Check my build?

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poskey

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How can I save some money. Gaming rig.


AVADirect, Inc.
Online: http://www.avadirect.com
Phone: 1-866-766-4629

Here is the quote you requested. Your quote number is #AVA-324725. If you have any questions regarding this quote don't hesitate to contact our sales department with this quote number. To modify, add or purchase the item(s) listed in this quote click on the link below.

BUY / MODIFY QUOTE #AVA-324725

COMPANY INFORMATION ORDER REFERENCE INFORMATION
AVADirect, Inc.
1750 Highland Rd. Suite #4
Twinsburg, OH 44087
Phone: 1-866-766-4629 Quote Ref# : AVA-324725
Quote Date : 08/16/2008
Quoted By : Webstore

PRODUCT(S) QTY UNIT PRICE TOTAL
+ GAMING PC, Core 2 SLI DDR2 Gaming System 1 $2278.95 $2278.95
INTEL, Core™ 2 Quad Q9550 Quad-Core 2.83GHz, 1333MHz FSB, 12MB (2 x 6MB) L2 Cache, 45nm, 95W, EM64T EIST VT XD, Retail
ARCTIC COOLING, Freezer 7 Pro Quiet CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink, Socket 775, Ceramic Bearing, Retail
SERVICE, Overclocking, Quad-Core CPU, 10-20% Performance Increase
eVGA, nForce 780i SLI 775 A1, LGA775, nForce 780i SLI, 1333MHz FSB, DDR2-1200 8GB /4, PCIe x16 SLI /3, SATA 3.0 Gbit/s RAID 5 /6, HDA, Gb LAN /2, FW /2, ATX, Retail
CORSAIR, 4GB (4 x 1GB) XMS2 Dominator PC2-8500 DDR2 1066MHz CL5 (5-5-5-15) 2.1V SDRAM 240-pin DIMM, Non-ECC, Heatsink
eVGA, e-GeForce® 9800 GTX+ 738MHz, 512MB GDDR3 2200MHz, PCIe x16 SLI, DVI /2, HDTV-Out, Retail
CREATIVE, Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Xtreme Audio, 7.1 channels, 24-bit 96KHz, PCI
WESTERN DIGITAL, 150GB WD Raptor® X, SATA 1.5 Gb/s, 10000 RPM, 16MB cache
WESTERN DIGITAL, 500GB WD Caviar® SE16 (WD5000AAKS), SATA 3 Gb/s, 7200-RPM, 16MB cache
RAID, No RAID, Independent HDD Drives
ROSEWILL, RCR-102 Black 52-in-1 Card Reader/Writer Drive, 3.5" Bay, USB 2.0
ASUS, DVD-E616A2 Silver 16x DVD-ROM / 48x CD-ROM Drive, ATAPI/E-IDE, Retail
LITE-ON, LH-20A1L Black/Beige 20x DVD±RW Dual-Layer Burner w/ LightScribe, SATA, Retail
THERMALTAKE, Armor Black Full-Tower Case w/ Window, EATX, No PSU
CUSTOM WIRING, Standard Wiring with Round Cables
PC POWER & COOLING, Silencer® 750W Quad (Black) Power Supply, 24-pin ATX12V EPS12V, Single +12V Rail, Quad SLI Ready
MICROSOFT, Windows XP Home Edition w/ SP3, OEM
SERVICE, OEM System Recovery (bootable CD/DVD only)
SERVICE, System Binder
GAMING PC, Silver Warranty Package (3 Year Limited Parts, 3 Year Labor Warranty)
SERVICE, Standard Shipping (UPS, DHL, or Fedex)

Shipping ZIP-code: 73507 SUBTOTAL: $2278.95
Shipping method: Ground SHIPPING: $89.11
TAX: $0.00
GRAND TOTAL: $2368.06
 
Well, the good news is you can save a good bit of cash and get a nicer setup. The bad news is, that one is heavily flawed.


The Q9550 is pricey for the performance boost over the Q6600, and doesn't run substantially cooler or use that much less power. Consider swapping it out.

The Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro just isn't enough if you want to overclock a quad core; swap it out for an Xigmatech HDT-S1283, Sunbeam Tuniq Tower or Core Contact Freezer, Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme, ASUS Vendetta 2, or similar.

