Please take a quick look at my potential build (checkout view)

[Not Nobody]

Hi guys, this is my first ever build. I am not a gamer and will be using this PC mainly for Photoshop use.

I want to stick with tigerdirect.ca because I like them, and I don't want to pay shipping for more than one place.

Prices in CAD$

Is there anything that doesn't seem to fit in with everything else (overkill), or any compatibility issues?

Thanks so much for any help

 

[Proximon]

There are only a couple bad choices in there

However, you can pay less and get more. I'll post a list.

 

[Proximon]

I built a very similar system to your list from newegg.ca.

The difference is:

-A quality 450W from Corsair

-A Q9550 instead of the Q6600

-A second generation P45 motherboard from Gigabyte. Better overclocker than the vanilla ASUS P5Q.

- A higher quality Zerotherm CPU cooler

- Scythe S-Flex case fans... better than the ultras you had

-newegg.ca does not have any thermal paste, oddly

The total cost? $1026.00 before shipping and PST, but there are rebates there too.


Here is the list:
Case
MB.. UD3R
Sapphire 1GB 4650
Corsair 450VX
Q9550
G.Skill 4GB
HD
DVD burner
Case fans
Cooler

That's a considerably faster build for the same money.

Now, if you insist on sticking with tigerdirect after that, OK. Be aware however that you need a better PSU.

 

[huron]

I completely agree with Proximon. Those are excellent suggestions.

 

[dirtmountain]

^ very nice list Proxi, much faster build, good savings.

 

[roadrunner197069]

Ouch on those Canadian prices.

Maybe find a US Ebay sale that will ship to Canada?

 

[Not Nobody]

Proximon, thanks for your help!

I have already implemented your power supply and case fan suggestions. http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=25472 http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=17747 I am also now open to using NCIX in conjunction with TigerDirect.ca because I am changing my motherboard to:

ASUS P5Q Pro ATX LGA775 P45 DDR2 2PCI-E16 CrossFire 3PCI-E1 2PCI SATA2 Sound GBLAN eSATA M (http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=30418) which now makes me elligible for free skipping.

Can you take a look at these Zerotherm cpu fans and tell me which one I should get

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?minorcatid=1023#Zerotherm

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/category/category_slc.asp?MfrId=2732&Nav=|c:1588|&Sort=0&Recs=10

 

[Not Nobody]

Updated cart views:

NCIX

TigerDirect.ca

NCIX IS AMAZING!!!!!!!

 

[Noya]

I built a very similar system to your list from newegg.ca.

The difference is:

-A quality 450W from Corsair

-A Q9550 instead of the Q6600

-A second generation P45 motherboard from Gigabyte. Better overclocker than the vanilla ASUS P5Q.

- A higher quality Zerotherm CPU cooler

- Scythe S-Flex case fans... better than the ultras you had

-newegg.ca does not have any thermal paste, oddly

The total cost? $1026.00 before shipping and PST, but there are rebates there too.

I would say go for a Gigabyte UD3R and stick with the Q6600.

Why spend $280-295 USD on a Q9550 when the i7 920 is cheaper? Sure the cheapest x58 motherboards are a little more ($185) as is DDR3 ram, but I just don't see a good reason to dump $300 for a socket 775 processor.

 

[darkside_gamer7]

I would say go for a Gigabyte UD3R and stick with the Q6600.

Why spend $280-295 USD on a Q9550 when the i7 920 is cheaper? Sure the cheapest x58 motherboards are a little more ($185) as is DDR3 ram, but I just don't see a good reason to dump $300 for a socket 775 processor.

Completely agree W/ Noya on all pts.


GO I7!!!!!

 

[Not Nobody]

Hey guys, I'm not a gamer so i7 might be a bit of overkill.

 

[jevon]

The others already have good part advice, so I'll just ask if you're planning to Crossfire at some point? Something to keep in mind when selecting the PSU.

Also, I hear you about wanting to use some TigerDirect still but I would recommend doing your entire purchase from NCIX and then pricematching. DirectCanada.com is a sister site of NCIX and *always* has lower prices that price match easily. Also, use the manufacturer's part # from NCIX on a site like ShopBot.ca and pricematch the cheapest etailers on there.

Another thing to consider: DirectCanada often has good shipping deals on, and sometimes free shipping on orders over $200 or $500. Check into that as well, since it might be cheaper to buy the case + other heavy items there depending on how far you live from BC (where it's all shipped from).

Cheers and good luck!

 

[Pete32]

It's smart to stick with one source, get everything at once.
Then assemble before any return expiration date hits you.
If it drags out, you will have trouble getting RMA's.

If you use Photoshop, I have a few suggestions. Like a 64 bit OS, more memory & another HD. This makes Photoshop much faster, especially with large files.

Are you in fact overclocking? If no, the CPU cooler is not neccessary.

 

[Not Nobody]

Ok, I'm going to try to use NCIX entirely. I will not be using a 64bit OS. I will likely not be overclocking. I guess if I decide to in the future then I will purchase a CPU cooler. Thanks again for your help everyone, I'm learning so much

 

[Pete32]

Here is a reference that I found useful in designing my "Photoshop"
machine. I learned a ton from it.
http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb401088&sliceId=1

 

[Not Nobody]

Now I have no ides what RAM or video card to pick from NCIX :\

Help please

btw, I now have upgraded to this power supply: Corsair TX650W 650W ATX 12V 52A 24PIN ATX Power Supply Active PFC 120MM Fan

 

[Proximon]

Both power supplies are massive overkill, but they will run quiet and cool with such light loads and have long lives.

