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First build since 2003

S

slingshot

Weaksauce
Joined
May 7, 2006
Messages
111
Hi all,

Well the time has finally come for me to build a new PC. The following is what I have in mind:

Motherboard: Abit IP35-Pro (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813127030)

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115028&Tpk=e6850)

CPU Fan & Heatsink: Tuniq T-120-LFB 120mm (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835154002)

Case: Cooler Master Stacker 830 Evolution (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119103)

Video Card: EVGA GeForce 8800GTX 768-P2-N831-AR (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130072)

RAM: Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146565)

Power Supply: PC Power and Cooling Silencer 750W Quad (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703009)

Hard Drive: I have a Seagate 120GB 7200rpm IDE and a Seagate 500GB 7200rpm IDE. I'm looking to get a 500GB 7200rpm SATA drive.

CD/DVD Burner: LITE-ON LH-20A1L-06 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...=&Subcategory=5&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc=)

Monitor: LG Flatron L246WP (will buy from Best Buy)

Speakers: Logitech Z-2300 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16836121122)

Sound Card: Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Professional Series (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102005)


This system is mainly for gaming, photoshop, programming, and some video/audio editing. I prob won't be overclocking very much. The budget is $2000 or less and I'll be buying the components from the US.

I'm open to suggestions on all components except on the cpu brand, graphic card series, and the monitor.

Thanks so much in advance!!

Nico
 
Unless you really want all the stuff the IP35 Pro gives you and will actually make use of it there are less expensive P35 based boards that will OC just as well for less.

The CM Stacker is insanely expensive for what it is -- I'd recommend a Silverstone, LianLi, or even a P180/182 over it. Sure, it's big, but the fact is you don't need all that space for this sort of system. No reason to spend $100 more on a case than necessary when there are plenty of less expensive options with good thermal properties. That $100 would be much better spent giving you another 2GB of RAM.

I'd drop the 120GB IDE drive, and ideally use the 500GB drive in an external enclosure for backup. Not having to deal with IDE cables is nice, and pretty much all modern motherboards have only one IDE channel. It's being phased out, and with good reason. As for your 500GB 7200RPM SATA drive, a Seagate 7200.10 is what you're after at around $100.

I wouldn't buy a sound card right off -- the Realtek HD audio on board many modern motherboards is not bad at all. You can always buy a card later if you decide it's necessary. I actually sold my X-Fi because the onboard sound was all but indistinguishable from it, and I have a wide variety of fairly high end speakers to test with.

The PC Power and Cooling Silencer 750 Quad is a nice supply, but there's no reason to get it with this build. You can save $50-100 by going with a Corsair 620HX or even a 520HX, either of which will handle all your hardware without issue. Similarly rated Silverstone units would also be an option. Look elsewhere to buy your PSU, as Newegg's prices can be high. The 750 Quad was on sale for $160 direct from PC Power and Cooling for a while, for example. Might still be.

As you're working with Photoshop and doing some A/V work (which likely includes encoding) I'd recommend a G0 stepping Q6600 over the E6850. More cores are a bigger help than higher speeds in these applications. Price should be similar to the E6850, maybe a few dollars more..
 
silent-circuit said:
Unless you really want all the stuff the IP35 Pro gives you and will actually make use of it there are less expensive P35 based boards that will OC just as well for less.

The CM Stacker is insanely expensive for what it is -- I'd recommend a Silverstone, LianLi, or even a P180/182 over it. Sure, it's big, but the fact is you don't need all that space for this sort of system. No reason to spend $100 more on a case than necessary when there are plenty of less expensive options with good thermal properties. That $100 would be much better spent giving you another 2GB of RAM.

I'd drop the 120GB IDE drive, and ideally use the 500GB drive in an external enclosure for backup. Not having to deal with IDE cables is nice, and pretty much all modern motherboards have only one IDE channel. It's being phased out, and with good reason. As for your 500GB 7200RPM SATA drive, a Seagate 7200.10 is what you're after at around $100.

I wouldn't buy a sound card right off -- the Realtek HD audio on board many modern motherboards is not bad at all. You can always buy a card later if you decide it's necessary. I actually sold my X-Fi because the onboard sound was all but indistinguishable from it, and I have a wide variety of fairly high end speakers to test with.

The PC Power and Cooling Silencer 750 Quad is a nice supply, but there's no reason to get it with this build. You can save $50-100 by going with a Corsair 620HX or even a 520HX, either of which will handle all your hardware without issue. Similarly rated Silverstone units would also be an option. Look elsewhere to buy your PSU, as Newegg's prices can be high. The 750 Quad was on sale for $160 direct from PC Power and Cooling for a while, for example. Might still be.

As you're working with Photoshop and doing some A/V work (which likely includes encoding) I'd recommend a G0 stepping Q6600 over the E6850. More cores are a bigger help than higher speeds in these applications. Price should be similar to the E6850, maybe a few dollars more..
Click to expand...

I agree, 2gb's more ram and using the corsair hx620. I use the built in sound which most have 5.1 or better. Yeah, drop the SLOW 120gb ide drive.
 
Thanks for your replies!

I was thinking about getting 4 gigs of RAM too.. but since I'll be running XP Pro 32bit and really don't want to upgrade to Vista (I got my XP really cheap), would all 4 gigs show up in Windows?

Thanks again!

Nico
 
No, they wouldn't. You'd get access to around 3.1GB of the 4GB.

32Bit OSes can only address a grand total of 4GB of physical memory. This includes video memory, memory dedicated to soundcards, RAM, etc.

The 8800 GTX uses a little more than 768MB of that 4GB. You'd also lose some to the motherboard, some to onboard sound, etc... leaving you with somewhere between 3.1 and 3.2GB of the RAM actually usable.
 
Well, ram is cheap anyhow, so if and when you upgrade to Vista, you'll have all 4GB ready to use. I agree with silent-circuit's other suggestions.
 
I agree with Silent Circuit on most points, but especially about the Stacker. Cases are subjective, but I've always found the 830 series to be very cheaply made for it's price. If you like Stacker cases, consider the Cosmos instead. Otherwise look at a high-end Lian Li or Silverstone TJ09/10.

If you're sticking with XP-32 and are any sort of an audiophile, you may appreciate having an X-Fi. (Vista X-Fi drivers, on the other hand, are still terrible.) Many people can't tell the difference between onboard sound vs. the discrete card, while other's still swear by a Sound Blaster. Note that the speaker make the most difference, and the Realtek on-board solution can power any sized setup. Also note that historically, Realtek's EAX support has been terrible. This will be more of concern with XP (as it supports DirectSound EAX while Vista does not) assuming it's still true

Note that with the exception of Creative, Vista and it's drivers have matured greatly... you shouldn't have any issues running it. When you do upgrade to Vista, be sure to get the 64-bit edition to see 4 gigs of RAM (assuming you buy 4 gigs.)

Lastly, I strongly emphasize Silent Circuit's suggestion to get a G0 Q6600. It will perform much better than the 6850 with photoshop, a/v editing, and with software development.

Mark.
 
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