Custom Building Computer

[rwinner16]

I've been wanting to replace this current computer of mine and buy new parts to build my next one. I should easily get $500 USD for this one(probably more, but I want quick sell).

 

 

 

The parts I have selected so far run a total of about $1800 USD, but I am willing to spend more to weed out the weak links.

 

 

 

Motherboard - ASUS RAMPAGE FORMULA -$290

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131284

 

 

 

DVD Player - SONY DRU865S - $57

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827131059

 

 

 

Processor - INTEL QUAD Q9650 (3.0 GHz) - $540

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115130

 

Shoud I wait for the I7?

 

 

 

Hard Drive - WESTERN DIGITAL (500GB) - $60

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822136073

 

 

 

RAM - G SKILL 1066(2-2G sticks/$75)(8 gigs total) - $75($150 total)

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820231166

 

 

 

Power Supply - COOLMAX 950W - $150

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817159072

 

 

 

Sound Card - CREATIVE 7.1 Channel - $100

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6829102024

 

I dont know anything about sound cards? It looked really good for the money to untrained eyes.

 

 

 

Video Card - EVGA GeForce GTX 280 - $420

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130365

 

 

 

Total : $1767(Am willing to spend about $500-$800 more.

 

 

 

I haven't picked out any fans or a heatsink, and the tower will most likely have to a be a full but I haven't found one that isn't fragile in any area. What do you guys think of the selection? Appreciate the help.

[OldJoe]

There's two good reasons to wait for you.

 

1: See what the prices in US will be for the i7 (where i live, cpu+mobo+ram - the cheapest setup, goes for around 700euros).

 

2: The prices on the quads (like the one you listed) should drop after i7 have been released.

 

So, wait and see... It will be a couple of weeks until you can buy it.

 

 

 

Also; Why not get 1tb hd?

 

And, with your budget i'd spend an extra 100$ on the 4870x2... It performs much better for a bit higher price

 

And you don't need a 950w psu... This will cover all your needs, you can even throw in a few more harddrives if you want to.

 

 

 

Case, depends how much stuff you want to fit... Antec 1200 - 160$ or perhaps a Antec 900 - 100$

[WutangFlu]

Your processor is a [cabbage] value...

 

Replace with: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... &Tpk=Q9450

 

 

 

Your DVD "player" is also over priced, you can get something cheaper that's just as good, or spend a bit extra and go bluray

 

 

 

Your RAM is blah, can be better

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145197

 

 

 

[bleep] Creative sound cards....

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... =bluegears

 

 

 

Better PSU

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... ex%201000w

[sloter]

Creative sounds cards drivers are very crappy to be honest at least the stock ones are. Very little linux support as they don't even support the linux driver they offer on there web site. Good sound but i don't think you get your bang for your buck. I have a Creative Sound Blaster X-FI Extreme Gamer.

[OldJoe]

[hide=]

Your processor is a [cabbage] value...

 

Replace with: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... &Tpk=Q9450

 

 

 

Your DVD "player" is also over priced, you can get something cheaper that's just as good, or spend a bit extra and go bluray

 

 

 

Your RAM is blah, can be better

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145197

 

 

 

[bleep] Creative sound cards....

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... =bluegears

 

 

 

Better PSU

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... ex%201000w

[/hide]

 

He should really wait and see what prices i7 will get in USA.

 

And the psu you listed is waaay overkill.

[rwinner16]

The first chips being released are quad-core desktop models, the 920, 940, and 965 Extreme. Clock speeds are 2.66 GHz, 2.93 GHz, and 3.2 GHz, respectively, and prices in batches of 1,000 are $284, $562, and $999.

 

 

 

Those are the prices they told the reports a couple weeks ago.

 

 

 

If you go to wikepedia, they give details on the performance tests

[WutangFlu]

you'll need a different Motherboard.... which will probably also cost more...

 

or suck [bleep]...

 

 

 

Socket B (LGA 1366)

 

 

 

and also DDR3... which is... pathetically expensive..

 

 

 

Core i7 Features

 

 

 

Nehalem represents the largest architectural change in the Intel x86 family since the Pentium Pro in 1995. The Nehalem architecture has many new features. The ones that represent significant changes from the Core 2 include:

 

 

 

* FSB is replaced by QuickPath interface. Motherboards must use a chipset that supports QuickPath. As of November 2008[update], only the Intel X58 does this.

 

* On-processor memory controller: the memory is directly connected to the processor.

 

* Three channel memory: each channel can support one or two DDR3 DIMMs. Motherboards for Core i7 have four (3+1) or six DIMM slots instead of two or four, and DIMMs should be installed in sets of three, not two.

 

* Support for DDR3 only.

 

* "Turbo Boost" technology allows the cores to intelligently "over clock" themselves to 133Mhz or 266Mhz over the design clock speed so long as the CPU's thermal requirements are still met.

 

* Single-die device: all four cores, the memory controller, and all cache are on a single die.

 

* Re-implemented Hyper-threading. Each of the four cores can process two threads simultaneously, so the processor appears to the OS as eight CPUs. This feature was present in the older Netburst architecture but was dropped in Core.

 

* On-die, shared, inclusive 8MB L3 cache.

 

* Only one QuickPath interface: not intended for multi-processor motherboards.

 

* 45nm process technology.

 

* 731M transistors.

 

* Sophisticated power management can place unused core in a zero-power mode.

 

[rwinner16]

Wow, I didn't know that it had so many restrictions. Thank you for the heads up LP, I think I might end up picking the Processor and RAM you picked, I read up on the Processor and speedwise can be better than the one I picked with a little overclocking, and the price break will pay for the difference for the RAM.

