I'm thinking of getting this along with this PC:
http://www.tigerdire...0999&CatId=4928
Any thoughts or better recommendations?
Yeah I would skip on that for sure. Like someone else mentioned, the PSU is terrible. Other problems [I] noticed was the case has poor ventilation and is small. That's the Achilles heel of the 9800GT - overheating.
If you look at the value of the parts alone (comparing to newegg)
-CPU 115
-PSU (So small that it probably carries no to little value) 20
-Motherboard (No info on what the mobo is - but a good mobo, which this surely isn't priced at...) 80
-6 GB ddr 3 ram - about 45/chip 135
-case (bad case) 50
That comes out to about $400.
Now with parts solely from NewEgg..
Gskill 4gb DDR3 - $96 - Gskill makes the best ram
http://www.newegg.co...1-193-_-ProductHere's the reason for 4gb of ram... In order to run 6gb you need to run it in triple channel, however finding a motherboard that is compatible with *everything* is impossible. The processor I picked out runs AM3, and I would guess you'd want SLI to run a second 8800GT. Additionally, the ram is DDR3 1600 speed (supported by this motherboard, but many older ones do not support it.) 4gb is more than enough to run this setup, and in the future (because the mobo has four ram slots) you can add another pair to run in 2 dual channel pairs (4 2gb chips work, 3 do not - unless you have a triple channel board. HOWEVER if you do wish for more than 4GB of ram, I'd go with 2 4gb chips. It's more $50 expensive than 4 2gb chips, but will have future uses ( 2x 4gb
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820231311 )
Combo-deal on Processor/PSUAMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz I'd go with an AMD - much more power for the price. This should be quite a bit more powerful than that processor. These were actually the two I had found separately then noticed they had a combo deal. So yes, they're both great parts.
CPU
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W
http://www.newegg.co...st=Combo.468987$229.98
$20 rebate
$209.98
One of many decent, ventilated cases - $70
http://www.newegg.co...9-215-_-ProductMobo
http://www.newegg.co...0-235-_-Product99.99
$495 total.475 with rebates.
However it is SLI compatible and it is compatible with the RAM & AM3 processor, and it'll give you a hell of a lot better performance than the prebuild. Plus tigerdirect is evil and they won't get any money.
Now the catch... this has no harddrive, no Windows 7. I prefer builds with two harddrives - one smaller harddrive (~160GB) for the operating system, one larger one for data. Plus, 1TB is quite large. A 1TB drive goes for $90, a 500GB goes for $55. This is all down to personal preference, but for the sake of a small budget lets go for the 1TB.
+$90.
Total Price Now: $565 (Woot same as the TigerDirect machine - no videocard)
And the other problem - Windows 7. This all comes down to what you want/have as well. If you HAVE an extra copy of XP or Vista around the house, you can get an upgrade to professional for about 60% of the full price. Otherwise you'll have to pay $149.99 for it. If you are a student with a .edu email address, even better. You can get the UPGRADE (once again, requires XP/Vista) for 29.99 from Microsoft (
http://www.microsoft...re/windows.aspx)
Price:
565 + 29.99 for upgrade with .edu (digital copy) = 595
565 + 89.99 for normal upgrade = 655
565 + 149.99 for full copy = 715
If you truly consider buying that setup... I'd highly recommend getting a second opinion in case I messed up somewhere - but it seems correct.
RAM matches mobo
PSU matches mobo
Videocard matches mobo
CPU matches mobo
SLI supported
And finally add 9800GT the videocard.
TLDR (With 9800 GT)
http://www.newegg.co...1-193-_-Product 4gb ddr3 1600 gskill RAM - 96.99
http://www.newegg.co...st=Combo.468987 CPU/650 watt PSU $209.98 after $20 rebate
http://www.newegg.co...9-215-_-Product Case $70
http://www.newegg.co...0-235-_-Product SLI Ready motherboard 99.99
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822136284 1TB WD Harddrive $90
http://www.newegg.co...0-535-_-Product EVGA 512-P3-N987-TR GeForce 9800 GT (49.99)
Total: 616 MINUS WINDOWS.
And for a second (no-rebate) videocard.
$701.95
Also might want this... (DVD/CD reader/writer)
http://www.newegg.co...N82E1682710633525.99
EDIT: Other notable mentions...
Nicer case ($10 more after rebate)
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811129021A step down from the above case, but the same price with no rebate hassle
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811129066A better version of the motherboard. (139.99 after rebate)
http://www.newegg.co...0-236-_-ProductMain differences = allows for 3way SLI (I'd recommend 1 260 versus 3 8800's though), 1 more SATA connection, allows for hybrid SLI (I do not know much about this), probably better compatibility because of a newer chipset. Also two LESS USB connections.
16.99 wireless card
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16839121008 (THIS WILL TAKE UP YOUR ONLY PCI SLOT.)
Edited by aeri, 05 August 2010 - 08:16 AM.