Avadirect quote for midrange system

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gimli1971

n00b
Joined
Dec 18, 2007
Messages
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my goal is to get solid long lasting system ,

Below is quote I got from Avadirect thru their website ,

My question is am I overkilling here ?

I am gamer but not heavy duty , planning to play Halo 2 and Call of Duty 4.

Plus want to play movies and possibly get HD reception on this sucker from cable company box.

total price $1835.49 not including shipping.

CUSTOM COMPUTER, Core™ 2 Duo SLI Performance Series System $1835.49
# ARCTIC COOLING, Silentium T1 Mid Tower Case, ATX, 350W PFC PSU
# SEASONIC, S12 Energy Plus 550 Power Supply, 550W, 24-pin ATX EPS12V, Dual +12V, Active PFC, SLI Certified
# ASUS, P5B Premium Vista Edition, LGA775, Intel® P965, 1066MHz FSB, DDR2-800 8GB/4, PCIe x16 SLI, SATA II RAID 5 /6, HDA, Gb LAN /2, ATX, Retail
# INTEL, Core™ 2 Duo E6850 Dual-Core, 3.0GHz, 1333MHz FSB, 4MB L2 Cache, 65nm EM64T EIST VT XD, Retail
# ARCTIC COOLING, Freezer 7 Pro Quiet CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink, Socket 775, Ceramic Bearing, Retail
# CORSAIR, 4GB (4 x 1GB) XMS2 PC2-6400 DDR2 800MHz CL5 (5-5-5-12) 1.9V SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC
# XFX, GeForce 8600GT 620MHz, 256MB DDR3 1.6GHz, PCIe x16 SLI, 2x DVI, HDTV-Out, w/ Fan, Retail
# XFX, GeForce 8600GT 620MHz, 256MB DDR3 1.6GHz, PCIe x16 SLI, 2x DVI, HDTV-Out, w/ Fan, Retail
# WESTERN DIGITAL, 160GB WD Caviar® SE, SATA II 300MB/s, 7200 RPM, 8MB cache
# SEAGATE, 160GB Barracuda 7200.10, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 7200-RPM, 8MB cache
# RAID, No RAID, Independent HDD Drives
# SONY, AW-Q170A-B2 Black 18x DVD±R/RW Dual Layer Burner, EIDE/ATAPI, OEM
# LINKSKEY, LKA-CR15BW Black/White 52-in-1 Card Reader/Writer Drive, 3.5" Bay, Internal USB
# ALTEC LANSING, VS2421 Black 2.1 Powered Audio System, 28W (2x7W + 14W) w/ Wired Remote
# LOGITECH, Office Pro Keyboard, Black, PS/2
# MICROSOFT, Optical Wheel Mouse, PS/2 + USB, Beige
# MICROSOFT, Windows Vista Home Premium Edition 32-bit, OEM
# WARRANTY, Gold Warranty Package (3 year limited parts & lifetime labor warranty, priority service)
 
I may try something more like this...total price $1879.44

# INTEL, Core™ 2 Duo E6850 Dual-Core, 3.0GHz, 1333MHz FSB, 4MB L2 Cache
# ARCTIC COOLING, Freezer 7 Pro
# ARCTIC SILVER, Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
# GIGABYTE, GA-P35-DS3R, LGA775, Intel P35, 1333MHz FSB, DDR2-800 8GB /4, PCIe x16, SATA 3Gb/s RAID 5 /8, HDA, GbLAN, ATX
# G.SKILL, 4GB (2 x 2GB) PC2-6400 DDR2 800MHz CL4 (4-4-4-12) SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC
# XFX, GeForce™ 8800 GT XXX 670MHz, 512MB GDDR3 1.95GHz, PCIe x16 SLI, DVI /2, HDTV-Out
# SEAGATE, 250GB Barracuda 7200.10, SATA II 300MB/s, 7200-RPM, 16MB cache
# SEAGATE, 250GB Barracuda 7200.10, SATA II 300MB/s, 7200-RPM, 16MB cache
# RAID, No RAID, Independent HDD Drives
# MITSUMI, Black Internal 1.44MB 3.5" Floppy Drive
# SAMSUNG, Super-WriteMaster™ SH-S203B Black 20x DVD±R/RW Dual-Layer Burner, SATA, w/ Software
# COOLERMASTER, CM 690 Black Mid-Tower Case, ATX, No PSU, SECC, SLI Certified
# CUSTOM WIRING, Standard Wiring with Round Cables
# CORSAIR, HX Series 620W Modular Power Supply, 24-pin ATX12V EPS12V, Triple +12V, Multi-GPU Ready
# MICROSOFT, Windows Vista Ultimate Edition 64-bit, OEM
# GAMING PC, Gold Warranty Package (3 Year Limited Parts & Lifetime Labor Warranty, Express/Priority Service)

