Help me build my PC.

[Dr.FuzzyBallz]

Well i have been saving for a new computer since the summer of 2006, and now finally i am around $1400 american dollars and my parents said they would pay for the tax and shipping costs. :)

So for the last month or so i have been going on forums and sites and asking other people what parts should i get and stuff like that and this is what i got so far.

CPU: Core 2 Duo E6600 - $310

Mobo: Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 - $135 -NOT SURE I THINK I WANT TO CHANGE IT HELP ME PICK OUT SUMTHING BETTER

RAM: Crucial Ballistix 2x512MB DDR2 667 - $135 - NOT SURE GOT ANYTHING BETTER? FOR A DECENT PRICE.

GFX: eVGA 8800GTS - $400 - ANY OTHER SUGGESTIONS?

PSU: Sunbeam NUUO 550w SLI - $75 - NOT SURE EITHER

Case: NOT SURE I AM PLANNING TO SEPND AROUND $100 FOR A CASE PLEASE RECOMMEND ONE

HDD: Western Digital 320GB SATA II - $90 AR - GOT ANYHTING BETTER TRY TO KEEP IT AFFORDABLE AND AROUND MY PRICE RANGE

Optix: NEC 7170A - $31 - NOT SURE EITHER RECOMMEND ME SUMTHING ELSE IIF YOU GOT ANYTHING ELSE THATS BETTER

(IF YOUVE GOT A ANOTHERWAY I SHOULD BUILD JSUT LIST THE PARTS PLEASE IT WOULD HELP A TON I AM TRYIGN TO MAKE THIS A GREAT COMPUTER FOR MY PRICE.)

- I should let you know what games i am going ot be palying and i want to be able to play them maxed out to their fullest 0 lag and still be able to run 1 or 2 programs while playing.

The games are: F.E.A.R, Supreme Commander, C&C3, & Crysis.

Will i be able to run these on max? with those parts? - or whatever u recommend.

Also as i was searching for parts and stuff some buddy gave me the idea to overclocking and now i had another thing to think about i am planning to overclock the Core 2 Duo E6600 to 3.0Ghz, but i have one question can i do this on stock kooling? than another thing was brought to my attention people started telling me not to overclock that it will bring my PCs life down to like 7 years from 10? first is this true with the Core 2 Duo E6600 and is it worth the overclock? also than one of my friends said i should overclock the Core 2 Duo E6400 3.0Ghz and just buy a $50 fan and save money i thought about it and now i had even more people telling me i should and shouldnt people said that it wouldnt even last a year that it would freeze and cause me problems.. is this true if any one has expierence with this please help, and tell me if i should overclock or not and since i am trying to save some money so i can buy better parts should i instead overclock the Core 2 Duo E6400? or the Core 2 Duo E6600? - (Note i am trying to save some money so i can change some parts and get better ones.)

Thiers one more problem today at skewl i was told that the eVGA 8800GTS was not better than the 320mb and gives the same performence as the 640mb eVGA 8800GTS unless i have like a "19 monitor and put some option in the games on that will make the graphx look sharper or sumthing and only like 5% better.. is this true; and than i got home i discovered that the performence of the 320mb is way better (for the price, and overall) than the performence of the 640mb eVGA 8800GTS heres the link to the site i found this in

http://www.gamespot.com/features/6165714/index.html?tag=topslot;title;1&om_act=convert&om_clk=topslot

do u think its write? and should i get the 640mb eVGA 8800GTS or the 320mb which is going to be better in the long run? (i plan to upgrade my PC around every 4 years if it helps.)

(tell me if i made spelling mistakes or grammar i probably did :D)

This is the first PC that i am building na di basically have 0 ecpierience with building computers.

Thank you.

[kemo]

I say get E4300 175$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115013
2GB of cheap ram 132$ after rebate DDR5300 Cas 4 (Not D9 :) )
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820227118
You can achieve 3GHZ easily on no time and push more later and use the extra money for something that will make a difference

[ted3]

About your screencard, 320MB GTS will do very fine if you are on 1280x1024, even 1600x1200 is ok if you reduce AA and AF a little bit. I still havent decided for myself, i think i want the extra AA/AF the 640MB can give me in 1680x1050, and maybe i'll upgrade to 24" 1920x1200 in a few months time and then for sure 320MB will be limiting performance.

