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Can you help me build a PC?


Cody

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Is this a good deal?

 

Can I do better?

 

I was playing around with that websites system configurator building my own but i have no idea whats good anymore, everything seems different. The system configurator is pretty cool, i suggest all you techies play with it regaurdless.

 

Anyone care to help this retard?

 

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I got my rig a ~2 years ago, so I'm not quite the most knowledgeable person to help you out. Colo usually knows his stuff. How much are you looking to spend? I'll quick throw out a few ideas that I do know:

 

-I always do computer stuff from NCIX.com. They're based out of Vancouver, have killer prices and really good customer support. Although, I've heard good things about Memory Express as well and if you're closer to them in Alberta then you're probably in good hands.

 

-Video card wise, the Nvidea 8800GT is a frikkin' good deal. $250-$300 is a massive deal for the amount of power and performance you get out of it. Check it out here

 

-Processor-wise, go with an Intel. Right now they have the best bang for the buck. This one is fairly popular at the moment.

 

So yeah, I won't be offended if someone steps in and tells me I'm full of crap, but those few points are what I'm most sure of PC-building wise.

-Cril

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I put together a full system the other night on newegg for shits and giggles. I'm surprised at how much you get these days for your money. One thing to remember to look at is bus speeds on your CPU. 800 is low, 1033 is a good speed to keep your computer current for a few years. I don't see the bus speeds or the processor speed even listed on that link so I'd be a little worried. 2gigs of ram is good but 4 is what most people are putting in their boxes since vista came out because it takes so much ram to run it. PC5300 is getting on the slower side of ram speeds as well. Don't get me wrong 800bus and PC5300 ram will do fine but it will be considered a very sluggish machine in less than 2 years.

 

Here is the system I put together a couple nights ago on newegg. I'm still tweaking it and haven't made up my mind firmly on the VGA setup yet but it's really all moot because I'm not getting a new comp anyway.

 

1 LIAN LI PC-A16B Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

$169.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811112132

 

1 ASUS P5N32-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard

$219.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813131073

 

2 MSI RX2600XT Diamond Plus Radeon HD 2600XT 512MB 128-bit GDDR4 PCI Express x16 OC Edition HDMI HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card

$329.98 ($164.99 ea)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814127303

 

1 OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI ATX12V 700W Power Supply

$149.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817341002

 

1 Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model HH80562PH0568M

$260.00

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819115018

 

1 CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400C4

$102.00

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820145034

 

1 Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

$69.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822148262

 

1 ViewSonic Optiquest Series Q22wb Black 22" 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor

$258.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16824116076

 

2 Sony NEC Optiarc 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE Model AD-7190A

$53.98 ($26.99 ea)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16827118003

 

 

Subtotal $1,681.91

Tax $0.00

Shipping $49.90

Order Total $1,731.81

 

It's not the flashiest of setups but it will keep you in gaming for a few years. I know that the price seems high at the end but you have to remember that it has 2 VGAs, a 20" Widescreen Viewsonic Monitor, and a pricey Lian-Li case.

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The new 8800gt's are supposed to be priced at around $250CDN, but since they've been so high in demand, they're selling around $300. Their performance is comparable to the ~$650 8800 GTX, so they're so much more of a deal.

 

I'm going for 2 8800GT's and putting them in SLI.

 

However, ATI just released their new x3800's. But they don't have SLI, so... yeah... the 8800GT's are a definite deal

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I'll try to reply back with more detail in the future, but my first thought was to cringe at the Windows Vista on that machine. That OS scares me. Not to mention the price doesn't match up very well with the parts. If you've already got a case and psu then you should be able to rig up something much cheaper with better parts, ie cpu, vid card, ram, hard drive (lol everything) for about the same amount.
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Personally I think your better off building something yourself, rather then getting a premade comp. Or I guess if you don't feel like building it, you can configure it with the ME configurator and then take it in and they will build it all for you.

 

Guess I'm just biased against Vista, I've been having lots of troubles with it. My sister bought a premade from Future Shit and shes had nothing but problems with Vista. Lockups, crashes, weird problems with the whole OS, so much so that we had to roll it all the way back to the when she first got it. Had explorer.exe give up the ghost one day. Personally, I would avoid it, and that means building your own.

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Well I took a quick swipe to see how the parts you get with the above deal match with how much it would cost to buy the parts seperate, and the end price if you build it yourself, buy the OS, buy the parts etc is 1019.55 compared to 899.95 if you buy their premade package.

 

I'm not saying go this route, but if you aren't interested in building it yourself, and just want something that runs, I guess this could work for you.

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Guest etruscan

Hey !

