Critique My High End Computer

S

steven1110

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 12, 2004
Messages
271
Build budget is $2000 and will be a college setup mostly for gaming but for other apps also. If there's anything missing or a component that you don't think is best for the job don't be afraid to post it please. Actually I just realized that the speakers were out of stock so I'll probably be finding another set for around $50 if anybody wants to recommend a 2.1 set.

Thanks

AM2 4000+ 2mb cache @ 2.0ghz

Xiox Case

OCZ Powerstream 520W

eVGA 7900gtx not overclocked

Logitech MX518 Mouse

WD 320gb 16mb buffer sata II

Acer AL2051W

Sony DW-Q120A DVD drive

Logitech X-230 Speakers

MSI K9N Platinum 570 Ultra

Keyboard
 
Do you have memory?

I'd pay a bit more for a better case. The P180 and Sonata II are decent.

I noticed most of your links are to ZipZoomFly. I didn't bother to check the prices, but often you can save money by shopping around. It might be worth it to check other retailers too.
 
B. W. said:
Do you have memory?

I'd pay a bit more for a better case. The P180 and Sonata II are decent.

I noticed most of your links are to ZipZoomFly. I didn't bother to check the prices, but often you can save money by shopping around. It might be worth it to check other retailers too.
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QFT for most of this. I'd like to throw in the Coolermaster Centurion 5 as another nice case option.
 
sorry forgot since it's coming from newegg.

I believe I chose, OCZ perfomance ddr800 with 4-4-4-12 stock timings.

I'll take into consideration other cases also.

I did also check around and most of it is cheapest at zzf due to free shipping. I'll double check when it comes time to buy everything.
 
Get at least an external USB drive to backup your main system drive. Otherwise, all of your data will be at risk.
 
I'd reccommend the Antec P180 as I just ordered one last night to rebuild my rig into. Too beautiful and newegg has it for $124.99 with free 3-day shipping so you've got nothing to lose.

I'd also recommend the external hard drive to backup things to as I have a 160GB drive to backup my Raptor Raid in case anything goes wrong.

With raid 0 one would be an idiot to NOT backup the data, it's split in half for god's sakes!

Ninja edit: One other thing, I'd check out Microsoft's line of ergonomic keyboards as my gf just bought one and it is dreamy. Plus, when you think about how often you use your mouse and keyboard, it's well worth it to splurge a bit for the nice ones.

I personally have the Saitek Eclipse and ordered an SK-Edition Razer Copperhead (blue) to match it :)

SK Copperhead...beautiful
sk-low-copperhead_pfad_1.jpg
 
oC|-TiTaN said:
I'd reccommend the Antec P180 as I just ordered one last night to rebuild my rig into. Too beautiful and newegg has it for $124.99 with free 3-day shipping so you've got nothing to lose.

I'd also recommend the external hard drive to backup things to as I have a 160GB drive to backup my Raptor Raid in case anything goes wrong.

With raid 0 one would be an idiot to NOT backup the data, it's split in half for god's sakes!

Ninja edit: One other thing, I'd check out Microsoft's line of ergonomic keyboards as my gf just bought one and it is dreamy. Plus, when you think about how often you use your mouse and keyboard, it's well worth it to splurge a bit for the nice ones.

I personally have the Saitek Eclipse and ordered an SK-Edition Razer Copperhead (blue) to match it :)
Click to expand...


Taken into consideration
 
steven1110 said:
Taken into consideration
Click to expand...
Check out second edit to above post, isn't that a beautiful mouse :) Way too expensive though, good thing I have a great paying do nothing internship this summer :p
 
$90 :eek: I know, but it's so purty lol.

One other thing is I noticed you are looking at the Logitech x-230 speakers. Two notes: one, they appear to be sold out on zzf now and two, if you are stuck on 2.1 speakers I'd recommend you to look into the Logitech Z-2300. They have a whopping 200W (2x40w satellites + 120w sub) compared to the puny 32W TOTAL of the speakers you picked out.

At ZZF, they are on sale right now for $102.99 and can be found for as little as $68.79 from Provantage.

They are currently just about the highest rated 2.1 speakers around, and if this is going to be a high-end rig playing high-end games, you want, no, NEED the sound these babies will put out.
 
oC|-TiTaN said:
$90 :eek: I know, but it's so purty lol.

One other thing is I noticed you are looking at the Logitech x-230 speakers. Two notes: one, they appear to be sold out on zzf now and two, if you are stuck on 2.1 speakers I'd recommend you to look into the Logitech Z-2300. They have a whopping 200W (2x40w satellites + 120w sub) compared to the puny 32W TOTAL of the speakers you picked out.

At ZZF, they are on sale right now for $102.99 and can be found for as little as $68.79 from Provantage.

They are currently just about the highest rated 2.1 speakers around, and if this is going to be a high-end rig playing high-end games, you want, no, NEED the sound these babies will put out.
Click to expand...

$69 is a little more than I was wanting to spend but it just might be worth it. Thanks
 
When are you going to buy? My recommendation for the CPU/mobo will change, but here's my suggestion for the rest:

OCZ Gold 2x1GB DDR2-800 5-5-5-10 - $202, $30 MIR, $5 shipping
Sapphire X1900XT 512MB - $390, $30 MIR, $7 shipping
Arctic Cooling Accelero X2 - $27 + ~$7 shipping
Samsung Spinpoint P SP2504C 250GB SATA - $80, free shipping
Pioneer DVR-111D - $40, free shipping
Seasonic S12-430 - $64 + ~$7 shipping
Viewsonic VX2025WM 20" 8-bit - $343, free shipping
Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 - $44, free shipping
Logitech MX518 - $39, free shipping

A little discourse on my suggestions:

  • Memory - is 4-4-4-12 timings (or better) worth the ~$100 to you?
  • Video card - the X1900XT performs about the same as the 7900GTX if you consider all games, and significantly better in Oblivion
  • Accelero X2 - the stock cooler is loud
  • Hard drive - it's the quietest 3.5" drive currently available
  • DVD drive - it performed well in CDFreaks' review
  • PSU - more than sufficient power, quietest PSU available, basically the most reliable you can get under $100 (yes, better than the Powerstream) except for a louder Zippy
  • Monitor - it doesn't have the dumb glossy coating, IIRC. Also, it's quite popular and well-reviewed while the Acer apparently is not (can't find any)

All that's left is the case and speakers. If you've got your heart set on the XION (not my taste, but decent-looking nonetheless), go for that, otherwise you've got great cases like the Ever Case ECE4252/E4252 and the Antec SLK3000B that happen to be extremely cheap (~$50 shipped), or higher quality cases like the Lian-Li PC-7B, or the Antec P150/P180, etc.

As for the speakers... I will ask you this: given that you have a budget of $2000, why are you allocating $50 to your speakers? Do you not realize that out of all your parts, your speakers will last you the longest (excepting failure)? If so, then why not spend money on something that doesn't really depreciate, unlike the other stuff (besides the monitor - I also advocate spending more on the monitor but you've already got it covered). Same goes for kb/mouse.

$35 for 2 speakers and a "sub" - certainly even you must realize that the quality - both of workmanship/parts and of sound reproduction - must not good. Perhaps you don't care at all for music. In that case, any 2.0 setup is acceptable. However, if you enjoy listening to music AT ALL, do yourself a favor and get a nice setup, be it speakers or headphones.

To that end, these will do you well as far as 2.0 speakers go (these have sufficient bass):

Swan M200
KRK RP-6
 
Your board and speakers are full of whackness! Other than that, your system rocks!
 
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