Rashad March 26, 2007 Share Rashad Member March 26, 2007 my poor four year old laptop died this past week, no cs or anything for a while. so i'm building my first system! this is what I have so far. Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 Conroe 2.66GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor $522.00 ASUS P5N-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard $126.99 2xCORSAIRXMS2 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) $198.00 HIPER HPU-4K580-MS ATX12V v2.2 580W Power Supply 100 - 120V $89.99 LITE-ON Black 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model LH-16D1P-187 $17.99 BFG Tech BFGR7950512GTOCE GeForce 7950GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 OC $259.99 Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JD 80GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s $42.99 Western Digital Caviar RE2 WD5000YS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s $159.99 LIAN LI PC-60APLUSII Silver Aluminum ATX Mid Tower $129.99 SAMSUNG 244t-BK Black 24" 6ms (GTG) DVI Widescreen LCD $719.99 grand total of $2,267.92 I still need a keyboard and mouse but eh.. I'm still deciding whether or not to get windows vista. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boiler March 26, 2007 Share boiler Member March 26, 2007 (edited) a couple of suggestions on my part (only my personal opinion - everyone's differs!): - I would suggest going for the E6600 CPU, it'll save you about $200 and the performance difference won't be too much. all core 2's overclock like crazy, you could get E6700 performance no problem out of an E6600 - go for an 8800GTS. The money you could save on the E6600 could go towards this EVGA 8800GTS Superclocked card for $410 before rebate. If you're gonna spend that kind of money, no reason to not go directx 10 capable, plus that card has better overall performance. - This 24" Dell Ultrasharp Monitor is about $100 cheaper than that samsung, and it is a fantastic monitor, I know a Cujo and a couple other folks can confirm this. Highly recommend, and for $100 cheaper would be an easy choice for me. A couple of questions: - Why two different hard drives when one of them isn't a 10k RPM drive (WD raptor)? - Why not get a DVD-R/RW drive? (unless you already have one you like) My initial impressions of Vista: - It's not leaps and bounds different from XP for most everyday usage. - It looks nice - Compatibility issues are getting cleared up pretty well, shouldn't be as much of a concern in the coming months - It is a resource hog, but things seem to load/run a little quicker due to page filing changes (which is why it uses more RAM) IMO, if you already have XP, I can't see a great reason to upgrade to Vista just yet. If you're doing a fresh build however and need an OS, I would say go with Vista Ultimate. The OEM version is around $200. Looks like you're gonna have a great system no matter what you go with. I'm sure you'll get several more comments/suggestions. I'm no expert, but those suggestions are what I would do if it were my money, and it's always helpful to have many points of view when it comes to picking hardware. Happy building! Edited March 26, 2007 by boilersax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonfly March 26, 2007 Share dragonfly Member March 26, 2007 Yeah, e6600 for sure! I'm not a prostar OC'er and it's a piece of cake to get it to 3.1 or 3.2 without an increase in voltage. And if you're building new, definitely get an 8800gt_. I have the 24" dell 2407model. I absolutely love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rashad March 26, 2007 Author Share Rashad Member March 26, 2007 The reason why I didnt get a DVD-R/RW drive is because I have an external DVD-R/RW that I got with my laptop, and it still works...but I might as well get a internal DVD-R/RW, only $20 more or so. I didn't pick the 10k RPM raptor mainly to save a buck or two, but going with the 10k RPM raptor would be nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rashad March 26, 2007 Author Share Rashad Member March 26, 2007 The reasoning behind the 7950GT was that if/when I got another one I could SLI them and their a bit cheaper than an 8800gts...but when the time comes to upgrade i'll probly end up buying a whole different card anyways. I could also use some suggestions for a keyboard and mouse. The last mouse I had was a Razer Diamondback, which was really great. I might decide to go with another Razer mouse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cujo March 26, 2007 Share Cujo Member March 26, 2007 (edited) listen to boiler. he's right on the money. as for kb and mouse. g15 and g5 are what i have and love. i'd spend a wee bit more on the power supply. antec trio 650w isn't much more and it's MUCH