http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134 - I recommend this, I have one and used it up until recently to great effect - they're great coolers.
500-1000$ What would you build?
- Thread starter ada///M
- Start date
Ok once again I'm sorry about being a n00b but before I pull the trigger on this I feel like I should ask one more time.
So what I'm getting iiiiissss:
CPU: Q6600
MBoard: GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3L
RAM: 4 X 1gig corsair DDR2
GPU: Saphire 1 gig 4870
PSU: OCZ 700watt GameXtreme
DD: LG SATA DVD-r Drive
Case: antec 300 case
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 32mb SATA 300 500gig
and I'm still undecided on cpu cooler and OS, but it seems like Vista is worth the $100?
please please let me know if there is anything obvious I'm missing as it's probably not obvious to me. Do these parts seem well-fitted to each other? Nothing standout crappy or standout expensive?
once again, thanks for all your help!
So what I'm getting iiiiissss:
CPU: Q6600
MBoard: GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3L
RAM: 4 X 1gig corsair DDR2
GPU: Saphire 1 gig 4870
PSU: OCZ 700watt GameXtreme
DD: LG SATA DVD-r Drive
Case: antec 300 case
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 32mb SATA 300 500gig
and I'm still undecided on cpu cooler and OS, but it seems like Vista is worth the $100?
please please let me know if there is anything obvious I'm missing as it's probably not obvious to me. Do these parts seem well-fitted to each other? Nothing standout crappy or standout expensive?
once again, thanks for all your help!
HumanMage
New Member
Maximum PC did an online article with an $800 build, right in the middle of your range.
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/how_build_a_kickass_800_gaming_pc
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/how_build_a_kickass_800_gaming_pc
2048Megabytes
Active Member
This $100 Windows Vista Premium 64-bit should work with your chosen hardware:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488
well I finished ordering everything (I think) yesterday. Probably going to be missing a few cables here or there once I get everything but I hope I got everything big.
ended up with...
64 bit vista home premium
OCZ 700w gamexstream
4 X 1G Corsair XMS2 DDR2
Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3L
Intel Q6600
HIS Radeon 4870 1GB
Sunbeam CR-CCTF 120mm
Antec 300
LG 22X dvd drive
Seagate 500GB 32mb SATA HDD
I'm mostly nervous about the cooler, I kinda got it because it was a good deal but I'm not sure it's going to be a painless install. Other than that I hope I'm set. Thanks again for everybodies help. This will be my first build so I'm sure there will be more questions, so thanks again in advance!
-adam
ended up with...
64 bit vista home premium
OCZ 700w gamexstream
4 X 1G Corsair XMS2 DDR2
Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3L
Intel Q6600
HIS Radeon 4870 1GB
Sunbeam CR-CCTF 120mm
Antec 300
LG 22X dvd drive
Seagate 500GB 32mb SATA HDD
I'm mostly nervous about the cooler, I kinda got it because it was a good deal but I'm not sure it's going to be a painless install. Other than that I hope I'm set. Thanks again for everybodies help. This will be my first build so I'm sure there will be more questions, so thanks again in advance!
-adam
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thank you for your ideas guys. atentora, I was thinking something along those lines. I like the q6600 OCed to a little over 3 gigs. I'm also thinking a antec 300 case unless anyone has any advice against it. HDD and DVD drive I think I have picked out. Motherboard and GPU are still up in the air though. It seems like my best bet for a new age build is to forget about my 8600 gts then? I figured so much, even though I've only had it about 2 months, so be it. I'm completely torn and confused on what I need though. Crossfire and SLI both seem sooo spendy, and if I can spend under 100$ on a single GPU board, I can see myself spending as much as 200-250ish on a good gpu.
Also, do you guys reccomend just the 2 gigs of ram that I already have or should I try and get 2 more sticks of the same stuff? Since I see they're only 11$ after rebate now
The 3 games I'm looking forward to playing most are Crysis, COD, and GTA4 if that helps any. I don't expect to max out the graphics with a semi-budget build but I'd like them somewhere near the top... am I clueless?
thanks again!
SLiing two older cards will not fill in for a brand new card. Look at the HD4850/HD4870's. Great cards. Mobo? P45, P43, X48...
RAM - Depends on what cas, speed, ect. For a Q6600, I'd prefer DDR2-1066 memory for overclocking. Most likely that XMS2 is DDR2-800. Also cas, if you're going in for a hardcore gaming machine, CL4 will give 20% more speed over CL5.
2048Megabytes
Active Member
A little bit of advice before assembling your system:
Electrostatic Discharge is simply the discharge of built up static electricity. Electrostatic discharge however, should not be taken lightly when working with computers.
Only 10 volts of electro static discharge can damage computer components. Walking across a carpet can generate up to 12,000 volts of electrostatic discharge. Electrostatic discharge is especially a problem in dry and cold climates.
Electro Static Discharge can cause two types of damage in an electronic component: catastrophic failure and or upset failure. Catastrophic failure destroys a component beyond use. An upset failure damages the component so that is does not perform well even though it may function to some degree.
At the very least, you should touch the bare, unpainted metal of your computer case frame before handling any computer components to prevent damage to any parts in your computer.
Electrostatic Discharge is simply the discharge of built up static electricity. Electrostatic discharge however, should not be taken lightly when working with computers.
Only 10 volts of electro static discharge can damage computer components. Walking across a carpet can generate up to 12,000 volts of electrostatic discharge. Electrostatic discharge is especially a problem in dry and cold climates.
Electro Static Discharge can cause two types of damage in an electronic component: catastrophic failure and or upset failure. Catastrophic failure destroys a component beyond use. An upset failure damages the component so that is does not perform well even though it may function to some degree.
