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Another AVA order advice thread!

B

billy269

n00b
Joined
Mar 14, 2008
Messages
23
I have been looking around on the boards and doing a lot of research in anticipation for ordering a new computer from AVA (which I found thanks to these boards!). Here is the computer I am planning to order in the next week or two:

http://www.avadirect.com/product_details_configurator.asp?PRID=830

CUSTOM COMPUTER, Core™2 DDR2 Performance Series System
• ANTEC, Nine Hundred Black Mid-Tower Case, ATX, No PSU
• CORSAIR, CMPSU-620HX HX Series Modular Power Supply, 620W, 80 PLUS®, 24-pin ATX12V EPS12V, Triple +12V, Multi-GPU Ready
• GIGABYTE, GA-P35-DS3L, LGA775, Intel P35, 1333MHz FSB, DDR2-1066 8GB /4, PCIe x16, SATA 3Gb/s /4, HDA, GbLAN, ATX, Retail
• INTEL, Core™ 2 Quad Q6600 Quad-Core, 2.4GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 8MB (2 x 4MB) L2 Cache, 65nm, 105W, EM64T EIST VT XD, Retail
• ARCTIC COOLING, Freezer 7 Pro Quiet CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink, Socket 775, Ceramic Bearing, Retail
• G.SKILL, 4GB (2 x 2GB) PC2-6400 DDR2 800MHz CL5 (5-5-5-15) SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC
• eVGA, e-GeForce 9600GT Superclocked 675MHz, 512MB GDDR3 1800MHz, PCIe x16 SLI, DVI /2, HDTV/S-Video Out, Retail
• WESTERN DIGITAL, 250GB WD Caviar® SE16, SATA 3.0 Gbit/s, 7200 RPM, 16MB cache
• RAID, No RAID, Independent HDD Drives
• LITE-ON, LH-20A1S Black/White 20x DVD±RW Dual-Layer Burner, SATA, Retail
• MOUSE, Black Optical Mouse, PS/2 + USB, Scroll
• MICROSOFT, Windows Vista Home Basic Edition 64-bit, OEM
• WARRANTY, Silver Warranty Package (3 Year Limited Parts, 3 Year Labor Warranty)
$1234

I will be ordering a 22" LCD seperately (with a native 1680x 1050 resolution). I plan to play HL2, FEAR, Bioshock, etc and maybe Crysis as well as use it for working on art projects (Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, etc) and other school related stuff. Any advice on things that should be changed? I know a lot of you don't like the Antec 900, but I really like its looks. As far as the video card I am debating if it is worth $47 extra for an 8800gt or $94 extra for a BFG 8800GTS. I emailed AVA about an 8800gt and they seem to think a 9600gt is better. Here is what they said:

Hello Billy,

A 9600gt has a more efficient data transfer than the 8800gt, and has somewhat of an increased performance. "Blue screens if death" have been reported to some systems, yes, but not all. We would be able to catch the incompatibility issue during our testing procedures. Based on your systems specifications, I would estimate two and a half, to three and a half weeks. Please feel free to continue contacting me with any questions, or concerns you may have. Thank you for your interest with AVADirect!

Joseph Mundy
Sales Associate
800-808-8299 direct

Hello Joseph,

Wouldn't a 9600gt be a downgrade from an 8800gt? An 8800gt costs more and I have heard it is about 10% better performance wise. I have heard about problems with both. The 9600gt having a lot of "blue screen of death" problems and the 8800gt having overheating problems, so I am unsure what to go with. What do you think? Also, if I ordered this system approximately how long do you think it would take to ship?

Thanks again!

Billy

Joseph Mundy <Joseph.Mundy@avadirect.com> wrote:
Hello Billy,

Your system looks great! The only suggestion I would have, would be to upgrade the GPU to 9600GT superclocked, because of the updated chipset and more efficient clocking features. If you are worried about your system arriving too soon, you may place the order at your convenience, and we can hold on to it, and ship it a couple days before you are scheduled to be home. Please feel free to continue contacting me with any questions, or concerns you may have. Thank you for your interest with AVADirect!

Joseph Mundy
Sales Associate
800-808-8299 direct


Any advice or thoughts to help would be greatly appreciated as this is my first boutique PC purchase and first desktop purchase ever! My maximum limit I can spend is $1300. Thank you!
 
Billy,

That indeed looks like a system that will do what you want it to do. With Crysis, of course, no matter which video card you get you will have to turn some graphic options down.

I don't see a keyboard listed, so will you be using one that you already have?

Video cards are a tough item to decide on, because with that system, your GPU will be the limiting factor in games. With your budget, I think the 9600GT is a better value than an 8800GT. If you had more money, though, getting the 8800GTS 512MB (since you will be using a 22" monitor) would be my recommendation.
 
Thank you for the response. Yes, I will be using a keyboard I already have. Would the size of an 8800GTS be an issue in the Antec 900 and would you spend an extra $94 for it? Thanks again.
 
I agree, but I want to be as futureproof as possible. I will probably be keeping this system for at least 4-5 years and will be upgrading my video card probably a couple times during this time, so I figured I go for the extra 100W for an extra $37. Does this make sense? By the way, you have about the same system I am going to order except you have a 8800gt. Would you recommend that? Thanks!
 
