Yet another post about a new build :)

C

coyo5050

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Jul 26, 2008
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Wish I remember my old login guess I'm a newbie again...I have an old dinosaur that needs to be upgraded. Prescott 3.2mhz, 6800GT PCI, 1 GB ram so anything would be a huge jump and probably nothing I can salvage from the old computer. Usual stuff, mostly gaming nothing hard core. Like to stay around $1000, have a monitor, keyboard, speakers, mouse.

Just purchased:

Case - Antec 300 - $53
PS - BFG 800-ES - $156
$233 total with tax/ship from buy.com with the 5% off coupon.

The rest I am thinking of purchasing:

HD - SEAGATE ST3500320AS 500GB SATA - $80 -> (EDIT) changed to WDC640 GB - $90
CPU - INTEL Core 2 Duo E8500 - $194
RAM - CORSAIR DOMINATOR TWIN2X4096-8500C5DF 4GB PC2-8500 $98 after MIR -> (EDIT) changed to G.Skill - $99 no rebates
MB - ASUS P5Q-E - $155
GPU - GIGABYTE GV-R485-512H-B Radeon HD 4850 - $155 after MIR -> (EDIT) Changed to Sapphire - $145
Optical - Pioneer DVR-216DBK 20X SATA DVD $30
(EDIT) Cooler - XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm - $30


$740 after MIR and ship. I live in NY so probably go with a site like zipzoomfly. (anyone have any coupon codes like buy.com's?)

E8500 only $20 more than E8400 so seems worth it?

I have IDE HD's and DVD-R's but seems like SATA would be worth the performace upgrade?

Corsair ram 1066 speed worth the price increase over good 800?

I will probably do a little OC eventually and get the Thermalright Ultra120 when I do. Maybe add a 2nd 4850 but that is down the road .

Love how prices have dropped!

Thanks all!
 
For just $10 more, I'd get this significantly faster and larger drive:
Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - $90

As for the E8500 VS E8400, all you get for that extra $20 is an extra .5 multiplier and 166Mhz increase in speed over the E8400. That's it.

Sata hard drives are worth the performance upgrade. IDE DVD drives are not. In fact, the performance between IDE and SATA DVD drives are virtually identical. But SATA DVD drives do allow for a much cleaner case.

Ditch the Dominator RAM as well. It is seriously overpriced considering that you can get DDR2 1000 RAM for just $85 without any rebates:
G.Skill F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ 2 x 2GB DDR2 1000 RAM - $85

As for whether or not to go with DDR2 1000 or DDR2 800 RAM, depends on how high of a OC you're shooting for with the E8400. DDR2 800 RAM is just fine for a 3.6Ghz OC. For a 4.0Ghz OC and above, you'll need DDR2 1000 RAM.
 
I've been feeling a little burned by WD past couple years and have had better luck with Seagate and their longer warranties. Both drives are 7200rpm so I thought speed should be similar. I have several external drives and might throw some current IDE drives in I have just for storage. Since DVDR drives are so cheap might as well get a SATA and one that matches the case.

With what I'm reading I'm hoping 4.0ghz would be a reasonable overclock and for not much money <$50, seems like a little bump on speed of CPU and RAM would help. No sense in being picky about pennies right?

MB seem like a good choice?

Thanks!
 
Mobo is a good choice.

Yeah like I showed, you can get DDR2 1000 RAM for $85 that will allow you to hit 4.0Ghz. So no need to get the Dominator RAM at all.

Well if you want the most bang for your buck, definitely get that WD 640GB drive.
 
OK, its only about $10 more for the WD so I'll go for it.

After tax and ship the G.Skill are $99.34

Corsair after rebate grand total are $98.80

I like the idea of the fan included with the Corsair, so with dollars being equal is one really any better than the other for getting the best speeds (OC or otherwise)?

Thanks
 
coyo5050 said:
I like the idea of the fan included with the Corsair, so with dollars being equal is one really any better than the other for getting the best speeds (OC or otherwise)?
Click to expand...

No; if you have the proper cooling inside your case, you won't need those RAM-specific fans designed for the Dominators.

But you don't get the savings from the mail-in rebate right away. You would have to wait for weeks after the RAM arrvied before you receive your rebate check -- and there's always the possibility that you might not even receive it. The G.Skill DDR2 1000 kit is cheaper right now, and it allows you the reach the same OC threshold with the processor as you would the Corsair DDR2 1066 kit.
 
Thanks for the info everyone and I just purchased everything.

Changed the HD to the WDC 640 recommended, got the G.Skill memory and changed to the Sapphire Radeon. Added a logitech wireless KB/Mouse and went with the XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm heatsink for $30 after rebate. Kept it all to $1000 USD so I'm really looking forward hooking it up to my 42" Plasma thru HDMI :)
 
Got it all together hooked up through HDMI on my plasma, I could not be happier! Going to get a 2nd 4850 for crossfire next month. I'll post pics.
 
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