New System, critique?

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(db) Lamp

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Jan 8, 2007
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My brother and I are looking to put together a compact system. Not quite a shuttle, but steering away from full tower. Heres what we've got so far; everything is flexible and we're hoping for some suggestions.

Case:
Cooler Master Wave Master
-Mid tower, but pretty large. Such a nice case I am willing to sacrifice space for quality, love that sliding motherboard tray

Monitor:
ViewSonic VP920b 19"

PSU:
Antec SmartPower 2 500W

Optical Drive:
Asus Burner

Motherboard:
Abit AW9D

CPU:
Intel E6400

Video Card:
EVGA 7950GT 512MB

RAM:
2GB OCZ Platinum

Hard Drive:
WD SE16 320GB

This is geared toward all purpose computer use. I'm in a multimedia program so he will be using it for photoshop/illustrator - as well as some light gaming

I'm pretty happy with the selections. I welcome any advice and nothing is set in stone
 
Better psu options exist. Such as the Enhance ENS-5150GH from www.ewiz.com. Excellent psu for the price.
 
Your motherboard /processor text is messed up. Showing the E6400 as the link, but it has some html code in it so it won't load.

As far as the video card goes, why not get a 8800? I think theres a version thats just about $300.
 
I wouldn't pay $70 for the SP2.0 500W, and I have two of them (I got them for much, much cheaper). Go with the Enhance that Bbq recommended instead, or the Corsair 520W.
$64 - Enhance ENP-5150G 500W PSU
$100 - Corsair CMPSU-520HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 520W

That case may be rather loud, since it uses 80mm fans. I'd stick to a case with 120mm fans instead.
$30 - Cooler Master RC-534-KWN1 Black Centurion Steel Mid Tower ATX Case w/ Side Window
$100 - Lian-Li PC-7B plus II Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower
$140 - Lian LI PC-60BPLUSII Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower w/Slideout mobo tray

Since you're going with the E6400, you'd be better off with a P965 Express chipset based board. Consider the DS3 pr P5B-E. Much better choices over that Abit, especially since you don't seem to going the Crossfire route.
$123 - Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express
$151 - Asus P5B-E Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express

Go for a SATA DVD Burner if you can. The egg has the Samsung one in stock. Though the Lite-On models are cheaper, they've been out of stock for a while.
$42 - Samsung 18X DVD±R w/LightScribe Black SATA SH-S183L

I'd go for the G.Skill 2GBNQ sticks over those OCZs. If you want lower latency, the Patriot LLK eXtreme Performance sticks are also a better choice.
$165 - G.Skill 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2-800 F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ
$240 - Patriot eXtreme Performance 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2-800 PDC22G6400LLK ($50MIR)
 
Just a suggestion, but you might want to check out the PC Power and Cooling website. They have some refurb Turbo-Cool 510s for under 150 bills. Same 5-year warranty, by the way. Turbo-cools are generally worth the extra money, even if you buy 'em retail.

I'd rather have a refurb anymore. At least you know a human being has checked the thing out.
 
Sorry for the late reply! I have taken everyones reccomendations into consideration, heres how she looks at the moment

Case:
Lian-Li PC-7B Plus II
-I was wrestling with this one or the Cooler Master, but NCIX didn't have it (Canadian) Looks like the decision is made for me

Power Supply:
Corsair HX520

-520W will be enough to hold A 8800 and Core2Duo?

Motherboard:
ASUS P5B-E

Processor:
Inter E6400

RAM:
OCZ Gold 2GB

Video Card:
EVGA 8800 GTS 320MB

Hard Drive:
Confused between SATA and SATA II. According to the comparison at cdrinfo.com, SATA II is obviously better, but can I use SATA II drive with normal SATA cables, and will it work with my motherboard?
-I am looking at the 500GB Barracuda

Optical:
Once again a little confused. A DVD Drive can read DVDs and CDs. A DVD Writer can read and burn both DVDs and CDs? Why would anybody get a Drive and not a Writer?
-I've only ever experienced SATA through hard drives, this writer will connect in the same fashion?

