Plz help me build my buddy a computer...

[Guttboy]

Got it.....any thoughts as to how it will OC....he doesnt care about it but I think that I could give him a mild OC of 10% or so.....

 

[PVTCaboose1337]

OC on that board will be good, up to 2.7 gHz easy. (the dualie or a 3800 single)

 

[Guttboy]

Cool thanks PVT....sorry but we lost power again...I have CPS on the speed dial on my cel phone...LOL.....This time we lost it for about 20 min...not so bad considering others are getting whacked and have been without for the better part of the afternoon and evening.

 

[tkpenalty]

...X1650XT @ Max settings and 1280x1024

 

[PVTCaboose1337]

Cool thanks PVT....sorry but we lost power again...I have CPS on the speed dial on my cel phone...LOL.....This time we lost it for about 20 min...not so bad considering others are getting whacked and have been without for the better part of the afternoon and evening.

No it's cool. We have no school today. the ground is covered in snow.

 

[PVTCaboose1337]

...X1650XT @ Max settings and 1280x1024

We decided on a x1900gt if you read...

 

[bruins004]

For graphics card, dont forget that at newegg the X1900XT and the X1950XT are about $200.
I would def. go for that over the X1900GT since they are far superior and should keep up for a while.

 

[WarEagleAU]

Here is what I recommend. Now this will all come from Newegg.com and will include a aftermarket CPU cooler, stock VGA cooler (or not) and HD and case.

- Centurion Case Coolermaster makes great cases, and this is a ventilation goodness dream.

- Freezer 64 Pro Cant dispute it, its a great cooler for the price. I currently am using a Thermaltake
Big Typhoon, and its the best aftermarket cooler in my opinion, but its also like 20 bucks more.

- Western Digital 250GB SATA OEM Drive. Great drive and a damn good price.

- NEC 20X DVD +/- R/RW DL Drive. Damn good price.

- 9-in-1 Card Reader $12

- G.Skill Value Ram. Great price and has some oc'ing potential. $80

- Abit K9N Nforce 550 Board. Damn good price and decent for what he needs. $84

- 65W AM2 X2 4200+. Great proc, low power for lower heat, and a great price. $165.00

- Sapphire X1950 Pro Card. PCI-E X16. Damn good card, and under $200.00 with MIR. (Has an Artic Cooling Aftermarket VGA cooler, as its standard cooler, which is a good one. Accelero X2 or whatever it is)

Total is like $738.00 Rounded up. With shipping, it might be like $775.00. Leave enough money to get KB/Mouse Speakers and monitor.

With a sound card, like this one! ($70.00) Then the price is: $808.00 or like $850.00 with shipping.

KB/Mouse isnt a problem, LCD might push him a tad over $1000, unless he has one. These are my recommendations.

 

[bruins004]

Here is what I recommend. Now this will all come from Newegg.com and will include a aftermarket CPU cooler, stock VGA cooler (or not) and HD and case.

- Centurion Case Coolermaster makes great cases, and this is a ventilation goodness dream.

- Freezer 64 Pro Cant dispute it, its a great cooler for the price. I currently am using a Thermaltake
Big Typhoon, and its the best aftermarket cooler in my opinion, but its also like 20 bucks more.

- Western Digital 250GB SATA OEM Drive. Great drive and a damn good price.

- NEC 20X DVD +/- R/RW DL Drive. Damn good price.

- 9-in-1 Card Reader $12

- G.Skill Value Ram. Great price and has some oc'ing potential. $80

- Abit K9N Nforce 550 Board. Damn good price and decent for what he needs. $84

- 65W AM2 X2 4200+. Great proc, low power for lower heat, and a great price. $165.00

- Sapphire X1950 Pro Card. PCI-E X16. Damn good card, and under $200.00 with MIR. (Has an Artic Cooling Aftermarket VGA cooler, as its standard cooler, which is a good one. Accelero X2 or whatever it is)

Total is like $738.00 Rounded up. With shipping, it might be like $775.00. Leave enough money to get KB/Mouse Speakers and monitor.

With a sound card, like this one! ($70.00) Then the price is: $808.00 or like $850.00 with shipping.

KB/Mouse isnt a problem, LCD might push him a tad over $1000, unless he has one. These are my recommendations.

I agree with WarEagle for the parts except for the ones below:

Video Card: Get the X1950XT if you can since it is $215 AR from newegg. It is well worth the extra $15 and will last you a while.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102067

Power Supply: This company is prob. not well known like OCZ and FSP, however, they make good PSUs since they use a good OEM.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817189005

However, if you are going to upgrade later on you might want to get a OCZ GameXStream PSU since it provides more power.

