Another Computer Buying Thread

GogoKodo

So my old desktop just died on me and I'm forced to use my crappy laptop while my glorious 24inch widescreen stares at me blankly. I'd like to get a new desktop build pretty quickly as I've been meaning to do so for some time now. Is there any reasons I might want to wait at all?

I'm in Calgary (Canadaland) and I think my best option is buying as much as I can from Memory Express since they are like a 10min drive from my house.
Maybe you can build a computer for me! http://www.memoryexpress.com/index.php?PageTag=&page=file&memx_menu=SystemQuote_1.php&SID=
Hamju also pointed out http://www.ncix.com it looks like I could get things from there as well without much hassle.

I'm needing something that's going to run pretty cool since my room is upstairs and doesn't have the greatest air circulation so a case that will take an extra fan or two would be good. It doesn't have to be really quiet but that is a bonus.
I should be able to have Vista business edition (through comp sci program at school), is it worth it to go for DX10 cards yet?


I'd like a relatively high end machine, so that I won't need to upgrade for awhile, but I don't really know what's what nowadays. I don't play a lot of high end games currently, but I wouldn't mind having the option.
I'm really not sure of my budget but it's not a huge worry, I don't want bleeding edge $1000 SLI video cards, but I don't want a bargain bin box either. My budget isn't strict at all so I can get nice things so long as they have a good bang/buck ratio

I'll reply/edit later with my own build from Memory Express which will mostly be me randomly choosing things with nice names for the most part.

edit: removed random pickings!

Hamju

I looked at the deals at www.ncix.com (a Canadian based company) and it looks like you could save money if you bought from them... however I didn't think about shipping charges, but you could save a lot of coin on a few things like... RAM.

GogoKodo

Hamju wrote: »

I looked at the deals at www.ncix.com (a Canadian based company) and it looks like you could save money if you bought from them... however I didn't think about shipping charges, but you could save a lot of coin on a few things like... RAM.

Thanks. That's pretty nice, their shipping speed listed is pretty good too so I wouldn't have to worry too much about waiting for parts.

Sesphoheme

GogoKodo wrote: »

Hamju wrote: »

I looked at the deals at www.ncix.com (a Canadian based company) and it looks like you could save money if you bought from them... however I didn't think about shipping charges, but you could save a lot of coin on a few things like... RAM.

Thanks. That's pretty nice, their shipping speed listed is pretty good too so I wouldn't have to worry too much about waiting for parts.

Yea, I always look at ncix before anywhere else, it's on my bm bar.

GogoKodo

So I went and basically pulled most of the stuff that was in the top lists from ncix, here's what I came up with, is this decent? Any parts I'm forgetting? Anything incompatible?


OCZ Platinum XTC REV.2 PC2-6400 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-800 CL4-4-4-15 240PIN DIMM Dual Channel Memory Kit
$144.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB SATA2 3GB/S 7200RPM 16MB Cache NCQ Hard Drive
$157.98

Antec Sonata II Black ATX 16IN Mid Tower Quiet Case 3X5.25 2X3.5 4X3.5IN 450W Air Duct 120MM Fan
$117.88

ASUS P5B ATX LGA775 Conroe 965P DDR2 PCI-E16 3PCI-E1 3PCI 6 SATA2 Sound Motherboard
$143.75

Samsung SH-S182 DVD+RW 18X8X16 DVD-RW 18X6X16 DL-8X DVD Writer IDE Lightscribe Black OEM W/ Software
$49.72

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro LGA775 2500RPM 45CFM
$29.67

EVGA E-GEFORCE 8800GTS 500MHZ 640MB 1.6GHZ GDDR3 Dual DVI-I HDTV Out HDCP DIRECTX10 Video Card
$472.34

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Dual Core Processor LGA775 Conroe 2.40GHZ 1066FSB 4MB Retail
$279.99

Noctua NF-S12-1200 120MM Ultra Quiet Cooling Fan 1200RPM 81M3/H 17DBA Molex
$18.35

Total: $1,414.67

Hamju

Personally I'd go with a Seagate HD, but that's just me.

GogoKodo

Hamju wrote: »

Personally I'd go with a Seagate HD, but that's just me.

This looks nice.

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB SATA2 3GB/S 7200RPM 16MB Cache NCQ Hard Drive
In Stock 18413 $157.98

Also checking a little more carefully now and some of the memory express prices are cheaper, but usually only by like $10. At least I think they are, some of the names aren't exact matches, like
"Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Dual Core Processor LGA775 Conroe 2.40GHZ 1066FSB 4MB" on ncix
vs
"Intel Coreâ„¢2 Duo Processor E6600 w/ 4MB Cache" on memoryexpress

JWFokker

I wouldn't waste money on OCZ RAM and their marketing bullshit, but with that rebate it's a pretty good deal.

And I'm with Hamju on the HD. Stick with Seagate and Western Digital. Maxtor has a higher failure rate, and the rest of the manufacturers are even worse.

And I see you went with the 8800GTS rather than the 8600GTS, which is a good decision.

I wouldn't get the Arctic Cooling heatsink though. Scythe, Zalman and Thermalright are MUCH better.

GogoKodo

What's the current status on video card brands, any have one leg up on the other?