Case: If budget is only $100 you just take the one you like the most :)

RAM: Crucial Ballistix' are great sticks, but 1GB RAM should be only temporary, i tend to agree that you better get some cheaper 2x1GB sticks. Or, get another 2x512MB BallistiX as soon as you have money again. Problem with that is your slots are all filled up, so third option; get 1x1GB BallistiX now and one more later, single channel isnt a big problem for most real-world scenarios and then you have the option to extend to 4 or 6GB later on (who knows how much RAM we need before 4 years have passed...)

[Dr.FuzzyBallz]

I say get E4300 175$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115013
2GB of cheap ram 132$ after rebate DDR5300 Cas 4 (Not D9 :) )
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820227118
You can achieve 3GHZ easily on no time and push more later and use the extra money for something that will make a difference

I can achieve this with stock cooling? how much will it reduce my computers life by?

[Dr.FuzzyBallz]

About your screencard, 320MB GTS will do very fine if you are on 1280x1024, even 1600x1200 is ok if you reduce AA and AF a little bit. I still havent decided for myself, i think i want the extra AA/AF the 640MB can give me in 1680x1050, and maybe i'll upgrade to 24" 1920x1200 in a few months time and then for sure 320MB will be limiting performance.

Case: If budget is only $100 you just take the one you like the most :)

RAM: Crucial Ballistix' are great sticks, but 1GB RAM should be only temporary, i tend to agree that you better get some cheaper 2x1GB sticks. Or, get another 2x512MB BallistiX as soon as you have money again. Problem with that is your slots are all filled up, so third option; get 1x1GB BallistiX now and one more later, single channel isnt a big problem for most real-world scenarios and then you have the option to extend to 4 or 6GB later on (who knows how much RAM we need before 4 years have passed...)

well what about $135-$150 maybe for the case will that help get me a descent case? i am sure i can find some way to earn $50bucks.

[ted3]

well what about $135-$150 maybe for the case will that help get me a descent case? i am sure i can find some way to earn $50bucks.
Try to post in the housing forum, http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=101

Maybe best would be to find a few cases you like and then make a post to get some feedback on the candidates.

I think i like this one for now:
http://www.nzxt.com/products/lexa/
Test: http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/11/29/making_a_case_for_the_lan_and_office/
..not sure about the price in USD, maybe closer to 200...

[Dr.FuzzyBallz]

Try to post in the housing forum, http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=101

Maybe best would be to find a few cases you like and then make a post to get some feedback on the candidates.

I think i like this one for now:
http://www.nzxt.com/products/lexa/
Test: http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/11/29/making_a_case_for_the_lan_and_office/
..not sure about the price in USD, maybe closer to 200...

wow that is a sick case ive seen it before, but is it easy to fit everything in it look kinda complicated.. i mean this is my first time building a PC and i dont want to ruin my parts or burn something or break sumthing.

[ColdWinter]

wow that is a sick case ive seen it before, but is it easy to fit everything in it look kinda complicated.. i mean this is my first time building a PC and i dont want to ruin my parts or burn something or break sumthing.

Here's the link to that case in Newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811146018

It's a mid tower case and I personally have no experience with it. But I've read some comments about it and people seemed to like it.

However if you want more space you could take a look at this case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811146029

This is a big tower and has more room than the Lexa. This is also the case I've ordered for myself. It has 8 fans that come with the case and is apparently silent as well even though it has all the fans. The reviews I've read about it are good and for the price 139$ and a 30$ mail in rebate so 109$ for the guys in the US it seems worth it. I have to pay almost double:mad:

[kemo]

I can achieve tis with stock cooling? how much will it reduce my computers life by?
Yes you can achieve 3GHZ easily with stock cooling but after market cooling will give you the chance to push more , so about your computer life you never know , you might run @ stock speed then it suddenly die or it might survive for 10 years with OC

[Drunner611]

Drop the Western Digital and grab a Seagate 7200.10. Also, make sure you get 2gb of ram and some aftermarket cooling for the the 8800gts and your cpu. It will be worth it. Look into the Tuniq tower or Scythe Infinity.

