Help building a PC, $600-$850 limit.

[dropglock]

drop that 8800gt back to a 3850 (512mb if you game @ high res), get a antec sonata III case it comes with a nice 500watt psu, you might want to order an extra fan with that case because I think it only comes with one 120mm fan... that should drop your pirce a bit.

this is referring to Paulies post.


Edit: do you have a dvd player/burner? drop lock you forgot to add ram to your list

also you could skip out on an aftermarket heatsink and get that later on down the road locally.

No I dont have a DVD Burner, but i do have a DVD player. Ohh ya I did forget about the memory.

 

[Chewy]

hey man also go with the gigabyte board thier lower end is fantastic trust me (better voltage regulation than Asus's low end).

The Antec Sonata case is a GREAT starter case and the psu that comes with the Sonata 3 is excellent.

Also be sure to use known compatible ram with the giga board.. get some Crutial Balistics ram.. thier very much a bang for your buck ram.. its top stuff.

 

[dropglock]

hey man also go with the gigabyte board thier lower end is fantastic trust me (better voltage regulation than Asus's low end).

The Antec Sonata case is a GREAT starter case and the psu that comes with the Sonata 3 is excellent.

Also be sure to use known compatible ram with the giga board.. get some Crutial Balistics ram.. thier very much a bang for your buck ram.. its top stuff.

Wow, thats a good deal. Lowered the total by a lot! Thanks

 

[devguy]

It's because its OEM. I was also thinking of the Radeon HD 3850 256MB.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161211

For the Radeon HD 3850 256MB do I also need a motherboard with PCI 2.0 x16 also? Because those things cost in the $200's

Are you saying there's something wrong with OEM cards? If the PSU you go for (I recommend Enermax Liberty DXX series) has an 8 pin pcie connector, then this card is good value. Much better price/perfomance ratio than 8600/2600 series, and it is cheaper than HD 3850 and has exhaust style cooling (although if you're willing to throw up the extra for the HD 3850, then I recommend you do so, but otherwise, choose this to keep the price down).

And no, you don't need a pcie 2.0 motherboard to use any of the currently available cards.

 

[dropglock]

Are you saying there's something wrong with OEM cards? If the PSU you go for (I recommend Enermax Liberty DXX series) has an 8 pin pcie connector, then this card is good value. Much better price/perfomance ratio than 8600/2600 series, and it is cheaper than HD 3850 and has exhaust style cooling (although if you're willing to throw up the extra for the HD 3850, then I recommend you do so, but otherwise, choose this to keep the price down).

And no, you don't need a pcie 2.0 motherboard to use any of the currently available cards.

I read that you risk buying OEM cards because the card might not work and you would have to RMA and wait weeks.

 

[Bluefox1115]

Here's what I found for your recommendations.

CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103773

Hard Drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148262

PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341010

Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128074

Video Card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150264

Drives:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16827151151

Memory:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148069

Case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119068

Grand Total for all that is $992.40. Thats not cheap at all. Thats even with your 4 +12v rails and the seagate 16mb cache.

dude you got the wrong mobo thats why. dont get an am2+ mobo for an am2 system lol. that and you dont need a 6000+, get a 5600+, and dont get the xfx vid card.. get an evga. you also got the wrong ram. get the ballistix ddr2-800 not ddr2-1066.. and how many dvd drives are you getting? 4? lol..

 

[Chewy]

why get a 6000 series when you can have a e6750 which beats the 6400 black box both at stock speeds, the e6750 has massive OC potential unlike the 6400 black box edition.

The x2 6000 is a great chip but the e6750 is better and costs the same amount, ofc an good amd mobo can be had for a bit cheaper than a good intel/c2d board.

 

[BloodTotal]

an 8800Gt will give you a good boost in performance compared to the HD 3870 or 3850, if you plan on going Quadfire then go with HD 3870 or 3850

 

[PaulieG]

Definately go with Gigabyte on the low/mid end. Much better than ASUS here. If you want better RAM, but don't want to spend more money on the Ballistix, go with Super Talent DDR2 800 at ewiz. There is a set of micron D9's for $51. I have these stix and have removed the heatspreaders to verify they were D9's. They clock just like my old Ballistix, except I paid $102 for 4GBs!!. I used to be exclusively AMD with cpu's, but right now C2D's offer so much more for not much more cash. Here's a link to the Super Talent D9's. Very much a hidden gem.

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=T800UX2GC4

 

[PaulieG]

Here's what I thought of. Cheaper than Paulie's build and it has an extra DVD combo drive. The motherboard is fast and the graphic card is in the mid-high range. But is it better?

You don't want that case. The airflow is terrible. Even if you don't want to spend $100+ for a case, make sure it has good airflow. Also, if gaming is the most important thing, do NOT go with a 3850 over a 8800GT. You will regret it.

