New $2500 computer

Okay. I've read all the posts here, and I've changed some things. $2500 price range, and I'm not using NewEgg because of tax. I'm trying to only use Amazon and ZipZoomFly.

Case: NZXT TEMPEST Enthusiast Steel ATX Midtower - $119.99

PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX TX 750W Power Supply - $113.90

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 Quad-Core Processor, 2.66 GHz, 12M L2 Cache - $$329.99

CPU Heatsink: ZALMAN CNPS 9700 NT 110mm 2 Ball Ultra Quiet CPU Cooler - $53.99

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3R Intel P45 Core 2 Quad Socket 775 1600 MHz PC2-9600 ATX Motherboard - $124.99

OS: Vista Ultimate Retail (still nervous about getting oem vista) - $264.99

Hard Drive: WESTERN DIGITAL Caviar SE16 SATA WD6400AAKS SATA 7200 RPM 16MB Buffer x2 - $178.00

RAM: CORSAIR XMS2 4GB PC2-6400 DDR2-800 Memory Kit TWIN2X4096-6400C5 Memory x2 - $171.80

Video Card:

EVGA 01G-P3-N895-AR GeForce 9800 GX2 1GB 650MHz KO Edition GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 Video Card - $399.99

OR

EVGA 01G-P3-1282-AR Geforce GTX 280 1GB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 (2.0v) Video Card - $459.99

No, I am not getting crossfire. I don't want more than one video card, so I'm going to choose between these two. I don't want to wait for the 4870X2 and even if I did, it's not any better than these two cards. Better in some benchmarks, worse in others.

Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster SB0570 Audigy SE 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - $28.95

Monitor: SAMSUNG 2493HM Glossy Black 24" 5ms DVI HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor $429.99

DVD Drive: SAMSUNG SH-S223Q 22X SATA DVD Burner Black Drive - $28.99

Speakers: JBL DUETWHT 12 Watts 2.0 Speaker - $34.99

Keyboard: Logitech G11 Gaming Keyboard - $60.98

Flash Media Reader: i-rocks IR-8100-SL 12-in-1 USB 2.0 Card Reader with 3-Port USB2.0 Hub - $29.79

Message edited by nate5709 on 07-30-2008 at 06:58:41 PM

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no you dont.

but a gx2 is basically an overkill in my opinion.

2 radeon 4850s would wipe the floor on a gx2 at basically the same price (each radeon is 200$)
but to use the radeons in crossfire to their full extent you need an x38/48 chipsets, otherwise its bottlenecked by bandwith limitations.

also your zalman cooler is almost as long as the tempest is wide. it barely leaves about half and inch. i would recommend instead the Xigamtek s1283 rifle since its better.

other then that, you're good to go.

Message quoted 3 times

Reply to Physicz

your parts suck for 2.5k rofl

Reply to tonyluu

Physicz wrote :

no you dont.

but a gx2 is basically an overkill in my opinion.

2 radeon 4850s would wipe the floor on a gx2 at basically the same price (each radeon is 200$)
but to use the radeons in crossfire to their full extent you need an x38/48 chipsets, otherwise its bottlenecked by bandwith limitations.

also your zalman cooler is almost as long as the tempest is wide. it barely leaves about half and inch. i would recommend instead the Xigamtek s1283 rifle since its better.

other then that, you're good to go.

+1 for what physicz recommended. the 9800gx2 is too expensive when compared to the newer tech right now. Plus, if you buy a crossfire motherboard, you're better off for overclocking since you won't have an nvidia chipset (they don't overclock well in comparison to the intel chipsets).

Also, I own the xigmatek s128 and I love it! I can overclock my e6400 from stock to over 3ghz while keeping under 60C at full load. Make sure you buy a retention bracket with it since some people don't like the push pins. I just have the pins and they worked fine for me, but it's up to you with the bracket. I woulda rather have bought the $5 part to make sure I had good contact, but oh well.

Reply to rabidbunny

No real reason to get a DDR2 / DDR3 motherboard. GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3R $135

OS: Vista Home Premium $110 OEM (you can re-install as many times as you need on your new PC) If you buy a new PC next year its still cheaper to install a 2nd copy of Vista Home Premium OEM. Vista versions compared In 2 years the next version of Windows will be out.

