PC Builds

[Kyrie]

So I've been playing around, looking for a good PC build for a nice price. My ideal cost is under $1000.
I'm not particularily interested in dual video card setups, from what I've read the cost/performance ratio isn't really all that great, and I'm not looking for any kind of performance bragging rights or anything, I just want to get fairly up to date.
I'm not particularily set in stone on either AMD/Intel, I'll go for whichever gets the best cost/performance ratio.
I'm also not a fan of overclocking, but maybe I just need more experience. I tried it out a few times but could never get any results.
Don't need a sound card, I should be fine with onboard sound. Speaking of sound, I'm hoping for something on the quieter end. My current PC sounds like a tornado picked up a few trains and threw them at a hurricane.
I've got monitors/mouse/keyboard, so that's not needed.

My current PC, while wonderful in its uses, is far behind the times, so really, any kind of upgrade is better than what I have.

So, the $1000 Build:

CPU - 180 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115017
   Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor - Retail

MOBO - 229 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813121059
   Intel BOXD975XBX2KR LGA 775 Intel 975X ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

RAM - 42.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820231098
   G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

GPU - 172.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814127329
   MSI NX8800GT 512M OC GeForce 8800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

HDD - 59.99 x 2 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822148262
   Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

PSU - 119  - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817341002
   OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI 700W ATX12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Retail

Case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811129021
   104.99 - Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

CD/DVD - 22.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827106228
   LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache IDE 20X DVD±R DVD Burner - OEM

Total: 1001.95

[Lidge Farkley]

Don't forget tax and shipping on all that malarkeye.

What OS are you loading?

That case is madd crazy lookin'... if you're going for quiet... there are certainly a lot of air-cooled fan-blowing type parts on this one; counter-intuitive to quiet.

Have you calculated energy use for a 700W PSU?  Looked at average energy use charts? Etc? Do you care?  (just thoughts)

Lite-On drives generally eat malarkey... but I suppose 25$ to find that out isn't such a bad deal.

Everything else looks pretty snappy.

Peace!

[Kyrie]

It'll be on either XP or Vista.
The case has lots of fans, but they're large fans and should be fairly quiet. That's a popular case among OCers due to the excellent air-flow, so I may go with a different case with fewer fans to reduce the over-all noise.

Over-all power use doesn't really bother me too much. The 700W was to aim at future-proofing, so I could upgrade other parts without worrying about not having the power to run them. Though, I guess I probably wouldn't need to upgrade for a while.

[JayJay]

CPU - 180 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115017
   Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor - Retail

MOBO - 229 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813121059
   Intel BOXD975XBX2KR LGA 775 Intel 975X ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

RAM - 42.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820231098
   G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

GPU - 172.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814127329
   MSI NX8800GT 512M OC GeForce 8800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

HDD - 59.99 x 2 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822148262
   Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

PSU - 119  - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817341002
   OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI 700W ATX12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Retail

Case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811129021
   104.99 - Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

CD/DVD - 22.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827106228
   LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache IDE 20X DVD±R DVD Burner - OEM

Total: 1001.95

The motherboard is outdated, Intel has a new quad core processor based on 45nm technology(you have the 65nm one)  And the video card you chose is 170 dollars.  I bought a second 8800 GT 512mb for 110 from new egg. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814133232)
Here's my suggestion...

PSU - 119  - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817341002
   OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI 700W ATX12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Retail

Case - 85 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811119137
        COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

GPU - NVIDIA - 110 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814133232
        PNY VCG88512GXEB-FLB GeForce 8800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16

OR

GPU - ATI - 190 (170 after rebate) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814102759
        SAPPHIRE 100242-1GL Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card

CPU - 260 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115043
       Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 Yorkfield 2.5GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor - Retail

Motherboard - 127 - (106 after rebate) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813128344
       GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Memory - 78 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820220282
       Patriot Viper 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1200 (PC2 9600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

Hard Drive - 140 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822136283
       Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
       (great speed, great size, very reliable company from my experience)

Optical Drive - 28 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827151173
       SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 22X DVD-R 16X DVD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe - OEM
       1x Winner of Customer Choice Award - CD / DVD Burners
        ( I currently own 3 of these(2 on my computer), and they are running strong.  My brother and I go through maybe 100  blank CD's a month)

This system right here will play all the current games, without a problem using either card.  The 4850 is the newest one and probably has the best bang for the buck in it's price range.  The 8800GT is also very good, and probably the best card. The price/fps ratio of the 8800 beats anything out there.  110 bucks? c'mon.