better. edit - oh and the 7950gt is junk, always has been junk, and always will be junk. look what you can get for 10 bucks more! SAPPHIRE 100185L Radeon X1950XT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail Edited March 26, 2007 by Cujo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Preacher March 26, 2007 Share Preacher Member March 26, 2007 There will be direct X 10 games coming out this year. If you are building a high end system like this you would be very foolish to get anything but the GF 8xxx series of cards. CPU info above is correct and advised Hard drives I'ld go with 2 SATA 3.0 250GB Drives so you could run them at RAID 0 Cujo is right on about the power supply - Hiper is unproven and new on the scene go :Antec, Ultra, Enermax and maybe Thermaltake and make sure you go at least 500watts I currently have the Ultra X2 Connect 550 and love it (runs about $99 at Tigerdirect.com Keyboard and mouse suggestions: I hate wireless so I don't advise anything cordless sorry: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16823126179 is a very nice keyboard and : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16826104191 is the best mouse for gaming on the market in my opinion. The only other thing I would add is that if I were you I'ld spring for DDR2 800 RAM and go with a cheaper priced 24"monitor like this one: http://www.apparelandtech.com/dell-ultrash...x1200-p-49.html $648.55 someone else might find you a better price on that monitors are not my normal search item so I usually go Tiger Direct or newegg: best 24" name brand price: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...&CatId=2775 good revies anyway. hope this helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZeroDamage March 26, 2007 Share ZeroDamage Member March 26, 2007 Considering how much that 7950 costs, it would be foolish to go with it over an 8800 of some sort. The cost difference is small considering the performance boost you will get. Also, the 8800 gts's in SLI would be much better than two 7950's in SLI.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akaM2 March 26, 2007 Share akaM2 Member March 26, 2007 I will come put it together for free beer! But E6600>6700 With the money you are saving there, throw that towards a raptor 74gb for your OS. IMO go for the Dell 24" if your gonna go that big. Same specs, little cheaper, plus there amazing. You get more features also (not huge) but usb hub, fully adjustable up and down and you can flip it. I have to say, sometimes I like my roomates 20" dell ultra widescreen better than my 24, plus it would save 300+ on your build, depending on the screen size your at right now, both would prolly be huge jumps if you were on a laptop. So basically just going to a 20" widescreen and a E6600 you save 550 bucks about. Thats almost an 8800gtx right there by itself. Plus add in the money you were gonna spend on the 7950 and the psu and you could get a nice 700w psu with a 8800gtx (evga is the best and vista premium if I was you. My best piece of advice, get your main comp the best you can get it for your limit and then worry about extra accessories later, accessories can be purchased easily after your build is done extra little upgrades for only a hundred more or so cant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rashad March 26, 2007 Author Share Rashad Member March 26, 2007 would you guys recomend replacing the 80GB 7200 RPM with the Western Digital 10,000 RPM raptor? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boiler March 26, 2007 Share boiler Member March 26, 2007 would you guys recomend replacing the 80GB 7200 RPM with the Western Digital 10,000 RPM raptor? very much so yes. Your OS and games will load noticeably quicker. Shouldn't be too much more, especially if you save money in the areas previously mentioned above Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonfly March 26, 2007 Share dragonfly Member March 26, 2007 would you guys recomend replacing the 80GB 7200 RPM with the Western Digital 10,000 RPM raptor? very much so yes. Your OS and games will load noticeably quicker. Shouldn't be too much more, especially if you save money in the areas previously mentioned above I'm almost always first on in the server, and have to wait for others to load. I only have a 7200 sata2 (wd 250 gig) and dont really mind waiting the whole 5-10 seconds between loading maps. I personally think raptors are WAY overpriced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boiler March 26, 2007 Share boiler Member March 26, 2007 would you guys recomend replacing the 80GB 7200 RPM with the Western Digital 10,000 RPM raptor? very much so yes. Your OS and games will load noticeably quicker. Shouldn't be too much more, especially if you save money