Thinking about getting this

TheCrimsonStar

Tech Monkey
I don't want to spend oodles of money to get a monster rig just yet (working minimum wage won't help at all), so I stumbled across this on newegg, and I'm gonna save up to get it; should have enough by mid-July. What do you all think?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227247

I put all the parts it contains into a cart on newegg and it would cost more for me to build it myself than to buy it pre-built.
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vaporizers
 
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Tharic-Nar

Senior Editor
Staff member
Moderator
I don't know.... 4GB of arguably slow ram, and the GT240 are a little bit on low end of things for a $1k system, even with the rebates, think most of the money went on the case, lol. But I don’t know, I’d have to look around at other systems for a better comparison.
 

Optix

Basket Chassis
Staff member
The GT240 jumped out at me right away along with the fact that they don't say what motherboard is in the system.

My suggestion

Gigabyte H55M-UD2H (better board than you may think)
Intel i5 750
G.Skill ECO 1600 2x2GB C7 (low voltage with tight timings)
WD Caviar Black 1TB (fast and big)
XFX 5770 (best budget card and it will bury the GT240)
LG GH24NS50 Burner
Antec ECO 620W PSU
Antec Three Hundred

Tally that up and you have a better system for less money even before the extra $25 MIR's are factored in.
 
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TheCrimsonStar

Tech Monkey
alright well tax and shipping and all counted in (gotta pay tax since they have a shipping center in memphis, and I live near knoxville T_T) your build would be $1288.27, optix, after adding in the 30gb ssd (i really want one), gaming mouse, gaming keyboard, and windows 7 home premium 64-bit. more expensive in the end; i'm trying to spend a total under $1,000 after rebates and all. The ibuypower rig comes out to $993.32 after the mail-in rebate.

After adding those things in, your build passes the ibuypower by over $300 even after the mail-in rebates. I'm not too worried about the graphics card right now; i'm gonna buy a GTX 480 or 470 soon after anyway. I just want something that can at least play Battlefield: Bad Company 2 for the time being, because I'm stuck on HL2DM on this 2.4Ghz P4. Thank you for taking the time to look all that up for me though, I appreciate it :)
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CL100
 
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Kougar

Techgage Staff
Staff member
Do you know what kind of SSD is packaged with their system? As they don't appear to say I would be extremely leery... in fact I wouldn't recommend purchasing it at all unless you know what kind of SSD it is.

While I only spent about 30 minutes and didn't hunt for combo items I have a better system specc'd out at $900 - $35 in rebates. Not sure what shipping is. I trust the names/brands I used though, but cheaper ones can be found to drop the price even lower. Sales + promo codes + free shipping promos can probably knock another $20-30 off the total with some work.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=9419209
 

Kougar

Techgage Staff
Staff member
Looks good, glad you got a better system than that prebuilt one you were looking at. :)
 

TheCrimsonStar

Tech Monkey
alright so I'm definitely going to want to buy liquid cooling for this setup sometime in the fall, because I'm gonna oc the i5. I have no experience with liquid cooling and would LOVE help on the subject. what's good to get in the way of liquid cooling, and how do you install it? Many thanks in advance :D
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Aprilia RSV Mille
 
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Kougar

Techgage Staff
Staff member
I have not updated my sig due to constant problems and changes in hardware, but right now I'd strongly recommend Swiftech for just about everything. Their rads are also good, but Thermochill's are just a bit better... otherwise I'm using a Swiftech pump, Swiftech CPU block, GPU full-body block, and Swiftech reservoir as of this moment. If no more problems occur and other problems are fixed, I'll update the sig.... but I'm going to give it a few days first.

Installing a watercooling loop requires tools to properly cut vinyl tubing, good quality barbs to fit the tubing on (all manner exists in the WC world, but compression fitting tend to be the best against leaks), and choice of tube size. Pretty much tubing, lots of fittings, and the component blocks. Of course the biggest issue is figuring out how to fit what you want into your choice of case... tubing doesn't like sharp bends, either.

It's not hard to learn, but you have to be able to source any last fittings you might need and get the right ones for it to go well. And I still always recommend at least a 12-24 hour leak test with the pump set to max before actually using the system. Especially when first learning it, because you will make mistakes and shorts due to water damage isn't covered by most warranties. ;)

There are plenty of WC guides and sites around to help, I'd link to a few but I don't remember the better ones off the top of my head just now. Jab-tech and Petra's are both great sites to source WC stuff from if you can't find it elsewhere.

For just your i5 I would recommend a 2x120mm radiator, there isn't use going larger and you might be able to fit one on that choice of case. If you're going to keep the overclock around 4GHz, a single 120 or 140mm or 160mm radiator would be sufficient too.
 