Now the Total is $805 + shipping + tax (since you live in CA).

Now if you want a LCD monitor that will prob. push you out of your budget, since a 17" will cost about $200 and a 20.1" will cost about $300.

Also, a sound card isnt really needed, but you do hear a difference. I would suggest getting a Sound Blaster Live! card ( http://www.compusa.com/products/pro...15999&Pn=SoundBlaster_Live!_24_bit_Sound_Card ) which goes for about $30, but you really dont need it since onboard sound works fine.

You can pick up some cheap speakers. I suggest Logitech since they make pretty decent speakers (that is if you need them).

As for Keyboard and mouse, you can just pick up a cheap pair if you want. You could also get a gaming mouse for $40 from Bestbuy if you want, you can choose which one (The logitech G5 or the Razer Copperhead)

G5 Mouse
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....1 22655672410

Copperhead Mouse
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1158317360602

Also, TigerDirect has the G15 on sale for $60 if it interests you. I doubt you will get these, but this is just in case you do want them.

Logitech G15
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...5&sku=L23-7074

 

[Guttboy]

WOW! Thanks for ALL the help guys! I do have a question though.....this will be the first computer that we put together from scratch...I will post a ??? in another thread for that. Some GREAT information here, thanks SO much.....now what is the difference between OEM and retail? The WD drive looks like a steal but comes with no cables etc.....I assume that we get some cables from new egg then when we install the drive and everything else just put in the OS disk and off we go right?

BTW....what do you recommend for OS's....he will need to purchase one of those...he does NOT want to go linux and would rather stick with MS products...any thoughts as to XP pro/xp pro 64/xp home/vista for the future????? I use XP Pro on all my systems except for this laptop that came with Media Center on it.

 

[bruins004]

I would say get MediaCenter since you prob. wont even need the functionality which Pro offers. It will also be much cheaper.

OEM means that it doesnt come packaged with anything. It is just the hard drive with no cables or guides or anything.
That is why they are usually cheaper.

So what are you going to get?

 

[Guttboy]

LOL you guys have given me some great info! I have to talk it over with Mike and see what he wants! You have given me some great ideas for when I build my rig later this year. I havent built a computer on my own....can put things in out, graphics, ram, HDD, fans, etc but have never done it myself...only had assistance from a friend of mine back in New Mexico so this will be a new endeavor!

Bruins...why the name Bruins?

 

[bruins004]

LOL you guys have given me some great info! I have to talk it over with Mike and see what he wants! You have given me some great ideas for when I build my rig later this year. I havent built a computer on my own....can put things in out, graphics, ram, HDD, fans, etc but have never done it myself...only had assistance from a friend of mine back in New Mexico so this will be a new endeavor!

Bruins...why the name Bruins?

I am a big Boston Bruins fan. The #4 is Bobby Orr's number.
Many people mistake it for UCLA (not a big basketball fan).

I am glad to be of help and please keep us updated on what he decides.

 

[Guttboy]

Awesome Bruins! I am a huge bruins fan as well Ray Bourque #77 is my guy. I grew up just north of Boston! I have an autographed pic of Bobby in game 4 of the '70 Stanley Cup...one of the GREATEST pictures of all time!

How many rigs have you built? I would love to get some info from you about making one for my self here in the future....IM on AIM and Yahoo as well.

Regards!

 

[bruins004]

I have built 2 rigs (the 2 you see in my sig), with a new build coming by mid-year.

I love trying to go all out on a build, but for some reason cannot have myself spend $2 grand on a rig. I try to go around $1,000 for my rigs. Also, please note I am a gamer as well. I love playing the newest games so I look to get the best bang for my buck. I also like to have my system last for 4-5 years a piece (you gotta get your money worth)

So I love to look for bargains. Also, please note that the K8L (AMDs newer chips) will be out around mid-year and Intel is doing some big price cuts by then (the E6600 which is now $320 will drop to $230).

I will def. Aim you.

 

[Guttboy]

bruins I am up as guttboy on aim now....i have it on now and then...I think we are in the same boat.... I love gaming currently I play Americas Army, Aces High 2, and now playing Company of Heroes. My current rig in my specs is what I had my buddy help me configure. I have a million questions for mine.... I mean heck it cant be that hard to assemble...right? I am just a bit out of touch on the new things out there these days as my system was built right as the Athlon 64 came out. My rig will be built this summer/fall timeframe. We will build Mike's here in a couple weeks I think.