Look for DDR2 800Mhz memory with a voltage of 1.8 or 1.8-1.9V, with a latency rating of 5 or 4. I'm a bit low on time atm

 

[jevon]

The system won't require that strong of a PSU, but like Proximon said, at least you'll have headroom and it'll run very efficiently and cool.

I'm not sure on what video card would be best for Photoshop. I'm using a 4870 with 4GB of memory and it runs Photoshop well (on a dual core 8400 processor) but I only use it mildly with work.

You can probably just use a 4850, 4670, or 4830 since they're all cheaper than a 4870, but I'm not sure where the sweet spot is.

DDR2-800 memory is for you, with timings of 4-4-4-12 or 5-5-5-15 (lower is slightly faster). OCZ, Corsair, Mushkin are all good places to start.

I'd recommend looking at Vista Home Premium 64-bit to make use of all the system memory, especially if you'll be a heavy Photoshopper and may end up with 8GB memory down the road (I'd probably save $ on the video card and double up to 8GB RAM in your situation). XP 64-bit is too unreliable, unsupported, and buggy to consider in my opinion, so that leaves you with Vista - which at this point I don't mind at all, just take a minute to turn off the warning/UAC thing.

I love when NCIX has those free shipping on the entire order deals like you have on the P5Q I noticed you have a quantity of 3 for them though? Also you don't really need the thermal compound now, though it is pretty cheap.

 

[Not Nobody]

The system won't require that strong of a PSU, but like Proximon said, at least you'll have headroom and it'll run very efficiently and cool.

I'm not sure on what video card would be best for Photoshop. I'm using a 4870 with 4GB of memory and it runs Photoshop well (on a dual core 8400 processor) but I only use it mildly with work.

You can probably just use a 4850, 4670, or 4830 since they're all cheaper than a 4870, but I'm not sure where the sweet spot is.

DDR2-800 memory is for you, with timings of 4-4-4-12 or 5-5-5-15 (lower is slightly faster). OCZ, Corsair, Mushkin are all good places to start.

I'd recommend looking at Vista Home Premium 64-bit to make use of all the system memory, especially if you'll be a heavy Photoshopper and may end up with 8GB memory down the road (I'd probably save $ on the video card and double up to 8GB RAM in your situation). XP 64-bit is too unreliable, unsupported, and buggy to consider in my opinion, so that leaves you with Vista - which at this point I don't mind at all, just take a minute to turn off the warning/UAC thing.

I love when NCIX has those free shipping on the entire order deals like you have on the P5Q I noticed you have a quantity of 3 for them though? Also you don't really need the thermal compound now, though it is pretty cheap.

Holy ****, good save on the 3 quantity. :lol:

I decided on this memory: http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=28269
Price matched to $63

I will be using vista business 32-bit because I already own it. I'm not brave enough for 64-bit yet, at least not until more programs support it.

Time to do some graphic card research

Proximon: thanks for your help as well

 

[jevon]

haha, I wasn't even sure if I should point our the x3 quantity or not - I'm sure you would've noticed @ checkout though

That's a good choice for memory, though technically you don't need to go as high as DDR2-1000 since you aren't overclocking but for the price, meh!

Two things to keep in mind then about the OS: I haven't done it but I'm fairly sure I've ready that you can upgrade the 32 bit Vista up to 64 bit for free or really cheap.

Secondly, I also just remembered that the Adobe CS3 Suite has an install issue with Vista 64-bit. Took a good 10-15 minutes on google to track down the problem. I think it was a .DLL issue that you needed to manually re-enable using the command prompt - an easy fix, just annoying to have to figure it out. Not sure if it's been fixed yet or not, that was a while ago I installed it but just thought I'd throw that in there even though you're going with 32-bit for now. I haven't come across any other problems though using the 64-bit version and I use a wide range of software (Filemaker Pro, MS Streets & Trips, Office, CS3).

Anyways happy hunting with the graphics cards. The forums over @ NCIX are a great place to ask questions like that too

 

[janxta]

I built a very similar system to your list from newegg.ca.

The difference is:

-A quality 450W from Corsair

-A Q9550 instead of the Q6600

-A second generation P45 motherboard from Gigabyte. Better overclocker than the vanilla ASUS P5Q.

- A higher quality Zerotherm CPU cooler

- Scythe S-Flex case fans... better than the ultras you had

-newegg.ca does not have any thermal paste, oddly

The total cost? $1026.00 before shipping and PST, but there are rebates there too.


Here is the list:
Case
MB.. UD3R
Sapphire 1GB 4650
Corsair 450VX
Q9550
G.Skill 4GB
HD
DVD burner
Case fans
Cooler

That's a considerably faster build for the same money.

Now, if you insist on sticking with tigerdirect after that, OK. Be aware however that you need a better PSU.

Newegg has thermal paste, just go to fans and heat sinks, option for Thermal Compound/ Grease will be listed on the left. Who woulda thunk?

 

[janxta]

Newegg is a helluva lot better and cheaper. If it's not yet complete, it should be soon, Newegg Canada that is!

Also you can get an Evga 9500 graphics card for about 65 USD, anything else is overkill for Photo Shop CS4.

 

[Proximon]

Newegg has thermal paste, just go to fans and heat sinks, option for Thermal Compound/ Grease will be listed on the left. Who woulda thunk?

Newegg.com yes, newegg.ca no