The (new) Official PC building thread!

If you don't believe it will out perform the Core 2 Duo, why not just get one of those?

Also if I had money to burn I would do what you are doing

 

seagate 7200.10 have been said to be in some cases faster then WD raptor, and very close in other tests. also, there is unnoticeable real world difference between them, so why waste your money?

 

So I decided I'd start out my PC building career by building a less expensive one for my little sister. Her budget is around $600 and I'm hoping to build it for her this Christmas break. I also want to leave things open to further upgrading, if and when she gets the money. A 7 series nvidia graphics card will probably be her first upgrade. But anyways, here's the list. [I know nothing about PSUs...so I just guessed.]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115031
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134384
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822144417
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106072
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824254001
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144151
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371005

I'm not going to worry about the OS, keyboard, speakers, mice, etc. Just a reminder - she wants to eventually do some medium gaming. Maybe using a 7600gts. But (as usually is the question), is there any way to make this cheaper, without cutting into quality too much?

 

@Deadrum33
I would get your memory as long as you are not going the DDR3 route...before the prices go back up...

DDR2 memory prices are unbelievably low right now...it will not last...

@jtan189
I did not see a M/B...

I would go with the Cooler Master Mystique case for $39...a much better case...also look at an Antec Sonata case with a P/S...It might save you a little bit of cash...
Go with some Good memory...PC-6400 4-4-4-12 timing...Crucial or Corsair...skip the Kingston...It will be worth the little bit of extra cash...never skimp on memory...It is probably the single most crucial component of your PC...

@fasfrank
I do not know anything about the M/B you selected so I will not say anything...except...I do Like Gigabytes boards...

I am not a fan of that P/S because of the (4) 18amp rails with a max of 60 amps on the (4) rails...The math just does not add up...
I would look at the New Corsair single rails...or a PC Power & Cooling 750 Quad...

I do not like Patriot memory at all...I would Go Crucial...Corsair...or G-skill...

As for the H/D...I do not think the additional speed of Raptors are worth it...I would go with (2) seagate 250GB or 320GB in Raid...If the M/B supports it...like I said I am not familiar with the M/B...My reasoning behind this is 160GB is not in my opinion enough storage space for O/S...Programs...and Games...The new games take a lot of H/D space...

I would get another 750GB H/D or go with 500GB drives and save a little more...

JM2C...

 

@abuzar,
I've already got C2Ds so I thought I'd build my first AMD machine. I don't know how it will compare, but I want to find out. It's too late anyway, I already gave them my money for the cpu.

@REAM,
Thank you for the suggestion. Nothing on the list is in stone. I have a four WD Raptors and they are the one HD that has never failed on me. I'm going to run this pair in RAID 0 so I want to make sure they are fast and reliable. I'll try and find some more specs on the Seagate.
I don't need that 750GB Hitachi either. 250 Gb would be enough.


I'm going to wait a few days before buying the list. CPU ship date is unknown at this time so no hurry.
I need more info on the video cards. Are these the 8800GT's I should get??
The choices are extremely limited at this point. I'm hoping to see more brands in stock next week. I'd like to see what becomes available in the ~$260.00 range.

 

@Lp531,
I agree with you about the Antec Sonata, It makes for a quick build with the pre-installed 500W Earthwatts PSU.

My complaints are:
The rubber feet fall off if you slide it at all.
The finish is very glossy and fingerprints show.
The bios beep speaker wire is not long enough to plug into a 650i motherboard.
One of the front panel connectors uses 3 pin holes.. You have to cut out the middle one to connect it to the two pins on the mobo.
No firewire connector.

Good Stuff:
HDD mounts
5.25 drive bay mounts.
Glossy black subdued case.
Very quiet.
The price.

Thank you for looking at my list. You are the second person to steer me away from the Raptors.

As far as the Patriot Memory goes.... Maybe that's why I'm having overclocking problems in my E6750 rig.

PSU. I have one already but it's not real popular.... It's a Coolmax 700W. It was in my E6850 rig for a couple of weeks. It still works but I think the reasons I removed it from the first computer are still valid. I don't want the PSU to cook my components... I don't trust it.

I like the brands you suggested, Especially the PC Power and Cooling. There is a $70.00 rebate on the Thermaltake 750 I listed though.

 

Fasfrank: Interesting that you should choose the same power supply as me. It's not actually a multi-rail PSU (the rails are soldered together inside) but it's certainly powerful. The rest of the parts are pretty asolid, but I echo REAM's thoughts on the Raptors, you could save yourself a lot of money by getting a modern 16MB cache drive. They are pretty much as fast as a single raptor, and you don't have to worry about RAID, or the expense. Me and my friend both own raptors, they're getting on a bit but they still work fine. However, they weren't cheap, and they're noisier than your average drive.
DO NOT keep the Coolmax PSU, at any cost.
Jtan: You're missing a motherboard. Plus I'd go with Corsair RAM over Kingston any day. Budget or no budget. Also beware that Hanns-G monitors are sub-par economy brand stuff. If you want a quality monitor I'd look elsewhere.

 

I thought about that LP531, but my reasoning for changing my mind is I dont have a brand mobo finalized let alone which brand/speed memory would be best for it. I know links for good deals are posted frequently here, but I guess I have too many variables still to settle on that.
Still I will gladly listen to all voices of reason, imaginary or not...

 

@Sam
I thought you had the Corsair 620?..

I am not a big fan of thermatake P/S...Although I have never used that particular 750...I have always thought of thermatake as a great company for Coolers and related products...but just as a...so so company...on there P/S...

