on par with anything I could come up with.

I agree with everyone here that there's no need for the DS3R unless you want RAID.

Also I would definitely go with Vista 64-bit at this point. When you eventually upgrade to 4GB you will need a 64-bit OS to use it all.

One last thing, don't let anyone convince you to do an AMD build. That is the most important piece of advice that I can give you (this coming from a long time AMD fan 🙁 )
 
haha... amd builds are not bad, they just cost a lot less.... i read an article yesterday looking at the two different amd black edition procs and putting them up against the 6600 and 6400 i think... the performance at stock was a bit less.... but you can oc it for 130 bones. I wanted to inform and give an option.... and yeah, it's not a bad build at all. seems like all the parts are in the right place. 😛 but if he's looking to shave a few bucks off here and there he can do so easily without sacrificing much performance if any and use that few extra bones to buy some other crap too... like maybe some air conditioner filters to lay in that antec nine hundred so it doesn't get all dusty. 😛 (i had an antec 130 bucks on newegg now... not a bad case... but if you get an employee discount somwhere like "buttbuy" it's only 20 bucks with a psu, hahaha) you get ripped on cases, that's why the 900 is "cheap" now. anyway, enough of me talking... time to go back to drinking beer, playing pool, listening to music and waiting to have enough money to build my pc!!!