help me build a $3000-3500 computer

Jet · 12-18-2006, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jorday

I'm starting to understand a little bit more on the hard drives. So, the western digital raptorX 10k hard drive be kind of a nice balance between cost and performance since it is 10k rather than 7.2k or 15k?

Jet, I forgot about a sound card. Will the computer have had no sound without it?

If I want 2 hard drives, should I just order 2 of the same one, or get a cheaper second hard drive. Or is it really not worth it?

You are correct about a 10k being a nice balance between 15k.

You would have had sound, but it just would have been integrated into the motherboard. With a sound card, you get great sound, not just good. Paired with those speakers and a ~24" monitor, you have a high quality home theater system.

If you wanted 2 hard drives, I would put this configuration:
1. Western Digital Raptor 10k 150GB (for main programs, you could bump it down to a 74GB if you are going to be adding another hard drive)
2. high capacity (ie. 500+GB) SATA/7200RPM/16MB cache hard drive (for storage, etc)

Boomer · 12-18-2006, 08:31 PM

i like this thread

i'm jealous

tlarkin · 12-18-2006, 09:21 PM

there is always another route...probably going to get flamed for this one, but:

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL...tNrvULp/2.?p=0

Quote:

* Two 3.0GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
* 2GB (4 x 512MB)
* 250GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
* ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB (2 x dual-link DVI)
* One 16x SuperDrive
* Apple Keyboard and Mighty Mouse - U.S. English
* Mac OS X - U.S. English

Price: $3,846.00 - shipped.

This has dual xeons, can run windows natively, run windows virtually, run windows applications in OS X via cross over, runs a lot of video games better than windows does. I have seen it first hand run HL 2 and BF2 better than a similar spec'd PC.

Plus you get the best of both worlds, OS X, and Windows. I know its a tad bit out of your price range but when you pay shipping for everything else this will all match up. You can always add cheap things like HDs later on.

jorday · 12-18-2006, 10:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jet

You are correct about a 10k being a nice balance between 15k.

You would have had sound, but it just would have been integrated into the motherboard. With a sound card, you get great sound, not just good. Paired with those speakers and a ~24" monitor, you have a high quality home theater system.

If you wanted 2 hard drives, I would put this configuration:
1. Western Digital Raptor 10k 150GB (for main programs, you could bump it down to a 74GB if you are going to be adding another hard drive)
2. high capacity (ie. 500+GB) SATA/7200RPM/16MB cache hard drive (for storage, etc)

That's exactly what I was thinking of doing. Thanks man.

My thing about the sound would be this. I have a real nice home theatre in the same room where the computer is, and it cost twice as much as this computer is going to, so I wasn't sure what to do about the issue of sound/speakers.

Can someone help me choose a second hard drive please? I don't understand why there are so many that appear to be the exact same but the price is different.

liquidshadow · 12-19-2006, 12:11 AM

Since you have the funds, why not just go with 4 raptors than high-capacity drives?

Jet · 12-19-2006, 12:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jorday

That's exactly what I was thinking of doing. Thanks man.

My thing about the sound would be this. I have a real nice home theatre in the same room where the computer is, and it cost twice as much as this computer is going to, so I wasn't sure what to do about the issue of sound/speakers.

Can someone help me choose a second hard drive please? I don't understand why there are so many that appear to be the exact same but the price is different.

Since you already have a nice sound system, just get a nice audio card. I would even recommend this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829102189

since it has Dolby Digital EX and DTS-EX.

As far as the hard drive, it all depends what size you want. Most of these would be great:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...k=&srchInDesc=

Quote:

Originally Posted by liquidshadow

Since you have the funds, why not just go with 4 raptors than high-capacity drives?

Because he doesn't need them

jorday · 12-19-2006, 01:15 AM

K, here is the tenative parts list...

(2x) SAMSUNG 18X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write, LightScribe Technology Black IDE Model SH-S182M/BEBN - OEM

LIAN LI PC-60APLUSII W Silver Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

eVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail

Thermaltake toughpower W0117RU ATX12V/ EPS12V 750W Power Supply - Retail

EVGA 122-CK-NF68-AR Socket T (LGA 775) NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600

Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 SP2b w/Upgrade Coupon for Vista - OEM

G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL6D-4GBMQ - Retail

Now, all I should need is to choose a sound card, monitor and I also need MS office. Am I forgetting anything. Do I need cables or anything to hook the stuff up inside?

jorday · 12-19-2006, 03:09 AM

OK somebody give me one last thumbs up here so I can place my order.

