The (new) Official PC building thread!

this is true. I only spent $110 for my CM stacker 830 evo but it was on sale and had a $60 MIR to boot (which I have recieved). the exact same case normally costs $250.

So far I have spent $709 not including the MIR's or special deal on the case. including the MIR's and case deal, I've spent $584 so I'm about half way there.

 

Can2113,

The P5N-E is the Worst motherboard that I've come across in almost 20 years of building computers! It took me 3 motherboards, charged at an outrageous price, and over $80 in phone calls to get a good one. Now a little over a year later, it's dying! I don't buy Asus anymore unless I want one of their high end motherboards. I've become the local GigaByte Fanboy, and damn proud of it! Extremely happy with my GA-P35-DS3R Rev. 2.0. I had a couple of problems that were taken care of swiftly and knowledgeably, and the phone cost was only a couple of dollars!

I do it all the time now as I recently found out just how much trouble you can get into by not doing a fresh install of XP! I had crashes left and right on a machine that I was repairing. As soon as the fresh install was done, it worked perfectly! Think I had some software/hardware conflicts! LOL!!

cincyrob,

That's a good thing to know! I can outrun you both if I put wheels on my Iron Lung! ROFLMAO! Oh, and a very long extension cord! LOL!!

Best Regards,
Russ

 

Can2113,
Here's some stuff to look at.

mobo $130 delivered

cpu $170 delivered (comes with the stock cooler which I would replace but if you do NO OC'in then you should be ok)

gpu $42 delivered after MIR

case $55-$65 delivered

RAM $61-$91 delivered and after MIR

psu $80-$110 delivered after MIR

this psu from buy.com $65 after MIR (the EGG has it for $88) ... (that would knock your low dollar amount to $523 everything delivered....that ain't to bad my friend!!)


These are from the EGG and I'm sure you can get better deals on power supplies and possibly cases but the other stuff is gonna be within a few bucks either way at almost any where you go.

I did this as if I were gonna use it and like it even tho the gpu is a little weak it will fit your needs I'm sure. Like I said I would consider changing the cpu cooler but the stock model will work for now. You got GOOD components and they should all play nice. lol. You will have to go to the Gigabyte website to make sure of the compatibility of the RAM I linked to.... there's plenty to choose from and I'm a Mushkin fanboy so that RAM looks purty to me. lol. ;P

Totals $538-$608

good luck with your choices and don't hesitate to ask questions hree some one will answer. lol.........

...gm

 

Cases can be expensive, but they don't have to be to make a decent build. The Coolermaster Centurion and the RC-690 are both relatively inexpensive. It's just that you and me like our expensive cases...

Can2113: You didn't mention you were using Linux. However, ATI now have open source drivers to work with Linux, and I know somebody who's used both those and nvidia's drivers in Linux. Whilst not wholly impressed with either, he says that the ATi drivers are just as good as the nvidia ones. I think you should consider this now.
The CPU I listed is a Core 2 Duo, but by another name. They renamed it the Pentium as it's the lower-end model. (It is actually the same CPU as the E4000 series but with 1MB cache removed)
The only reason I listed 2x1GB of RAM is that very few people actually need more than 2 gigs. If you do then, by all means, go with this instead:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145590
If you do insist with going nvidia on the graphics,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150229

Theone: if you know where to look, you can find a version of XP up to date with SP2, no serial required on the internet, pre-installed with things like Firefox, Foxit reader and so on... Very useful, I'll be using that version again!

 

As per Sams advise I have just purchased a Scythe PWM fan to use on my 4 pin sys_fan1 header. I was just wondering though does anyone know if you can get 4 pin extenders for fans. I dont want a 4 pin to 3 pin or a 4 pin to molex, but a 4 pin fan to 4 pin fan connector.

Ive looked but cant find anything - surely they are available and if not why not!

