My Computer to Buy Over The Summer

[Fliko]

I plan on buying a computer over Summer, and I was planning pretty early of what I should go ahead and buy. I suppose I just can't wait, and I am also hoping for prices to drop by then.

Its my first time actually building a computer from scratch, usually I just upgraded and upgraded, so I was hoping for suggestions from people more tech savvy then me.

MY UPDATED LIST (Please note that my other list did have some errors, like getting 4GBs of RAM for a Motherboard that could handle about 3GBs of RAM )

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=17777 - Hard Drive
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=16282 - Motherboard
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1389579&CatId=1510 - Computer Case
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=13522&vpn=COOLPANEL-BLK&manufacture=AeroCool - 8 in 1 Card Reader, and Fan Control (Fancy stuff )
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=15302 - CPU (Hearing about how Vista closes all other programs when playing a game, I don't see the significance in Dual Core CPUs, am I correct?)
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=17952 - Video Card (3rd Party, effy? Couldn't find suggested one by Barney on ncix)
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=14504 - RAM
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=16038 - LCD Monitor (Have a 30 Day No DeadPixel Guarentee. Is it worth it?)
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=15773 - PSU
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=17413&vpn=DW1655-0B3&manufacture=BENQ - DVDRW+-/CDRW Combo

Price is a lil' more expensive seeing at ZipZoomFly stopped shipping to Canada, but I'm willing to work a bit longer just to get the computer.

Any suggestions for Watercooling or Fans?

 

[Asus]

I would recommend 400 to 500 Watts for the Powersupply. If you ever get SLI or Crossfire (2 video cards) then you will want 500+ Watts. Very important for powersupplies but make sure to get a quality model/brand. Don't think you got a good deal by getting an inexpensive powersupply with a lot of watts. Cheaply made powersupplies will break and may take some of your system parts with it. Also stay away from new brands as they don't have any reputation behind them and favorable reviews may turn out to be incorrect a year down the road as your powersupply breaks.
Antec and Enermax seem to be the best for consumer lvl powersupplies. Fortron, Thermaltake and a few others are good as well.

Motherboard - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2224204&sku=A455-2300
(Unsure, though, I'd like something to support what I plan on buying)

That is a pretty expensive motherboard. Good brand and a lot of features although are you really going to use all of them?
Any feature that you want that this board does not have? The other thing that comes to mind is if you perfer ATI and will be buying ATI cards then why get an Nvidia SLI board? You won't be using both SLI slots with ATI cards since they would need an ATI Crossfire board for that. So you could step down a notch to a board without SLI support if you wanted to stay with a Nvidia chipset. Or pick up a board with ATI's chipset and maybe crossfire.

RAM - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2206874&sku=C13-2022
(Buy 2 of those, the current motherboard says it supports 800 MHz, so I'm guessing that they are compatible)

I would highly recommend staying around 2GB of total memory (2x 1GB sticks). Thats because most consumer level systems don't like to be maxed out with memory sticks. They generally downclock their memory to allow them all to run. So slower than advertised memory speeds for more unused memory? Probably not a good sacrifice.
Here is an older review that shows just what happens when you add too many sticks. Keep in mind that it isn't the actual amount of memory but the configuration that causes the issues.

Everything looks good otherwise.
Seagate is a reliable harddrive maker. Hyundai makes inexpensive LCDs that are good for gaming. X1600 is a good card for now if you are saving for DX10 stuff. The case looks like a good pick too.

 

[Adabiviak]

Asus is right about the power supply - don't skimp on that, or your woes will be many. Power supplies are also easier to 'future proof', in that not too much changes besides the connectors. 700 watt seem like too much? It can provide that much if your computer needs it, but if your hardware in the future is more energy efficient, that's fine too. The way hardware is going, 700w doesn't seem that crazy anymore.

 

[hungryduck]

also....I would stay away from tigerdirect....far too many rebates on those products will bounce for no reason...no matter how much you complain.
Go NEWEGG!!!
www.newegg.com

 

[FieryGoose]

you should also check out zipzoomfly.com to see if their prices are any better, i've had good luck with them and newegg, anyways you definately don't want to go short on the power supply if that goes bad/not enough power, you could end up in a world of pain, you don't want to have broken hardware wondering why.
edit:are we allowed to suggest stores or is that considered advertising, sorry if it is thats not what i'm doing. And good luck!!!

 

[Qonfused]

also....I would stay away from tigerdirect....far too many rebates on those products will bounce for no reason...no matter how much you complain.
Go NEWEGG!!!
www.newegg.com

They don't ship to Canada. Tigerdirect, ZipZoomFly and Monarch are all good alternatives.

