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Building my Xmas Gift

BritianBritian Registered User regular
I have always wanted to build myself a gaming computer, having always been into computers and their workings. But after leaving for college I did not see my self doing this for sometime as I was the normal, poor college student. My current PC is now coming into its 8th year, My parents decided to give me 1000 dollars to finally build my own Christmas present. So I have been looking into the hardware for a few days now, and wanted to run this by some people who seem to know a bit more about it then I do at the moment.

I am trying to build this all, these are the pieces I have decided on but wanted a second opinion.


This is the new list. I am not going to rewrite it all out so here is the wishlist.

List

____________________________________________________________
Totaling: $1,017.19

I am thinking of taking the 500 and getting two smaller to save a little money. I don't like having just one HD. Other Question, is I noticed some of the cases had Motherboard sizes and some didn't specify, I figured the ones that are not specified are able to support a few different sizes.

Anyways please leave me any suggestions/comments about the items, or ideas to save alittle money let me know please on this thread. Thanks.

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Britian on

Posts

  • bbmartinibbmartini Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    that motherboard will fit that case if thats what you're wondering. overall thats a solid build i'm upgrading this Christmas also and have a lot of those parts picked out.

    bbmartini on
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  • BritianBritian Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    that was one of my concerns, as I have done nothing with cases before really.

    Britian on
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  • JacksNsomniaJacksNsomnia Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    Why not get a 8800GT instead of the 8600 GTS?

    JacksNsomnia on
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  • JonnyBotJonnyBot Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    Why not get a 8800GT instead of the 8600 GTS?

    Impossible to find at msrp? :P

    Seriously though, why not a 3850? Cheaper and way better performance.

    JonnyBot on
  • ToyDToyD Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    Unless you're also hanging a LOT of other USB devices or drives off this that you're not mentioning, I'd drop the Power supply to 600W or lower. You're dropping a ton of cash on a Power supply you're not using to it's full capacity. I have like a 500W that powers that many devices as well as several USB devices with no problems.

    ThermalTake W0136 Would probably work fine and is like half the cost of the one you've chosen. Although not quite as pretty, I admit, but not sure if pretty is what you want.

    ToyD on
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  • fogeymanfogeyman Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    JonnyBot wrote: »
    Why not get a 8800GT instead of the 8600 GTS?

    Impossible to find at msrp? :P

    Seriously though, why not a 3850? Cheaper and way better performance.
    I don't know about the 3850 (that's ATI, right? I know nothing about them :oops: ), but there's no point getting an 8600. It will barely be able to handle new games in DX10. You're better off shelling out the extra cash for an 8800GT--it performs ridiculously well.

    Also, an 850watt PSU is overkill. You need only 500watts to power this build, and that's with like a 100watt buffer under load. If you want to be super-safe, go for a 600w PSU. Finally, for something as important as the PSU I'd go with the best brand available: Antec. They make the most efficient and most stable PSUs.

    Oh, one more thing: for your motherboard, I usually go with Asus. They make the most stable motherboards. Gigabyte is good, but IMO not nearly as good as Asus.

    Then again, if that motherboard is reviewed well by reputable sites (not customer reviews), then it should be fine. If not, I'd go with the better brand name. You'd be surprised at how much this matters with building your own computer--skimp on a few parts, and you wreck your whole build.

    fogeyman on
  • BritianBritian Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    I was looking into the 8800, and I cant seem to find any with a pci express x16. is there a reason for that, I guess it doesnt matter in the long run.

    Britian on
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  • fogeymanfogeyman Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    The 8800GT supports PCIe 2.0 which (supposedly, I don't know for sure) is like PCIe x32. It's backward compatible with PCIe 1.0 (x16), though. It works perfectly on my PCIe x16 mobo, anyway.

    Also, the card won't be at all bottlenecked at x16. Even though the PCIe 2.0 architecture has double the bandwidth (or something close), you never even come close to maxing out the bandwidth on that x16 slot, so don't worry about getting a PCIe 2.0 motherboard. I suppose if you wanted to future proof your machine you could, but I highly doubt PCIe 2.0 will be at all necessary, even a couple years down the road.

    fogeyman on
  • SushisourceSushisource Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    Trust them - get an 8800GT, and yes, the PSU is total overkill (get the corsair 500W one, it's really nice)

    Also, you're going to want the new Seagate 7200.11-based drives, as they are the current top performer and don't cost much more at all.

    Also that case blows, and is overpriced as well. I've skimped on cases before and really regretted it. Get something that will last, the Antec P180, P182, and 900 are all solid choices. Lian-Li makes good cases too. You should really look at the reviews for cases, it helps a lot.

    Sushisource on
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  • bbmartinibbmartini Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    Trust them - get an 8800GT, and yes, the PSU is total overkill (get the corsair 500W one, it's really nice)

    Also, you're going to want the new Seagate 7200.11-based drives, as they are the current top performer and don't cost much more at all.

    Also that case blows, and is overpriced as well. I've skimped on cases before and really regretted it. Get something that will last, the Antec P180, P182, and 900 are all solid choices. Lian-Li makes good cases too. You should really look at the reviews for cases, it helps a lot.

    here is that power supply its 124
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139001

    and put that 40 dollar difference towards case like the antec 900
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

    bbmartini on
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  • BritianBritian Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    bbmartini wrote: »
    Trust them - get an 8800GT, and yes, the PSU is total overkill (get the corsair 500W one, it's really nice)

    Also, you're going to want the new Seagate 7200.11-based drives, as they are the current top performer and don't cost much more at all.

