Kurtdg21

First and foremost I'd like to say hi to everyone, the names Curt and this is my first computer tech. related forum i've joined. I've done a bit of surfing the boards here and there and I'm finally ready to join the community in hopes of gaining more knowledge, so yes! i am a noob .

Now I'm not a full blown noob when it comes to computers...I use them everyday doing whatever my hearts desire. I do have quite a bit of experience in CAD and a few other designing software as well as performing the routine installation of a pci, ram, etc. upgrade. I enjoying gaming (who doesn't?) and I'm always eager to learn or do something new (even if it means I get blown up with the pc ).

Basically I've come to ask advice and whatever other type of critisicm ya'll think would help me out a bit. About a month ago I decided it was about time to get a new pc, but instead of doing it the easy and "have-no-say" way, I want to build my own from the ground up and decide what I put in the beast.

I've pretty much used newegg as my main source, heh, my only source of online shopping for components, and I'll try to provide as much info as possible on the setup I can. So enough of the intro, lets get into the good techocobable

I'm basically looking for a build thats around the 1000 US dollar range. Mind you I do have a working lcd monitor atm, but I will be upgrading in the very very near future of this build, so thats not fully reserved in my range.

I'll go ahead and start the list of components I've been eyeballing.

Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813186098
Its a foxconn, and yesterday I noticed that it had a HUGE price drop (85 bucks), so I made the decision to go with this instead of the EVGA nforce 590.

RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231098
I'm still a bit up for grabs on this, but it seems like a good snag. I'm definately wanting at least 2gigs.

CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103778

Vid Card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130056
I know its not Directx 10, but for the price I think this is about the best I can come across atm. Plus with evga's upgrade plan, I think its a suitable decision. I do plan on utilizing sli also

PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817189014
Seems worthy enough...just wondering how it would fair when I utilize sli.

HD:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822135106
I want two of them so I can set them up in RAID. Don't have any experience with setting a RAID up, but I'm eager to do it.

Case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811170022
I don't want anything too extreme, does come with two 120mm fans. I may upgrade those later.

Optical Drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827129007
I don't do a lot of burning, but I feel this will suit me well for when I do.

and of coarse an OS:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116171
Not quite ready to upgrade to vista.

That pretty much wraps everything up minus the monitor (looking at a 19" widescreen). One big question mark I have is whether or not I should opt for a floppy drive. I'm leaning towards yes, as it may help. Any input is greatly appreciated!!

I'm going to be using this pc for normal usage (browsing web, office apps.), 3d designing, gaming, and whatnot. Anyways thanks for anything you all can offer.

Maddhatter

hey man and welcome to the forums. I gotta say for $1000 i think you could build something you would be much happier with. This is just my opinion of course. Are you an AMD fan or is there another reason you chose that particular CPU? You say 3d designing and gaming to me intel is the way to go when it comes to that stuff (im not a fanboy or anything infact i own a 3500+ atm and have never even used a C2D but i have heard nothing but good things). The cache on that cpu is really what makes it a no go for 3d programs. It's your final choice either way you go but i would check out some benchmarks and maybe do a little more research before making that final decision. $1000 is a lot to spend on a pc and i know i would want something thats gonna last well into the future.

__________________
Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6320 Conroe 1.86GHz
PSU: Rosewill 400W
Ram: G.Skill 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit
GPU: Ati Radeon x1800xt 256 mb
OS: Windows XP Professional 64 bit

CPTMuller

Yeah Im with that guy
Add your own HDD OS Monitor ETC I would suggest changing the PSU and GPU:

Case: APEVIA X-Navigator ATXA9NW-BK/500 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply - Retail
~100$

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 (rev. 1.3) LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
~95$

Proccesor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 Conroe 2.13GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail
~190$

Graphics Card: EVGA 256-P2-N636-AR GeForce 7950GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail
~200$

Memmory: Mushkin Mushkin 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
~120$

Power Supply: Cooler MasterCOOLER MASTER eXtreme Power RP-550-PCAR ATX from factor 12V V2.01 550W Power Supply 115/230 V Nemko, TUV, cUL, CE, BSM, FCC, CCC - Retail
~70$

Optical Drive: Lite-On LITE-ON Black 16X DVD-ROM 52X CD-R 32X CD-RW 52X CD-ROM 1.5MB Cache SATA Combo Drive - OEM
~26$

__________________
Specs of my main PC:Laptop (Thinkpad X61)
C2D e6320, NVIDIA 7950GT (Factory OC) : C2D T7100, Intel GMA 965 Express
2gb ram 533mhz DDR2, 320GB 7200RPM : 1gb ra, 80gb 5400RPM
Soundblaster X-FI Xtreme Audio, Linksys 10/100 Ethernet Card : on board Audio, on board Ethernet

Tuffie

Yeah you should go with intel.