 

Thanks for the ram list, there are some pretty good deals there. I dont plan on OC'c at all although i hear core2duo's are great for overclocking. If i do oc ill install water cooling. I tend to get nervous when overclocking, theres no sense in blowing a $150 cpu for a few more processor cycles.



@Sammorris
I always use XP Lite which has sp2 slipstreamed already, so im good to go as far as OS's go. Im set on the software side of things, but the hardware is land i dont venture into too often.
That XFX card sounds like a really good deal. I have an xfx 6200 right now. Their warranty is the best in the business. That 8600gt costs more, but i might just spend the extra cash and get something nice.

(i forgot to post this so im just adding on what i decided 5 hours later, lol)
I think this is what im going to go with unless anyone has any severe objections

RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227284
The latency is higher than some sticks, but the rebate makes them look really good and i wont be hardcore gaming on this machine.
I read somewhere (honestly cant remember where) that these are a tight fit to get the side-by-side, but they may have been referring to the models with dual heat pipes. Anyone have experience with this ram?

CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115030
I'll leave the stock fan on and see if it gets hot. If it does ill just get another one, but i dont plan on oc'ing at all so it shouldnt be a huge problem.

PSU:
http://www.buy.com/prod/corsair-vx-550w-atx-power-supply/q/loc/101/205852646.html
550w should be more than enough, and corsair=win.

Mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059&Tpk=Gigabyte+GA-P35-DS3L
Has all the features i need and is a good price.

Case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119115
ATX case with a fan, pretty basic but it works.

GPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150229
A bit more than i wanted to spend, but from what i gather its very much worth it.

Thats basically it. I should be able to finish this and spend about $500. I can live with that.

 

Good choices all round for the budget. You should be very pleased.

 

I would get a better CPU. An E6750 is only 10 dollars more. When I used to have one I had it overclocked to 3.6Ghz on Stock Cooling.

 

holy crap.
I think ill spend the extra $1o. The extra 300 mhz from the factory is nice too. This computer slowly keeps costing me more and more.... lol

 

I was gonna suggest the same thing - but I didnt because I remembered how the cost of my CPU doubled from the initial one I was looking at to the one I got because I kept upgrading it one level because the difference was so small. 5 levels later and id doubled my initial budget for the CPU lol.

 

i think ill be getting the E6750 though. Seems like the best cost/performance ratio. Woot.

 

got a question. kinda think i know the answer to it though..lol

if you get 4gb of ram on a standard 32bit system i know you wont use all of the mem or windows wont see it.. will it still show as the 3+gb

 

sammorris,

I'm not sure what your response to me is answering, but all the ones I've seen available that way are versions of the "Student Edition"! They don't need a serial number and are meant to be copied and passed along. I have one on a CD, but there are some glitches and minor bugs in it. I used it for a while, and while it was a full version SP-2, it didn't work that well for me with the 965P-DS3, so I switched back to my own legit copy of XP-Pro and all the little glitches I was having went away! In fact I'm still using that same install right now, with no problems at all, and it's been about a year since it was installed on the drive.

I have a couple of programs, TuneUp Utilities 8 and 1 Click Fixer that remove all the crap from the OS registry and seems speedy as ever. Unless I run into a serious issue with the OS, I have no intention of doing a fresh install. With all the programs I use on a regular basis, I have had no slowdown with anything, where before I would run SuperPi after 6 months and it would run a second or more slower while now it's only lost .023ms from it's fresh install time of 14.735 seonds. Whatever both these programs actually do, they do work extremely well at getting rid of the rubbish that slows everything down. Highly recommended!

Best Regards,
Russ

 

does it hurt the ram if it is only useing some 3+gb only? am i makeing sence here?

with haveing 4 possible gigs of mem and only a little over 3 gigs does that cause the mem to ware down some????? guess im worring about something i really dont need to...lol

 

I'm having big problems trying to acquire an E8400 - I was thinking, would it be worth my while ordering processor and video card from Newegg, get them sent to my relative in Boston then they could send them on to me in the UK. There appears to be very good prices at the moment!