JonH

Since my last post, I have put the "off the shelf" purchase on the back burner and have read more and assembled a machine for my Photoshop and video rendering work. My kids could possibly do gaming, but this is mostly mine. Of course, there will be a lot of other useage, but the PS and video will probably be the toughest work for it.

Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz 2X4mb L2 cache
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115017


MOBO: Gigabyte GA-EX38-DS4
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128089


Video Card: GeForce 8800GT 512mb 256-bit 600MHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130318


RAM: Corsair XMS2 4gb DDR2 (2X2gb)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145176


Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Extreme Gamer
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829102006


HD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500gb 7200rpm
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148288



O/S: Vista Home Premium SP1 64bit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82e16832116488


PSU: OCZ Game X Stream 700 watt
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817341002


Card Reader: Koutech IO-ROM620
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820162016


DVD-ROM Drive: LITE-ON
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82e16827106095


Case: Cooler Master
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119068


Monitor: Samsung 2253BW 22” Widescreen
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824001268


CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freeze 7 Pro
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835186134

Some notes:
Future upgrades - A second monitor. A second hard drive. Another 4 gb of RAM.
I have a DVD writer with Lite Scribe that I plan to install.

Why a 700w PSU? Because the 600w psu costs the same.

Why 64bit Vista? Because I'm still a bit on the fence, but am falling into the yard with 64. My printers, scanner, tablet, et al, all have available 64bit drivers.

Do I need a CPU cooler? or is that going WAY overboard? I don't mind going a bit overboard. Heat is the enemy

Also, I tend to keep my machines for several years, so I would like to "over build" and then let it be useful for a long time - if that makes any sense.

Any comments would be appreciated. If you can, please list WHY I'm nutty using a particular component.

Thanks in advance for all the help,
Jon in American Fork

oscaryu1

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127325

Stock cooler will be fine. ACF7 is still a fine budget OC cooler.

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JonH

Thanks Oscar. I opted out of the CPU cooler (I guess the CPU already has a built-in fan, yes?) and re-directed that saved $$ towards your reccomended video card.

You have been the only responder. Does that mean that it's a good build? (I hope so because I already started ordering stuff!! )

Thanks for the help,
Jon in American Fork

myPCrocks

Everything looks good Jon.

__________________
AMD x2 3800,
ABIT AN8-ULTRA
ZALMAN CNPS7700-CU 120mm
Mushkin High-Performance PC3200 2GB (2 x 1GB)
eVGA 7800GT 256MB
Western Digital Raptor 36.7GB 10,000 RPM 8MB Cache
Western Digital 250GB, 16mb cache, 3.0`Sata
HP DVD Black 16X With LightScribe
Dell UltraSharp 1905FP LCD
TT Shark (Black)
OCZ PowerStream 520W PS
Running Xp Pro.

Respital

Yup everything looks awesome, good luck.

__________________

UriA702

The onboard audio on that MOBO is pretty good, is the sound card really necessary?

__________________
CPU: Wolfdale e8400
Mobo: Asus p5k-se
Ram: 4 gb 1066 mhz G.skill 4-4-4-12
Video: EVGA 8800gt
Lite-on IDE 20x dvd-ram/16x lite-on dvd-rom
Monitor: 22" KDS LCD
Raidmax smilodon case
500 watt raidmax psu

Photos: http://mynetimages.com/album/uria702

diduknowthat

I would personally drop the motherboard down to the Gigabyte one w/ the P35 chipset (forgot what it's called) and redirect some money to making the computer more usable. For example, I would get a quieter heatsink, like the Scythe Ninja, and a quieter fan, like two Noctua 120mm fans. This way your computer will be much quieter. One problem with custom PCs is that not many people pay attention to cooling and sound anymore.

__________________

Silent Tuned | 3D Marks 06: 11566
Q6600 2.4ghz CPU | Gigabyte GA-P35 LGA 775 MB
EVGA 8800gt 512mb Video Card
G.Skill 4GB Ram | Western Digital 400GB HD
X-Fi Xtrememusic Sound Card
Antec P180B Case | Scyth Ninja HSF
CM Real Power Pro 650watt PSU

Vizy93

looks good John. i don't know if the soundcard would be necessary but w/e

__________________

Turn the Page, bobby valentino

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bobby V. Baby, you don't have to turn the page, I've read the story: It ends with you and me You don't have to walk away, The story will change, Baby, please don't turn the page

oscaryu1

No problem. A Retail CPU will give you a "free" cooler with it. It's usually enough for everything.

You won't be dissappointed in that GFX.

Yes, it IS a good build. Every part, I'd also recommend myself.

__________________

JonH

Everyone,

Thanks a million for all the input. 99.9% of my information and knowledge is from this forum. I will keep you informed after it's assembled and up and running.

Thanks again,
Jon in American Fork