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Fire Bad...New Build Good!

G

givers

n00b
Joined
Nov 16, 2006
Messages
4
Hello everyone! I've been a lurker around here for a long time, and ive enjoyed everyone's input on anything [H]ard.

Recently a fire in my home destroyed many things, and after "many" months now I have finally recieved a check from my insurance company. They have allocated me around $1800 to replace my computer. If you fine folk would be so gracious I would love to hear your thoughts :) .

So far I have considered the following setup:

Processor - E6600 - $311

Motherboard - evga 680i - $259

Memory - G.Skill HZ 800 - $305

Video - evga 8800gts - $469

Case - Lian li PC7B+ - $79

PSU - Corsair 620 - $179

Heatsink - Scythe Ninja+ - $39

Sound - X-fi XtremeMusic - $92

Which totals to around $1733, minus shipping of course. Adding in some peripherals (keyboard, mic, etc) it probably nears $1800. I know this would be a nice setup, but perhaps you might help me shave a few bucks off here and there.

I have a few parts i can keep. A Seagate 7200.10 320g hard disk drive and an NEC 3550 dvd burner. Is a raptor a good investment here, or perhaps another 320 gig for raid 0? Data safety is not much of a concern as i back up important files regularly.

I definately want to keep in the x-fi since i do some audio editing and recording in addition to gaming. My first thoughts would be to drop the 6600 down to a 6400 and tag a DS3 maybe to go along with it. Does this seem like a good idea? The 680i is a nice MB, but i have no plans for further use of SLI. Any other motherboard recommendations? The p5w deluxe looks interesting as well, not terribly much cheaper however.

The Ram is currently out of stock at the egg. Any other suggestions maybe? or should i wait for availibility on the G.Skill?

Just any opinions on the build or compatibility issues would be great. I've put a fair amount of research into this already, but hearing others thoughts would be nice. I probably wont be upgrading for a fair amount of time after this (hence the 8800). Please share your feelings and thanks for looking.
:D


Oh, the monitor im using is a Viewsonic vx922, however possibly upgrading this soon.
(And yes, i do plan to OC :) )
 
What do you do with your PC? Gaming, audio editing/recording, what else? If that's it, you'd be set with an OCed E6300.

Since SLI isn't in your future, go with a cheaper board like the Gigabyte GA-965P-S3 or Biostar TForce 965PT unless you need Firewire support.

Is the $1800 available only for a PC purchase, meaning you don't get to keep the remainder?

http://anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2871
 
Everything looks pretty nice. About the PSU I know corsair makes good ram but don't know about PSU just my 2 cents
 
@ 454Casull,

Yes, mainly im using it for gaming and the audio. Also for work, but most of that is done in excel or web browsers. Not really doing a lot of hardcore video encoding or anything. Dabbling in everything, but not enough to warrant something extravagant.

They did give me a fair amount of money for all my other gear as well, not just my computer. Yes i need to send in receits for verification, however its possible i could get some of the money back if i come in under. Personally I would rather come fairly close, i.e. around 1500-1600 just in case they tried to stiff me on that.

@ rcf1987,

I've read several reviews on the Corsair HX and its all been positive from what I have seen. The have really strong 12V rails for their power grade and very solid power compared to most other modular supplies. They should be based on the Seasonic model. Of course I have no personal experience with this unit.

Something like a OCZ GameXtream 700 for $144 more along the lines of what you are thinking? Any other suggestions?

IThe lower end model -520 HX- is also a possibility. Would 520w really be enough? Especially with the graphics card and OCing? The price at $129 is certainly better. Zipzoom seems to have all these power supplies at around $10 less w/ free shipping so that helps.
 
givers said:
@ 454Casull,

Yes, mainly im using it for gaming and the audio. Also for work, but most of that is done in excel or web browsers. Not really doing a lot of hardcore video encoding or anything. Dabbling in everything, but not enough to warrant something extravagant.

They did give me a fair amount of money for all my other gear as well, not just my computer. Yes i need to send in receits for verification, however its possible i could get some of the money back if i come in under. Personally I would rather come fairly close, i.e. around 1500-1600 just in case they tried to stiff me on that.

@ rcf1987,

I've read several reviews on the Corsair HX and its all been positive from what I have seen. The have really strong 12V rails for their power grade and very solid power compared to most other modular supplies. They should be based on the Seasonic model. Of course I have no personal experience with this unit.

Something like a OCZ GameXtream 700 for $144 more along the lines of what you are thinking? Any other suggestions?

IThe lower end model -520 HX- is also a possibility. Would 520w really be enough? Especially with the graphics card and OCing? The price at $129 is certainly better. Zipzoom seems to have all these power supplies at around $10 less w/ free shipping so that helps.
Click to expand...

definitely gat as much power as you can afford. the 8800 is guna be a huge power draw, and if you plan to oc the proc on top of that, you'll need some hardcore wattage. also, dropping the e6600 to an e6400 is worth considering, as ive heard its easier to run those at a 1:1 bus ratio with the ram than an e6600. also, DEFINITELY keep the 680i. ive heard nothing but good things about its ocing capability, and the new ntune system sounds like a beast. plus, u'll probably change your tune about sli once you some extra $$$ ;).
 
If you want to save some money on the mobo since you wont be going SLI, you could either wait for nForce650Ultra boards (should be under $150) or get one of these (these boards overclock well):

$100 - Foxconn P9657AA-8KS2H Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express (review)
$116 - Gigabyte GA-965P-S3 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express
$145 - Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express
$151 - Asus P5B-E Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express
$180 - Asus P5B Deluxe Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express (review)

And I'd save money on the ram and go for this... it can overclock well, too (not as good as the HZ sticks, though):

$210 - G.Skill 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2-800 F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ

The Corsair is a great PSU... check out 454Casull's link in his sig... its a pretty good guide for psu choosing, and should give you a better idea of how much power you need.
 
Fuck... this is the second time I lost this post (so I'm not linking anything from newegg). Anyway,

C2D E6300 - $180
Scythe Ninja Plus, open box - $40
GA-965P-S3 - $116
G.SKILL 2x1GB DDR2-800 1.8V - $210
eVGA 8800GTS - $470
X-Fi XtremeMusic - $93
WD Raptor 36GB WD360ADFD - $105
Microsoft Curve 2000 Black Keyboard - $13
Logitech G7 - $62
Newegg subtotal - ~$1290
Shipping from newegg.com - $17-20 for UPS 3 Day

Enhance ENS-0560G - $109 + ~$10 shipping

If the PC-7B is what you like, go for that. With the rest of the money, go for a new monitor, headphones+amp, new speakers, whatever. Ideally, you should spend more money on the stuff that lasts the longest.
 
Thanks for the responses, im reviewing everything again and ill post an update soon. :) .
 
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