Jet · 12-19-2006, 03:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jorday

K, here is the tenative parts list...

(2x) SAMSUNG 18X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write, LightScribe Technology Black IDE Model SH-S182M/BEBN - OEM

LIAN LI PC-60APLUSII W Silver Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

eVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail

Thermaltake toughpower W0117RU ATX12V/ EPS12V 750W Power Supply - Retail

EVGA 122-CK-NF68-AR Socket T (LGA 775) NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 Conroe 2.93GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557X6800 - Retail

Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 SP2b w/Upgrade Coupon for Vista - OEM

G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL6D-4GBMQ - Retail

Now, all I should need is to choose a sound card, monitor and I also need MS office. Am I forgetting anything. Do I need cables or anything to hook the stuff up inside?

1. Do you really want IDE DVD-Burners? the extra 2x isn't going to make much of a difference for most people.

2. Don't get the Thermaltake Power supply. The PC Power & Cooling will provide all the power you need. Also, you can't really compare the Thermaltake vs. the PCP&C regarding wattage as the PCP&C is one of the only companies that tells what temperature they tested their Power supplies with.
3. I also would recommend 4 1GB sticks of memory instead of 2 2GB sticks, as 2GB sticks don't have as good timings as the 1GB sticks

jorday · 12-19-2006, 04:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jet

1. Do you really want IDE DVD-Burners? the extra 2x isn't going to make much of a difference for most people.

2. Don't get the Thermaltake Power supply. The PC Power & Cooling will provide all the power you need. Also, you can't really compare the Thermaltake vs. the PCP&C regarding wattage as the PCP&C is one of the only companies that tells what temperature they tested their Power supplies with.
3. I also would recommend 4 1GB sticks of memory instead of 2 2GB sticks, as 2GB sticks don't have as good timings as the 1GB sticks

1. What's the alternative? 2x means I wanted 2 of them to make copies of stuff. That would work right. You think I should get those liteon drives instead?

2. You don't think the Thermaltake is worth the extra bucks, or are you saying it just isn't as good?

3. Well I was going to get that corsair RAM, but they just ran out of it today.

EDIT: now it says they have the corsair ram again.

12-18-2006, 08:31 PM	#22 (permalink)
Boomer Gold Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Peoria, AZ Age: 23 Posts: 275	i like this thread i'm jealous __________________ Pictures Laptop (Vista) / Desktop (Vista) HP dv9500t / Gigabyte GA-K8N Pro-SLI 939 C2D T7500 (2.2ghz) / AMD 64 X2 4400+ (2.66ghz) 7.2k 100gb +5.4k 160gb / 10k Raptors (RAID 0) + 7.2k 200gb 500gb 4gb DDR2 667 / Corsair XMS 3gb DDR 440 Nvidia 8600M GS / eVGA 7600 GT

12-19-2006, 12:11 AM	#25 (permalink)
liquidshadow Diamond Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Virginia, USA Posts: 1,030	Since you have the funds, why not just go with 4 raptors than high-capacity drives? __________________ Intel Q6600 \| D-Tek Fuzion Block Asus P5K Deluxe \| Swiftech MCR320 Rad G-Skill 4GB \| Swiftech MCRES-MICRO Res WD Raptor 150 \| EK FC8800 GTX Block Seagate 320GB \| 3 * Yate Loon DM12SL Samsung S182 \| Swiftech MCP655 Pump Coolmax 700W Antec P180b BUY MY STuff: http://www.computerforum.com/80556-comp.html

12-19-2006, 01:15 AM	#27 (permalink)
jorday New Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Age: 27 Posts: 17	K, here is the tenative parts list... (2x) SAMSUNG 18X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write, LightScribe Technology Black IDE Model SH-S182M/BEBN - OEM LIAN LI PC-60APLUSII W Silver Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM eVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail Thermaltake toughpower W0117RU ATX12V/ EPS12V 750W Power Supply - Retail EVGA 122-CK-NF68-AR Socket T (LGA 775) NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 SP2b w/Upgrade Coupon for Vista - OEM G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL6D-4GBMQ - Retail Now, all I should need is to choose a sound card, monitor and I also need MS office. Am I forgetting anything. Do I need cables or anything to hook the stuff up inside? Last edited by jorday; 12-19-2006 at 06:48 AM.

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12-19-2006, 03:09 AM	#28 (permalink)
jorday New Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Age: 27 Posts: 17	OK somebody give me one last thumbs up here so I can place my order.