Building a PC For a Friend...

[BlackTigers91]

Hey guys, I'm building a PC for a bud of mine, and I want to make sure everything looks alright. He games, but nothing too hardcore. Not loo0king to go over a grand including shipping.

CPU: Intel e4500
Motherboard: Slightly undecided. Gigabyte P31 sufficient?
RAM: 2GB Value-DDR2. Probably Corsair.
GfX: XfX 8800GS. Should be fine for him, he's coming from an x700.
Case: He likes one from Xoxide, X-Lustre or something. Not my decision here.
PSU: Still searching, but I'm liking the OCZ StealthXtreme 500. Any other suggestions?

HDD: 320GB SATA II 16MB, either Seagate or WD.
DVD: Samsung S203B.
Mouse/Keyboard: He wants a G11 and a G7.
Monitor: Acer 22" WS. He has one, and wants another.

Thanks for any and all help guys. The above system is around $950 shipped, which is about what he wants to spend. Any suggestions are appreciated, and majorly looking for help in the motherboard/PSU regions!

 

[leSLIe]

a 8800GS? hmm... i´d a 9600GT

 

[tiraides]

PSU FAQ: http://www.jonnyguru.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1036

PSU Suggestions:
http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/showpost.php?p=1590883&postcount=193
http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1460
http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=103

The OCZ StealthXStream 500 is based off the FSP Epsilon PSU, which is known to generate ripple near max load. I don't recommend it since it could possibly kill your system (not saying that you'd reach max load, but why risk it?).

If you aren't planning on upgrading the CPU any time soon, go ahead and go with the GA-P31-S3G... but if you're thinking about upgrading to the new 45nm processors, consider the GA-P35-DS3L. (Nehalem will arrive around Q4 '08, with mainstream parts coming some time around/after Q1 '09, but it won't be supported by any of the current Socket 775 boards and chipsets.)

For gaming, I'd recommend an 8800GT. But before I make any specific recommendations, where were you planning on buying everything at? (And is the Acer monitor part of the sub-$1000 build?)

 

[BlackTigers91]

The OCZ StealthXStream 500 is based off the FSP Epsilon PSU, which is known to generate ripple near max load. I don't recommend it since it could possibly kill your system (not saying that you'd reach max load, but why risk it?).

If you aren't planning on upgrading the CPU any time soon, go ahead and go with the GA-P31-S3G... but if you're thinking about upgrading to the new 45nm processors, consider the GA-P35-DS3L. (Nehalem will arrive around Q4 '08, with mainstream parts coming some time around/after Q1 '09, but it won't be supported by any of the current Socket 775 boards and chipsets.)

For gaming, I'd recommend an 8800GT. But before I make any specific recommendations, where were you planning on buying everything at? (And is the Acer monitor part of the sub-$1000 build?)

Thanks for the heads up on the PSU, I'll look for another route.

And the CPU won't be updated soon. He generally buys a new PC every 2-3 years, and doesn't upgrade in that period. (Except for maybe drives, and graphics)

For the video, I'm starting to lean more towards the 9600GT. Around $150, which isn't too bad at all. And yeah - the Acer is part of the $1k build. Right now, it's at $940 with the 9600 and $45 in shipping, so $985 total. Not too bad. (Newegg, BTW)

 

[engiNURD]

Enhance 5150GH 500W from ewiz.com is good, and so is the Corsair 450W or 550W from buy.com (either will do fine).

I agree, go with the 9600GT.