Buying new pc, opinions would be nice.

MrBear09

MrBear09

Obliviot
So I've been looking for quite some time and I think I've come up with a good setup, but i would like some opinions/suggestions on it.
(Getting everything from this place: www.memoryexpress.com )

Processor : Intel Core™2 Duo Processor E6600 2.4GHz w/ 4MB Cache 1
$269.95

CPU Heatsink / Fan : Intel Retail Heatsink and Fan 1
$0.00

Motherboard : eVGA nForce 680i LT SLI w/ DualDDR2 800, 7.1 Audio, Gigabit Lan, 1394, Dual PCI-E x16 SLI 1
$239.95

Memory : Corsair 2GB XMS2-6400 Dominator TWIN2X Dual Channel DDR2 Kit (2 x 1GB) 1
$239.95

Case : Gigabyte 3D Aurora 570 Aluminum Chassis, Black 1
$194.95

Power Supplies : Enermax Infiniti 650W SLI-Certified Power Supply w/ Triple +12V Rails, DXX-Ready 1
$199.95

Hard Drives 1 : Western Digital 320GB Caviar SE16 7200rpm SATA II w/ 16MB Cache 1
$109.95

Hard Drives 2 : Western Digital 320GB Caviar SE16 7200rpm SATA II w/ 16MB Cache 1
$109.95

Optical Drive 1 : Asus DRW-1814BLT 18x Dual Layer DVD+/-RW w/ Lightscribe, SATA, Black (Retail) 1
$49.95

Optical Drive 2 : None 0
$0.00

Video Cards : eVGA e-GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB PCI-E w/ Dual DVI, HDTV-Out 1
$429.95

Monitors : Samsung SyncMaster 225BW 22in Widescreen LCD w/ DVI, 5ms, Black 1
$299.95

Sound Cards : Onboard 8-Channel 7.1 Audio 1
$0.00

Ethernet Cards : Onboard 100/1000 Gigabit Lan 1
$0.00

Keyboards : Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard 1
$89.95

Mouse : Microsoft Habu™ Laser Gaming Mouse 1
$69.95

Operating System : Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium x64 (64-bit) DVD, OEM , 1-Pack 1
$139.95

Sub-Total:
$2444.35
GST:
$146.66
Total Cost:
$2591.01

will be going dual boot with vista and xp


my budget is about 2400, you may be wondering why the price is already over that, well it's because I get a 10% discount on the whole thing, so it works itself out.

This is also going to be my first build.
 
NicePants42

NicePants42

Partition Master
WOW. You are paying too much, my friend.

First off, here's a great deal posted only moments ago that will get you two mores cores and a better motherboard.

For memory, how about 4gb of this, for less than you're paying now?

Your PSU looks good after checking this review, but at $200, you might want to look around a bit. The HX620 is highly thought of, for example.

For $109, you can get 500gb SATAII 16mb hard drives these days if you're a little patient. Fry's had that deal but apparently it just ended.

Best Buy (I know, arg) has a factory overclocked version of your video card for about $100 less.. But if I were you, I'd take some of the money from the PSU and RAM and get an 8800GTX instead. Buy.com has them for $520, and slickdeals.net might turn something else up. On second thought, your monitor's native resolution might make the 8800GTX overkill.

I don't know much about monitors. Yours look fine to me.

The G15 is a fantastic choice, but you can find it for as little as $50 online, or $65 from a reliable e-tailer.

I personally would steer clear of Razer mice due to cold boot issues, ESPECIALLY since you're planning to dual-boot. And good luck flashing the firmware in 64bit. I've heard that the DeathAdder doesn't have cold-boot issues at all, but I have personally experienced these problems with the Habu. I recommend either the new Logitech G5 (the one with 2 side buttons, can't find one atm), Logitech MX518, or the OCZ Equalizer / A4tech X-750BF. I personally use the X-750BF, I love it, and I have never had a problem with it.

$550 CPU and Mobo
$110 or $220 RAM (2gb vs 4gb)
$150 PSU (620HX)
$320 Video card (8800GTS)
$65 Keyboard
$35 Mouse
Convert above to CAD:
$1431 CAD subtotal from my recommendations
$905 the rest of your stuff as-is

Total is $2336+shipping with 4gb RAM, a quad core CPU, a factory overclocked video card, and a full 680i chipset. This is assuming that you can ship this stuff to Canada.

I also think you can save more on your case. Your case is nice, but the P180 is a nice alternative, and comes in black.
 
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Greg King

Greg King

I just kinda show up...
Staff member
Pants is right. However, I don't know where you are getting your discount but if you have to order from one place, your not going to be able to get that mobo and CPU combo I don't think, unless you can shave the price off of other components, like the memory he linked to.

Also, if you can wait a month, CPU prices are going to fall once again. You could save a bit on the hard drives by going with Seagate. I dont know how you feel about differant brands but the those drives in the Seagate flavor are considerably less than the WD ones but with the same capacity. You could even get a 500 GB drive for less than what you would be paying for the WD drives.

