Hypothetical First Build

[Zephos]

Now assuming the money goes into the kitty all a-okay in the next fortnight, I should be able to replace my four year old senile bastard of a computer with something spanking new. I'll make a note now, this could be tl;dr, but only because I really don?t want to screw this up and I want to fully explain zee situation.

So this is my first computer that I will have built from scratch. The PC I am typing on now was my first one ever, and it was pre-built. But in these short years I've gotten accostumed to every part and have replaced several in the tower. Now I want to choose the parts and assemble it myself.

Anyway, enough of the irrelevant crap. This PC will be built primarily for gaming. I don't render. I don't compile tons of shit. I don't multi-task at all when playing games that require a lot of power. Apart from gaming this is basically a "do basic shit like msn/music/movies/browse net" type of computer. With gaming I want something that can run most of the current stuff really well at 1650*1050 (ie Bioshock, UT3, Episode Two, perhaps Crysis on settings that aren't butt ugly) and hopefully future proof it for a few years.

With that in mind, and a budget of $1000AUD, this is what I have carefully researched and chosen. Feel free to tear it apart, as you guys would be definitely more knowledgeable.

Case/Power Supply: Antec Sonata III (with 500W Antec Earthwatt PSU) - $178 AUD

Reason: I was originally going to get an Antec Nine Hundred but it looked rather complicated to assemble within, as well as it looking quite noisy/flashy. Plus, this deal is/looks to be much better value for money (essentially 10 bucks more for a power supply with it), simpler and smaller. Not sure if the power supply will run this set-up though.

Hard Drive: Seagate SATAII 320gb - $79AUD

Reason: Seagate seems to have a nice rep, 320gb seems spacious for someone who has had a 120gb drive for four years.

Motherboard: Gigabyte P35-DS3 - $131AUD

Reason: Tech-savvy mate has something similar, says it's a very nice board. Gotten some decent reviews here and there as well. Not too sure if I need something more expensive.

RAM: 2gb Apacer DDR2 6400 800 Single Stick - $46AUD

Reason: Cheap, top MHZ excluding those overclocked 1000 ones, or whatever.

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 2.66ghz - $228AUD

Reason: As I stated, I'm only gaming on this rig. Therefore, I don't see the need for a quad core as from what I can see many games don't support them. Would rather a higher performance dual-core that's a good one hundred bucks cheaper.

GPU: Foxconn/Leadtek/Xpertvision (undecided so far) 8800GT 512mb - $267AUD

Reason: 8800GTs are all the rage these days and apart from warranty/cooling/overclocking am I right in assuming that the brands are all the same?

Total: $930AUD (roughly $860USD)

As for monitor/speakers/dvd drive and all that jazz, I have that covered. I'm going to run on my current XP CD and might upgrade to Vista down the track, assuming DX10 adds a lot to the experience. The only things I'm apprehensive about are the PSU/Case and perhaps the motherboard.

Thanks.

 

[Tyguy]

Can you please provide links...

Id personally get a more powerful PSU, it is for gaming after all.
The Motherboard is ok, except you might not like the fact that the IDE connector is at the bottom of the board. You said you already have a dvd drive...if it isnt SATA id recommend getting a new one.

The rest im too lazy to search for which is why you should provide links.

 

[Zephos]

Aye sorry for the lack of links (and the ones now), have had a bitch of a migraine off and on which is why I didn't get around to links in the previous post, nor have proper ones in this :/

Antec Sonata III With Antec Earth 500W PSU - Link - Review: Shows the PSU running two 8800GTSs in SLI so it should run the GT fine.

Gigabyte P35-DS3 - Link

Kingston (2x1g) PC6400 800mhz (switched from Apacer and single stick) - Pretty Self Explanatory.

Seagate 320gb SATAII 16mb Cache - Link - Review

Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 - Link - Review

Normal Non-OC GF8800GT 512mb (Brand just taken at random, most are at the same price) - Link - Review

When it comes to the DVD-Drive, it's SATA and it's going to cost like 20 bucks, so I didn't really bother lumping it in with the heavy parts.

 

[Tyguy]

Looks ok. Personally I dont like the case, its somewhat small...and the PSU really should be a higher wattage. Also, that MOBO cant run two 8800's in SLI as it only offers crossfire, meaning you would need a couple ATI cards. Lastly, as i said before, be sure you dont need the IDE as its in a really tight place on the board. Before I got SATA drives, i had it stretched over my 8800 and it barely fit.

Anyway, not a bad build, and it seems to be a good price.

 

[Kyorisu]

All fine indeed but please do consider upping to a E8400 to be sitting at 3ghz stock. You'll still be under $1K.

 

[[Matt]]

You will probably be better off going for a Q6600 imo as it will be far cheaper and will easily clock to 3GHz on your chosen motherboard as I believe it supports FSB and memory clock unlinking. The current crop of games may not benefit from quad cores but games released in the later quarter of 2008 onwards will increasingly make use of multi core CPU's and some such as Alan Wake will see a HUGE benefit. You wanna future proof your hardware? get a quad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3HybhZjcGE

 

[Eejit]

I have an Xpertvision 8800gt, very very nice.

They have a great cooler (two slots though), 3 phase power and HMDI output with a socket on the card to connect spdif to for the sound (as well as dual DVI).

Palit is basically identical (same company) if you find one for cheaper.


