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About to pull the trigger....

N

noacess

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 8, 2004
Messages
137
So based on my signature, I think we can all agree that its time for me to upgrade. My friend has some extra parts so I'll be buying them off him at a discount and getting the rest of what I need from the egg. Here is what I'm currently looking at:

----- Parts from my friend ----

Motherboard: MSI P6N Diamond LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119068

Processor: Q6600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017

Case: COOLER MASTER Centurion 5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119068

Total: 320.00


---- Parts from the Egg ----

Video card: ECS N8800GT (to run in SLI with my BFG card...I game at 1920x1200)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814134035

Power Supply: CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

Memory: OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227284

HSF: ZALMAN 9500A 92mm
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118223

Total: 403.43 shipped (353.43 AR)

Grand Total AR: 673.43

So does everything look good? Any last minute suggestions? I"m really going for the best bang for the buck. Hopefully I can get the Q6600 for 3.6ghz as others have done. Any last minute feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
Personally im not too thrilled about the 680i motherboard, the OCZ "platinum" ram or the case, but, this is a budget build.

As well, although Zalman makes nice coolers, to get to 3.6, you'll probably be running that 9500 on high, which is about 2800 rpm.. it does get noisy at those speeds. Maybe look into the 9700 , or the ThermalRight 120 both will be within a few degrees of eachother.. the 9700 has the nice fanmate2 which allows fan speed control. nice feature. Although, all of the above, if running at higher rpm, generate noise.

The case you chose will have interference issues with that "side duct" if you go with a larger cooler such as the zalman or the thermalright.. it will have to be removed.

Keep in mind that running a Q6600 at 3.6, with 2 graphics cards will produce a substantial amount of heat, you may want to look at spending a bit more on a case. P182? meh, not much of a budget case.


Again, this is just my opinion.. because you're looking for a budget build, i say go for it.. pull the trigger.. spending thousands on computers is just throwing money into a hole.. i remember my P2 200MMX was probably about 4500 after all software, and peripherals..

Enjoy :)
 
I would not buy another GPU, but consider selling the 8800 GT /now/ while it is still worth something and picking up a single card solution in a couple of weeks from the newer generation stuff.

I wouldn't buy a 680i right now, either.
 
I wont be using the case I'm buying from the friend. The new parts will be going in my CM stacker and the old parts will be tossed in that case. Are there other parts that you guys recommend other than what I've chosen? I'm still open to ideas and recommendations. Assume a 700.00 limit on all this.

Thanks again,
noacess
 
I agree with silent circuit... naturally. The thing is, new vidcards will be out soon, which may or may not handle a 1920x1200 monitor on its own, without SLI. Avoiding SLI is preferable because the nForce chipsets aren't as stable/reliable as Intel chipsets. They also run much hotter, and the 680i has a hard time OC'ing quadcores. So, its best to go with a P35 or P45 board instead, if you can avoid SLI (if one of the newer cards is strong enough, and priced affordably -- don't forget to sell your current 8800GT to help offset the cost).

I also agree on ditching the Zalman. Go with one of these instead:
$35 - Scythe SCNJ-1100P Ninja Plus Rev.B CPU HSF (optional: $5 - Thermalright LGA775 Universal Bolt-Thru-Kit)
$37 - XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler (optional: $7 - XIGMATEK ACK-I7751 LGA775 Bolt-Thru-Kit)
$46 - Thermalright Ultima 90 CPU HS + FBA09A12M - Z ($3)
$50 - ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 120mm CPU Cooler ($10 MIR)
$59 - Noctua NH-U12P Universal heatsink
$57 - Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme CPU HS + Scythe S-Flex Fan SFF21E ($15)
 
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