Total ~ $947($927 after rebates) *If you go with the 8800 GT 512mb
Total ~ $1027($107 after rebates) *If you go with the 4850 1gb
shipping and tax not included

You can get a smaller HD, a Gigabyte P35 motherboard for 80, and less expensive memory, if you really want to cut down the price.

[JayJay]

Have you calculated energy use for a 700W PSU?  Looked at average energy use charts? Etc? Do you care?  (just thoughts)

Lite-On drives generally eat malarkeye... but I suppose 25$ to find that out isn't such a bad deal.

I wouldn't trust Lite-On drives...I still have a samsung combo drive that came with my old dell back in 2001 and it's still running(but it sounds like a damn turbine when it spins lol)

Well you can change out the fans for some quit ones, but with the video cards i suggested and cpu, heat won't be too big of an issue.  3 120mm fans will do the trick one intake and one exhaust and one blowing on your videocard/motherboard.

As for energy issues, the new quad core processors use 90 watts full load, the hard drive and optical drive use around 15 together, and the video cards should stay under 220 watts on full load.  That 700 watt powersupply will pump out 400 watts max, full load with that setup, but it will stay cool.  Don't get a 400 watt powersupply though, because you will be running it at 100% power output and it's going to get hotter than...you know what I mean.  700 Watt rated powersupply should do be fine, and stay cool.

EDIT*
I just remembered...I could use 10 120mm fans at once, lol.

[Lidge Farkley]

You just recommended a PNY video card???
...
ARE YOU INSANE??
I have yet to see a PNY last more than 2 years under regular gaming stress with out malarkeyting itself.

Back to thoughts about the setup options:
Video charts have consistently shown 512MB cards to be superior to 768MB and 1GB memory cards... for about 3 years now.  Don't be fooled by larger RAM numbers.

I also WOULD NOT go with that GIGABYTE motherboard, just because the reviews are less and seem to have more problems.  The Intel Board looks tried and true; a safer equipment bet in most cases.
(bad reviews for that Gigabyte board)

If you're going with a legal copy of XP, save yourself some headache and extract the keys for all your microsoft products before you do the change-over:  http://www.magicaljellybean.com/

Also... for the hell of it:
I have been assembling computers since windows 3.11 and dos 5.whatever with the only problems being bad RAM (once) or funky software in over 10 computers built from new parts and upgrades on more than 100 computers.  If you know the numbers... that's about 17 years of computer assembling.  I have also repaired several hundred computers with software problems and around 50 with hardware issues related to faulty products diagnosis.  (my favorite one was a friend of mine who had had all her other tech friends look at it, taken it to 3 stores, etc etc etc... and when I got to it, it looked like o power issue of some kind.  My solution was to remove the components from the case to see if there was a short some where... and test a new power supply.  As I unscrewed the first motherboard screw, out rolled a screw that had wedged itself under the board.  2 minutes later, the computer was functioning like when she had first purchased it.  Hilarious bragging "rights" over the 3 or 4 dudes who were all CS/CIS majors and experienced hardware/software techs that could not figure it out.)

One more thing... speaking of power, it sounds like most of the bad reviews on that Intel board are due to some kind of power issue... probably insufficient power of insufficient cooling on their PSU's.

Peace!

[Kyrie]

I don't have time right this minute to read up on all the part recommendations, but I'll just note that I only really spent 30 mins putting my list together at the top.
Generally what I do is go for the parts that have the most and best reviews on Newegg. When I get to that part, I always read through the bad reviews first, to get an idea of issues that generally arise. From that, I decide whether it's an issue I will risk having and dealing with or not.

[JayJay]

You just recommended a PNY video card???
...
ARE YOU INSANE??
I have yet to see a PNY last more than 2 years under regular gaming stress with out malarkeyting itself.

Back to thoughts about the setup options:
Video charts have consistently shown 512MB cards to be superior to 768MB and 1GB memory cards... for about 3 years now.  Don't be fooled by larger RAM numbers.