I would (and did) go for a duo rather than quad because their prices are too high to be worth it, probably because AMD can't compete well in that area currently. No point future-proofing the CPU too much since the Nehalem intels are meant to be out later this year (some of which are 8 core I think).

 

[Zephos]

Looks ok. Personally I dont like the case, its somewhat small...and the PSU really should be a higher wattage. Also, that MOBO cant run two 8800's in SLI as it only offers crossfire, meaning you would need a couple ATI cards. Lastly, as i said before, be sure you dont need the IDE as its in a really tight place on the board. Before I got SATA drives, i had it stretched over my 8800 and it barely fit.

Anyway, not a bad build, and it seems to be a good price.

Yeah I don't think I'll consider SLI or Crossfire, one video card is enough for me... I'm not a hardcore overclocker/performance freak and I personally think SLI/Crossfire is a waste of money. Seconded on the smallness, but I reckon it'll be okay. The Antec 900 isn't too much better in size if I was to go with that. I'll keep looking into cases though.

All fine indeed but please do consider upping to a E8400 to be sitting at 3ghz stock. You'll still be under $1K.

I definitely agree, it's just hard to find the damn thing around here.

Thanks a lot for the help.

 

[JFry]

I feel bad for you guys in Australia it seems like you guys get raped on prices. All in all doesn't look bad tho. I dunno if you just didn't mention them because they are minor but don't forget case fans and if your cpu is oem you'll need to get a heatsink/fan and maybe thermal paste for that as well.

 

[Zephos]

I feel bad for you guys in Australia it seems like you guys get raped on prices. All in all doesn't look bad tho. I dunno if you just didn't mention them because they are minor but don't forget case fans and if your cpu is oem you'll need to get a heatsink/fan and maybe thermal paste for that as well.

From what I can tell using this currency converter, yeah, we get jipped pretty hard.

Also, the E8400 processor is sold out near everywhere. Must be quite the good product?

 

[Kyorisu]

I feel bad for you guys in Australia it seems like you guys get raped on prices. All in all doesn't look bad tho. I dunno if you just didn't mention them because they are minor but don't forget case fans and if your cpu is oem you'll need to get a heatsink/fan and maybe thermal paste for that as well.

It's not that bad really. Compared to the US Aussies have a higher minimum wage and the average person has a higher standard of living.

Heres an example of the difference.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037

USD: $239.99

Or I could get one from

http://allneeds.com.au/category16_1.htm

AUD: $262.00

239.99 USD

=

260.749 AUD

Not the best examples as you can beat both Neweggs and all needs prices easily. The cheapest 8400 I can find in Aus is $239 here http://staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=E8400

Also, the E8400 processor is sold out near everywhere. Must be quite the good product?

Yeah I'm still trying to get one.

You will probably be better off going for a Q6600 imo as it will be far cheaper and will easily clock to 3GHz on your chosen motherboard as I believe it supports FSB and memory clock unlinking. The current crop of games may not benefit from quad cores but games released in the later quarter of 2008 onwards will increasingly make use of multi core CPU's and some such as Alan Wake will see a HUGE benefit. You wanna future proof your hardware? get a quad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3HybhZjcGE

Not going to happen for sometime yet and we are due for a socket change at the end of the year.

Intel Nehalem is expected to be release sometime in Q4 of 2008. Nehalem is both a microprocessor architecture and a CPU. Nehalem will be manufactured using the same 45 nm methods used for Penryn, but it will require a new socket called LGA1366.

http://www.techfuzz.com/roadmaps/2008.aspx#Nehalem

 

[Zephos]

Not the best examples as you can beat both Neweggs and all needs prices easily. The cheapest 8400 I can find in Aus is $239 here http://staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=E8400

Cheapest and easiest up here in QLD is $265, hoping the extra .4ghz gives enough performance to justify the extra 30 bucks!

Still, by the looks of it may be more than a fortnight (perhaps month) before I acquire all this... are there any upcoming price drops that I should wait for?

Again, thanks for the assistance.

 

[Naph]

I lol at all the "Go higher" and "That won't run two" posts.
All in vain.

Don't forget a DVD Burner there Zephos. I want my DVD-rom back ;D

 

[Kyorisu]

When building a computer you should not be fussed with what it won't run. You should be already preoccupied with what it will run.

 

[Zephos]

Ordered it today, couldn't get the E8400 because it was sold out and the price was jacked up 100 bucks... was lucky to get an E8200 at its original price (it too is getting its price knocked the hell up soon).

Final Build:

Case: Antec Nine Hundred - $162
Power Supply: Corsair HX-520 - $134
Hard Drive: Seagate 320gb - $99
Motherboard: Gigabyte P35-DS3 - $125
Memory: Kingston (2x1g) 6400 800mhz - $55
CPU: Intel E8200 2.66ghz Dual Core - $243
GPU: Albatron 8800GT 512mb - $265
DVD-ROM: Samsung 20x DVD-RW blah blah - $34

Total: $1117 AUD

Mixture of "Can't wait!" and "Oh shit, what if x happens when assembling it" at the moment

(Sorry for zee bumpage)

 

[Kyorisu]

GPU: Albatron 8800GT 512mb - $265

Picked up a Galaxy unit for $262 recently and now find out MSY dropped their prices down to $240 for generics. Also grabbed a 1TB Samsung Spinpoint drive for $299.

/rage