GogoKodo

Took some advice from above posters. Been fiddling around a bit and found that the only real worth while deal on ncix is that ram with the rebate, it also has $10.00 shipping.

So from memory express I can get everything else I think:

Processor : Intel Core™2 Duo Processor E6600 2.4GHz w/ 4MB Cache
$269.95

CPU Heatsink / Fan : Zalman CNPS7700-AlCu Ultra Quiet CPU Cooler for Socket 478/775,754/939/940
$39.95

Thermal Compound : Arctic Silver Arctic Silver 5 High Density Silver Thermal Compound, 3.5g
$9.99

Motherboards : Asus P5B w/ DualDDR2 800, 7.1 Audio, Gigabit Lan, SATA II, PCI-E x16
$144.95

Case : Antec Sonata II w/ 450W SmartPower 2.0
$119.95

Power Supplies : Antec 450W SmartPower 2.0 Power Supply Included with Case
$0.00

Case Fans : Antec SmartCool 120mm Fan
$24.95

Hard Drives 1 : Seagate 500GB Barracuda 7200.10 SATA II w/ NCQ, 16MB Cache
$149.95

Optical Drive 1 : LG Super Multi DVD Writer 18x18x8 DVD +/-RW Dual-Layer w/ Lightscribe, Black (OEM) -- Calgary Only
$39.95

Video Cards : eVGA e-GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB PCI-E w/ Dual DVI, HDTV-Out
$449.95

And then from ncix:
OCZ Platinum XTC REV.2 PC2-6400 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-800 CL4-4-4-15 240PIN DIMM Dual Channel Memory Kit
$144.99

Total: $1394.58 + $10.00 Shipping

I've still got some room to improve on things but I'm not sure where I could justify it, I'm not really an audio person (I own 2 cds) so don't need a sound card. The video card looks pretty good to me. And going up for a better processor is a pretty big jump... Maybe a better motherboard, dvd drive? I could go for a larger hdd or maybe a 2nd hdd but I really don't use a lot of space, I've been living off my 60gig hdd with no problems.
I'm still open for lots of suggestions on alternatives for everything here.

JWFokker

Get the cheapest video card variant you can find, unless you want a particular heatsink design. I've seen at least one card that comes stock with a nice Zalman heatsink. Most cards are nearly identical. Don't waste money on "Superclocked" versions or stupid shit like that. Odds are you can overclock it well past whatever lowest-common-denominator speeds they use.

That motherboard is one of the best you can buy, especially if you're overclocking (which you should with a Core 2 Duo - you can do 3.3Ghz to 3.5Ghz with ease), so don't worry about that. And DVD drives are a commodity these days. There isn't really any particularly good reason to buy one over another, unless you want LightScribe labeling or something. If you really want to get the best, or at least know which brand of DVD-R's give the best write quality with your drive, go to www.cdrlabs.com and read some reviews. You might want to consider a Creative Labs card of some sort just to free up CPU cycles that the on-board sound processor uses.

EDIT: DO NOT USE AN ANTEC SMARTPOWER PSU. They've got an absurdly high failure rate. Something like 20% or higher. Stick with Seasonic or Fortron or Sparkle if you want a reliable power supply.

gneGne

That seems like a bit much for that mobo, perhaps you could consider the Gigabyte DS3. Stable board with solid capacitors (which should endure it's life).

Also, I heard stories that the PSU that comes with the Antec Sonata II seems to have alot of failures. You could get this Lian-Li case instead and add this Power Supply. You can also just change the Sonata II to a Sonata III. Which will be cheaper and lass of a hassle, most problems should be solved with the newer revision.

I don't know if you are overclocking so perhaps you could get the rame even cheaper.

GogoKodo

JWFokker wrote: »

Nope. Get the cheapest variant you can find, unless you want a particular heatsink design. I've seen at least one card that comes stock with a nice Zalman heatsink. Most cards are nearly identical. Don't waste money on "Superclocked" versions or stupid shit like that. Odds are you can overclock it well past whatever lowest-common-denominator speeds they use.


EDIT: DO NOT USE AN ANTEC SMARTPOWER PSU. They've got an absurdly high failure rate. Something like 20% or higher. Stick with Seasonic or Fortron or Sparkle if you want a reliable power supply.

What kinda wattage should I be looking at?

From the brands you listed, memoryexpress only has Sparkle, a 400W (I don't think this is enough?) and a 550W.
Sparkle Power FSP550PLG-SLI 550W
$129.95

And for the motherboard that gneGne suggested:
Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 w/ DualDDR2 800, 7.1 Audio, Gigabit Lan, SATA II, PCI-E x16
$149.95

JWFokker

500W will cover anything you can throw at your system short of a high end SLI configuration, and they're pretty cheap. 400W would be cutting it close, especially if video cards continue to use more power at the rate they've been going the last couple years.

gneGne

Get the Sonata III, it uses the Earthwatts 500w PSU instead of the Smartpower in the Sonata II

GogoKodo

gneGne wrote: »

Get the Sonata III, it uses the Earthwatts 500w PSU instead of the Smartpower in the Sonata II

That seems good and memoryexpress has it as well, for $10 cheaper than ncix to boot.