if you need anything I left out you can easily drop the OC'd 8800GT to the stock one and maybe downgrade the power supply to a 520W or 550W or whatever...you can also change the case to something of your choosing...if money is still tight the e6750 may work well too.
 
Hmm, where to start.

ASUS, P5B Premium Vista Edition, LGA775, Intel® P965, 1066MHz FSB, DDR2-800 8GB/4, PCIe x16 SLI, SATA II RAID 5 /6, HDA, Gb LAN /2, ATX, Retail
Click to expand...

Is there a reason for going with an outdated 965 board? You'd be far better off going with something P35 based. You'd lose the SLI option(more on that later). Plus, I'd like to know how AVA intends to pull off SLI on a 965 board anyway.

INTEL, Core™ 2 Duo E6850 Dual-Core, 3.0GHz, 1333MHz FSB, 4MB L2 Cache, 65nm EM64T EIST VT XD, Retail
Click to expand...

You have two options for CPU here. Neither of them include the 6850. You should either get a 6750 or for the same money as the 6850 go with the Q6600. Do you really think you'll be able to tell the 333mhz difference between the 6750 and 6850? If you want to "future proof" a little, then go with the quad.

CORSAIR, 4GB (4 x 1GB) XMS2 PC2-6400 DDR2 800MHz CL5 (5-5-5-12) 1.9V SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC
Click to expand...

AVA's memory choices leave alot to be desired(for me at least). The Corsairs are decent, but I'd go with the g.skill 2x2 option they have instead. This way you can avoid the potential headache of running 4 sticks.

# XFX, GeForce 8600GT 620MHz, 256MB DDR3 1.6GHz, PCIe x16 SLI, 2x DVI, HDTV-Out, w/ Fan, Retail
# XFX, GeForce 8600GT 620MHz, 256MB DDR3 1.6GHz, PCIe x16 SLI, 2x DVI, HDTV-Out, w/ Fan, Retail
Click to expand...

First, most obvious question. Do you need SLI? Remember that SLI only benefits LCD monitors > 24". For anything smaller it's a waste. If you do need it, you're gonna hamstring yourself with the 256 of memory that the 8600's have. High resolutions become far more dependant on video memory than mutliple GPU's.

My suggestions are this. You either ditch the SLI gig all together go with a single 8800gt or gts(g92 not the older g80's) or bite the bullet and spend the extra cash on 2 8800gt's.

MICROSOFT, Windows Vista Home Premium Edition 32-bit, OEM
Click to expand...
Like the other guy said you will need a 64bit OS. 32 bit OS's can only address 4 gigs of memory(that includes the memory on your videocards). If you need more explanation about this search the forums. It's been addressed countless times.
 
After reading all very helpful posts i have revised my quote, what do you think ?