Thats a solid monitor but might I recommend the Saitek Eclipse II keyboard? I have both and the Eclipse II is the one I prefer... its not even close.

Regardless of what you choose, with a budget that large, you are going to be able to build a beast of a system. We are just trying to help you get a bit more for the same about of money. :D

Good luck and stick around, we are here to help.
 
Greg King

Greg King

I just kinda show up...
Staff member
MrBear09 said:
Did you take in to consideration that I live in Canada though? Some people make that mistake.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that does seem to complicate things a bit more. Rob might be able to help you more than I can since he is a Canuck himself.
 
MrBear09

MrBear09

Obliviot
Yeah thanks, I was already considering getting the Corsair PSU, so I guess I'll go back to that one.
The place im getting this discount from is www.memoryexpress.com
I think they are building it for me there too, but if they aren't I probably could go with the quad from tiger, but I really haven't been looking into Quad so I don't know how good of a combo that really is, and I don't know about that MB either. Unless you can offer some help ;p
 
MrBear09

MrBear09

Obliviot
If in Canada I could order from Newegg, I might actually do it, but I do not know how good G-Skill ram is. And the Quad I'm still thinking about because I'm not really sure how good it is.
 
NicePants42

NicePants42

Partition Master
MrBear09 said:
If in Canada I could order from Newegg, I might actually do it, but I do not know how good G-Skill ram is. And the Quad I'm still thinking about because I'm not really sure how good it is.
Click to expand...

If you read the reviews of the RAM, you will see that it overclocks like crazy. G.Skill is a good brand, with a lifetime warranty. As for how good the CPU is, it is exactly the same as the E6600, same speed, same cache per core, but it has two more cores. What's not to like?

My first post has been updated a bit. I'm sorry it might not be as helpful with you in Canada and everything. Any chance you visit people in the USA?
 
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MrBear09

MrBear09

Obliviot
No I don't visit people in the US, I'm looking into seeing if I can order from Newegg right now, just to see.
I think I might do what you said, but what do you mean by Cold boot issues, for the Microsoft habu on a dual boot or 64 bit os?
 
NicePants42

NicePants42

Partition Master
MrBear09 said:
No I don't visit people in the US, I'm looking into seeing if I can order from Newegg right now, just to see.
I think I might do what you said, but what do you mean by Cold boot issues, for the Microsoft habu on a dual boot or 64 bit os?
Click to expand...
I mean that the mouse was unresponsive upon boot-up, and I had to unplug/re-plug the mouse to get it to work. I had the same issue with the Copperhead. On occasion, you can press the reboot button on the mouse instead of unplugging it. It's very very annoying. Plus, you can only update the firmware for the Habu in 32bit (last time I checked).
 
MrBear09

MrBear09

Obliviot
Do you know if that is an issue with everyone? or just an issue with yourself?
and which is better, 32bit or 64bit OS?
 
NicePants42

NicePants42

Partition Master
MrBear09 said:
Do you know if that is an issue with everyone? or just an issue with yourself?
and which is better, 32bit or 64bit OS?
Click to expand...
I know that the cold-booting isn't an issue with everyone. The firmware issue applied to everyone though - it could only be updated in 32bit. I can't say much more than that with any authority.

For XP, the 64bit version is great. There are no driver issues, and everything works like it should. I haven't needed to use 32bit XP for over a year (except to update the damn firmware on the Habu). I don't have any experience with Vista though, and given the newness of the OS it might be safer to stick with the 32bit version for now if you must have Vista.
 
MrBear09

MrBear09

Obliviot
Well vista isn't a must-have just yet, but when since i'm buying a new pc, i Just figure that getting Vista would be good.
But seeing as I'll dual boot, I'll have both ;p
and with the mouse issue, i might just stick with a basic microsoft mouse for now and then maybe upgrade later, I don't think id be used to the high speeds of those mice anyway ;p

And after looking all over the Newegg site, it seems that I cannot buy from them, they only ship to US and Puerto Rico (how F'd up is that?)
So I can't get the G-Skill RAM, even though I probably would have.
 
NicePants42

NicePants42

Partition Master
MrBear09 said:
Well vista isn't a must-have just yet, but when since i'm buying a new pc, i Just figure that getting Vista would be good.
But seeing as I'll dual boot, I'll have both ;p
and with the mouse issue, i might just stick with a basic microsoft mouse for now and then maybe upgrade later, I don't think id be used to the high speeds of those mice anyway ;p

And after looking all over the Newegg site, it seems that I cannot buy from them, they only ship to US and Puerto Rico (how F'd up is that?)
So I can't get the G-Skill RAM, even though I probably would have.
Click to expand...

Well, as far as the memory goes, with the way prices are currently, you should easily be able to get 2gb for under $150CAD. Check mWave, it looks like they have some nice OCZ RAM.

As for the mouse, considering what you'd pay even for the standard MS mouse, I'd emphatically recommend the ~$35 A4tech or OCZ mice. The speed and sensitivity are all things that you can adjust.
 
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