Building a comp for my little bro

[spike98]

My brother wants me to build a system for him, i am a little behind as far as the latest tech so tell me what you think of this....


Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB SATA2 3GB/S 7200RPM 16MB Cache NCQ Hard Drive
In Stock 18409 $129.40 $129.40

EVGA Nforce 680I SLI LGA775 Conroe ATX DDR2 2PCI-E16 2PCI SATA2 RAID Sound GBLAN 1394 Motherboard
Combo Deal (19143)
In Stock 21081 $278.78 $278.78

Thermaltake Matrix ATX Silver Black MID-TOWER Case 4X5.25 2X3.5 4X3.5INT Front No PS
In Stock 17956 $66.98 $66.98

OCZ PowerStream 520W ATX12V V2.0 BTX 20/24PIN Low Noise Power Supply W/ SLI
In Stock 17553 $141.16 $141.16

Samsung SH-S182 DVD+RW 18X8X16 DVD-RW 18X6X16 DL-8X DVD Writer IDE Black OEM W/ Software
In Stock 20250 $43.73 $43.73

Creative Sound Blaster X-FI Platinum 24BIT Sound Card W/ Front Access Panel & Remote Retail Box
In Stock 22111 $162.73 $162.73

LG L194WTX-BF 19IN Wide LCD Black 5MS 1440X900 2000:1 300CD/M2 VGA DVI-D F-ENGINE Monitor

In Stock 19619 $267.90 $267.90

OCZ Gold XTC PC2-6400 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-800 CL5-5-5-12 240PIN DIMM Dual Channel Memory Kit
In Stock 18495 $313.36 $313.36

Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Dual Core Processor LGA775 Conroe 2.13GHZ 1066FSB 2MB Retail
In Stock 19143 $259.00 $259.00

EVGA E-GEFORCE 8800 GTS 500MHZ 640MB 1.6GHZ GDDR3 Dual DVI-I HDTV Out HDCP DIRECTX10 Video Card
In Stock 21406 $486.00 $486.00



Check to delete an item YOUR TOTAL $2,149.04



He wants to keep it bellow $2k and this is the closest i could get for a gaming system that SHOULD stay current for a while.

I could ditch the sound card and just use the onboard if he is really sticky on the price but i am sure down the road he will want to go 5.1 and a good card is always a plus. So what do you guys think?

[Xaroxantu Zero]

Is an SLI mobo really necessary? You can always go for the XtremeMusic version for the X-Fi, as there's no difference in terms of the card.

[spike98]

Originally posted by Xaroxantu Zero
Is an SLI mobo really necessary? You can always go for the XtremeMusic version for the X-Fi, as there's no difference in terms of the card.

I dont know if it is necessary really but it would help in the future for upgrades. Or would that be unecessary because of the capibilities of single video cards now adays.

Can you make a suggestion on a motherboard from ncix that would be suitable?

[suen17]

IMO, i would ditch the 320GB drive and buy 2 or 3 drives instead and set up a raid array. It'll help you in the long run anyways.

And don't forget cooling for the processor...

[spike98]

Originally posted by suen17
IMO, i would ditch the 320GB drive and buy 2 or 3 drives instead and set up a raid array. It'll help you in the long run anyways.

And don't forget cooling for the processor...

I thought about that, if cost was no option i would run dual raptors X's RAID 0 but that would be expensive lol

I want to keep the 16MB cache and there really isn't any lowcost option for a smaller 7200rpm 16MB cache HD that i could RAID together to end up not costing more.