Price range is about the same

CUSTOM COMPUTER, Core™ 2 Duo DDR3 Extreme Performance Series System

$1873.25

ARCTIC COOLING, Silentium T1 Mid Tower Case, ATX, 350W PFC PSU
ASUS, P5K3 Deluxe/WiFi-AP, LGA775, Intel P35, 1333MHz FSB, DDR3-1333MHz 8GB/4, PCIe x16 CF /2, SATA 3Gb/s RAID 5 /8, HDA, GbLAN /2, FW, WiFi, ATX, Retail
INTEL, Core™ 2 Quad Q6600 Quad-Core (SLACR G0 stepping), 2.4GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 8MB (2 x 4MB) L2 Cache, 65nm, 95W, EM64T EIST VT XD, Retail
ARCTIC COOLING, Freezer 7 Pro Quiet CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink, Socket 775, Ceramic Bearing, Retail
CORSAIR, 2GB (2 x 1GB) XMS3 PC3-10600 DDR3 1333MHz CL9 (9-9-9-24) 1.7V SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC
XFX, GeForce™ 8800 GT 600MHz, 512MB GDDR3 1.8GHz, PCIe x16 SLI, DVI /2, HDTV-Out, Retail
SEAGATE, 160GB Barracuda 7200.10, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 7200-RPM, 8MB cache
WESTERN DIGITAL, 160GB WD Caviar® SE (WD1600AAJS), SATA 300MB/s, 7200 RPM, 8MB cache
RAID, No RAID, Independent HDD Drives
SAMSUNG, Super-WriteMaster™ SH-S203B Black 20x DVD±R/RW Dual-Layer Burner, SATA, w/ Software, OEM
LINKSKEY, LKA-CR15BW Black/White 52-in-1 Card Reader/Writer Drive, 3.5" Bay, Internal USB
ALTEC LANSING, VS2321 Silver/Black 2.1 Stereo Speaker System, 28W (2x6W + 16W), Retail
LOGITECH, Office Pro Keyboard, Black, PS/2
MICROSOFT, Optical Wheel Mouse, PS/2 + USB, Black
MICROSOFT, Windows Vista Home Premium Edition 32-bit, OEM
WARRANTY, Platinum Warranty Package (5 year limited parts & lifetime labor warranty, priority service)
 
P5K3 is a DDR3 P35 based board. Do not get this unless you really want to burn some cash. DDR3 is very expensive with insignificant performance gains. Save money on the board and the memory and don't go DDR3. By the time DDR3 becomes reasonably priced and useful, Nehalem and other processors are probably going to be out that invalidates the P35 board anyway. Get the G.Skill 2x2gb kit recommended and just take the plunge on 64bit vista as other people have mentioned.

Not a big fan of that case personally, from a looks or quality perspective but if you really like it I guess you can stick with it. I'd get bigger hard drives, two 160gb HDD's seems kinda silly in this age. You could easily just get a 400-500gb single drive for the same price or just take your savings from the DDR3 and put it here.

You upped your warranty package up again (gold to platinum) any reason for this? Do you really still want service on your computer after 3 years? I'd personally probably would just stick with the Silver but that might just be me.
 
If you are really planning on SLI in the future and need a board with an NVIDIA chipset than I would say the Striker Extreme (ASUS, Striker Extreme, LGA775, nForce 680i SLI) is a good choice if you can afford it. It seems to OC the quads better (Q6600, QX6850, etc).

Otherwise I would say the EVGA nForce (eVGA, nForce 680i SLI 775 A1) is a good choice but make sure it's the A1.

I personally would not go with 680i if you don`t plan on SLI as Intel chipsets are more stable and don`t have a ridiculously hot northbridge...P35 or X38 would better suit a single card config...plus you can always go Crossfire :D
 
Simple answer is to not use that configurator =)

Try this one:

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

I'd go with the Asus P5K-E or the Gigabyte DS3R out of those choices probably.

You can try the gaming one also as you have a bit more options wise in it:

http://www.avadirect.com/product_details_configurator.asp?PRID=9528

Also, just noticed, did you really not include a power supply in that second config? You weren't thinking of running off that 350W PSU that is included with the case were you? Here's one config that might work out for you that uses most of your parts. I'm not a fan of that heatsink with a Quad though, I'd either rather just go down to the stock cooler for a quad or go for a high quality Heatsink like the Tuniq or Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme or maybe the Scythe Ninja. You may be better off just buying your keyboard and mouse separately also.