As far as mice, keyboard, and monitor go, thats going to be up to him to decide

Thanks for the help everyone!
 
At the moment, hard drives can't even saturate the bandwidth available with SATA I so SATA II doesn't really hold any advantages- as far as i'm aware. I mean, Raptors are still on SATA I and they're some of the fastest hard drives available.
 
(db) Lamp said:
-520W will be enough to hold A 8800 and Core2Duo?

can I use SATA II drive with normal SATA cables, and will it work with my motherboard?

Why would anybody get a Drive and not a Writer?
-I've only ever experienced SATA through hard drives, this writer will connect in the same fashion?
Click to expand...

The Corsair 520W will DEFINATELY be enough. BTW, Core2Duos are low power, lol. Its not just 520W... its being able to use as much of that 520W as possible; meaning, the PSU has to provide quality power efficiently, and the HX520 does a great job of that. You could even run two 8800GTS' off of it, in SLI.

There are no "sata-II" cables. All sata cables will work with both interfaces (SATA150/SATA300). Maybe the latch lock was introduced as part of the design, but it certainly doesnt prevent the use of either interface on either cable (with or without the latch lock).

If you only need a reader, why buy a writer? Don't spend money on something you don't need. Yes, all sata drives connect the same way. SATA was developed as a standard, as are most things in the industry.
 
That case looks nice - the exterior looks like a carbon copy of my Tsunami (except I don't have the sliding motherboard tray)
 
That's because the Wavemaster came first and then Thermaltake borrowed a few ideas.

It's the truth.
 
I'd ideally like to shave a couple hundred bucks off the price. I'm thinking of downgrading video card / RAM

Any suggestions for alternatives to the EVGA 8800GTS 320MB and 2 GB OCZ Gold

I also thought of maybe toning down the E6400

Downgrading these immediately jumped out at me, but i'm open to any suggestions

Thanks!
 
(db) Lamp said:
I'd ideally like to shave a couple hundred bucks off the price. I'm thinking of downgrading video card / RAM

Any suggestions for alternatives to the EVGA 8800GTS 320MB and 2 GB OCZ Gold

I also thought of maybe toning down the E6400

Downgrading these immediately jumped out at me, but i'm open to any suggestions

Thanks!
Click to expand...
If your going to use it for games, then you definately dont want to go with less then 2gb's.
Maybe a NVIDIA 79xx or ATI 1950 would be cheaper?
 
^^ I disagree with above drop a gig and get the 8800GTS also I did a build with this http://search.ncix.com/displayproductdetail.php?sku=666663214&vpn=ECA-3052-B&manufacture=ENERMAX case for a friend and we absolutly loved it! It was dead quite really couldn't hear the fans running and was well built plus its a great price! For a MB about the only price drop you can get and still have a nice board is http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=19870&vpn=GA-965P-S3&manufacture=Gigabyte . Ram there are better prices out there you just gotta look for them good luck and I wouldn't skimp on the video card.

Here's another look at the case
http://www.xoxide.com/enermax-chakra-case-blackblack.html
 
The case and PSU are the things you can shave off that won't affect performance. Dropping to the Centurion 534 for $30 saves you about $60, then dropping from the Corsair 520W to the Enhance 5150GH 500W would save you another $20. Though, I'm confused... at first you linked to newegg, now you're linking to ncix.com... are you in canada?
 
Yeah i'm in Canada

If im just browsing for parts I use Newegg, I think they've got the best system? When I find what i'm looking for I search for specifics from Canadian vendors

Definitely need 2GB or RAM. He will be doing a fair bit of video/image editing. He isnt really a gamer, so I think my best bet would be so scale down the video card and PSU if im not going with the 8800

Going with the Enermax seems like a good plan; when it says 1 x 120/90/80mm Optional Front / Rear fans, are they included ?
 
No they aren't and if he isn't going to going to game/ overclock he won't need them with that large 250 pushing air. We bought two Tri-Cool's to keep things cool and adjustable just like the larger one.
 
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