I'm looking into building another computer since my old one is going on 4 years now.

What do you think about this one? I play games so I'm building this one for that main reason.

Vista Ultra

ABIT AB9 Pro LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor

mushkin 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

APEVIA X-Dreamer II ATXB4KLW-BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 420W Power Supply

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

SONY 16X DVD±R DVD Burner With 5X DVD-RAM Write Black IDE Model DRU120C

ViewSonic VG2030WM Black 20.1" 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor with Height, Swivel and Tilt Adjustments

LINKSYS LNE100TX 10/100Mbps PCI EtherFast LAN Card

BFG Tech BFGR76256GTOCE GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card

Creative XFi 7.1 soundcard

Already have surround sound system so I don't need that

Any input is appreciated, been a while since I've built one.

Thanks!

whats the deal with the videocard? u need to get a pci-e x16 card.

Everything but the psu is good. Pick one of these:

PSUs
580W 38A combined
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817128003

480W 34A combined
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817128005

530W 37A combined
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817128006

500W 36A combined
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817811002

485W 32A combined
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817194015

535W 34A combined
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817103512

Recommend case with 2 120mm fan mounts & sideways hdd cage:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119106

My bad on the card, fixed it.

BFG Tech BFGR76256GTOCE GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card

I like that case too, thanks!

Made a few adjustments after reading here and other reviews, looks like I'm narrowing it down.

Vista Ultra

ABIT AB9 QuadGT

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor

2GB corsair ddr2 800 PC6400

Logitech G15 gaming keyboard

Logitech G5 6 button mouse

Thermaltake VA8000BWS

Seagate Barracuda 320GB SATA2

SONY 16X DVD±R DVD Burner With 5X DVD-RAM Write Black IDE Model DRU120C

ViewSonic VG2030WM possibly the VG2230WM widescreen. Do you guys think it's a waste for wide screen? I know games will be adopting this soon but for now I still play Tribes along with others but Tribes is still my favorite and I'm sure it will be a pain in the butt to get the game to work on wide screen.

Antec 550W true power

PNY 7950GT 512MB X16

Thoughts?

Why are you looking at Vista as your OS?

Reports indicate that gaming performance is not as good as in XP under some circumstances. I am sure this will be ironed out fairly soon, but what is the point of getting all that high performance hardware only to lose the edge due to OS teething troubles?

In any case, this is a MS product. There WILL be unpleasant surprises that will take a while to show up. Wait a bit before moving up - at least until the first service pack is released.

Look at it this way: would you prefer to spend your time playing your favorite games or trouble-shooting your new OS?

It is your sytem, but you did ask for input. Oh yeah, don't forget to adress licencing issues.

I'm hoping it's not going to be a big problem. The way things are about to roll out for me soon I wont be able to get a copy of XP then turn around and get Vista a few months later.

I would get rid of that soundcard and use the onboard and i'd cut back on the CPU to an E4300. Just up the FSB to 333 instead of the standard 200 and you'll have a MUCH faster CPU than the E6600.

Use the money saved to get a better graphics card such as an x1900xt/7900GT or similar.

re: vista. Depends. Yesterday I learned something about Vista.

My friend has a relatively new laptop with XP HOME on CD & drivers, etc. He bought Ultimate Upgrade with 32- & 64-bit on DVDs & discounted One Care with 1 year subscription & some free CD/DVD. I suggested to install Vista on his lappy rather than his main rig to test the waters.

I was aware that Vista drivers aren't as mature as XP's. This is the order of installs to get a perfectly working Vista pc.

1. install xp
2. install & update ALL xp drivers & software
3. insert vista cd/dvd (32-bit) to upgrade in xp

That's it. Previously I did the opposite: Vista & XP or Vista Beta drives. No go. Some hardware had missing drivers in dev. mgr. His lappy is working perfect with ALL hardware supported. The experience has changed my opinion about Vista.

The sidebar on the right is rather useful: clock, calendar, weather forecast, news tickers, image slideshow.

One Care is pretty well writen: basically it's a frontend to Windows Updates, Defender & Firewall & an antivirus MS bought out from some company. It can be set up to be un-obstructive: an auto-open-&-close pop-up to tell you the important things like blocked app from going online.

Windows Updates can be set up to notify you of any updates, but not download them. Or auto-update recommended updates, or do nothing at all.

The only app that I know of to crash every time it runs is AVG Antispyware.

quote]

I would get rid of that soundcard and use the onboard and i'd cut back on the CPU to an E4300. Just up the FSB to 333 instead of the standard 200 and you'll have a MUCH faster CPU than the E6600.

Use the money saved to get a better graphics card such as an x1900xt/7900GT or similar.[/quote]

Yeah I redid the system up a couple of post...decided on a diff MB and to use the OB soundcard and lan

I'll look into the CPU, thanks!

Yeah I redid the system up a couple of post...decided on a diff MB and to use the OB soundcard and lan

I'll look into the CPU, thanks!

The build is looking better now without the sound and with that graphics. However at www.newegg.com i'm pretty sure i saw an x1900xt for $200 which would be a much better choice for graphics card.

Any 965 motherboard should be good for the build.

Instead of a Sony DVD burner, go for

a LITE-ON 20x DVD burner its $37 and comes with Nero 7 + Power DVD. Its noisy but its nothing unbearable.

Also, your sound card. Since you're getting an X-FI... I'd go for a Fatal1ty instead. Two options (same card and software):

without faceplate

with faceplate

Another comment, why are you getting a separate LAN card? Should be on on board if you look at the specs.

Yeah I redid the system up a couple of post...decided on a diff MB and to use the OB soundcard and lan

I'll look into the CPU, thanks!

The build is looking better now without the sound and with that graphics. However at www.newegg.com i'm pretty sure i saw an x1900xt for $200 which would be a much better choice for graphics card.
Any 965 motherboard should be good for the build.

Like this one? This is the 2nd time I've seen this advice on Vcards
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814121029