Originally Posted by RAMSTORIA one thing to keep in mind is if your budget is really tight, you can always use the stock fan for now, and when you can afford to buy a better fan and arctic silver 5 later. you dont have to OC right off the bat, and you may even find that you performance is good enough that OC isnt necessary.

That's a very very good point. I think everyone should take note of this one.

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Originally Posted by darthbudge That isn't my wishlist. I am a Intel/Nvidia man myself, here is my wishlist: http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/Pu...umber=14384448

Whoops. I'm sure I quoted the wrong wishlist because I was at work and I had to type everything fast before my boss sees me slacking haha. But your actual build is very good, I dont see anything that needs improvement. Great job.

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Originally Posted by HowStern There's some dummies on tomshardware. That build is awful for the price. Check this out: http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/Pu...Number=8815514 Just don't get the Arctic Cooling heatsink. I only added that because you can both unlock the 4th core of the cpu with that 790x mobo and overclock it easily since it's black edition. With the rebate on the PSU (and not including the AC64 heatsink) it comes to about $610 and is much more powerful. You could substitute the graphics card for the 4850 from the tomshardware build. Bringing it down to $560ish.

That's a good build, I put that on the first post, whether it is your build or not

^haha nice! and,yes, it's my build I've been having a blast with it. It's the first system I've built. Definitely put a lot of research into making the best bang for the buck.

Originally Posted by HowStern ^haha nice! and,yes, it's my build I've been having a blast with it. It's the first system I've built. Definitely put a lot of research into making the best bang for the buck.

Very similar to mine.The only thing preventing me from pulling the trigger is the OS(Windows 7).Hopefully,itll show up on Club bing so I could get it for free.

Ok, well I just saw that the UD3P motherboard only supports CrossFireX, and I tend to only use Nvidia graphics cards.

So is there any benefit of the UD3P over the UD3R if I am not going to be using CrossFireX?

Yeah with no CF I would go UD3R for a tight budget.

This one says it supports SLI and both PCIe 2 slots are 16x. Usually one is 16x and the other 8x. Bottlenecking both vid cards.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128375

But it's pricy.

Originally Posted by HowStern Yeah with no CF I would go UD3R for a tight budget. This one says it supports SLI and both PCIe 2 slots are 16x. Usually one is 16x and the other 8x. Bottlenecking both vid cards. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128375 But it's pricy.

Yeah, and that Mobo only supports i7 processors.

The only difference that I can tell is that the UD3P has two Ethernet ports on it, compared to only one on the UD3R.

Ah, yeah. There's a couple positives for the 2 ethernet ports but nothing most people would use.

http://www.nvidia.com/content/nforce...0i_module.html

Check out the little part that say dualnet.

If the UD3R is cheaper I would just go with that.

The open box thing I'm weary about because newegg says accessories aren't included. So, I wonder would the brass standoffs and sata cables and stuff be included in an open box?

Originally Posted by darthbudge Ok, well I just saw that the UD3P motherboard only supports CrossFireX, and I tend to only use Nvidia graphics cards. So is there any benefit of the UD3P over the UD3R if I am not going to be using CrossFireX?

If you're not going to CF, then save the $10 and get the UD3R. UD3R has one less PCI-Express X16, one less ethernet, but adds the support for DDR3 (so you can choose between DDR2 and DDR3. If you're going to use nVidia card (you can only do SLI on nVidia motherboards, like the 790i series), get the UD3R since you wont ever use the CF.

Originally Posted by HowStern The open box thing I'm weary about because newegg says accessories aren't included. So, I wonder would the brass standoffs and sata cables and stuff be included in an open box?

It usually only comes with a white box and nothing else. Probably not even manual and driver CD and I/O shield plate. So I would stay away from them. You may get lucky and receive the full package, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Originally Posted by SOSTrooper If you're not going to CF, then save the $10 and get the UD3R. UD3R has one less PCI-Express X16, one less ethernet, but adds the support for DDR3 (so you can choose between DDR2 and DDR3. If you're going to use nVidia card (you can only do SLI on nVidia motherboards, like the 790i series), get the UD3R since you wont ever use the CF.