[WutangFlu]

also look into getting a different heatsink rather than the [cabbage] that comes with the processor...

[das1330]

Wow, I didn't know that it had so many restrictions. Thank you for the heads up LP, I think I might end up picking the Processor and RAM you picked, I read up on the Processor and speedwise can be better than the one I picked with a little overclocking, and the price break will pay for the difference for the RAM.

 

 

 

I would highly recommend waiting for a core i7 setup. With the currently published numbers on both performance and price, you can be expected to pay around 800 dollars for the CPU, mobo and RAM - (300$ for the motherboard, 240$ for the CPU, and the rest for DDR3 memory). For this you get a processor that is -stock- 20% faster then the one you picked out, and reports are saying that they will be excellent overclockers as well.

 

 

 

 

 

Additionally, I agree with the 4870X2, it is a better card and with your budget you can fit it in.

[JoeDaStudd]

Ok.

 

Where to start.....

 

 

 

First off don't buy the cpu, mobo and ram just yet. Wait for the i7's to be released as soon as they are those parts will drop in price by a lot.

 

 

 

DVD drive - that very over priced. You should be looking at $57 for 2.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827118012

 

/\ basically the same for half the price

 

 

 

Powersupply seems like a big over kill without your sli'ing or triple sli'ing.

 

 

 

Processor get a lower model Q9550 (or Q9400) and overclock it.

 

 

 

Hard drive, for the money your looking to spend get one raptor for the OS and either 500gb or 1tb for data.

 

 

 

Sound card, this is really down to personal preference. IMO you most likely won't need any more then the mobo's on-board.

 

 

 

Graphics card, I would go with a 4870x2 on your budget.

 

 

 

Case, if your going for a "gamer" case look at the gamer 900 or 1200 from Antec. If your like me and want something which looks nice and not "gamer" tacky then the 182 also from Antec would be my choice.

 

 

 

Fans, Scythe are great for airflow/noise ratio. For flashy fans Arctic Cooling make some nice ones.

 

 

 

Heatsink, noise/performance comes into play a lot here.

 

 

 

Don't forget to budget the OS, Monitor, keyboard and mouse.

[JohnPax]

The gtx 280 is not much better then the 260 and it doesn't justify the extra cost, if you've got money to burn stick with the 280. For runescape the 280 will be waaaay over what you need so would be great.

[eggzs]

Go for ATI Cards this time round, more bang for your buck (4870, 4870X2)

 

 

 

lol @ buying a high end graphics card for Runescape, when I got my new computer I was playing so many awesome games that Runescape pales in comparison to.

[Imamonkey]

The biggest question would be what do you want to use the computer for? Do you want it to be highly expandable and is it possible you may want to use it for applications you aren't using now. Or do you know what you need it for, and your needs more than likely never go beyond that.

 

 

 

And I will definitely agree as to the power supply being overkill. Just because someone else uses something does not mean something else won't suit your needs perfectly. You could probably even go down to a 500w supply if you are like most average users. But don't take that as written in stone. You need to figure out what exactly your wants and needs are. No sense in being Tim Allen and spending more money for something you really don't need.

[OldJoe]

The biggest question would be what do you want to use the computer for? Do you want it to be highly expandable and is it possible you may want to use it for applications you aren't using now. Or do you know what you need it for, and your needs more than likely never go beyond that.

 

 

 

And I will definitely agree as to the power supply being overkill. Just because someone else uses something does not mean something else won't suit your needs perfectly. You could probably even go down to a 500w supply if you are like most average users. But don't take that as written in stone. You need to figure out what exactly your wants and needs are. No sense in being Tim Allen and spending more money for something you really don't need.

 

 

 

His PSU depends on what sort of setup he goes for.

 

If for example he choses a quad and overclocks it a bit, 4870x2 and 1hd... Then something like Corsair (or another good brand) around 550w will be good. But you don't got alot of room for more harddrives... more overclocking and blah blah. For example, Corsair 550w would work... But you don't got alot of room and the fan will produce quite a noice... 650w will (quite obvious) give you more room and lower noise.

 

I must say (again), i'd wait for the i7 release because it will lower the prices of the 775 quads and if he feels like (since his budget is pretty nice) he has the option of i7.

 

And yeah, as you said... Depends on what he plans on doing. Something like e8400+4870 would be a great and not too expensive rig for gaming... But depends on what he plans to do.

[rwinner16]

I am currently using video editing, and am an avid high-end gamer. The comp I have now won't play FarCry, and that was strike 3. My computer is also the center of a download/transfer net for my buddies and I. I will also begin to have to run 2-3 different games at the same time on different screens to compare/constrast them.

 

 

 

I was looking for something that could qualify for that. I also chose the 950W because of the extra lee-way I would have if I were to need to expand my options.

[krisc6]

DDR2 prices have dropped incredibly, i got 8gb 4(x2gb) of corsair RAM for the price off what i paid a year ago for 2GB...

[AlexTeHowneR]

Your processor is a [cabbage] value...

 

Replace with: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 42&Tpk=Q94

 

Your DVD "player" is also over priced, you can get something cheaper that's just as good, or spend a bit extra and go bluray

 

 

 

Your RAM is blah, can be better

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145197

 

 

 

[bleep] Creative sound cards....

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... =bluegears

 

 

 

Better PSU

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... ex%201000w

 

 

 

If anything, go with a Q9450 as LP said or a Q9550. Don't go with the Corsair Dominator, if you're willing to spend that much on RAM, get some Crucial Ballistix. 1000W is overkill, especially if you're not planning to go SLI.