in the areas previously mentioned above I'm almost always first on in the server, and have to wait for others to load. I only have a 7200 sata2 (wd 250 gig) and dont really mind waiting the whole 5-10 seconds between loading maps. I personally think raptors are WAY overpriced. That also involves your connection speeds too, though. For online games like CSS I'm in early as well, but my connection is very fast and I always have some of the lowest ping (at least in recrud or other midwest servers). I'm running that same HD DA, and it's still fast. The raptor is a little expensive, but it would make a noticeable difference in most applications. I definitely notice a difference in speed between my 5400rpm sata2 drive in my laptop and my 7200rpm sata2 in my desktop, I would imagine there would be a similar boost with 10,000rpm. If you have the money and are trying to build the best/fastest system you can right now, then I would go with a raptor for OS/games. If you don't want to go with the raptor or other 10k rpm drive, then I don't see the point in getting an 80GB separate HD at the same speed. RAID 0 with identical 250GB drives maybe, but not the smaller 80GB one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonfly March 26, 2007 Share dragonfly Member March 26, 2007 Yeah, definitely faster... I just cant even try to convince myself it's an investment of any sort Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rashad March 27, 2007 Author Share Rashad Member March 27, 2007 My laptop had one 80GB 5400 RPM drive, so a 10,000 RPM drive should definatly be a noticable difference. In the video card department, anything that I aim to buy now will be leaps and bounds better than my ATI 9600 Mobility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonfly March 27, 2007 Share dragonfly Member March 27, 2007 echo echo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rashad March 27, 2007 Author Share Rashad Member March 27, 2007 how the... I dont think i'd be able to SLI an 8800 series vid card with my current choice for a motherboard. also, I hear that the some of the 8800 series cards are pretty big, and the currnent case I have picked is nice but it's not overly spacious. I was looking at this case - XCLIO Windtunnel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cujo March 27, 2007 Share Cujo Member March 27, 2007 I dont think i'd be able to SLI an 8800 series vid card with my current choice for a motherboard. of course you can. it's an sli board. you can sli any sli cards in any sli board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kruten March 27, 2007 Share Kruten Member March 27, 2007 It's a full tower and looks to have a good depth. Also, someone's review on there said they had a 8800 in their setup with that case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boiler March 27, 2007 Share boiler Member March 27, 2007 (edited) like kruten said, you should definitely be able to fit an 8800 in there, probably even a GTX. I can't say for sure if SLI'd 8800s would fit though, hard to tell without seeing the case in person. I could potentially see a problem with the bottom SLI card interfering with the slots for your hard drives. If you think you'd be interested in going SLI at some point, then you may want to do a little searching/asking around to see if anyone has done it. We could recommend cases that are known by us to fit that kind of stuff, just let us know if you need to go in another direction with the case. Edited March 27, 2007 by boilersax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZeroDamage March 27, 2007 Share ZeroDamage Member March 27, 2007 I'm almost always first on in the server, and have to wait for others to load. I only have a 7200 sata2 (wd 250 gig) and dont really mind waiting the whole 5-10 seconds between loading maps. I personally think raptors are WAY overpriced. Exactly. They are over priced and the performance difference is negligible. I would put that money elsewhere such as a better PSU. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cujo March 27, 2007 Share Cujo Member March 27, 2007 i'd be interested to see a raptor performance comparison with vista. i'd be willing to bet they'd pull ahead in vista a bit more than in xp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boiler March 27, 2007 Share boiler Member March 27, 2007 (edited) i'd be interested to see a raptor performance comparison with vista. i'd be willing to bet they'd pull ahead in vista a bit more than in xp. I'd like to know too. I might consider getting one next year or so, and I'm planning on putting vista on my desktop this fall. Edited March 27, 2007 by boilersax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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