Kent.

__________________
formerly XRT
The Image Board Of Gods

lovely?

look. psu's are a huge part of your computer build. 550W may be good for a fe years, but computers in the future will require much more power. i strongly reccomend this psu: OCZ gameXstream 700W PSU just ask another member, hpi, about it. i reccomenede it to him and he absolutely LOVES it. they are so strong, and they are very efficient too. some of the most powerful and efficient for the price.

EDIT: oh and welcome to computer forum. if you need anything, just PM me and ill try and help

__________________
E4500 @ 2.93GHZ
ASUS P5K-DELUXE
2GB OCZ Reaper CL3 @ 800MHZ 3-4-4-15
eVGA 8800GT
OZC GameXStream 700W PSU
320GB WD Caviar SATA, 80GB WD Caviar IDE

Sometimes scientists make things alot harder than they need to. All they've gotta do is put a big spring on the ground where they think it's gonna land, or send a mission to the moon to erect a sign that says "Welcome to Earth".

lovely?

lol why would you buy a case with a psu in it anyways? just buy one that doesnt come with one, and maybe splurge and get an antec p180

__________________
E4500 @ 2.93GHZ
ASUS P5K-DELUXE
2GB OCZ Reaper CL3 @ 800MHZ 3-4-4-15
eVGA 8800GT
OZC GameXStream 700W PSU
320GB WD Caviar SATA, 80GB WD Caviar IDE

Sometimes scientists make things alot harder than they need to. All they've gotta do is put a big spring on the ground where they think it's gonna land, or send a mission to the moon to erect a sign that says "Welcome to Earth".

daisymtc

Nice Build.
For M/B, I will wait for the P35.
And GPU, I suggesting 8600GT/ 8600GTS

Kurtdg21

First and foremost I just wanna say thanks for all the info, its greatly appreciated.

You know I never really looked into intels core 2 duo's, but after reading a little bit on them, they do seem to outperform the AMD X2's in just about every category I've seen. I'm not necessarily an AMD buff, but I've been using them ever since my last P3 which was like 7 years ago or so hehe.

Thanks for that intel build you posted CPTMuller, I'm definately looking around at intel based machines now. The only thing I'm worried about is getting a motherboard that supports full sli support in 2x16. Most of the intel boards I've looked support x16 in one pcie, and only x8 in the other. I could go up a bit higher and spend the extra cash on one that does support 2x16, but taking in account of the cpu I may be getting out of my range (since I'm going to be buying two vid cards ).

I also think I may need a bit more power outta a psu, so I think i'm back to looking around a bit for one of those hehe (thanks for the link lovely). This may be harder than I thought to get what I'm looking for

Thanks again for the feedback everyone!!

b3rt_d4ni3l

If you are looking for 2 PCIe that can run x16 for both slot, definitely look for this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131073

or maybe this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131153

not sure the difference between 680i and 650i, wait for others' comment on this matter.

__________________
The Rig:
Intel Q6600 G0 Stepping || Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
MSI GeForce 8800GTX OC || GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R Rev. 2.0
Corsair XMS2 2x1GB 4-4-4-12 || 2 x Western Digital SataII 500GB
Lite-On w/ LightScribe || Creative X-Fi XtremeGamer
ASUS PhysX Physics Card || PC Power & Cooling Silencer Quad 750W Black
XION Onyx XON-301 Black || Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit

CPTMuller

680i had its kinks when I first read about it but It definately has my vote.

__________________
Specs of my main PC:Laptop (Thinkpad X61)
C2D e6320, NVIDIA 7950GT (Factory OC) : C2D T7100, Intel GMA 965 Express
2gb ram 533mhz DDR2, 320GB 7200RPM : 1gb ra, 80gb 5400RPM
Soundblaster X-FI Xtreme Audio, Linksys 10/100 Ethernet Card : on board Audio, on board Ethernet