 

[BloodTotal]

You don't want that case. The airflow is terrible. Even if you don't want to spend $100+ for a case, make sure it has good airflow. Also, if gaming is the most important thing, do NOT go with a 3850 over a 8800GT. You will regret it.

I heard 2 3870s in Crossfire would out perform 2 8800GTs in SLI

 

[zOaib]

I heard 2 3870s in Crossfire would out perform 2 8800GTs in SLI

yes but he can only afford one gpu here , so he has to go what will be best as a single card option.

 

[PaulieG]

I heard 2 3870s in Crossfire would out perform 2 8800GTs in SLI

I'm not sure about this, but I can tell you that my single 8800GT runs 15,250 in 3dmark06...right up in the the GTX and Ultra range, and only slightly less than 2900XT's in crossfire.

 

[Snipe343]

not to go off topick but my 8600 handles my 32" tv

 

[BloodTotal]

yes but he can only afford one gpu here , so he has to go what will be best as a single card option.

8800GT is the best choice here unless he wants to get another 3870 in the future

I'm not sure about this, but I can tell you that my single 8800GT runs 15,250 in 3dmark06...right up in the the GTX and Ultra range, and only slightly less than 2900's in SLI.

Crossfire is really good, Quadfire is even better

 

[zOaib]

heres my cart.

the case and most of all the things have free shipping .

ps i agree with bloodtotal as an hd 3870 for now will leave an option for crossfire later , but since this is not an x38 mobo go with the 8800 gt

 

[keakar]

get this power supply http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817101021

along with a Q6600 and P35 motherboard (gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L would be my choice)
and get the EVGA 8800GT 512mb video card to get a nice gaming rig for around $900

 

[Bluefox1115]

heres my suggestion.

$759 w/shipping - $115 in MIR's = $644 + ~$260 for EVGA 8800GT when in stock = your $900 awesome gaming pc.

P.S. Oops sorry.. forgot to add DVD RW for $20. Not that big of a deal.. and for around $900 to $930 shipped thats damn cheap if you ask me. Sometimes you MIGHT be able to find the PSU and Case locally at like COMPUSA for a little less, but also figure taxes. I just don't see why mixing cheap parts with good parts makes any sense just to go C2D...........................

 

[dropglock]

Ughh soo many choices!! I don't want to go AMD because Intel C2D are currently better than AMD's X2.

 

[PaulieG]

Ughh soo many choices!! I don't want to go AMD because Intel C2D are currently better than AMD's X2.

You have that right, for sure...

 

[JrRacinFan]

I still say Asus P5K and a e2140/e4400 (for now).

 

[Chewy]

theres nothing wrong with gigabyte, thier lower end boards are better than Asus's lower end boards because they have better cpu voltage regulation, also gigabyte bios is easier to use I think than asus's.

Antec Sonata III $115
Gigabyte p35 DS3R $150
Crucial ballistics ddr2 800 or 1066, if it dont cost much more $80
250GB hard drive $70
8800gt $260
DVD burner $25

I say get a 8800gt since you cant afford a good sli/crossfire mobo. I preffer a single card solution aswell, not all games benefit greatly from crossfire/sli.

Get a after market cooler another month, stock cooler should let you get over 3 Ghz nicely.

Thats should run you $700 + taxes and shipping.


Edit: aw damm lol I forgot the e6750 its the best bang for your buck too.. maybe get a 38xx series with duel slot cooling solution and overclock it.

 

[PaulieG]

If you're interested, I'm going to sell my Q6600. I'm looking for a mix of cash/games or a C2D with cash and/or games.

 

[B1gg3stN00b]

As for case, I recommend the Sunbeam Transformer Full Tower.

Though everything on it is 100% stock (except an added front fan, though very weak, in the provided fan cage), and my 6000+ has it's stock cooler, I rarely get above 42C at full load, due to the well placed fans and wind tunnel like design.

 

[dropglock]

theres nothing wrong with gigabyte, thier lower end boards are better than Asus's lower end boards because they have better cpu voltage regulation, also gigabyte bios is easier to use I think than asus's.

Antec Sonata III $115
Gigabyte p35 DS3R $150
Crucial ballistics ddr2 800 or 1066, if it dont cost much more $80
250GB hard drive $70
8800gt $260
DVD burner $25

I say get a 8800gt since you cant afford a good sli/crossfire mobo. I preffer a single card solution aswell, not all games benefit greatly from crossfire/sli.

Get a after market cooler another month, stock cooler should let you get over 3 Ghz nicely.

Thats should run you $700 + taxes and shipping.


Edit: aw damm lol I forgot the e6750 its the best bang for your buck too.. maybe get a 38xx series with duel slot cooling solution and overclock it.

Hehe Ya that e6750 just made it $900 something bucks + tax probally $970+. This build is most likley what I am going to get though in January when I get my financial aid money.