Time to upgrade

Mongose101

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 18, 2001
Messages
465
I see alot of new game builds on here, must be that time of year or something. Anyhow I am planing on building a new computer in 3 weeks.

Here is what I have in line to buy:

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
EVGA 122-CK-NF68-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
EVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card
CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 620W Power Supply
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400PHU2-2GBHZ
2 Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
CHIMEI CMV 221D-NBC Black 22" 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor
LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black SATA Model LH-20A1S
NEC Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive
Creative 70SB046A00000 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Professional Series
Saitek PZ30AU Black USB Wired Standard Eclipse Keyboard
Logitech MX518 2-Tone 8 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB + PS/2 Wired Optical Gaming-Grade Mouse
Thermalright Ultra-120 CPU Cooling Heatsink
Scythe S-FLEX SFF21E 120mm Case Fan
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound

Total: $2,151.75

I am a gamer and it's what my computer will be used for the most. I just bought ArmA: Combat Operations, Next game on the list is S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl. I also have 4 computers Networked and use my computer for our game server as we play (I like to game with my kids).

I will be running Win XP Pro 32bit for now. In the future I would like to add another video card, But not at this time. I am hopong to get as long out of this computer as the one in my sig, which it will replace.

What do you think?

Mongoose
 
Nice build but it can be improved.

First of all, ditch that Thermaltake power supply. The only good Thermaltake power supplies are from their toughpower line and even then, there's better power supplies for that price. I recommend this quiet and 80+ efficient power supply here:

Corsair 620HX 620W PSU - $147

Second, ditch the E6700. You can easily overclock the E6600 to E6700 speeds and beyond. In addition, the E6700 and E6600 have the same maximum overclock I believe. So go with the cheaper E6600 if you're planning to overclock.

Finally, dunno too much about sound cards and monitors so I'll let someone else chime in on that.
 
ditch the thermaltake... there are much better choices out there:
http://jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1460

I'd go for the Corsair 620W over the 700W Toughpower.

I also agree on the CPU... the E6700 isnt worth the extra $95 over the E6600. All Conroes have pretty much the same OC potential.

With either CPU, E6600/E6700, you won't need the HZ sticks. All you'll need are the NQ sticks. The extra ~3% performance improvement for the HZ sticks over the NQ sticks isnt worth extra $25. The only time its worth it is if you need high overclockability (for CPUs with lower multipliers).

I'd also ditch the zalman for a Tuniq Tower, Thermalright Ultra 120, or Scythe Ninja Plus Rev.B.
 
Glad I posted, with the change of processer I am able to bump up the video card to the GTX and still keep it around the same price.. (infact it's a bit less over all) So how does it look now?
 
I'm not too sure about the sound card but overall it's a very great system. Hope you enjoy it.
 
You can drop the sound card to an X-fi XtremeMusic (but not the new "Gamer" half-height cards, they're horrible) and save some cash unless you really want the Live Drive (or whatever they're calling it now) which has no real advantages unless you do MIDI work, given modern cases have headphones jacks and all.

What the heck do you need a floppy drive for anymore? It's only like... $10, $20 sure, but still.

Yate Loon 120mm fans are $4 each, buy 2 get one free at nexfan.com though as I understand the S-FLEXes are quieter.

An E6420 should hit 3.2Ghz or so easily with that motherboard and HSF, so if you need to shave off a few dollars that's an option as well.
 
Well I got the floppy drive to add SATA drivers at XP install and bios updates if ever needed.. Though I am just guessing I need it for the SATA as I have never installed Windows on a system this new. I figuard 6 dollars was a good safety net price.

I am just trying to stay under 2500.00 with shipping and tax..
 
You can drop the sound card to an X-fi XtremeMusic (but not the new "Gamer" half-height cards, they're horrible)

How is that?

The X-Gamer card is the same as the Xtrememusic with one improvement, the fact that the X-Gamer is Intel Audio connectors for your case's front audio connections.
 
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