My P/S List...
PC Power & Cooling...My personal Favorite...
Corsair...they are new...but seem to have got it right straight out of the gate...
Enermax...
Silverstone...
Seasonic...
Antec...

Of course it all comes down to the particular P/S...even good company occasionally make a bad product...

@Deadrum33
In my opinion...DDR3 is just to expensive for the questionable performance gains...It will most likely be the performance leader in the future...just not right now...especially with the current extreme price disparity...

 

FasFrank, Best Buy has a BFG 8800GT 5132Mb for 250 USD.

 

@Sam,
Thanks for taking a look!
I'll have to rethink hdds. I don't need a lot of storage at any rate. 500Gb is more than enough so I'll look for a single drive solution.
This looks fast and has a 16mb cache:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152052

One thing about Newegg, etc and their customer reviews... All the DOA or dying parts. WTF?? I have never had a single dead part or any part die on me so far. Are there just a lot of poor builders or what? I ignore the reviews anymore and come here for opinions.

Thanks as always for yours and everybody elses!

Edit:
I just saw abuzar's post... I'll take a look, thanks.

 

Actually I have ruled out DDR3, but are you saying that you and the others here can predict the best sticks I'll buy for hardware not even available yet? I believe the science of your words but I need to see what my mobo will accept so I can get memory a step faster to give room for OC'ing. Let me know if my reasoning is flawed here.

 

@Deadrum33
If you have ruled out DDR3...then there is No Reason to wait on purchasing memory...You are going to want PC-6400 4-4-4-12 timing or probably PC-8500 or above...timing dependent on which speed memory you chose...

Only buy Quality Memory...Crucial...Corsair...I would wait to see what Thanksgiving sales happen...and if something really good should appear...grab it...this week is when you will probably see some of the best deals of the year...

Have you at least decided on what platform?..
AMD vs Intell?..
Single Core vs Duo Core vs Quad Core?..

What is it that you want out of this build?..Speed...gaming...Video Encoding...HD/Blueray playback...Low electrical power consumption?..

And Most Important...Anticipated Budget?..for Right Now...and Total Build...

 

LP: Nope, I want one, but I have the Toughpower.
Thermaltake, in my opinion , make cheap tat in almost every arena (CPU coolers included), but the Toughpower PSU is actually a CWT unit underneath, so that's why it's half decent. In the same way, the Corsair units are just Seasonics underneath (You din't think Corsair would do it all themselves would you? Why do you think they're so quiet?)
Fasfrank: Excellent! You've learnt to ignore the dumbasses at newegg. Most of them only comment if there's something negative they want to report. If it doesn't work first time, they moan! (Usually because they've done it wrong) The HD501LJ is an excellent, quiet hard drive, and quite fast. Just make sure it's going in a well built case. They vibrate a lot which causes cheap cases to resonate, and trust me, that's not something you want to hear all day long.

 

Sam,
Removed the Raptors and added the Samsung. knocked the price down substantially. Thanks!!
I like the Silverstone Kubali. It looks like it has adequate cooling and with the grille front I could even add a LED fan of some sort. A good price for as well for a Silverstone.
I still need to figure out a cooler as well. I'll probably go with the larger Zalman LED. I have no idea how the Phenom is going to OC. It should be interesting.

I also swapped the RAM for this Crucial Ballistix:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148069

I think I can save a bit on the video cards if I wait. The processor won't ship for another week or so. I can look for better deals while waiting.

 

@fasfrank
Here are some H/D to look at...I know there are some openbox's in there...just in case you are Ok with an openbox...the prices are good...I would particularly look at the ES versions for your important data...It is there server class H/D's...they have a lower vibration and are more dependable then the non server drives...I like the Seagates for the 5 year warranty over Samsung's 3 years...price is comparable...

I usually do not recommend Openbox...but...I really do not see any difference in OEM and Openbox when it comes to H/D's...

With a H/D...I assume they are usually not a return...but are damaged boxes or missing components...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...6822148136R,N82E16822148140R,N82E16822148151R

Nice price on the Crucial...same price as the equivalent Corsair's...after there rebate...without having to wait for a rebate that you might not ever get...

I HATE REBATES...I will take them...but...I HATE THE CONCEPT...Just give me the damn discount if your going to advertise it at the discounted price...

 

I changed the memory to corsair, as was recommended. I also changed the case to one that included a PSU. I forgot to post the motherboard last time, so I'll post that too.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115031
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822144417
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106072
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824254001
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145590
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144026

I know that the monitor may not be that great, but unless you guys think it's a bad choice, I'll probably go with it, or something like it. Like I said, I'm on a tight budget with this one. The total for all this comes out to about $640. What do you think? Can we get any cheaper? Or will this thing end up being a piece of crap?

 

The Apevia is a piece of cr@p...I only recommended the Antec because it has a good P/S...and in the combo...Antec basically gives you a very good case...for FREE...

ANTEC Sonata III Mini Case Retail ***Free Shipping*** $119
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10005323

It looks like you are wanting more Bling on your case...The Antec will give you quiet function ability...

Go with the Corsair PC-6400 Cas 4...you listed Cas 5 memory...

I would go with this M/B if you can afford the extra cash...
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail Ultra Durable 2, ultra cooling $129
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128050

JM2C

 

Jtan: The Apevia power supply will make for a pretty bonfire, but not much of a PC once it's charred and molten. Get a decent PSU, you seem like a nice guy, you deserve to live.

 

@sam

ROFTIPMP.. Oh that hurt...