Helping a friend build a new computer  | | | 
March 5th, 2007, 02:16 PM
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#1 (permalink)
| | Ultimate Member
Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Airolo, Switzerland
Posts: 2,320
| Helping a friend build a new computer
I have a good friend who has asked me to help him to build a new computer. I mailed him this list, tell me what you guys think! Positive input is great, but I would rather recieve constructive critisizem 
I need special help on the video card!!  Quote:
Well, for a processor, I would get the top of the line core 2 extreme. Unless you are not willing to pay for the best one. I'll set up for the best one and you can "downgrade" from there to save money. So as a suggestion I would reccomend
Processor: The Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115011
Motherboard: ASUS P5NSLI
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131032
Video card: I am going to do some reserch, It will take me about a day to do. With so many video cards and so many different specifications, It is hard to keep up with the current market, so I'll have to see what is going on at the moment... Sorry to not be able to reccomend one right now.
RAM: pqi TURBO 2GB (2 x 1GB)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820141211
Case: your preference!! Depends what you like. Personally I like the midtowers and I really like the case I have now, it is an Aspire
Power Supply: WHATEVER You do DO NOT use the power supply that comes with the case, it is usually crap. I would use this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817171018
The hard drive is a tough one. If I had the money I would set up dual hard drives. A large one such as this for storage:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822144171
Then a Raptor for storing the games
Then lastly the DVD drive. I like burners, but you might not. I really like this one that I have, and I would reccomend it to anyone:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827131014
You may also want to put in a Floppy drive, but you can probably salvage that from your old (or an old) computer. In fact if you wanted to you could also take the optical drive(s) out of your current computer.
As for the OS, I actually don't think Vista is worth it. I would get XP professional or media edition. Depends on if you are going to use music a lot ;p
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March 5th, 2007, 02:47 PM
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#2 (permalink)
| | Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Worcester, MA
Posts: 670
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A Tad lost here...Your going to spend almost close to a grand on a Chip the rest of the stuff isnt really worth getting lol. I mean PQI Turbo Ram  ? Coolmaster PSU? I would also rethink about the mobo aswell. Sorry thats just my 2 cents in this...I mean If I am going to Spend 1grand on a CPU I better get the best out the of the rest aswell.
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March 5th, 2007, 02:49 PM
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#3 (permalink)
| | Ultimate Member
Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: San Antonio, TX
Posts: 1,420
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That CPU with that Mobo, just doesn't go together in my head. You are getting the best CPU out there, yet downgrading the mobo?? If he's will to spend the money, then get a top of the line mobo as well. You don't want to scrimp on the core components.
Also, not ALL PSU's that come with the case are crap, but with that type of system, he'll want a pretty beefy PSU. I'd recommend a 600W minimum, depending on the Graphics card. If he wants top of the line in everything, then the video card shouldn't be sacrificed, either. Get an 8800GTS of 8800GTX and he should be happy for several years to come 
OS, I'd say get Vista, if he were to build a system that costly, because Vista will take more advantage of the great hardware going into that than XP will. Vista is fine, now, except for a few small and random driver issues.
For hard drives, I've found that the raptors really are NOT a necessity as they don't boost the performance too much unless you set them up in a RAID 0 configuration. This is when you truly notice the difference between the Raptors and the regular SATA drives. I'd say just get a Seagate Perpendicular Recording hard drive and leave it at that
Did a build not too long ago and already did all this research, so it was pretty easy to write all this off the top of my head :P If you need links, then hopefully I'll remember to check TechIMO again later this evening. Have a good one.
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My Rig:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 3.16||6GB OCZ Rev2 DDR2 800 @ 1:1 ratio
MSI 975X Platinum||GTX 275 896MB ||WD Black 640GB and 2x80GB RAID 0
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March 5th, 2007, 03:23 PM
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#4 (permalink)
| | Ultimate Member
Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Airolo, Switzerland
Posts: 2,320
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Thanks for the quick reply. Now that I have re thought it, I think it is probably better to get this CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115003
or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115003
Depending on how much he is willing to spend.
