Thoughts On My New Build

M

macschwag14

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Nov 17, 2008
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Yep, it's another one of those "I need your thoughts on my upcoming computer" thread. Sorry, but after reading through countless posts for the past month or so, I really trust everyone's opinion on here, and would really like your expertise. Plus I just really could use the help. Let me explain.

My current build is an AMD Athlon XP 2500+, complete with a slammin' Sapphire Radeon 9600/X1050 series card. I obviously haven't kept up with the times and am finding my computer throttled by simpler tasks like Flash and hi-res Photoshopping.

I would like a machine that can do pretty much everything without breaking too much of a sweat. I mostly use the computer for writing, file (de)compression, music, watching videos, lite sound editing and some graphic design. I really want to play the latest games though like FarCry 2, Crysis, Dead Space, etc.

So, here's the parts that I currently have bought and ones that I'm looking at. Critiques appreciated.


I HAVE

-CPU: Intel Q6600 -- Not sure if it's G0 as it was given to me by my uncle. He bought a Dell XPS 420 a few weeks ago and decided he wanted an overclocked Duo rather than Quad. I want to clock this to a nice 3GHz.

-COOLING: Xigmatek HDT-S1283 w/ Retention Bracket
-MEMORY: 4Gigs of Corsair Twin 2X4096-60400C5 G DDR2 RAMM
-PSU: Corsair TX 750W on a single +12V rail
-CASE: Cooler Master 690 Tower
-MONITOR: Dell 22'' Widescreen Monitor (1680x1050)



LOOKING AT

MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard (open box) -- Currently $96

VIDEO CARD: EVGA 896-P3-1267-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked 896MB DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported -- Currently $260

HARD DRIVES: Western Digital Black series (640 GB + 2x1TB) -- $80 and $140

Also wondering if I should wait until Black Friday for the Evga and drives. Thanks!
 
Mobo - Go GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3L for $103($15 MIR) w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128345
No Raid feature though on this board.

Video Card - Go EVGA Geforce GTX 260(216 stream processors) for $250 at NewEgg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130398
or
EVGA Geforce GTX 260(192 stream processors) for $220 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130370

Hard drive - WD 6400AAKS 640gig for $70 w/free shipping + 2 x Samsung Spinpoint F1 for $110/each w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218
+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152102
 
Loving the suggestions, Guru. No doubt I'll go with your suggestions.

Thanks for calling me on my cheapassery, lowteckh. I wasn't crazy about an open box mobo, but damn if I wasn't feeling thrifty. And 1TB for $140, not $70 :(
 
Openbox = no extras and you might as well buy it off another person since many of them are just returns. Hence avoid, especially if it's for your mobo y'know - to make it sound uber fucking queer -, the heart and soul of your system.
 
lowteckh said:
Openbox = no extras and you might as well buy it off another person since many of them are just returns. Hence avoid, especially if it's for your mobo y'know - to make it sound uber fucking queer -, the heart and soul of your system.
Click to expand...

I had a bad experience with an open box mobo and ended up giving it to my friend who's a computer hardware whiz. It's like $10 insurance to buy retail :)
 
3ghz O/C on a Q6600 should be no problem even if it's not a G0 stepping. Goodness, what a HUGE upgrade you will gain coming from a single core outdated XP 2500+ cpu with 9600/X1050 graphics. Extremely weak to play the games you just listed. But, not anymore. With a Q6600 + 4 gig Ram and a GTX 260 video card, you will do very good. This is a legitimate upgrade. Hehe.
 
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