Building a new computer - looking for suggestions!

drae

drae

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I want to build a new computer that will cost around $1000 or less. I have had my current setup, save for 2 small upgrades, since July of 2003. Even though I am not a huge PC gamer I still want some decent stuff to last me another 4+ years. I also do not want a noisy computer - I will take more silence over more performance to a certain degree.

I will move the following components from my current computer to my new one. Nothing else is moving because it is too outdated to be useful. I am also not interested in Windows Vista.

- 2 x 250gb SATA hdd set up in RAID 0 running WinXP
- 1 IDE DVD-RW

Here is a list of the components I currently am thinking about:

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-P35C-DS3R $149.99 - I opted for this over the cheaper model because of the DDR3 slots. I am guessing I will upgrade to DDR3 within the next 2 years.
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe $194.99
Ram: Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 $62.99 after MIR
Case: Antec Performance One P180B Black $129.99 - my computer has no need to be mobile so it is ok that this case is heavy.

Extras:
Zalman VF900 VGA Fan $32.99
Zalman CNPS9500 CPU Fan $47.99
Arctic Silver 5 $5.99

I am leaning towards the Zalman heatsink/fans because I want to replace the noisy stock fans on the video card and cpu. I currently have a Zalman VF700 on my GeForce 6600GT and I absolutely love it. I also don't care about LED's on anything because the case I want is totally enclosed.

So far, the total is $624.93 after rebates.

Now, my main problem is I can't decide on a video card or power supply. Here are some that looked interesting.

Video Card:
BFG Tech BFGR7950256GTOCE GeForce 7950GT 256MB $139.99 after MIR. It is unfortunately OOS.
I'd like to spend no more than $250 on a video card, but I am open to something more expensive if its a good deal. I would also prefer Geforce for no good reason other than that is what I have always had.

Power Supply:
Antec True Power Trio TP3-650 ATX12V 650W $109.99 ($129.99 - $20 combo with P180 case)
NspireGear 58665 20+4Pin 850W $149.99 ($169.99 - $20 combo with P180 case)
Antec True Power Trio TP3-550 ATX12V 550W $84.99 ($99.99 - $15 combo with P180 case)

The power supply is what I am most concerned about being noisy. My current power supply is the noisiest piece in my computer and there is no good way to make it quieter.

Now, I am not deadset on Newegg. I would rather order it all from the same place and Newegg has some of the best overall prices, but I am certainly open to suggestions for other places (locally I have Circuit City, Best Buy, and Intrex).

I am very interested in hearing some suggestions for better/cheaper/quieter components. Thanks for reading!
 
everything looks good except the vid card, def. want something better than 7 series if you want to play the new games that will come out, Crysis mainly.

i guess you could get something like a 7900gt and then upgrade later down the road once prices come down more on 8 series.
 
Everything looks good. You can stick with a 7950GT video card for now, and wait for the new line of nVidia to come out later this year, then you can upgrade as you please when the price is right to the new line of cards.

For the power supply, if you stick with Antec, Corsair, Seasonic, Silverstone, and PC Power and Cooling, you'll be fine. Also probably with something over 500W so you won't have to worry much about PSU being not enough for future upgrades, which I'm sure you know already.
 
Your build looks good. I just built my first high end gaming rig in early august and the thing has been rock solid since... I did months of research and made my choices carefully in regards to my desired setup. If I may comment...




The motherboard is a good choice. I opted to grab the Abit IP35 Pro motherboard

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/DeepSearch.hmx?scriteria=abit+ip35+pro&ALL=y&TP=1 cheapest at mwave.com for $158 after $20 Mail in Rebate

Basically, any P35 motherboard is good. They are very stable overclockers, and they stay cool. Even they it won't support SLI or Crossfire, personally I think it's an overrated tech fab which will be phased out in the next generation or two of cards. There are too many cons and bugs to warrant the price difference (too much heat produce, too much power consumption, driver instability, etc)





The power supply I went with was the Corsair HX 620 single rail.

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/DeepSearch.hmx?scriteria=corsair+620&ALL=y&TP=1 cheapest at mwave.com for $129 after $20 MIR




Now, one thing I definitely noticed you could do cheaper with was the case. I myself purchased the antec 900, which I absolutely LOVE. I know awhile back CompUSA was doing a promotion where they sold them for $90 in-store, but I had no locations near me and I'm not positive if they do it anymore. I did manage to snag it from Newegg for the same price after a 20 MIR.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021&Tpk=antec%2b900 it seems Newegg offers it for $99 after MIR

BUT, a few weeks after I ordered my case Coolermaster released what seems to be the greates performance-for-the-price case out right now, the CoolerMaster RC 690

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137&Tpk=coolermaster%2b690 (7 freakin' fans!)

