E6600 w/ EVGA 680i build help

[ubooze]

I am trying to figure out a decent PC for not too much. This is going to be my first build, so hopefully it'll go smoothly.

I would LIKE to spend less then $3,000 on the grand total, including tax and shipping.

The system will be used for Solidworks right away, Adobe CS, watching movies, surfing, gaming (finally), and a LOT of quality music listening. Eventually I would hope to do some video editing and maybe music. Not sure about that.

So I thought I may throw by you guys the list of parts, specifying which parts I would def want to keep and why. I hope my reasoning for everything makes sense. Hopefully it'll include everything I need to build and it'll all work and fit.

The List:

Monitor: Dell 2407FPW with 5yr. limited warranty - $794.75 shipped
- Want for sure.
- Nice, big, spacious, and expensive. Needs to replace the Viewsonic PF790 that I have right now.
- Gunna probably keep it for a while so got the warranty too. I dunno if it'll be worth it.

Case: Lian-Li PC-V2000B Plus II - $259.99 plus shipping
- Keeper.
- Big, room for future work and mods (watercooling or maybe phasechange), looks good, all aluminum and black.
- Should be able to fit everything very nicely.

MOBO and CPU: EVGA 122-CK-NF68-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i & Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 combo - $562 plus shipping
- I want the EVGA board.
- It seems to have the reputation on here. Quad enabled, SLI a possibility, all the connections I could need, and nice set of features.
- E6600 looks like can be squeezed for some decent speed at a reasonable price. I hope to move to Quad chip once they become a bit cheaper and more available. Not hell bent on keeping. Gunna upgrade when the time comes.

Cooling: Thermalright HR-01-775 plus Scythe S-Flex SFF21F 120mm Fan - $57plus shipping
- Excellent reviews. Seems like an awesome combo. Keeps it cool and quiet and it ought to be ready to rock right away.

Sound: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite 7.1 - $259 plus shipping
- Plan on keeping.
- I am a little bit of an audiophile. Senn phones to power. Like the external box and volume knob.
- Ready for future audio work.
- MIDI, remote, bunch of connections.

Video: EVGA 320-P2-N815-AR GeForce 8800GTS 320MB - $304 plus shipping
- Not sure about this one. I sort of like what I hear about this card and the 8800s. I just sort of want it to be compatible with the future games and Vista.
- I am not going all out on the card to keep initial costs down. Wait till the 8800s go down in price and the next stuff pops up. Maybe SLI in the future. Upgrade when the time comes.
- Looking for opinions.

PSU: Thermaltake W0106RU 700w - $169 plus shipping
- I dunno about this choice.
- It seems to have the power for now and future. Might SLI the system in the next few years. People seem to like theirs.
- I like the clean modular cables.

HDD: 2 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 3200GB SATA 3.0Gb/s - $179 plus shipping
- I like the set-up. Gunna want to RAID it somehow. Need reliability.
- Lots of memory for rather cheap. Good reviews. Seems like quality.
- Have external USB enclosure with 250GB Maxtor that needs to be saved and format for additional space. Note SATA though. :-(

Memory: Patriot eXtreme Performance (2 x 1GB) DDR2 SDRAM 800 (PC2 6400) Dual CHannel Kit - $214 plus shipping
- Open to suggestions.
- Seems like a good value. Good reviews and seems like it has potential for OC. May upgrade some day.

Drives: Lite-On SHC-52S7K-05 Combo Drive Black SATA - $24 plus shipping
- Cheap, black, SATA, and it'll be nice to have an extra drive. Good opinions on it.

Drive 2: Samsung SH-S183L Black SATA and LightScribe Technology - $41 plus shipping
- Seems fast. Rather cheap. SATA and black. Good reviews.
- Nice way to archive photos and music. Decent speeds. It was this or some Lite-On which had bad reviews.
- Open to suggestions. I would like a high quality drive for burning.

OS: Windows XP Pro SP2b w/ Vista coupon - $139 plus shipping
- Meh. Holding out on Vista at the moment.

Keyboard: Logitech G15 - $71 plus shipping
- I already have a somewhat decent wireless Microsoft curvy board. I figure I could do without.
- Like the extra buttons and LCD.
- Not quite sure on this one.

Mouse: Logitech MX Revolution - $89 plus shipping
- I have a decent wireless Logitech mouse.
- This things looks tight. But I dunno if I really need it. I figure I could do without it for now.

Grand Total: $3227 shipped straight to my house in Illinois with the various instant rebates
Mail-in Rebate: $75 off above


I figure that covers everything. I think that ought to give some quality performance, but it still is a bit pricey ordering from Dell, Newegg, and Xoxide. But I don't want like 10 different places to order form. May have to look for some things on places other then Newegg like ZipZoomFly. I would LOVE to go below that $3000 mark. Wouldn't mind some sort of scanner either, but it isn't that big a deal since I have a digital camera. Might look into it in the future.