4x1GB is an OC and stability killer. Get 2x2GB, and forget the Dominators, they're insanely overpriced. DDR2-1000 is all you will ever need with the LGA775 platform.

The 780i chipset and SLI in general is a buggy and potentially problematic implementation; I speak from first hand experience here -- swap it out for a P45 based board like the Gigabyte EP45-DS3R or ASUS P45 P5Q Pro or even a P43 based board like the Gigabyte EP43-DS3L and you will be far happier in the long run. SLI and Crossfire are horrible upgrade paths, since by the time a second card is cost effective you're almost always better off selling the one you have to offset the cost and purchasing a single card of the newer generation. The only reason to consider SLI or Crossfire X at this time would be if you have a massive budget and an equally massive screen that runs very high resolution, like the Dell 30"s. Modern high end cards handle 1920x1200 (the native resolution of 24-28" LCDs) just fine, allowing you to avoid the added cost, complexity, and frustration involved in SLI/Crossfire X setups.

The 9800GTX+ is a die shrink of 1+ year old tech; I wouldn't recommend buying one. With the money saved not getting the Dominators and 780i ($300+ easily) pick up a Radeon HD 4870X2 if you screen runs 1920x1200 or higher, or a Radeon HD 4870 if your screen runs 1680x1050 or lower.

The Soundblaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio is a very poor quality card with numerous driver issues. In fact, depending on the version of the card in question it does not even have the X-Fi chip onboard and uses primarily software. Unless you have a very nice speaker setup (I'm talking more than a Logitech Z-5500 setup here, but components, seperates, real stereo equipment) forget discrete soundcards, and if you do have one, get something nicer. Realtek HD onboard has come a long, long way -- don't knock it until you try it. I sold my X-Fi out of pure frustration with the thing and have been very happy with the Realtek chipset ever since.

The old Raptors offer very little if any performance boost over modern large platter 7200RPM drives and still carry a massive price per GB premium. Drop the Raptor X, no question. Drop the 500GB Caviar drive as well and replace it with the 640GB WD6400AAKS instead. It's a far faster drive than the 500GB, as fast or faster than the Raptor X, and only $90.

That ASUS DVD-ROM drive is silver, where everything else you've picked is black, and it's also IDE. Don't know if the silver was intentional, but definitely replace it with an SATA drive. IDE cables are a pain to work with, and it's a dieing standard. LiteOn drives are very reliable in my experience but many people complain they are louder than most; if this is important to you consider swapping it out for a Samsung or ASUS drive (SATA).

That Thermaltake case is huge, and expensive. The machine you've got here will fit easily in a mid tower, so unless you have a reason to go with the full tower (just really like the looks, expect to end up with many many harddrives in the future or something) I'd recommend replacing it with something less expensive and more manageable.

The PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad is a great PSU, so unless it is very expensive I'd stick with it. If you can get the Corsair TX 750 for less, however, it is very similar (I have owned both). Another option would be the Corsair 620 HX, which is modular and would provide plenty of power for just about any single video card setup.

Why XP? You're getting a DX10 capable video card and this is clearly a gaming system. You're also getting 4GB of RAM. I'd strongly recommend Vista Home Premium 64bit instead.



Any questions, ask. I've tried to detail the reasoning behind each choice above, but I can go in to further detail if necessary.
 
OK, thanks for your input. Looks like I know nothing about picking parts.

Went with XP because older sims (racing) I use have trouble with vista. GTR2, r factor.

Also I will only be using a 19" CRT, 1024x768, but may upgrade during the life of this PC.

If it's not too much trouble, can you put one together for me? Was looking at 2000 to 2300 max but I will spend less if I can. Want to play crysis, Far cry 2 and my sims.

Would like to use AVA direct if possible. They seem to list more parts than anybody else.

Suggestions?
 