HDD: Buy two WD Caviar SE WD5000AAJS $75ea and get the same amount of storage and save $82
Or buy two WD Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB $90ea and have 1.2TB of storage and still save $52

9800GX2 vs 4850CF

Message edited by WR2 on 07-30-2008 at 03:00:08 AM

Reply to WR2

Reply to tonyluu

Physicz wrote :

no you dont.

but a gx2 is basically an overkill in my opinion.

2 radeon 4850s would wipe the floor on a gx2 at basically the same price (each radeon is 200$)
but to use the radeons in crossfire to their full extent you need an x38/48 chipsets, otherwise its bottlenecked by bandwith limitations.

also your zalman cooler is almost as long as the tempest is wide. it barely leaves about half and inch. i would recommend instead the Xigamtek s1283 rifle since its better.

other then that, you're good to go.

y would u need a x38/48 chipset? bandwidth limitation? as long as both the slots run @ x16 u should be fine.

Message edited by invisik on 07-30-2008 at 03:00:53 AM

------------------------------ intel core 2 quad q6600 @3.2ghz msi p6n diamond (X-FI Extreme sound) 6gig of OCZ+CoRSAIR oc 900mhz Nvidia gtx 260 sli @ 730/1465/1250
Lite-On Blue-ray Western Digital 7200rpm 500gb Antec 500 Earthwatt Window vista 64-bit
Reply to invisik

I would the Q9450 instead of the the Q9300
Q9450 $279.99 at Micro Center
http://www.microcenter.com/single_ [...] id=0287628

You can get a GA-EP45-DS3R for the same price, but it doesn't support DDR3.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128344

Physicz wrote :

also your zalman cooler is almost as long as the tempest is wide. it barely leaves about half and inch. i would recommend instead the Xigamtek s1283 rifle since its better.

The XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 is over a half inch taller than the
ZALMAN CNPS 9700 NT. The XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 is the better cooler, either one would be fine.

------------------------------ Don't Listen to me
Reply to level101

I'd rather have one video card over SLI and I don't want to look for a new motherboard. But.. maybe.

As for the heatsink, I'm trying to buy all my parts from only two websites for shipping costs (zipzoomfly and amazon) and neither of them have that part. I'm not buying from Newegg because, unfortunately, I live in NJ and tax is not something I want to pay.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to nate5709

You don't need SLI capable to run any "dual-card" (9800GX2 or 4870x2).

Here are some suggestions:

Wait for the 4870x2 to come out, might interest you and/or might make the GX2 price drop;
Either get the EP35 (the EP35C only adds DDR3 support) or a P45 board (adds PCI-E 2.0, could be useful for dual-card, but not required) like Asus P5Q;
For your setup, a good 650W would be enough if it can make you save some $$$;
The Creative card could be useless, many people don't need more than on-board;
For the HD, do you really need 1TB on a single drive? Consider using 2 drives, might save you some $$$ and might increase performance as you could install OS and softwares ond different drives and they won't compete for I/O;
For the cooler, I would suggest a Xigmatek HDT-S1283 if the casing can house it, cools better for less noise.

------------------------------ The capacity to learn is a gift; The ability to learn is a skill; The willingness to learn is a choice. - Rebec of Ginaz

http://valid.canardpc.com/cache/banner/600609.png

Reply to Zenthar

nate5709 wrote :

I'd rather have one video card over SLI and I don't want to look for a new motherboard.

9800GX2 is SLI video. It just two (underclocked) 9800GTX cards stuck together and sitting on a single PCI-E slot.

Reply to WR2

CPU Heatsink: ZEROtherm FZ120 ZEN CPU cooler $40
Cools better than ZALMAN CNPS 9700 NT, is quieter at high speed and is $14 less expensive @ ZZF

Reply to WR2

You need a Mobo that has PCI Express 2.0 x16 for the EVGA 01G-P3-N895-AR GeForce 9800 GX2.

Message quoted 1 times

------------------------------ Don't Listen to me
Reply to level101

For everyone that said I should buy two drives - I've considered that, but more drives usually mean a better chance of a drive failing. I don't want that.