GAMING PC, Core 2 Duo DDR2 Gaming System $1631.68 $1631.68
INTEL, Core™ 2 Quad Q6600 Quad-Core (SLACR G0 stepping), 2.4GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 8MB (2 x 4MB) L2 Cache, 65nm, 95W, EM64T EIST VT XD, Retail
ARCTIC COOLING, Freezer 7 Pro Quiet CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink, Socket 775, Ceramic Bearing, Retail
SERVICE, Do Not Overclock
ASUS, P5K-E, LGA775, Intel P35, 1333MHz FSB, DDR2-1066MHz 8GB /4, PCIe x16 /2 CF, SATA 3Gb/s RAID 5 /6, HDA, GbLAN, FW /2, ATX, Retail
G.SKILL, 4GB (2 x 2GB) PC2-6400 DDR2 800MHz CL5 (5-5-5-15) SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC
XFX, GeForce™ 8800 GT 600MHz, 512MB GDDR3 1.8GHz, PCIe x16 SLI, DVI /2, HDTV-Out, Retail
SEAGATE, 320GB Barracuda 7200.10, SATA II 300MB/s, 7200-RPM, 16MB cache
RAID, No RAID, Independent HDD Drives
LINKSKEY, LKA-CR15BW Black/White 52-in-1 Card Reader/Writer Drive, 3.5" Bay, Internal USB
SAMSUNG, Super-WriteMaster™ SH-S203B Black 20x DVD±R/RW Dual-Layer Burner, SATA, w/ Software, OEM
COOLERMASTER, CM 690 Black Mid-Tower Case, ATX, No PSU, SECC, SLI Certified
CUSTOM WIRING, Standard Wiring with Round Cables
CORSAIR, VX Series 550W Power Supply, 24-pin ATX12V EPS12V, SLI Ready
MICROSOFT, Windows Vista Home Premium Edition 64-bit, OEM
SERVICE, OEM System Recovery (secure HDD partition only)
SERVICE, System Binder
LOGITECH, Office Pro Keyboard, Black, PS/2
MICROSOFT, Optical Wheel Mouse, PS/2 + USB, Black
ALTEC LANSING, VS2321 Silver/Black 2.1 Stereo Speaker System, 28W (2x6W + 16W), Retail
GAMING PC, Silver Warranty Package (3 Year Limited Parts, 3 Year Labor Warranty)
SERVICE, Standard Shipping (UPS, DHL, or Fedex)
 
and here we go again after reading little more of wisdom from above replys ( no sarcasm , only gratitude meant here) I present another quote from AVA.

ORDERED PRODUCT(S) UNIT PRICE QTY TOTAL
GAMING PC, Core 2 Duo DDR2 Gaming System $1823.20 $1823.20


INTEL, Core™ 2 Quad Q6600 Quad-Core (SLACR G0 stepping), 2.4GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 8MB (2 x 4MB) L2 Cache, 65nm, 95W, EM64T EIST VT XD, Retail
ARCTIC COOLING, Freezer 7 Pro Quiet CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink, Socket 775, Ceramic Bearing, Retail
SERVICE, Do Not Overclock
ASUS, P5K Deluxe/WiFi-AP, LGA775, Intel P35, 1333MHz FSB, DDR2-1066MHz 8GB/4, PCIe x16 /2 CF, SATA 3Gb/s RAID 1 /8, HDA, GbLAN /2, FW /2, WiFi, ATX, Retail
G.SKILL, 4GB (2 x 2GB) PC2-6400 DDR2 800MHz CL5 (5-5-5-15) SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC
XFX, GeForce™ 8800 GT 600MHz, 512MB GDDR3 1.8GHz, PCIe x16 SLI, DVI /2, HDTV-Out, Retail
SEAGATE, 320GB Barracuda 7200.10, SATA II 300MB/s, 7200-RPM, 16MB cache
WESTERN DIGITAL, 160GB WD RE, SATA 300MB/s, 7200 RPM, 16MB cache
RAID, No RAID, Independent HDD Drives
LINKSKEY, LKA-CR15BW Black/White 52-in-1 Card Reader/Writer Drive, 3.5" Bay, Internal USB
SAMSUNG, Super-WriteMaster™ SH-S203B Black 20x DVD±R/RW Dual-Layer Burner, SATA, w/ Software, OEM
COOLERMASTER, CM 690 Black Mid-Tower Case, ATX, No PSU, SECC, SLI Certified
CUSTOM WIRING, Standard Wiring with Round Cables
COOLERMASTER, eXtreme Power 650W Power Supply, 24-pin ATX12V, SLI Ready
MICROSOFT, Windows Vista Home Premium Edition 64-bit, OEM
SERVICE, OEM System Recovery (secure HDD partition only)
SERVICE, System Binder
LOGITECH, Office Pro Keyboard, Black, PS/2
MICROSOFT, Optical Wheel Mouse, PS/2 + USB, Black
ALTEC LANSING, BXR1121 Black 2.1 Stereo Speaker System, 15W RMS, Retail
GAMING PC, Gold Warranty Package (3 Year Limited Parts & Lifetime Labor Warranty, Express/Priority Service)
SERVICE, Standard Shipping (UPS, DHL, or Fedex)
 