TheCrimsonStar

Tech Monkey
And I still always recommend at least a 12-24 hour leak test with the pump set to max before actually using the system. Especially when first learning it, because you will make mistakes and shorts due to water damage isn't covered by most warranties. ;)

So you're saying run the pump by itself with everything else unplugged and if it leaks it won't do any damage?
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glass bongs
 
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THUMPer

Coastermaker
Yeah. Run the watercooling system but not the actual computer. So if it leaks, you can let it dry and it wont leak onto anything that has current running through it.

Honestly...I have an i5 overclocked to 4.0 ghz. (3.5 currently) I am running a Zalman cnps10x with NO FAN. I am passivly cooled. I only have two 120mm fans in my case. And I never see temps over 60* c on load/burn in test.
The fans however run 110cfm so its loud, but cools great. Water cooling is a pain in the ass and doesn't do much but lower you a few degrees.
 

Kougar

Techgage Staff
Staff member
Probably $200-$300 in parts just for CPU cooling to give you an idea. You need a pump, radiator+fan(s), and block bare minimum.

I do not suggest trying any self-contained or prebuilt watercooling setups, a Noctua DH-14 would cost roughly the same and perform better with less noise.
 

TheCrimsonStar

Tech Monkey
change of plans

One of my clan friends convinced me to spend another 300 to upgrade my build a bit. New specs:

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115225
Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188049
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231303
GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130550
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136534
Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147144
DVD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151216

(After Scholarship Money)

SLI: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130550

Physx: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...?EdpNo=5551847&csid=ITD&body=MAIN#detailspecs

Original build: $1,300 total. Extra 470 and the Physx card come out to about $350. I updated to an i7-920, and got a better motherboard that has 4x PCIe 2.0 and supports 3-Way SLI.

the scholarship money, is from the lottery scholarship I got. It was $1000 per semester, but then the college I'm going to attend offered me a full academic scholarship. Now I get the $1000 per semester in my pocket. :D
 

Kougar

Techgage Staff
Staff member
Congrats on the Scholarship! Looks like a sweet build.

If you hadn't yet, I don't recommend getting a card for physx. The GTX 470's can run Phsyx as well as your games simultaneously. Not to mention few games really even use it. Still is a nice price for one though if you don't mind the rebate.
 

TheCrimsonStar

Tech Monkey
i'm prolly gonna get it cuz i'm pretty sure source games use it, and i have the entire orange box plus im gonna buy portal 2 when it comes out.

gonna get that zalman CPU cooler, and a different case (full tower with better airflow) and 6GB of corsair dominator ram (didn't post the link)
 

TheCrimsonStar

Tech Monkey
oh and if all goes well, I should buy this rig after my next paycheck comes in next week :D

I'm hoping to redeem my points on Lockerz for $1000 paypal cash (yes i have that many ptz lol) and that will pay for almost all of it, so only $400 will actually come out of my pocket. And yes, Lockerz is a legitimate site for getting free stuff, it's just not as easy as they make it sound (VERY limited stock for each redemption period). I won a t-shirt from them and just bought Alice in Wonderland DVD from their shop and that should be coming in soon too.

I will definitely post pics of it once I get it up and running. That case is a BEAST. just look at the size of the side fan!! :eek:

final specs ($1400 before rebates)

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115225
Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188049 (Even comes with 3 different SLI bridges!!! :D)
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145295
GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130550
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533
Case:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811108190
DVD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151216
Physx: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5551847&csid=ITD&body=MAIN#detailspecs
CPU FAN: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118051
USB 3 + SATA 3 card: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5690165&CatId=511 $30

Then after my scholarship money....

SLI: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130550

Some of my friends say this is a waste of money, but #1, I'm only going to pay $400 for it out of my own pocket, and #2, I'm sick of being stuck with a single-core pc playing half life 2 deathmatch at 45 fps :rolleyes:
 

Kougar

Techgage Staff
Staff member
Hate to break it to ya, but the source engine / Orange box games do not use Phsyx. That's a cheap price for the card, but don't forget to consider it will use power and probably add a bit of noise inside your case.

That should be one hell of an upgrade if you currently use a single-core PC! Should last you over five years before it has any problems handling a game, and the processor should be useful even longer. :)
 

TheCrimsonStar

Tech Monkey
wow really? I activated physx on the card I currently have (xfx geforce 8400 GS) and half life 2 episode 2 looked so much more lifelike with the physics. o_O

lol my response to the friend that said i'm wasting money was "If i really wanted to go all-out and waste money on a monster rig, I would have gotten the i7-980X."

Current PC i'm using.

HP Pavilion 533c

CPU: 2.4Ghz P4
RAM: 2GB (idk what brand)
GPU: XFX GeForce 8400 GS 512MB PCI

Think I'm about due for this upgrade. my last comp's specs a couple months ago was even worse.

Dell Optiplex
1.7Ghz Pentium 4
512MB RAM (it's rambus too, so...FAIL)
256MB ATI Radeon 9700 Pro AGP

I gave the dell to my brother...then the psu died. me and dad took the graphics card and hdd out and put it in his old comp (amd athlon 64 1.8ghz). turned it on and one of the transistors on the gpu burst into flames. LOL
 
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