Message quoted 2 times

Reply to nate5709

level101 wrote :

You need a Mobo that has PCI Express 2.0 x16 for the EVGA 01G-P3-N895-AR GeForce 9800 GX2.

no u dont all u need is a pcie 1.0 slot pcie 2.0 cards is backward compatible.

Message edited by invisik on 07-30-2008 at 03:47:47 AM

------------------------------ intel core 2 quad q6600 @3.2ghz msi p6n diamond (X-FI Extreme sound) 6gig of OCZ+CoRSAIR oc 900mhz Nvidia gtx 260 sli @ 730/1465/1250
Lite-On Blue-ray Western Digital 7200rpm 500gb Antec 500 Earthwatt Window vista 64-bit
Reply to invisik

I can easily tell the difference between even an old SB live card and modern integrated audio. Anyone who believes there is no difference needs to have their ears checked.

I agree with tonyluu, OP's build list doesn't look too good for the cash he's going to spend on it. You guys have some good suggestions for OP though, if he actually listens to your advice his build should improve quite a bit.

Reply to evilshuriken

nate your logic on drive failure rate is completely stupid. Having all your data on one drive means that you will probably loose ALL OF IT if it fails. If you have 2 drives and one fails you only loose half. We're not talking about RAID 0 here, just 2 separate 500gig drives.

Reply to evilshuriken

nate5709 wrote :

For everyone that said I should buy two drives - I've considered that, but more drives usually mean a better chance of a drive failing. I don't want that.

If you were using RAID0, I would agree, but putting all data on 1 drive also mean that if a drive fail, you loose 100% of you data. I never had a drive fail on me in the past 8 years.

------------------------------ The capacity to learn is a gift; The ability to learn is a skill; The willingness to learn is a choice. - Rebec of Ginaz

Reply to Zenthar

nate5709 wrote :

For everyone that said I should buy two drives - I've considered that, but more drives usually mean a better chance of a drive failing. I don't want that.

The chances of your one drive failing and one of the two drives failing is exactly the same.
In one case you've lost a $230 item - in the other case you've lost a $75 item.

Message edited by WR2 on 07-30-2008 at 04:07:26 AM

Reply to WR2

I'm glad we're all so passionate about educating OP on the myths of drive failure.

Reply to evilshuriken

Okay, okay. I get it. So two drives...I like the 2x WD 640GB setup.

If I want like a P45 motherboard, which one should I get? I still don't think I want the 2x ATI 4870 cards...
Maybe one of these two (they're both also available on ZZF).

Asus P5Q
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131295

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3R
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128344

They both look pretty similar...I like the 8 USB ports on the GA-EP45-DS3R.

Reply to nate5709

I would choose the Asus.
It's one of the best rated boards(on newegg) from them in a very long time, and it's specs do make it out to be very capable. If I where to build something right now I would go for that.

**Edit I also like heatsinks on my voltage regulating circuitry.

Message edited by evilshuriken on 07-30-2008 at 04:16:51 AM

Reply to evilshuriken

Okay.

I'm very interested in that monitor you posted tonyluu...
ASUS MK241H
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6824236033

It's a little more expensive, but it looks like it might be better. The only thing I don't like about it is the stand, but that's not terrible. I might get that instead.

Reply to nate5709

Either one would be an excellent choice:
Asus P5Q vs EP45-DS3R side by side

Reply to WR2

I'd recommend this monitor:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6824255001

A friend of mine owns one of those and they are truly awesome monitors, based on superior MVA panels(vs lesser TN panels).

It's a hidden gem amongst the sea of 24in TN panels available.

Reply to evilshuriken

Dont know about $2500.00...But...here ya go for $466.00...