Hopefully it'll all work properly. Can anyone see any significant problems with this rig? Are there any glaring issues? I would like to get on this ASAP so that I can work on my Solidworks projects at home.

Looking for any ideas, tips, suggestions, or general input.

 

[Markyip1]

I just built a similar system for a relatively similar price (although parts of mine were taken from an older PC.) My only recommendation is to up the video card. With the resolution of the 2407 (a wonderful monitor--I just got one too,) you ought to consider a top of the line GTX card. Going top of the line will allow you to enjoy current and future games at native resolution with all sliders maxed out, plus AA and AF. You might even consider two GTX cards for extra oomph, but that may be out of budget.

Here was my system, for $2880... (Monitor not included)

- Silverstone TJ-09 Case
- EVGA 680i Motherboard
- Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Processor
- Tuniq Tower 120 Cooler
- Silverstone Zeus 850 Watt PSU
- 2x EVGA 8800 GTX (768 Meg) Video cards
- 2x 2x1 G.SKILL PC-6400 (800 Mhz) RAM (cas 5-5-5-15)
- 2x 500 Gig Western Digital Cavier SE-16 HDs
- 1x Lite-On DVD Burner (dual layer + litescribe)

Plus from my old system
- Mouse / Keyboard / Speakers
- Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Edition
- 2x 250 Gig SATA Drives (non-raided)
- 1 External 250 Gig USB 2 / 1 External 300 Gig USB 2
- Windows Vista Ultimate

Plus the Dell 2407, for $670 tax plus shipping

Total about $3500...

I don't include the parts from my old system in the price, which allows me to add the second graphics card. I feel for a $3k machine, it's an appropriate component, and it will be useful for the 2407 Widescreen. While most would consider 2 GTX SLIs a must great gaming at 30 inches, you probably can get by with a single card for the 24 inch... I would just really reconsider the 320 Meg GTS.

Good luck!

Mark.

 

[vw1972bug]

Monitor: Dell 2407FPW with 5yr. limited warranty - $794.75 shipped

If I were you I would look for a comparable monitor instead of blasting $800 on the Dell. Have you looked at Samsung's? I would also drop the extended warranty.

Case: Lian-Li PC-V2000B Plus II - $259.99 plus shipping

I like the COOLER MASTER Stacker 830 RC-830-SSN2-GP Silver for the same price. At the same time though you can save a huge chunk of change by finding a less luxurious case.

MOBO and CPU: EVGA 122-CK-NF68-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i & Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 combo - $562 plus shipping

This is the same board I'm looking at, seems like a great MB. If you wait till April 22nd you'll save $100 on the E6600 chip.

Sound: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite 7.1 - $259 plus shipping

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Professional Series if you want to pocket another $100

Video: EVGA 320-P2-N815-AR GeForce 8800GTS 320MB - $304 plus shipping

Go with the 640

PSU: Thermaltake W0106RU 700w - $169 plus shipping

Antec True Power Trio TP3-650 650W Power Supply with Three 12V Rails 50w less and no modular cables...but almost another $100 saved

HDD: 2 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 3200GB SATA 3.0Gb/s - $179 plus shipping
- I like the set-up. Gunna want to RAID it somehow. Need reliability.
- Lots of memory for rather cheap. Good reviews. Seems like quality.
- Have external USB enclosure with 250GB Maxtor that needs to be saved and format for additional space. Note SATA though. :-(

Ok...I like the Raptor X's 10k RPM but thats me

Memory: Patriot eXtreme Performance (2 x 1GB) DDR2 SDRAM 800 (PC2 6400) Dual CHannel Kit - $214 plus shipping

Ok

Drives: Lite-On SHC-52S7K-05 Combo Drive Black SATA - $24 plus shipping

Same as my choice

Drive 2: Samsung SH-S183L Black SATA and LightScribe Technology - $41 plus shipping

Just get one quality drive

Keyboard: Logitech G15 - $71 plus shipping

Keep your keyboard and save another $71

Mouse: Logitech MX Revolution - $89 plus shipping

You dont need this....almost another $100 saved. Is the old mouse broke?

These are some good ways to save $$$

 

[jmackay]

GPU: I'd say get the 640mb card. It is more future proof, and if you do plan on SLI in the future, you won't be limited by the 320 on both cards.

Memory: I got the buffalo for ~$200, its Micron and supposedly really great (my proc gets here on Monday)

Mobo/CPU: I just go the same bundle from newegg, heard lots of excellent reviews for both.

Cooler: Check out the Ultra-120, its by the same company and what I picked up. Keep that fan though its a great one - Review: http://www.anandtech.com/casecooling/showdoc.aspx?i=2941 (Extreme version: http://www.anandtech.com/casecooling/showdoc.aspx?i=2943)