PC Building

[Rank_Tyro]

The bleeding edge being where it is right now, pick a processor at the second price break and you will be getting a really nice processor at a pretty good discount.

If you go with AMD, get a motherboard with a very fast frontside bus and you will not notice the difference between AMD or Intell.

 

[MithShrike]

Tom, using NewEgg I came up with a somewhat different parts list. Unlike ZipZoomFly, NewEgg doesn't have free shipping on everything so the total is without shipping. I'm just posting the component and the part no. so you can search it out and look for yourself.

http://www.newegg.com/

LG 18X DVD±RW
N82E16827136108

ASRock 6100/430 Socket AM2 motherboard
N82E16813157101

eVGA 7600GT 256MB video card
N82E16814130073

Antec SmartPower 2.0 500W power supply
N82E16817103937

Corsair ValueRAM 2GB kit
N82E16820145098

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+
N82E16819103046

Windows XP Pro SP2b
N82E16832116175

The total NewEgg shows is $654.94. There's about $50 in rebates not deducted from the total and probably about $20 more to add in shipping. I don't screw around with rebates personally. Oooh wait a minute NewEgg has a distribution center in NJ so you'd have to pay taxes. I'd stick with ZipZoomFly.

OK so ZZF... I changed the parts list some because there were some features you may want that were missing on the first motherboard. The new configuration has 2GB RAM and a slightly less powerful video card.

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/

LG 18X DVD±RW
174262

AMD Athlon64 X2 3800+
80721-10

Corsair 2GB kit
85016-47

ASUS M2N AMD Socket AM2 motherboard
247112

Antec SmartPower 2.0 500W power supply
273503

eVGA 7600GT 256MB video card
322834

Microsoft Windows XP Pro SP2b
604631

Total: $679.46 including shipping and there is no tax.

 

[MithShrike]

Oh and Tom, something else I thought up. Are you in university at the moment? Most universities have a deal with M$ so that Winders is only like $10 or something. If you work, you may want to check if your company is a Microsoft partner, sometimes, employers have a deal similar to the universities.

 

[caudio51]

Thanks guys...I've been busy so I haven't had a moment to really dive into your reccos but they are greatly apppreciated.

My company has a partnership with Dell, my g/f is currently a grad student so I might be able to get a discount on an op system through her.

Yea, tax with Newegg sucks and the distrobution center is 20 min away. WOuld be faster for me just to pick it up

 

[MithShrike]

Something else I remembered...

http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSales/topics/global.aspx/arb/online/en/InventorySearch?c=us&cs=22&l=en&s=dfh

For model, put E521 and then specify the operating system as Windows XP Media Center. There should be some very well priced machines. You could probably get away with specifying the media bay as DVD/RW

 

[caudio51]

Thoughts (minus vid card)?

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz ($316)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115003

MoBo: ASUS P5B LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard ($125)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131030

PSU: Antec NeoPower NeoHE 550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817103941

Memory: OCZ Platinum Revision 2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit ($200 after Rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227139

 

[joshua]

Yea, tax with Newegg sucks and the distrobution center is 20 min away. WOuld be faster for me just to pick it up

They will still ship stuff from california half the time anyway cause its not in stock in NJ.

Looks like they are having site issues. Just make sure the processor you get matches the motherboard. Video card, if you aren't playing games then I would suggest going with the middle priced Radeon's as they have good 2D support. You can get one with dual DVI and add a second display later. It's really nice having an extra screen of desktop space sometimes. Here at work it was a pain in the butt when we only had one monitor.

 

[MithShrike]

Tom, are you going to be over-clocking? I put this list together thinking you would. I still would switch to ZZF. Anyway, I'll play on NewEgg.

Core 2 Duo E4300 - $169
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115013
Good budget processor, lower FSB than 6300 and over-clocks just as well.

Biostar TForce P965 - $104.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138039
Excellent board, especially for the price. Unlike many other 965/975 boards out there, the Biostar doesn't use the JMicron IDE controller.

OCZ Gold 2x1GB PC2 7200 - $179.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227153
Excellent RAM. OCZ has done very well and this is the choice for many Core 2 overclockers.

I think your PSU selection is fine Tom. Although I'd go with an Antec EA500 to save a few dollars. Or, at the same price point, get the TrioPower 650.

It looks like you're going for a little bit more high end and it also looks like your budget is a bit more than the $700 if you're considering the above hardware. As far as your video card choices go, I'd go with one of these:

eVGA 256MB 7600GT - $109.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130073

or

eVGA 256MB 7900GS $154.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130056

 

[MithShrike]

If you want an ATI flavored video card then I recommend one of these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048+4017+50001561+106790809+1068509619&Subcategory=48&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc=

 

[caudio51]

Yea I got to playing around and it came out to a bit more. I'd rather go a bit high end and get some better stuff.

I'll def be going with zoom, newegg is just easier to navigate and pick parts out.

I actually know very little behind over clocking other than the theory

 

[MithShrike]

Yea I got to playing around and it came out to a bit more. I'd rather go a bit high end and get some better stuff.

I'll def be going with zoom, newegg is just easier to navigate and pick parts out.

I actually know very little behind over clocking other than the theory

Yeah ZZF is definitely for those who know what they want. I've been using them over NewEgg for just about everything now. Anyway, overclocking is fairly simple and with those components it should be fairly easy. Although, the stock CPU heatsink/fan will allow for some modest overclocking, a new heatsink/fan would be in order to reach higher speeds.

 

[Rank_Tyro]

Over-clocking is easy folks!

When your motherboard starts smoking and sparking, just dial it back a bit.....

Fun aside, I would suggest adding a second hard drive of equal size but of a different manufacture. Definitely not a Maxtor, though. Use the first drive for everything but back up everything like resumes, important documents, pictures, movies, videos and mp3s to the second on a regular basis.

If the first drive fails, and your computer won't boot, you have a backup. If you get stung with a virus, you can use a knoppix disc and a USB hard drive to get your important files off of the computer so there is no danger of losing them if you have to burn it down and re-install the OS.