I also WOULD NOT go with that GIGABYTE motherboard, just because the reviews are less and seem to have more problems.  The Intel Board looks tried and true; a safer equipment bet in most cases.
(bad reviews for that Gigabyte board)

If you're going with a legal copy of XP, save yourself some headache and extract the keys for all your microsoft products before you do the change-over:  http://www.magicaljellybean.com/

Also... for the hell of it:
I have been assembling computers since windows 3.11 and dos 5.whatever with the only problems being bad RAM (once) or funky software in over 10 computers built from new parts and upgrades on more than 100 computers.  If you know the numbers... that's about 17 years of computer assembling.  I have also repaired several hundred computers with software problems and around 50 with hardware issues related to faulty products diagnosis.  (my favorite one was a friend of mine who had had all her other tech friends look at it, taken it to 3 stores, etc etc etc... and when I got to it, it looked like o power issue of some kind.  My solution was to remove the components from the case to see if there was a short some where... and test a new power supply.  As I unscrewed the first motherboard screw, out rolled a screw that had wedged itself under the board.  2 minutes later, the computer was functioning like when she had first purchased it.  Hilarious bragging "rights" over the 3 or 4 dudes who were all CS/CIS majors and experienced hardware/software techs that could not figure it out.)

One more thing... speaking of power, it sounds like most of the bad reviews on that Intel board are due to some kind of power issue... probably insufficient power of insufficient cooling on their PSU's.

Peace!

Relax buddy, you don't need to tell us your life story, and you don't need to be a rocket scientist to know how to troubleshoot/build computers.  I read articles every day on new hardware and I have built gaming machines for myself and for my friends over the last ten years.  PNY's malarkey on themselves?  lol the PNY 8800GT is the EXACT SAME THING AS THE EVGA and the XFX VERSION! Same ram same everything and has an average of 5 eggs out of 203 reviews lol.  Take the heatsinks off an EVGA and a PNY video card and compare.  And PNY's dont malarkey on themselves.  EVGA, PNY, XFX and BFG Tech are first class manufacturers of Nvidia video cards and they follow Nvidia's specifications.  Powercolor, MSI, ZOTAC, PALIT, ASUS, Jaton Video, BioStar, LeadTek, FOXCONN, Chaintech, KFA2 and ECS, on the other hand, use their own board layout and not Nvidia's and also use cheap RAM modules and malarkeyty capacitors(which lead to premature hardware failure).  And the power issues on that 975x motherboard are because those motherboards were power hungry and inefficient.  My uncle had a 975x Intel Xtreme motherboard, maybe the same one Kyrie posted, and he had to leave his case open with a little 8 inch house fan next to it just to keep the motherboard at a stable temperature.  Gigabyte:Intel, EVGA:Nvidia when it comes to motherboards.  Gigabyte makes some of the most durable motherboards because of their solid capacitors, and other technologies that they use, but new egg tends to carry motherboards with old BIOS's and not current ones which is why processor compatibility depends on what BIOS you get.  Brands don't matter much. It's basically a different sticker on the cooler.  Do some research please.
 

[Lidge Farkley]

Oh malarkey Son!!!!

I just got PARAGRAPHED!!!

I think Kyrie clarified the topic and your condensed lengthy post was made moot by that post, as were my previous posts.

If you want to continue tossing malarkey, though, I'll offer you this bit:
I do research.  I collect data. I read reviews. I converse with owners of hardware.  I read what users say about their hardware.
Then I post what I have found from the collected information of the above mentioned sources combined with my personal experience (which has shown me that specs mean jack malarkey most of the time, especially with gigabyte boards.)
No amount of talking from a single gamer I barely know is going to change my experience with board manufacturers, hardware problems, or the other data collected to an extreme which would make me malarkey my pants at their amazing words or bow down to their amazing paragraph of review-hyped information.  If the before mentioned companies have made an amazing turn around in quality (pny, bfg, xfx and evga) over the last year, then that is news to me; 3 local college town people I know have had issues with their new (evga, pny and bfg) products in the past year and 9 months.

Thoughts on malarkey tossing:
You have strong opinions; so does everyone else.
You have built gaming machines for 10 years; so have a lot of computer builders.
You give advice based on specs and some one will give advice based on their experience with performance.

Advice on malarkey tossing:
You can't paragraph anyone in to agreeing with you. Doing so makes thinking people highly suspect that you are a fanatic, rather than interested in genuinely helping them.
If you want to change some one's opinion about a product, support your opinion with relevant links, articles, reviews or information that specifically show how your opinion is superior.

Anyway... let us know how it turns out Kyrie!