[lost_in_bsd]

Go to an enermax power supply, they are the best in the consumer market. 500w min for that video card. if you are not running sli, get the inel DP965LT and get 800MHz ram for it. its a killer board that flies and its around 80 to 100 cheaper than an sli board. and nforce never really was that good for the intels. if you want nforce, go amd. and get the xtreme music sound card, great for games even if you are using headphones

but thats just my 2 cents

[spike98]

after some good advice and some research i end up with this:

Maxtor DiamondMax 10 250GB SATA2 7200RPM 16MB 9MS NCQ Quiet RoHS Hard Drive 3 Year MFR Warranty In Stock 17401 $106.95 $106.95

Samsung SH-S182 DVD+RW 18X8X16 DVD-RW 18X6X16 DL-8X DVD Writer IDE Black OEM W/ Software In Stock 20250 $43.73 $43.73

LG L194WTX-BF 19IN Wide LCD Black 5MS 1440X900 2000:1 300CD/M2 VGA DVI-D F-ENGINE Monitor In Stock 19619 $267.90 $267.90

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro LGA775 2500RPM 45CFM In Stock 17225 $27.09 $27.09

Compucase 6K60 mATX Case BLACK/SILVER 2X5.25 2X3.5 1X.3.5INT W/ Front USB & Audio No PS In Stock 20126 $39.35 $39.35

Intel DG965OTMKR mATX LGA775 Conroe G965 DDR2 PCI-E16 PCI-E1 2PCI GBLAN 1394 Sound Video Motherboard In Stock 19734 $171.30 $171.30

OCZ Gold XTC PC2-6400 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-800 CL5-5-5-12 240PIN DIMM Dual Channel Memory Kit Combo Deal (21406) In Stock 18495 $291.50 $291.50

Creative Sound Blaster X-FI Xtreme Music 24BIT Sound Card In Stock 16551 $108.10 $108.10

Enermax Liberty ELT500AWT 500W ATX12V V2.2 20/24PIN Modular Cable Power Supply W/ 120MM Fan In Stock 17504 $135.70 $135.70

Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Dual Core Processor LGA775 Conroe 2.13GHZ 1066FSB 2MB Retail In Stock 19143 $259.00 $259.00

EVGA E-GEFORCE 8800 GTS 500MHZ 640MB 1.6GHZ GDDR3 Dual DVI-I HDTV Out HDCP DIRECTX10 Video Card In Stock 21406 $486.00 $486.00


TOTAL $1,936.62

[lost_in_bsd]

You may want to check to see if the vid can fit in the case, they are long cards but other that that looks like a decent setup. if you are spending that much on a case i would go with the antec solo. but im partial as i have used their cases for years. just dont use the power supplies.

fyi on that mobo run the sata in AHCI mode if you are in vista. gives a descent speed boost instead of emulating ide. or if you were really crazy you could run linux buuuut thats just me

[edit] errrr need to read the details a little more, its about 100 for that case so I'm out to lunch on the price. still recommend though, in fact I'm going to get one on Friday hopfully

[djayz]

I suggest staying with a seagate hardrive as they provide a 5 year warranty which is more than maxtor.

Also try building the system locally as you might save some money on shipping or might even be able to get cheaper parts. Memoryexpress would be a good place to start.

[spike98]

Originally posted by lost_in_bsd
You may want to check to see if the vid can fit in the case, they are long cards but other that that looks like a decent setup. if you are spending that much on a case i would go with the antec solo. but im partial as i have used their cases for years. just dont use the power supplies.

fyi on that mobo run the sata in AHCI mode if you are in vista. gives a descent speed boost instead of emulating ide. or if you were really crazy you could run linux buuuut thats just me

[edit] errrr need to read the details a little more, its about 100 for that case so I'm out to lunch on the price. still recommend though, in fact I'm going to get one on Friday hopfully

The vid card is 9in long and the case is 14" long. With the HDD in there i figure i should have 11". Will be tight but SHOULD fit lol

Originally posted by djayz
I suggest staying with a seagate hardrive as they provide a 5 year warranty which is more than maxtor.

Also try building the system locally as you might save some money on shipping or might even be able to get cheaper parts. Memoryexpress would be a good place to start.

Memex isn't local for me, im in medicine hat so i have shipping either way.

[gp36912]

i really dont think you would need a sli board unless hes a complete hardcore gamer that loves to throw the game into 1080p with all the settings on max, aa, everything. but then again if you can afford a tv that can do 1080p then money shouldnt be a problem.

[lost_in_bsd]

Maxtor is cheap now because they go bought out by seagate. and thats why places like memx do not carry them anymore. maxtor are still good drives though.