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Thoughts on a build

D

DarkStorm524

n00b
Joined
Mar 26, 2008
Messages
17
My current PC is currently giving me problems and putting any money into it at this point would be a total waste. I've had it for a very long time and it's been a good PC but it's rather out dated. So rather then putting a band aid on something that's going to die soon enough anyway, I've decided to put together what I feel is a "solid" machine. Not top of line but hopefully not bottom of the ladder.

The people on this forum are some of the smartest around so I'd like to see what you guys think of the following:

Processer: Q6600 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_mmc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel-_-Content-_-text-_-

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_mmc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel-_-Content-_-text-_-

Hard drive: Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_mmc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel-_-Content-_-text-_-

RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_mmc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel-_-Content-_-text-_-

Video card: EVGA 896-P3-1260-AR GeForce GTX 260 896MB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_mmc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel-_-Content-_-text-_-

Power supply: OCZ OCZ700MXSP 700W ATX12V http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_mmc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel-_-Content-_-text-_-


I'll be using my current case along with my current DVD/CD drives. Just looking for comments about the build and to see if something could be better for less to little extra money.
 
The Q6600 is a good n' fast, proven overclockable processor and all but I'd personally go for a newer 45nm variant instead of the older 65nm one
 
If the OP answers the required questions and provides us with a budget, we can find better solutions.
 
PC_User said:
Everything looks good except the power supply.

Go for the Corsair 650TX or 750TX (if you can stretch your budget a bit).

Also, make sure to answer all of the questions in this sticky thread!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the PS advice. Sorry for not answering those questions!

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? Gaming for the most part. Sometimes I have to work from home and I'll need to run AutoCAD 2009.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included? Trying to stay as low as I can but still have a good machine. I really don't want to break $900.

3) Where do you live? North Carolina

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? I think the only thing need that I didn't list was a OS. I was going to go with 64 bit vista home.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Case, CD/DVD drives, Monitor, mouse keyboard.

6) Will you be overclocking? Most likely not on this machine.

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have? 24' inch Dell

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC? ASAP as mine is not working.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc. Any of the above features to allow for future upgrades would be nice but not really required. A single card, single hard drive solution will suit my needs for now.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? As stated above I'll need an OS.
 
What he recommended is pretty damn good..

You might also look at the AMD route. Might be able to shave some money off the total..

Either way, should have a beefy computer..
 
PC_User's build is good but if you're willing tbuy elsewhere, I recommend swapping out the 650TX for this cheaper but equal quality and higher amperage/wattage PSU instead:
$100 - PC Power & Cooling S75CF 750W PSU
 
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Danny Bui said:
PC_User's build is good but if you're willing tbuy elsewhere, I recommend swapping out the 650TX for this cheaper but equal quality and higher amperage/wattage PSU instead:
$100 - PC Power & Cooling S75CF 750W PSU
Click to expand...

Good advice. I also noticed that the 650TX is $10 cheaper on Amazon.
 
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Thanks for all the advice.

While there is very little price difference between the Q6600 I listed and the q9400 that PC user listed. I was wandering what the performance difference between the two are.
 
DarkStorm524 said:
While there is very little price difference between the Q6600 I listed and the q9400 that PC user listed. I was wandering what the performance difference between the two are.
Click to expand...

The Q9400 is about 7% faster than the Q6600 clock for clock and uses about 35W less at stock speeds.
 
DarkStorm524 said:
Thanks for all the advice.

While there is very little price difference between the Q6600 I listed and the q9400 that PC user listed. I was wandering what the performance difference between the two are.
Click to expand...

It's $5 more, newer technology (45nm), uses less power, and is in stock at Newegg (whereas Q6600 is not).
 
For another $100-150 you could go i7, which might be very worthwhile if you intend to keep this machine for a long period of time, particularly depending on your usage patterns. Definitely a longer term upgrade path, since LGA775 is a dead socket.
 
silent-circuit said:
For another $100-150 you could go i7, which might be very worthwhile if you intend to keep this machine for a long period of time, particularly depending on your usage patterns. Definitely a longer term upgrade path, since LGA775 is a dead socket.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, even the $900 I listed as my price range is really pushing what I can spend. I just can't afford any extra at this time. Hopefully, a few things will pan out to where I can build a more top of the line system and keep this one as a backup / guest machine.

Also thanks for the answers to my processor performance question Danny Bui and PC_User.
 
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