Just curious, would I notice any difference using DDR3 RAM vs. DDR2 RAM?

From what I've heard there's really no difference, and DDR2 is much cheaper.

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http://www.compusa.com/applications/...IN#detailspecs

Moxio just pointed me that board. It looks great since it is SLI compatible, and all of EVGAs products are very top notch. Plus it will save me about $15 after rebate and cash back.

Any reason not to get that instead?

Originally Posted by darthbudge http://www.compusa.com/applications/...IN#detailspecs Moxio just pointed me that board. It looks great since it is SLI compatible, and all of EVGAs products are very top notch. Plus it will save me about $15 after rebate and cash back. Any reason not to get that instead?

Here's the link to Newegg's product page to the EVGA 750i board. Read up on some of the comments. The rating is quite mediocre, with people listing problems such as bad DIMM slots, bad network port, etc. CompUSA.com is now owned by Tigerdirect.com, which has bad reputation of returning items (if you happen to get an unlucky draw). The board looks very good on paper, and the price is killer for what it offers. But if it were up to me to decide, I wouldnt get the low end nVidia boards at CompUSA/TD just to save myself some headaches. It's just more of my opinion on both the service from the website and the chance of drawing a bad board that is swaying me away from jumping onto that particular deal.


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*EDIT* If anyone is interested, HardOCP did an article on i7/LGA1366 heatsinks, pitting the best against the best. Linked.

Yeah, I think I am going to go with the UD3R board instead.

Using some combos that Newegg has going (which I can't show in a wishlist) I am able to get a Q9550 for $10 more dollars over the Q9400. Plus I also get a free copy of Acronis True Image Home 2009.

The total for my system comes to $826.92 shipped. Then after you add in the 2.5% cashback and rebates, the system comes to $721.47. Which is a mere $21 over my original budget.

Just curious though, how long do Newegg combo deals stick around for?

Originally Posted by darthbudge Just curious though, how long do Newegg combo deals stick around for?

I think their combo deals stick around for a while, but their prices do change from week to week. So I'm sure you're ok if you need to wait another week or 2 before pulling the trigger.

Sorry for all the questions, but I have just a few more.

How much difference does RAM speed and timings make?

Currently I have this RAM in my cart: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227364

It is DDR2-1066, but it has fairly slow timings. However, I saw this DDR2-800 RAM that has faster timings and is about $15 cheaper. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...0PVS24G6400LLK

How much difference would there be between those two sets of RAM? Also, if DDR2-1066 RAM is the way to go, how much difference does the timing make? Should I pick out a kit with better timings?

I think most 1066 ram is factory overclocked 800.

You could just grab the 800 and overclock it yourself.

I plan to buy Windows Vista 64bit w/Windows 7 coupon upgrade.Does anyone know if Windows 7 upgrade coupon has an expiration date?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...Tpk=32-116-677

Originally Posted by aihuman I plan to buy Windows Vista 64bit w/Windows 7 coupon upgrade.Does anyone know if Windows 7 upgrade coupon has an expiration date? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...Tpk=32-116-677

"The upgrade coupons will supposedly expire after January 31, 2010"

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Win...pons,8074.html

Quick question, everyone.
I'm trying to build a mid-range gaming machine on a budget, and considering the NewEgg combo on and AMD Phenom II Deben.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.213770

The problem is that the CPU is a power hog at 125. Is that peak or is that what it draws all the time?

I want to use the machine also for office work and HTPC, but don't want to draw 125W.

I know that in Mac OS X I can shut down cores, but can you do that in Windows?

^here you are


Some motherboards will come with an energy saving feature. You'll have to check the details of that one and see if it has anything.