Ok so after getting my quote and speaking with misha directly

here is what I am getting for 1840(including shipping)

INTEL, Core™ 2 Quad Q6600 Quad-Core (SLACR G0 stepping), 2.4GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 8MB (2 x 4MB) L2 Cache, 65nm, 95W, EM64T EIST VT XD, Retail
ARCTIC COOLING, Freezer 7 Pro Quiet CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink, Socket 775, Ceramic Bearing, Retail
SERVICE, Do Not Overclock
ASUS, P5K3 Deluxe/WiFi-AP, LGA775, Intel P35, 1333MHz FSB, DDR3-1333MHz 8GB/4, PCIe x16 CF /2, SATA 3Gb/s RAID 5 /8, HDA, GbLAN /2, FW, WiFi, ATX, Retail
G.SKILL, 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC3-10600 DDR3 1333MHz CL (9-9-9-24) SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC
eVGA, e-GeForce 8800GT Superclocked 650MHz, 512MB GDDR3 1900MHz, PCIe x16 SLI, DVI /2, HDTV/S-Video Out, Retail
WESTERN DIGITAL, 160GB WD RE, SATA 300MB/s, 7200 RPM, 16MB cache
WESTERN DIGITAL, 160GB WD RE, SATA 300MB/s, 7200 RPM, 16MB cache
RAID, No RAID, Independent HDD Drives
SCYTHE, YD-8V08-BK Black 1.44MB 3.5" Floppy Drive + 18-in-1 Card Reader Combo Drive, Internal USB 2.0
LITE-ON, LH-20A1H Black/White 20x DVD±RW Dual-Layer Burner w/ LightScribe, EIDE/ATAPI, Retail
NETWORK, Integrated Dual 10/100/1000 Gigabit LAN Network Controller
ANTEC, LifeStyle Sonata III Black Mid-Tower Case, ATX, 500W PSU
CUSTOM WIRING, Standard Wiring with Round Cables
MICROSOFT, Windows Vista Home Premium Edition 32-bit, OEM
SERVICE, OEM System Recovery (secure HDD partition only)
SERVICE, AVADirect System Binder
GAMING PC, Silver Warranty Package (3 Year Limited Parts, 3 Year Labor Warranty)
SERVICE, Standard Shipping (UPS, DHL, or Fedex)

According to Misha at this time and in the future both Silver and gold warranties carry lifetime labor , difference is gold comes with priority .

So far very positive experience with customer service , today on 12/24 right before Xmas

I asked them question about case ( should I upgrade or not) , got very promt responces from Misha and in-house tech alex.

So here is where I am at this point , will update this topic if anything else new comes up.
 
Couple of questions.
Why DDR3? It more expensive for not much performance boost.
Also why no overclocking?
 
Why two 160GB hard drives instead of one nice big 500GB or so, since you're not RAIDing?
 
Why 2 becuase I will be duo booting i am planning to have windows xp pro on another ( i have disk and all) , about DDR3...Misha suggested it ..something to do with stability issues.
 
gimli1971 said:
Why 2 becuase I will be duo booting i am planning to have windows xp pro on another ( i have disk and all) , about DDR3...Misha suggested it ..something to do with stability issues.
Click to expand...
Is there a reason why Misha suggested DDR3 sticks for you?
 
gimli1971 said:
Why 2 becuase I will be duo booting i am planning to have windows xp pro on another ( i have disk and all) , about DDR3...Misha suggested it ..something to do with stability issues.
Click to expand...

So partition the 500GB. Just doesn't seem cost-effective to run 160s.
 
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