    Also that case blows, and is overpriced as well. I've skimped on cases before and really regretted it. Get something that will last, the Antec P180, P182, and 900 are all solid choices. Lian-Li makes good cases too. You should really look at the reviews for cases, it helps a lot.

    here is that power supply its 124
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139001

    and put that 40 dollar difference towards case like the antec 900
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

    I was thinking about this one here. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129024

    This is the Case plus the Power supply (500w) which seems to be the right size for me. This would save me a bit of money to put towards the 8800.

    Also about the 8800, the PCI x32 and x16 are going to be the same thing, so I can find ethier or? I did find x16 , just not on newegg which I am trying to do to keep it all on one bill.

    Britian on
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  • fogeymanfogeyman Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    Britian wrote: »
    bbmartini wrote: »
    Trust them - get an 8800GT, and yes, the PSU is total overkill (get the corsair 500W one, it's really nice)

    Also, you're going to want the new Seagate 7200.11-based drives, as they are the current top performer and don't cost much more at all.

    Also that case blows, and is overpriced as well. I've skimped on cases before and really regretted it. Get something that will last, the Antec P180, P182, and 900 are all solid choices. Lian-Li makes good cases too. You should really look at the reviews for cases, it helps a lot.

    here is that power supply its 124
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139001

    and put that 40 dollar difference towards case like the antec 900
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

    I was thinking about this one here. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129024

    This is the Case plus the Power supply (500w) which seems to be the right size for me. This would save me a bit of money to put towards the 8800.

    Also about the 8800, the PCI x32 and x16 are going to be the same thing, so I can find ethier or? I did find x16 , just not on newegg which I am trying to do to keep it all on one bill.
    You'll find x16 on Newegg, it's the norm for motherboards. Anything that says PCI express is x16. The motherboard you linked earlier, for example, is an x16 board. And ignore PCIe x32, it's irrelevant. If you get an x16 motherboard, you'll be golden.

    This was rated by AnandTech ridiculously highly. If you can afford it, you can't go wrong with it.

    If you want something cheaper, look up reviews. AnandTech's Holiday Buyers Guide is a great starting point.

    fogeyman on
  • BritianBritian Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    fogeyman wrote: »
    Britian wrote: »
    bbmartini wrote: »
    Trust them - get an 8800GT, and yes, the PSU is total overkill (get the corsair 500W one, it's really nice)

    Also, you're going to want the new Seagate 7200.11-based drives, as they are the current top performer and don't cost much more at all.

    Also that case blows, and is overpriced as well. I've skimped on cases before and really regretted it. Get something that will last, the Antec P180, P182, and 900 are all solid choices. Lian-Li makes good cases too. You should really look at the reviews for cases, it helps a lot.

    here is that power supply its 124
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139001

    and put that 40 dollar difference towards case like the antec 900
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

    I was thinking about this one here. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129024

    This is the Case plus the Power supply (500w) which seems to be the right size for me. This would save me a bit of money to put towards the 8800.

    Also about the 8800, the PCI x32 and x16 are going to be the same thing, so I can find ethier or? I did find x16 , just not on newegg which I am trying to do to keep it all on one bill.
    You'll find x16 on Newegg, it's the norm for motherboards. Anything that says PCI express is x16. The motherboard you linked earlier, for example, is an x16 board. And ignore PCIe x32, it's irrelevant. If you get an x16 motherboard, you'll be golden.

    This was rated by AnandTech ridiculously highly. If you can afford it, you can't go wrong with it.

    If you want something cheaper, look up reviews. AnandTech's Holiday Buyers Guide is a great starting point.

    I found this one on the list, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128050, I like this for a mid-range. a little cheaper then the one you posted.

    Also this is my updated list. I didnt want to rewrite all of this over again lol
    List

    Britian on
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  • fogeymanfogeyman Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    Note that the graphics card you have added is out of stock. I have that exact card, though, and it's a beast. You'll be happy with it. The motherboard looks solid, just make sure you read some reviews first.

    I'll reiterate once more that I think you'd be better off with the RAM from that buyer's guide I linked. They recommend a bunch of sets that are cheaper and better.

    Finally, you should probably update the OP just so future posters are aware of the changes.

    fogeyman on
  • BritianBritian Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    I am having alittle problem finding a 8800 GT for under 300 that is in stock lol. if anyone finds one on newegg please post the linkage.

    Britian on
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  • urahonkyurahonky Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    Jesus Christ that case is expensive. Sure it includes a 500W PSU, but wow... That's some cash money. I guess it's just personal preference, but I generally don't spend more than $80 on cases.

    urahonky on
  • BritianBritian Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    The price of the case plus the power supply came out to be like 10-30 dollars more then just getting them put together. So I think its less of a hassle and alittle cheaper to do so.

    Britian on
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  • urahonkyurahonky Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    Ah... Yeah probably. I was just shocked at the price :P

    urahonky on
  • SteevLSteevL What can I do for you? Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    I have a feeling 8800GT cards will be expensive and rapidly out of stock through the holiday season. Hopefully stock will go up and price will go down in January. I'm looking to get the same card.

    SteevL on
  • urahonkyurahonky Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    The whole 8800GT card thing really bothers me. I realize supply/demand and everything, but... Places like newegg jacking up the price of the 8800GT card above MSRP just bothers the hell out of me. It's like they're toying with us PC gamers.

    urahonky on
  • fogeymanfogeyman Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    I managed to snag one just after launch off Newegg. Factory "superclocked" and everything, at MSRP =) .

    fogeyman on
  • BritianBritian Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    hopefully I can snag one right when they put up another stock of them. I have the auto notify up and ready. fingers crossed

    Britian on
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  • JacksNsomniaJacksNsomnia Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    Here are a couple that are not yet sold out:

    One

    Two

    Three

    JacksNsomnia on
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