The (new) Official PC building thread!

In this case I don't think money has anything to do with it. It seems if you wanna be able to use DDR3 RAM later the only choice is the Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R. I'm not up on these boards that much but from what I read it's the only one that supports both DDR2 & DDR3.

....gm

 

Well I thought I would post benchmarks for my 850 dollars PC. I have to say, it's not bad at all.

 

Nice stuff Abuzar!!!!!!!

Sam, when you say only 6 sata ports on the ds3r rev2, isnt that plenty?
I mean don't you just really need 2 sata ports( for hd and dvd burner)?

 

There are 8 ports on the rev2, it's rev1 where there are only 6. As for how many you need, that varies by use. if you have lots inside you can run e-SATA hard drives.

 

Okay cool. I am ok with things as they are then. I only need one sata hd and a sata burner.

On another note, that 3d aurora 570 case was love at first sight. The toolbox will come in handy IMO

 

well, I couldn't resist any longer. I pulled the trigger on a cooler master stacker 830 evo. I've always wanted one but couldn't justify the price tag when they were $250. I picked one up for $110 after a $60 MIR with free shipping and no tax.

no build in the works as of yet but I couldn't let that deal get away. all aluminum construction, true tooless design, motherboard tray, cable channel, excellent cooling, not to mention awesome looks. I can hardly wait even if it will just be to look at for a while. I'm gonna have a stacker 830 evo yepee

 

You say excellent cooling, but that's only once you've added fans to the slots where you can put them, and replaced the stock ones. Cooling is around average for a high-end case until you modify it.

 

it will cool as good or better with only 2 good fans than the average case and it has provisions to add fans galore if needed (up to nine 120 mm fans). there are so many other plus's. only con is it's huge but again that's a plus if you intend on using a large video card/s (8800 series) or large cpu hsf (thermalright ultra 120 extreme, zalman 9700 cnps, sunbeam tuniq tower).

 

Two good fans. Coolermaster fans are not good fans unfortunately. They push hardly any air and aren't exactly silent either. The huge size I see as a plus because you have so much more room to work.

 

@he_man

Windows XP will only utilize 3GB of memory...you need Vista 64 if you want to use all that memory...If you are going XP...I would just get (1) 2GB kit...

@Mort81
That EVO deal is just to good to pass-up...I want to get rid of the (4) fans on the side...and replace with (1) 250mm fan from an Enermax Chakra...It will take a little modding to make one work...but it can be done relatively easily...

 

exactly. that's why I said 2 good fans instead of the 2 oem cm fans. although the cm fans don't move much air, I don't consider them loud.

 

this doesnt have much to do with building a computer, seeing i dont know how too. i went looking at prebuilt systems. could someone tell me if this one is a good one to look into?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8602407&type=product&id=1192232280889

or this one

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=999980900050021&type=product&id=pcmprd80800050021

 

Depends, what do you plan on doing with it.

The quad core is definitely better performing.

 

burning movies. makeing photo dvds playing music burning cds nothing really heavy i guess you could say.

ive never really heard of acer before is that a good company? think i heard once it is part of HP somehow

 

Acer has been around a long time. Acer bought Gateway last October. I'd think about adding a DVD-ROM. It makes the copy process faster.

I vote for the quad-core.

 

gotbeer,
Does building you own not appeal to you or are you just worried that you may not be able to do it yourself? Just wondering really. Normally you can get better components and "features" if you build yourself. Not trying to offend just thinking out loud really.

....gm

 

Did ya ever notice they don't tell ya what kind of PSU is in a retail build.Had a Gateway over the Memorial Day weekend.It was a Dual core AMD 2.83,I could buy the Mobo online for 28 bucks

 

oh it appeals greatly to me, and i know i can do much better with the money building one, BUT i have a wife and what makes her happy makes me happy...lol

 

Acer certainly used to make terrible quality products, but people tell me they've improved significantly. I sincerely hope so.
The Q6600 PC, however has a better graphics card (although it's still not fast), and obviously a better CPU, assuming you can make use of its 4 cores. However, it doesn't include a monitor etc., so don't forget to take that into account!
As for not telling you which PSU they use, thats because theyre all 300W crappy OEM ones. I've never seen an example of a prebuilt PC using a high caliber PSU, however I was semi-pleased to see that a Packard Bell I took apart last year had a Fortron PSU in it. That's something I suppose.

 

@Sam
Dell uses Seasonic...Corsair...& PC Power & Cooling in some of there high-end builds...as a matter of fact...I just bought a Corsair 450VX from Dell...$59...for a HTCP build...and just to clarify a earlier post...the 450VX is a Seasonic build...the new 650 & 750 Corsair P/S are CWT builds...
Most high-end computers...builds by your mainstream company's will use a quality P/S...simply...because they have to...now...I am only talking about there top-end offerings...the average builds usually use something that is just...so...so...