CUSTOM COMPUTER, Core™2 CrossFire™ DDR2 Performance Series System $1442.14 UPDATE $1442.14
# ANTEC, Three Hundred Black Mid-Tower Case, ATX, No PSU
# CORSAIR, CMPSU-750TX TX Series Power Supply, 750W, 80 PLUS®, 24-pin ATX12V EPS12V, Multi-GPU Ready
# ASUS, P5Q Pro, LGA775, Intel® P45, 1600MHz FSB, DDR2-1200 16GB /4, PCIe x16 CF /2, SATA 3.0 Gbit/s RAID 5 /8, HDA, GbLAN, FW /2, 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
# XIGMATEK, HDT-S1283 CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink, Socket 775/754/939/940/AM2, 120mm Fan, Copper/Aluminum, Retail
# G.SKILL, 4GB (2 x 2GB) PC2-6400 DDR2 800MHz CL5 (5-5-5-15) SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC
# VISIONTEK, Radeon® HD 4870 750MHz, 512MB GDDR5 1800Mhz, PCIe x16 CrossFire, DVI /2, Retail
# WESTERN DIGITAL, 640GB WD Caviar® SE16 (WD6400AAKS), SATA 3 Gb/s, 7200-RPM, 16MB cache
# RAID, No RAID, Independent HDD Drives
# LITE-ON, DH-52C2S-04 Black 52x/32x/16x CD-R/CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive, SATA, OEM
# SAMSUNG, Super-WriteMaster™ SH-S223 Black 22x DVD±R/RW Dual-Layer Burner, SATA, w/ Software, OEM
# MITSUMI, Black Internal 1.44MB 3.5" Floppy Drive
# MICROSOFT, Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition w/ SP1, OEM
# WARRANTY, Silver Warranty Package (3 Year Limited Parts, 3 Year Labor Warranty)

$1442 + shipping.

GTR2 and R-Factor work fine on Vista last I checked...

The 4870 will destroy any game you care to play at 1024x768. Honestly, it's probably major overkill at that resolution; drop down to a 4850 if you want to save another ~$150, as it will still be more than enough for your current display. You may have to drop a few settings in Crysis and Far Cry 2 with the 4850, but I doubt it will be an issue.

The PSU will support any single graphics card, and most dual graphics card setups (though it could be stretching things in the highly unlikely case that you decided to go with a pair of 4870X2s...).

If you get a 24" or larger monitor, I'd recommend replacing it with a 4870X2. However, this will add ~$300 to the price of the machine. 1920x1200 is very nice, but it is far harder on graphics cards.

Add a DVD/CDRW for another $35 or so if you want -- you can do it yourself easily and save money over buying from AVA, that's another option, they aren't difficult to install. Newegg has a wide selection; remember to get an SATA drive.

The P5Q Pro has a ton of SATA ports so you can add more harddrives and such if you decide to later on and you even have the option of Crossfire X with a second graphics card if you get a very large monitor that would benefit from it.

The Antec 300 is smaller and more manageable without sacrificing much expandability or airflow. It comes with 2 fans but has more open fan slots, so if you want really good airflow consider picking up some Yate Loon low speed 120mm fans for ~$5 each and putting them in once you get the computer. It's not hard or time consuming and may help your temperatures.
 
Just for reference, the same parts (except I swapped the Q6700 for a Q6600 since Newegg is vastly overcharging for it at the moment) and OS (plus a HSF retention kit I wish AVA carried, an additional $7) would run you $1172 shipped on Newegg today, $1107 after rebates.

Assuming shipping is similar to the one you had before, $90, for the AVA Direct build, you're paying around $1530 for the prebuilt machine vs. $1175 to build it yourself ($1100 after rebates, but I'm leaving them out to be fair). Around $360 to get it built and get warranty service through them (vs. through the various part manufacturers). If you have the time and desire it might be worth it to built it yourself.

If you decide to order from AVA you might contact them and ask if it's possible to get the Xigmatech bolt-thru kit installed with the Xigmatech HDT-S1283... it's much more secure and makes better contact than the stock pushpin setup, and again, should only be another $5-7.

poskey said:
Also, where did you spec that from?
Click to expand...

From my head? I build a lot of systems. I also help a lot of people here sort of configuration problems and the like -- plenty of practice. ;)
 
I might just do that. That's a lot less money than I was looking at. :) Never done it before though.
 
There are plenty of build guides out there, and if you take your time and are reasonably careful with things (don't force the plug if it doesn't go in one way... common sense type stuff) it's very safe. Check the sticky threads up at the top here in Gen[H]ard and ask questions if you decide to go that route. Lots of people willing to help.
 
Yah, bunch of guides in the sticky. Its easy... this forum has helped little kids build their first system, and even some girls. :p

poskey said:
How can I save some money. Gaming rig.

AVADirect, Inc. ...
Click to expand...
The first reply should have been... build it yourself. :p
 
Jonnycat99 said:
Paying someone to overclock your rig? Where's the fun in that? :D
Click to expand...