New Intel Core2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield @ 2.94Ghz (o.c. to 3.6 Ghz stable)
New Ga-P35-DS3L/S3L ultra durable mobo
New 2 gigs dual 1066 Mhz DDR2 SPD memory
New cost: $466.00 incl. shipping
pre-owned:
atx case w/680 watt psu (blk & silver w/blu led lighting
2- 250 gb HD Western Digital 3.0 Gb transfer rate sata drives
2- 160 gb HD Western Digital 7200 rpm Ide hard drives
1- dvd-r/rw -cd/cdrw sata drive
1- cd-r/cdrw Ide drive
1- legacy 1.44 Mb floppy drive
Azalea Hi Def 7.1 audio output to RCA 1000 watt pro-logic surround amp
using spdif line out connect
4- 500 watt 12 in. tower speakers w/crossover and 1- 15 in. 500 watt
center rear sub-woofer tower
2- dual go-video dvd/vcr recorders(hooked to the rca amp) for a/b roll
1- 22 in. acer monitor w/s 1900 x 1440 and 1- 19 in. NEC multisync crt
Evga 8800 GTS 512 o/c @725 Mhz core using dual output
Using Vista Ultimate 32 bit with Virtual PC 2007 with 7 different O.S. for max
productivity and game compatability (runs quite good too)
Logitech cordless keyboard and mouse combo
Lan and Net is onboard using Gigabyte onboard 1 Ghz ethernet routed
wirelessly to wireless router for 4-computer home lan system
(other 3 comps are wifes and kids - my older systems- all P4-630 3 Ghz.)
NEway...I always use what assets I have collecting dust when I do a
new build or upgrade. I have been doing this (comp building) for the last
36 or so years. ( can anyone say Kim-1 or Eniac...maybe binary switch
input on power bench? to play snake on wired led's?)
So I get a decent system for under $500 and do a lot of video and audio
editing for a living AND get the benifit of being able to play most all the
newest game titles at or about ~ the highest setiings give or take a
click or two.
Not saying that I wouldn't love sincerely (drools to think of it) to be able
to invest a few thou into some real new equipment, but you know how
a budget goes for a family of 4 with pets.

Good luck with your project....

Reply to sorce7200

evilshuriken, that monitor has no DVI port. It's a better TV than monitor...it has better color accuracy and and viewing angles, but it has a lower response time. And no DVI port. That is bad.

Reply to nate5709

go for it

Reply to th_username

All you need is a DVI to HDMI cable. The response time is good enough believe me, I've played all the latest games on my boy's PC.

But you know what, get whatever you want. We try to show you the way, but ultimately it's up to you what you want to spend your money on. Good luck.

Also, to clear up any misconception you might have about HDMI. When not using encryption it's virtually identical to DVI(same bandwidth), so if you're hear any silly myths about it being "inferior" or something to that effect, it's BS.

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by evilshuriken on 07-30-2008 at 05:19:12 AM

Reply to evilshuriken

evilshuriken wrote :

All you need is a DVI to HDMI cable.

With a 9800GX2 I think you need the DVI to HDMI adapter, internal SPDIF cable (included in most Nvidia video card accessory packs), external HDMI cable and an external SPDIF cable. (or maybe the internal SPDIF cable does away with the need for the external SPDIF cable?)

With a HD 4870 you'd only need the DVI to HDMI adapter (included in most ATI video card accessory packs) and the HDMI external cable.

Message edited by WR2 on 07-30-2008 at 05:36:13 AM

Reply to WR2

Well he didn't mention anything about using digital sound output. And he listed a creative sound card and cheapo speakers, so I figured he would not care for that.

Reply to evilshuriken

wow your original build is not that great for 2500 tbh

you can get an excellent gamer's platform for 2500 nowadays

Reply to eklipz330

I don't say this much.. but.. that's a prettyyy bad build, for 2500$.

My PC with a 4870X2 is a little over 2500 with a 500$ 24 inch monitor and stuff which I don't even NEED (mouse,keyboard, etc.), a PC that could SMOKE this PC.

If you're not I'd recommend www.newegg.com because it looks like you're really spending more than you should be on some of those parts. Otherwise, you can save some money with the CPU, Q6600 and overclock. Ditch the GX2 and get a 4870 (or a 4870X2 when it comes out). What are you DOING with that sound card. I'm fairly certain you'd be better with ONBOARD AUDIO than that card. Get a titanium fatal1ty or something if you're going to get a sound card, otherwise just stick with what the board gives you.

I'd really recommend looking your build over again. If you want to look at mine (without the GPU im afraid) you can see how I spent 2500 or so dollars.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/ [...] er=8508792

Reply to rilez

Look at my original post; I changed some things.

Reply to nate5709

hey. it's not my PC. If you want to waste money on your graphics who am I to stop you?

Reply to rilez

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