Edit - BTW, I am running a 6400 at 3.2ghz on 1.3 volts and max load temps at 52 with Scythe Infinity. No problem.

[Dr.FuzzyBallz]

Here's the link to that case in Newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811146018

It's a mid tower case and I personally have no experience with it. But I've read some comments about it and people seemed to like it.

However if you want more space you could take a look at this case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811146029

This is a big tower and has more room than the Lexa. This is also the case I've ordered for myself. It has 8 fans that come with the case and is apparently silent as well even though it has all the fans. The reviews I've read about it are good and for the price 139$ and a 30$ mail in rebate so 109$ for the guys in the US it seems worth it. I have to pay almost double:mad:

i am going to be honest the second case looks nicer, but what do u guys think about this case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811233002

[Dr.FuzzyBallz]

Yes you can achieve 3GHZ easily with stock cooling but after market cooling will give you the chance to push more , so about your computer life you never know , you might run @ stock speed then it suddenly die or it might survive for 10 years with OC

since its risky do you think i should go for market cooling?

[Dr.FuzzyBallz]

Drop the Western Digital and grab a Seagate 7200.10. Also, make sure you get 2gb of ram and some aftermarket cooling for the the 8800gts and your cpu. It will be worth it. Look into the Tuniq tower or Scythe Infinity.

Edit - BTW, I am running a 6400 at 3.2ghz on 1.3 volts and max load temps at 52 with Scythe Infinity. No problem.

alright sure y not i will get the seagat 7200 dose have better performence (i think), and yes now i am getting 2gigs of ram for sure since i am going to be playing crysis and sup com and stuff.

is your 6400 faster than a Core 2 Duo? meaning dose it give better performence at 3.2Ghz - sorry stupid question i got confused read quick and thought you mean AMD 64 athalon

[Dr.FuzzyBallz]

i found some othe rcases what do u guys think?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129154

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811233013

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129157

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811133143

i thought these cases kinda looked cool but i have no idea if they are any good

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811208008

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811156175

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811105144

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811144151

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811146015

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811144089

[Drunner611]

alright sure y not i will get the seagat 7200 dos ehave better performence, and yes now i am getting 2gigs of ram for sure since i am going to be playing crysis and sup com and stuff.

is your 6400 faster than a Core 2 Duo? meaning dose it give better performence at 3.2Ghz
Huh? Its a C2D E6400? Its the model between the 6300 and 6600?

[p0tter]

Cooler Master's RC-631

Regular Price $99.99
Sale Price $44.99 - $15.00 Rebate = $29.99 after Mail-In Rebate

http://svc.com/rc-631-kwn1.html

I would recommend e4300, Gigbyte DS3, 2GB memory, 8800GTS 320MB.

Personally, I would only case made by:

Antec
Coolermaster
Li Lian
Gigabyte

[kemo]

since its risky do you think i should go for market cooling?

Try to pick something in the 30-50$ price , the Freezer 7 pro used to be the best bang but right know I don’t know what the hell happened it costs 80+$ at the egg so you should buy it from here
http://www.axiontech.com/prdt.php?item=76037 22$
if you want to get the best look for tuniq tower 120 it should be around 55$ in http://www.petrastechshop.com/

[Dr.FuzzyBallz]

Try to pick something in the 30-50$ price , the Freezer 7 pro used to be the best bang but right know I don’t know what the hell happened it costs 80+$ at the egg so you should buy it from here
http://www.axiontech.com/prdt.php?item=76037 22$
if you want to get the best look for tuniq tower 120 it should be around 55$ in http://www.petrastechshop.com/

thanks man :) eh one question how much would desent watercooling cost? and would work find with my processor overclocked? and if i go with the fan should i over clock the 1.8ghz 2.13ghz or the 2.40ghz?