Paying is never fun, regardless of what your paying for. :p Its afterwards that you may or may not get fun out of the payment. ;)

Where's the fun in letting someone else OC it for you? Well if you don't like OC'ing, then thats ALL the fun. :p
 
I am terminally clumsy and have no depth perception, and I was able to build my own PC... If I can do it, anybody can! The only things you REALLY have to remember is to make sure you ground yourself before touching anything inside the case-- static electricity is a killer-- and to be very careful and gentle when installing the CPU and HSF so you don't damage it.

The only other important thing I can think of that can cause issues is to make sure you install the risers properly on the mobo tray and be sure to securely install all 9 screws to prevent shorting the mobo.

One last thing, if you want to use one of the larger cards out there today, be sure to get a fairly large case, or check the specs and layout first. Some of the mid-towers cannot fit large cards without blocking access to hard drive bays. I went huge, so I wouldn't run into any problems. :D
 
Do these parts look like they will build me a nice system? Will I be able to do some moderate overclocking? Thanks for all your help!!



Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price




Update G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ - Retail
Model #:F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ
Item #:N82E16820231122
Return Policy:Memory (Modules, USB) Return Policy
In Stock
Note (Add)


Save Cancel $119.99 -$40.00 Instant $79.99

Update VisionTek 900244 Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
Model #:900244
Item #:N82E16814129113
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock
Note (Add)


Save Cancel $294.99 -$10.00 Instant $284.99

Update Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Model #:WD6400AAKS
Item #:N82E16822136218
Return Policy:Limited 30-Day Return Policy
In Stock
Note (Add)


Save Cancel $84.99 $84.99

Update LITE-ON Combo Black SATA Model DH-52C2S-04 - OEM
Model #:DH-52C2S-04
Item #:N82E16827106100
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
Out Of Stock
ETA: 8/19/2008 4:41:00 PM
Auto-Notify
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Save Cancel $22.99 $22.99

Update SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model SH-S223Q/BEBN - OEM
Model #:SH-S223Q/BEBN
Item #:N82E16827151173
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock
Note (Add)


Save Cancel $28.99 $28.99

Update SAMSUNG Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive Windows 98SE/ ME/ 2000/ XP - OEM
Model #:SFD321B/LBL1
Item #:N82E16821103203
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock
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Save Cancel $7.49 $7.49

Update Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English for System Builders 1pk DSP OEI DVD - OEM
Model #:66I-01939
Item #:N82E16832116488
Return Policy:Software Return Policy
In Stock
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Save Cancel $109.99 $109.99

Update Antec Three Hundred Black ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Model #:Three Hundred
Item #:N82E16811129042
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock
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Save Cancel $69.95 -$10.00 Instant $59.95

Update ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Model #:p5Q Pro
Item #:N82E16813131299
Return Policy:Limited 30-Day Return Policy
In Stock
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Save Cancel $139.99 $139.99

Update PC Power & Cooling S75QB 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply - Retail
Model #:S75QB
Item #:N82E16817703009
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock
Mail-in Rebate

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Update Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 Kentsfield 2.66GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6700 - Retail
Model #:BX80562Q6700
Item #:N82E16819115027
Return Policy:processors (CPUs) Return Policy
In Stock
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Save Cancel $268.99 $268.99

Update XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler - Retail
Model #:HDT-S1283
Item #:N82E16835233003
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock
Mail-in Rebate

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Save Cancel $36.99 $36.99
Subtotal: $1,265.34

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I added the ACK I7751 retention bracket for the CPU cooler. Is this the correct part?
 
If your just gaming, cancel the quad and get a faster core 2 for > the performance.
 
bigdogchris said:
If your just gaming, cancel the quad and get a faster core 2 for > the performance.
Click to expand...

Hi. Stop coming in to threads to post the same "anti quad core" drivel over and over. I'm tired of typing out the arguments that consistently prove you wrong. If you continue I guess I'll set up something like Danny Bui's motherboard info cut-and-paste or the memory speed to FSB speed cut-and-paste, only it will be the "bigdogchris is wrong and here is an exhaustive list of reasons why" cut-and-paste. Might even put a link to it in my sig, since you seem happy to spread the FUD that way as well.

Don't waste your time, don't waste mine.
 
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