A huge favour! PC Build

[J_Tweedy]

I know some of you are hardware whizzes...here's your time to shine.
Ok, im building a computer for my friend and her fiance, and am just making sure im not missing anything. They want it for games, need a DVD writer, keyboard, screen and mouse, no software needed. Problem is, it has to be built from this site www.ascent.co.nz
It's a good site, keep in mind prices are higher here in New Zealand than in the US and IK, and all prices are in NZ dollars ($1=~70C US) They have a free build and a good solid reputation, plus free delivery, which is why i need it from here. (oh how I wish newegg delivered to NZ!)
Here's the page http://www.ascent.co.nz/preset_configs.asp?ctype=CC, the page takes a while to load, cos it loads all the lists on the same page for each component. Please, any advice within the boundaries of this site would be greatly appreciated. Also all the items have to be in stock- ordering it in the weekend!

MAX $1800 NZ, but cheaper would be great.
Thanks for your time

 

[duffers20]

Wow, those prices are expensive! The graphics cards are especially expensive! I converted the price of a 9800pro 128mb from $388NZ to $271US which is roughly £150! You can get one for 60 on some sites, but they are round about £90. Anyway to get back on topic, you could build a kinda good pc on there, but you will need to get pretty low performance componants to keep the price down.

 

[Adidajs]

what's the price range you're trying to stay within? otherwise we could suggest to our heart's content.

 

[sinkoman]

Wow. I tried putting a pretty decent gaming pc together with that online form, and I got stopped at the cpu. 520 is allot to be paying for a 3500+.

EDIT: Wow, that's a REALLY tight budget you're running there. I tried putting together a basic gaming pc and hung up at 2200. I put in a 6800gt and a GA-K8NFSU. And I couldn't make heads or tails of their memory (OCZ 2x512 DDR-SDRAM means jack).

What I had put in there:

A64 3500+ (they didn't specify cores)
Leadtech 6800gt
GA-K8NFSU9
WDC 36gig Raptor
Cheapest dvd writer I could find by a good company
lian li v1000


I think you'd be better off going with a 754 mobo, a 3400+, and a 6600gt. Unless, you think sometime in the future they're gonna want to upgrade this pc.

 

[J_Tweedy]

yeah that's the problem, they want to be able to pgrade- i had:
MSI socket 939 PCI-E mobo
A64 3000+ (not great but it'l have to do)
I gig A-Data ddr400 RAM
Powercolour x700pro
80gig SATA
And a screen, keyboard, mouse, 3R case, etc
And it came to $1799. The budget is 1800.
Im not happy with the RAM or the CPU but they will 'suffice'- Whaddya guys reckon? OK setup? I know its expensive- it just shows what a deal you guys get in the States and UK, but oh well.
And what's better, X700pro or Leadtek 6600gt? (both pci-e)

 

[bosox188]

The 6600GT is better.

 

[sinkoman]

The 6600GT is better.

Much much better.

 

[J_Tweedy]

Ok, any other variations on that setup above? Or pretty good?

 

[sinkoman]

We'll, what case have you got? The're going to want something that looks good. I would suggest a Lian-Li pc 65b (if you've got the black drives, or the time to stealth them) or a pc 65. I have a 65b. Beautifull case. Words, nor pictures, do them justice.

Of course, if they want something more extravangant and flashy (I myself like the sleek sophisticated look) they could go for one of those cases Alienware uses. I forgot who makes them, but I know i've seen them on newegg. Those look good.

EDIT: Oh and what kinda hsf do you have for that cpu? If you can, try to grab a xp-120 (not sure if it'd fit that mobo though) or an xp-90 if a 120 won't fit, and overclock the cpu. I hear the 3000's are really good overclockers, and with a 120, i'm sure you could hit 2.2 and beyond with eaze. Maybe you could even put together your own watercooling kit. I don't know how hard that'd be, since i've never ventured there, but then you could overclock both the card and the cpu to there full potential. I don't think putting together your own water cooling setup would be too hard, even though I don't know much about it. I would just imagine some pvc tubing, some cool looking green non condusive (conductive, whatever) fluid, a radiator, a fish tank pump, some heatblocks, and a few 120 fans. Everything but the tubing and the tank pump you should beable to get at an overclocking store for reletively cheap, and i'd imagine getting some tubing and a pump from a hardware store would be cheaper than ordering.

 

[J_Tweedy]

Its a 3R System R700. Nothing special. Ill look into the Lian-Li

 

[sinkoman]

Its a 3R System R700. Nothing special. Ill look into the Lian-Li

Read t3h edit :cheese:

 

[ComradeBadger]

Read t3h edit :cheese:

Haha I wouldn't recommend watercooling on your first build..

 

[J_Tweedy]

The Lian-li's a bit expensive, and the 3R comes with a psu, so i have to stick with that really.
The cpu is the retail box so comes with retail HSF. I myself have a 3200+ and I never get over 45C under load with stock HSF so i think they'll be OK with that untill they want to squeeze some more out of it.
I went with a Gigabyte pci-e skt939 mobo in the end. Cheapest one there, is it an OK brand? It's got the VIA chipset which ive heard bad things about, but can't afford nforce4

 

[sinkoman]

Hmm, didn't realize it was his first build.

Oh well, I don't know nothing 'bout watercooling anyway.

 

[J_Tweedy]

Oh, dont forget im not building this, Ascent will- that's part of the horrific price. But yeah, cant really afford watercooling anyhow.

 

[ComradeBadger]

Hmm, didn't realize it was his first build.

Oh well, I don't know nothing 'bout watercooling anyway.

I'm looking into doing it DIY

Hell I built a PC at work with a TT Big Water setup.. I can do it at home