[Spawne32]

Alot of good recommendations here, but i dont see anyone saying anything about that PSU, personally i would be most uncomfortable with only 550watt, especially from a sunbeam PSU. And the 6600 is a great choice, you get the 4mb cache with that particular model, any models under that and you only get a 2mb cache, crucial ballistix, great ram, but i would reccomend you go with a cheaper set of ram and use DDR2 800 instead, western digital, great drives, but i would go for a seagate 7200.10 with the last two letters in the model # ending with AS, ive picked out a few selections on new egg here for you to look at, tell me what u think

PSU:
XCLIO GREATPOWER X14S4P4 750W ATX12V 750W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, TUV, CB, VDE, FIMKO, DEMKO, NEMKO, SEMKO - Retail $159.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817189011

RAM:
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail $164.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231098

HD:
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $94.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148140

hope this helps with your selections :)

Check out the parts i selected for my rig also, its the one under "In the works" :)

[Drunner611]

thanks man :) eh one question how mcuh would desent watercooling cost? and would be find with my processor overclocked? and if i go with the fan should i over clock the 1.8ghz 2.13ghz or the 2.40ghz?
Watercooling would cost around 300 to cool the cpu and gpu. I'm assuming your going to get the e6300 then? You should be able to hit 2.8ghz if you get the Tuniq tower with around 1.3v.

- Also, update your first post to your most recent decisions. It will be easier for other people to critique your rig that way.

[Dr.FuzzyBallz]

Watercooling would cost around 300 to cool the cpu and gpu. I'm assuming your going to get the e6300 then? You should be able to hit 2.8ghz if you get the Tuniq tower with around 1.3v.

- Also, update your first post to your most recent decisions. It will be easier for other people to critique your rig that way.

Actually i think i might get an arlick and i am getting market cooling, and upgrading to watercooling in a year or 2, but i really want to hit the 3.0Ghz do u think i can do that with the 2.13 ghz you think i will be able to hit that mark? without it freezing and dying on me in a year or 2 atleast lasting 5years.

[ferrari_freak]

Dude calm down. You are getting way ahead of yourself. First of all, you should switch up your PSU to a Corsair, SeaSonic, OCZ or something like that. You will need it if you want to overclock at all without power problems. As for your RAM, go for some cheap DDR2 800 2GB for sure, especially for Sup Com or Crysis. As for your proc, it's not going to somehow freeze (it's not below 0 degrees and even so, people use liquid nitrogen) and it's not going to die on you. 3GHz is manageable, but as I said, don't get ahead of yourself. I'll leave the insults for school tomorrow :p: . The e6600 might be a bit expensive for your budget so I think you would be better off with a e4300. Stick with cases from Lian Li, Coolermaster, Antec, Silverstone and Gigabyte. As for the hard drive, the Seagate is good, but I thought you were getting a raptor? Your choice, but remember that raptor's have less storage and cost more for the added speed boost. More info for you tomorrow.

Usama aka Ferrari Freak

[Dr.FuzzyBallz]

Alot of good recommendations here, but i dont see anyone saying anything about that PSU, personally i would be most uncomfortable with only 550watt, especially from a sunbeam PSU. And the 6600 is a great choice, you get the 4mb cache with that particular model, any models under that and you only get a 2mb cache, crucial ballistix, great ram, but i would reccomend you go with a cheaper set of ram and use DDR2 800 instead, western digital, great drives, but i would go for a seagate 7200.10 with the last two letters in the model # ending with AS, ive picked out a few selections on new egg here for you to look at, tell me what u think

PSU:
XCLIO GREATPOWER X14S4P4 750W ATX12V 750W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, TUV, CB, VDE, FIMKO, DEMKO, NEMKO, SEMKO - Retail $159.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817189011

RAM:
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail $164.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231098

HD:
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $94.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148140

hope this helps with your selections :)

Check out the parts i selected for my rig also, its the one under "In the works" :)


thanks man. :) but for the hardrive i am getting the raptor x or sumthing

[ferrari_freak]

thanks man. :) but for the hardrive i am getting the raptor x or sumthing

How easily you change your mind...

Usama aka Ferrari Freak

[Spawne32]

thanks man. :) but for the hardrive i am getting the raptor x or sumthing

gona be loud and hot, and wont last as long as the 7200rpm, just so you know :)

[Dr.FuzzyBallz]

gona be loud and hot, and wont last as long as the 7200rpm, just so you know :)

YO ferrari you did not tell me about it not lasting as long.

Yes i can change my mind very easily because i do not know much about computers :D

[Dr.FuzzyBallz]

Check out the parts i selected for my rig also, its the one under "In the works" :)

Do you still have to buy those parts? or did you already buy some of them?