Sorry to butt in this thread but I was wondering if AvaDirect ships an actual Windows OS cd with the computer or do they ship a recovery cd?
 
billy269 said:
Thank you for the response. Yes, I will be using a keyboard I already have. Would the size of an 8800GTS be an issue in the Antec 900 and would you spend an extra $94 for it? Thanks again.
Click to expand...

I'm not familiar with the Antec 900 case so I can't say, however AVA will let you know if it's a problem. My current favorite case is the Antec P182, which has a lot of room, but that's $15 more than the 900.

Yes, I personally would spend the extra for the 8800GTS 512MB, especially with the 22" monitor. I just don't think the extra money for the 8800GT 512MB is worth it, the performance gain isn't enough to validate the cost increase and the card runs hot.

Please note this is my opinion, and other people might disagree.
 
We ship an OEM Windows CD, with the legitimate product key. The only recovery cd's we send, are ones dealing with system recovery, if the customer desires so.

Joseph Mundy
Sales Associate
800-808-8299 direct
 
Thank you for that review! I think I will bite the bullet and go with the 8800 GTS. I also think I'll wait to order for a week or so for the Intel price cuts so I can get the Q6700 for the same price as the Q6600. Do you like your Thermaltake Tsunami case? I am wondering if I should change to the Thermaltake Tsunami over my Antec 900. What do you think? I like the looks of the 900 better, but it sounds like it is a pain in the ass as far as keeping dust/pet hair out.
 
billy269 said:
I also think I'll wait to order for a week or so for the Intel price cuts so I can get the Q6700 for the same price as the Q6600.
Click to expand...

Just remember that price cuts usually take time to work their way through the manufacturer -> distributor -> retailer chain. You might want to ask AVA when they think the price cuts will take effect for their systems.
 
I emailed them and they said " I would assume the price changes to take affect early next week. They could possibly take affect the day of fluctuation, depending on if our webmaster is able to change the prices." So I will order once they are changed.
 
billy269 said:
I emailed them and they said " I would assume the price changes to take affect early next week. They could possibly take affect the day of fluctuation, depending on if our webmaster is able to change the prices." So I will order once they are changed.
Click to expand...

Been waiting for the price drop on the Q6700 myself,the sooner they have it available the better.I was going to go with the Q9450,but it's overclocking performance hasn't impressed me.
 
AndonSage said:
I'm not familiar with the Antec 900 case so I can't say, however AVA will let you know if it's a problem. My current favorite case is the Antec P182, which has a lot of room, but that's $15 more than the 900.

Yes, I personally would spend the extra for the 8800GTS 512MB, especially with the 22" monitor. I just don't think the extra money for the 8800GT 512MB is worth it, the performance gain isn't enough to validate the cost increase and the card runs hot.

Please note this is my opinion, and other people might disagree.
Click to expand...

Right now, I would either get the 8800GTS or the 9600GT. I bought my car before either hit shelves, so I didn't have a choice.
 
Just ordered. I'll let you know how it goes when I get it in a few weeks!

ANTEC, Nine Hundred Black Mid-Tower Case, ATX, No PSU
CORSAIR, CMPSU-620HX HX Series Modular Power Supply, 620W, 80 PLUS®, 24-pin ATX12V EPS12V, Triple +12V, Multi-GPU Ready
GIGABYTE, GA-P35-DS3L, LGA775, Intel P35, 1333MHz FSB, DDR2-1066 8GB /4, PCIe x16, SATA 3Gb/s /4, HDA, GbLAN, ATX, Retail
INTEL, Core™ 2 Quad Q6700 Quad-Core 2.66GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 8MB (2 x 4MB) L2 Cache, 65nm, 65W, EM64T EIST VT XD, Retail
ARCTIC COOLING, Freezer 7 Pro Quiet CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink, Socket 775, Ceramic Bearing, Retail
G.SKILL, 4GB (2 x 2GB) PC2-6400 DDR2 800MHz CL5 (5-5-5-15) SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC
BFG TECH, GeForce™ 8800 GTS OC 675MHz, 512MB GDDR3 1940MHz, PCIe x16 SLI, DVI /2, HDTV-Out, Retail
WESTERN DIGITAL, 320GB WD Caviar® SE16 (WD3200AAKS), SATA 300MB/s, 7200 RPM, 16MB cache
RAID, No RAID, Independent HDD Drives
LITE-ON, LH-20A1S Black/White 20x DVD±RW Dual-Layer Burner, SATA, Retail
MICROSOFT, Windows Vista Home Basic Edition 64-bit, OEM
WARRANTY, Silver Warranty Package (3 Year Limited Parts, 3 Year Labor Warranty)

$1363
 
Looks like a great computer config, billy :) You'll be very happy with the 8800 GTS video card.

It's amazing what $1363 will buy these days! :)
 
That's pretty damn cool that they take the time to do that if you request it. Congrats on your purchase.
 
does everyone else see hearts in place of &#9829;&#9829;&#9829;&#9829;&#9829;&#9829;&#9829;&#9829;&#9829;?



btw, did you order it with regular wiring? Cause that's wiring job looks prime!
 
It got a 8694 3DMarks score according to AVA. Is that what you would expect from this build? Thanks!
 
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