At the very least, you should touch the bare, unpainted metal of your computer case frame before handling any computer components to prevent damage to any parts in your computer.
sounds good! Checkout my post right above yours there, #26, for the list of parts that I bought. About the ram, your guess appears correct. Here is a link to what I bought;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145177
2 sets, or 4 sticks at 1G each.
thanks for the advice about static discharge. I was aware of it before but I'm still not sure how I'm going to assembly the computer. There is carpet everywhere in my house so I was thinking of doing it out in the garage and maybe using a grounding strap if I can get my hands on one from work. I just hope the cold temps don't do in the parts while I try and save them from electric shock!
2048Megabytes
Active Member
Tell us when you get your new rig up and running. Pictures are a must as well 
uh oh, if that smiley is indicating that you all have been messing with me, I'm going to feel pretty dumb when I finish this up today (hopefully) and it starts on fire as soon as I plug it in...
hopefully everything works out and I'll have it running after work today! I just want to check everything out then I'm probably going to ask my old neighbor to help me with overclocking it
hopefully everything works out and I'll have it running after work today! I just want to check everything out then I'm probably going to ask my old neighbor to help me with overclocking it
up and running Prime 95 at 3204.1 MHz right now
about 20-25 minutes in and cpu temps are at 46, 46, 45, 44
It's my understanding that those are alright to pretty good temps.
MB temps are 29 and 39, and honestly I don't know which is which
I'm just running the default program in prime 95 and was wondering if that's what most others run to check for stability? Otherwise which test should I be running? I have a few other questions I'd like to ask right now but in fear of sounding ridiculous I'm going to do a bit of research instead.
Another 30 minutes maybe and I'll shut it down and try and snap a finalized picture for you guys. I tried to tuck and manage wiring as best I could but there were some spots where I was very limited by the length of wires without having any extensions at my disposal. Oh well...
about 20-25 minutes in and cpu temps are at 46, 46, 45, 44
It's my understanding that those are alright to pretty good temps.
MB temps are 29 and 39, and honestly I don't know which is which
I'm just running the default program in prime 95 and was wondering if that's what most others run to check for stability? Otherwise which test should I be running? I have a few other questions I'd like to ask right now but in fear of sounding ridiculous I'm going to do a bit of research instead.
Another 30 minutes maybe and I'll shut it down and try and snap a finalized picture for you guys. I tried to tuck and manage wiring as best I could but there were some spots where I was very limited by the length of wires without having any extensions at my disposal. Oh well...
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ok so I've been working on my processor speeds and I'm kind of lost. Im sure some of this is going to sound pretty stupid but here goes.
I initially started at 333 x 9 and just started bumping it up slowly up to 356. I've ran it like this for a couple of days with no problems whatsoever. I ran the default prime95 for about 40 minutes and got a max temp of 48 on one of the cores. This is with the VCore still set at the default, or "auto". After looking at the voltages though, they seem to get pretty high, CPUID recorded a max Vcore of 1.34 during the stress test.
So today, for no reason other than curiosity I tried to bump the cpu up to 361 (3250MHz) with the vcore still left on auto. I ran a prime 95 for about 30 minutes and only got to 49C but again the voltages were bumping around 1.3 . But I figure wth, its still only 49C so I bump it up to 366(3300) again at auto and after about 30 minutes the temp was 52C but then after it finished it's first test and switched to the second the temps rose faster than usual up to 55C so I stopped and saw that the max Vcore was 1.36
Ok so now I go back to BIOS and change the vcore from auto for the first time. Since I noticed before that the vcore was stable just under 1.3 for most of the test, I set it to the nearest setting under that, 1.294. Now I run another prime95 at 366 and it looks great, not getting above 49C for about 20 minutes. Then my computer suddenly restarted. The Vcore that CPUZ was showing during this whole test was only 1.232 .
What is going on?! If CPUZ is accurate then I was seeing as much as 1.34 on auto but only 1.232 when I had it set at 1.294? Before I go screwing anything up, what do you guys think I should do?
-thanks
I initially started at 333 x 9 and just started bumping it up slowly up to 356. I've ran it like this for a couple of days with no problems whatsoever. I ran the default prime95 for about 40 minutes and got a max temp of 48 on one of the cores. This is with the VCore still set at the default, or "auto". After looking at the voltages though, they seem to get pretty high, CPUID recorded a max Vcore of 1.34 during the stress test.
So today, for no reason other than curiosity I tried to bump the cpu up to 361 (3250MHz) with the vcore still left on auto. I ran a prime 95 for about 30 minutes and only got to 49C but again the voltages were bumping around 1.3 . But I figure wth, its still only 49C so I bump it up to 366(3300) again at auto and after about 30 minutes the temp was 52C but then after it finished it's first test and switched to the second the temps rose faster than usual up to 55C so I stopped and saw that the max Vcore was 1.36
Ok so now I go back to BIOS and change the vcore from auto for the first time. Since I noticed before that the vcore was stable just under 1.3 for most of the test, I set it to the nearest setting under that, 1.294. Now I run another prime95 at 366 and it looks great, not getting above 49C for about 20 minutes. Then my computer suddenly restarted. The Vcore that CPUZ was showing during this whole test was only 1.232 .
What is going on?! If CPUZ is accurate then I was seeing as much as 1.34 on auto but only 1.232 when I had it set at 1.294? Before I go screwing anything up, what do you guys think I should do?
-thanks
2048Megabytes
Active Member
Nice pictures, thanks for the update.
Unfortunately I don't overclock so I can't help you. I leave my system running at manufacturer specifications as I prefer system stability over a 10 to 20 percent increase in processing power. Good luck.
Unfortunately I don't overclock so I can't help you. I leave my system running at manufacturer specifications as I prefer system stability over a 10 to 20 percent increase in processing power. Good luck.