As for the Hard Drive, I think you probably are right. I'll do a little reserch to see what is a good size and speed hard drive.
With this slight downgrade, is Vista still a good choice, and also, the video card, could someone give me a link to what I should reccomend?
As for the motherboard, I was thinking http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813127019
or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131153
I am a big ABIT fan, but another one of my friends likes ASUS better. (I also like ASUS, but I have had 2 motherboards in my life, and I liked the ABIT one better) EDIT I think he will really enjoy the raptor hard drive. I really think this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136034
is worth it. However, you guys seem to not think so. What do you reccomend? (Actually I am biased. I had an old 5400 RPM hard drive, and after getting a WD Raptor and setting it to Raid 0 I just can't imagine life with a slower hard drive. I understand that the Raptor is really not a good "bang for the buck"...)
Last edited by GiPilot12 : March 5th, 2007 at 03:39 PM.
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March 5th, 2007, 03:58 PM
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#5 (permalink)
| | Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Worcester, MA
Posts: 670
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March 5th, 2007, 04:03 PM
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#6 (permalink)
| | Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 919
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I have seen some nice things about that MB why are you guys trashin it ?
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OCZ PC-6400 5-4-4-15 800mhz 1.9v / Corsair 620hx / 8800gt @ 740/1800/1000 24/7
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March 5th, 2007, 05:11 PM
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#7 (permalink)
| | Training for Bankai
Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Milwaukee, WI
Posts: 5,981
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Theres absolutely nothing wrong with his choice of Mobo, or memory...
At this level there is no reason to put an emphasis on overclocking, which is the only reason to pay more for slightly higher end components..
As for the CoolerMaster, THAT I would replace, MUCH better can be had for around the same price http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104954
Last edited by JPMiller : March 5th, 2007 at 07:58 PM.
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March 5th, 2007, 10:14 PM
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#8 (permalink)
| | 分かりますか。
Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Gville, FL
Posts: 7,156
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Everyone seems to be firing in the dark here.
To make suggestions, its very neccessary to state the budget and purpose of this computer.
As JP said, if no overclockering, no need for top of the line ram or mobo.
If hes getting a mid range GPU, no need for anything over a 500W PSU.
Give us some more insight | |
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March 5th, 2007, 10:50 PM
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#9 (permalink)
| | ph34r t3h g04t
Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Kingsford, MI
Posts: 19,528
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Just to give you a bit of an idea, I did something similar for a friend recently.
Sony 16X DVD+/-R\RW
Coolermaster Centurion 534 ATX Mid-tower case
Western Digital Caviar SE WD2000JS 200GB SATA 3.0GB/s hard drive
Hanns.G HW-191DPB 19", 5ms DVD widescreen LCD monitor
EVGA 320-P2-N8AA-AR GeForce 8800GTS 320MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP video card
FSP Group AX500-A Rev2.0 500W power supply
2x1GB Kingston ValueRAM DDR2 533 (PC2 4200)
ABIT AB9 Pro LGA775 Intel P965 Express motherboard
Intel Core 2 Duo e6300 Conroe 1.86GHz processor
Currently $1,201.42 before shipping.
All available through newegg, and I researched the components to make sure they would all play together.
It doesn't seem like he needs a monitor, so there's $180 gone from that price. We also swapped out the case for a Lian-Li, for a $50 more (muuuuch better case).
It's not a super-system by any means, but it will run circles around the one I have in which I spent the same amount just on video, ram, drives, and memory. There isn't a game I can't play on high. I don't know what he's using the computer for, but unless he's insane, spending more than $1,500 is a waste of money, IMO. | 
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March 6th, 2007, 08:37 AM
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#10 (permalink)
| | Ultimate Member
Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Airolo, Switzerland
Posts: 2,320
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He sent me back this e-mail Quote:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...o.x=13&Go.y=33)
Also I sent him an e-mail back warning him about the difference between OEM and Retail.
The rest looks good thanks for helping out guys!
Last edited by GiPilot12 : March 6th, 2007 at 08:44 AM.
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