 

I spent a lil time looking over what you posted and checked out that system configurator thingy ( very cool! ) .. i couldn't seem to find a way to share my built up system with you guys easily, so i copied the summary - Here is what i threw together :

 

1 x ANTEC - Nine Hundred Ultimate Gamer Case ( $109.95 )

1 x Intel - Coreâ„¢2 Duo Processor E6550 2.33GHz w/ 4MB Cache ( $184.95 )

1 x eVGA - nForce 650i Ultra A1 w/ DualDDR2 800, 7.1 Audio, Gigabit Lan, PCI-E x16 ( $129.95 )

1 x Corsair - 2GB XMS2-6400C4 TWIN2X Dual Channel DDR2 Kit (2 x 1GB) ( $109.95 )

1 x SEAGATE - 500GB Barracuda 7200.11 SATA II w/ NCQ, 32MB Cache ( $129.95 )

1 x PIONEER - DVR-112D 18x18x10 Dual Layer DVD+/-RW Drive, Black (OEM - No Software) ( $34.95 )

1 x eVGA - e-GeForce 8800 GT SuperClocked 512MB PCI-E w/ Dual DVI, HDTV-Out ( $289.95 )

1 x Corsair - HX 620W Modular Power Supply w/ Triple +12V ( $149.95 )

1 x Assemble - Assemble Hardware ( $40.00 )

 

Total Price : $1,179.60 ( added assembly option, not sure if you'd need it )

 

So, thats a little bit more than what you were looking to spend, but that machine right there is going to kick some serious ass, and be future proof to a good degree to boot.

 

Here's a quick breakdown of the components in regards to what i know of them and why i chose em:

 

Case: My dad has this case and it's pretty fuckin slick. Its not PERFECT ( wee bit cramped with his mobo choice, no slide-out trays ) but it's tool-less and it is very very well ventilated ( 200mm fan on the top - huge, slow, quiet. You wont need any extra cooling with this case )

 

CPU: I just threw in what you chose originally. Personally i would go with a better CPU out of the gate but see the mobo for my take on this.

 

Mobo: Im not honestly that familliar with this mobo so i would spend the bulk of my research time on this one component more than any other. What im seeing/liking here is : Lots of useful features ( Fast memory, good audio, fast internet, no SLI but im sure you dont care, and support for quad core/1333 FSB ) ... The 1333 fsb means that in a year + you can grab a cheap ass quad-core 1333 enabled CPU and get a respectable speed jump for cheap, particularly in any application that will take advantage of it. if nothing else, it gives you options in the future.

 

RAM: I use corsair ram. its fast, its got a great rep, lifetime warranty. *shrug*

 

HDD: Maybe you dont need a new one but imo getting any less than a 500gb drive with the prices being what they are nowadays is crazy. You can save a lil money by going a smaller or with a different brand but i've always used seagate drives and i've never ever had a problem with them - they are top drawer for a reason.

 

DVD: You all recommended the pioneer brand when i was putting my PC together, and it's been totally awesome to this day - i highly recommend them, and this is the same as mine, just newer and faster. pioneer ftw !

 

GPU: Im pretty sure this is the 8800 GT that everyones talking about - This is the fucking WIN, my friend. An 8600 seems like better value and you know, it's close to an 8800, rite ? Well dont be fooled ! The difference under the hood between a 86 & 88 series card are IMMENSE. Plus, the extra ram on the card is a HUGE help with todays games. They load faster, they hitch less and generally perform better for the extra memory alone . The mind bending performance an 8800 will give you compared to an 8600 in a rig like this is well worth the extra dollars. Do a little research to make sure this this the card people are raving about, and you're good. Your $300 video card is going to give you a loooooot of value, more than ever before believe me. Also, eVGA is a solid, solid brand. Everything about them is quality.

 

Power: My pops has this same PSU in a beefier rig, so i can vouch for it. The main draw here ( pun intended ) is the modular cable system ( seems like a little thing but is soooooo worth having ) and the triple rails. This ensures your video card, cpu and other peripherals ( drives, fans, etc ) all have separate and stable sources of juice so they dont impinge on the other components and cause glitches/overheating when stressed simultaneously, like when you're playing a game. In english this basically means they are building this PSU with gamers/enthusiasts in mind - thats all we really need to know.

 

Sooooo, theres a bit of a guide for ya - i know it's daunting to research all this but try to use those sites that have user reviews as part of their catalog, so you can get the real dirt on the components. Youll have this PC for a long time, so it's worth the headache.

 

In short, this is a pretty wicked system for the money, and it lets you do things like upgrade the CPU far into the future ( maybe as much as 2 years ) with a technology that isnt even out yet, plus it delivers on all fronts todays games need power on, plus the every day things like surfing and multitasking. Hope this helps !

 

It really IS amazing what a thousand bucks buys you nowadays !

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