It's $59 right now at newegg.... and seems to me like it will be winning many awards. In fact, I went and ordered one for myself for any future rig I decide to build again... (the price was right at $50 after MIR). Basically whatever case you decide to go with get it from Newegg b/c the free shipping can't be beat, compared to other sites where the shipping costs are substantial.



Let's see, what else. The crucial ballistix ram are good. DDR2 800 should be fine, no need to go any higher as you won't be noticing too much difference in overclock speeds with real world applications.




The processor - GREAT CHOICE. I too have the E6750, and I absolutely LOVE it. This is coming from a P4 2.8 Ghz rig from 3 years ago, but still. This thing overclocks like a dream, I run it at stock speeds but crank it up to 3.2 Ghz for gaming with very little effort at all. I know it's a mild overclock, but I'm still just getting my feet wet. I recommend getting an aftermarket heatsink if you are overclocking, like the Tuniq Tower 120. It's very big but is hard to beat as far as cheap air cooling options go. Retails for around $50-60 depending on where you look. Again, best processor bang for the buck. GO stepping FTW.


For vid card, midrange Nvidia 7series would be best option probably. Or a ATI 1950. Both seem to be the same price range. Unfortunately, I don't have much opinion because I went from an ATI 9800 Pro on my old rig straight to an 8800GTX on this one. Some love it, so hate on it that it's too expensive, but I'm completely satisfied with my purchase. I know that I have a 10 month old card that is still a top performer, and will be futureproofed for much time to come.

I'd say get what you want now, don't play the waiting game when it comes to the video card. Sure, the next best thing will be out, but there's no telling when that will be. Everything you hear now is all hear-say. Just as I waited for ATI to release the R600 I was severely disappointed by it's actual performance. Much less then it's highly touted pre-release hype. Right now we know nothing about both card makers next gen gems, but they could be $700 cards on release. At the current trend this seems to be more in line with price trends.

You can find a EVGA 8800GTX for under $500 after MIR from newegg. I think mine was 489, or less. But newegg also has their preferred account where any purchases over $500 don't need to be paid for until 6 months later. Save up and pay it all off in one shot without interest.


And last, I don't know if you're looking for monitors, but the Samsung 226BW 22" lcd for $279 after MIR seems to be the best thing going right now. It's 2ms response time and rich colors are great. Just do some research first there's a little company scandal going on with samsung and those lcd's... just do a google and you'll find tons of topics. I ended up getting the non-samsung panel, the C panel, but I'm still very satisfied with it. There are custom color profiles you can import from the web to match with the settings on the better rated Samsung panels if you so choose. That and I have a Samsung 4095 lcd tv and it is just as great. I stuck with a company name that I trust and they haven't failed me yet.



SO, that's my 2 cents.
 
if your not going with an 8800/2900 series card and want to stick with a generation back to save some money grab yourself a X1950xt you can get them farily cheap.. great preforming card..
 
I wouldn't spend the extra money for DDR3 memory. By the time the memory is worth using, it will likely be at a version your motherboard doesn't support. Otherwise, good choices.
 
Thank you everyone for the suggestions!

I ended up going with pretty much everything I had listed, minus the VGA/CPU heatsink/fans (the VGA one isn't compatible with the card I got and I can get the CPU one locally if I feel like the stock one is too loud).

I ended up getting the cheaper model of the Gigabyte P35 motherboard because I noticed that the one that supported DDR3 only supported up to 1066 which isn't enough of a gain from DDR2-800 for me to think about upgrading in the next few years.

I also got Antec NeoPower NeoHE 550 ATX12V 550W for the power supply. It was a decent price and I read some good reviews on it.

As for the video card, I ended up splurging a bit and got XFX PVT80GGHD4 GeForce 8800GTS 320MB. I couldn't really find any good deals on any cards not quite as powerful but still decent, so I just went ahead and got it.

Again, thanks everyone for the suggestions. Hopefully everything will arrive at the same time (two packages for everything from Newegg) and I won't have any problems. :)
 
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