 

[hungryduck]

They don't ship to Canada. Tigerdirect, ZipZoomFly and Monarch are all good alternatives.

really?? Hmm, didn't know that.....then I'd say go ZZF (ZipZoomfly.com)

Monarch has a lot of good combo deals now and then too.

 

[Barney Fife]

Most power-boards support 2GB maximum without compromising performance on latency and still you have to manually adjust your ram latency/timing and bandwidth.
If you OC, things will get even crazier, as you’re going to have to deal with our beloved HTT multiplier.
My rams were design to time at 3.3.3.8 @1T and since I OC CPU by way of 200MHz that rule just went out the window and I had to re-adjust ram timing and bandwidth accordingly to get 12Hr prime stable, so 3.4.4.8 is what I had to settle for.
So there you have it; more memory doesn’t really mean more performance, unless you want to take matter into your own hands. If you would like to get 2GB of ram better get, 2x1024 probably matched rams, instead of 4x512 modules. Since larger rams have relaxed timings, mostly at 3 Cas-Latency at 1T command per clock.

Remember the old say, “Never spend your money at the same place” Or something like that? Apply that rule when shopping.
Motherboards, get what you need and what you think you may need in the future. SLI is something you may need in the future; AM2 isn’t, at least not in the near future (My opinion) Because The 939s are still kicking it and very much alive and powerful enough to tackle any game you throw at them. Which brings me down to this question; What CPU did you choose to fire up with that MB?
When you build new system, it is always A MUST to add decent PSU to your purchase, and have everything brand new, so to know how old are components are.
PSU; You shop by brand and by positive reviews, not by price, I think you know by now about the nasty “Good Bye” ways of PSU.
(The Cheapest lesson is learning from others’ misery) READ the reviews of every component, DON’T be the first to review.

To shop I’m going to shop around for you and see if I can save you more dollar, here and there. NOTE: This may not be exactly your original choice, but I’m going to help you build powerful and firm system.

Here we go:
Your current price tag is $1579.93. And my price? Well you shop around and take what you want, but at the end I grantee you will save more,

My favorite E-retailers are ZimpZoomFly and NewEgg.

MOBO: DFI (They're the master for prime stability)

Zip Zoom Fly:
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=246502 (Best stable OC-able board.
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=370459 (Full tower means better airflow)
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80723-5 (Best OC-able CPU, up to 3GHz, if you do the math right)
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=321054 (675MHz core 512MB V-Ram)
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=85214 (CL 2-3-2-5 (CAS-TRCD-TRP-TRAS)
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=101542
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=236011
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=270366

All for $2023.24 (Price is included CPU and PSU) minus $774.99 you come up with $1248.25. Hehe lemme see you beat that.

New Egg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811133163
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136166
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103527
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150136
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820227056
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148131
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824179032
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817341002

All for $2145.95 (This also includes PSU and CPU)

I guess TigerDirect lost in this case big-time huh?

Good Luck.

 

[CptStern]

dont buy from tiger direct ...buy from here

http://www.ncix.com

quick comparison of prices


hardrive (which is a lower end ata-100 ..get at least a Sata2 hardrive)

tigerdirect: $146.99

ncix: for a 320G Sata2 hardrive $129

http://search.ncix.com/displayproductdetail.php?sku=18409&vpn=ST3320620AS&manufacture=Seagate


plus if you live outside of British columbia (where ncix is located) you dont pay provincial sales tax ..saving yourself an additional 7% in tax

I live in ontario and buy from ncix cuz they usually have the best prices ...and if they dont they'll price match it

 

[bryanf445]

really?? Hmm, didn't know that.....then I'd say go ZZF (ZipZoomfly.com)

Monarch has a lot of good combo deals now and then too.

yea zzf isnt much different then newegg its a great choice

 

[hneaz]

dun waste ur money on the x1600... get the 7900 gt from newegg. its only $239.99 after rebates

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150144

 

[Fliko]

I'll update the list, thanks guys, I forgot about ncix, and never knew about zipzoomfly.

I like Barney Fife's list, I'm going have to transfer it though, seeing as ZipZoomFly stopped shipping to Canada.

Please Note: as of August 4, 2005, we will not be offering shipping to Canada. We apologize for the inconvenience.

 

[Barney Fife]

I like Barney Fife's list, I'm going have to transfer it though, seeing as ZipZoomFly stopped shipping to Canada.

That's just sad man. What about NewEgg?

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=13522&vpn=COOLPANEL-BLK&manufacture=AeroCool - 8 in 1 Card Reader, and Fan Control (Fancy stuff )

Just make sure if MB supports, you can pre-register DFI-Street.com which is great site for support and community driven forum.

(Hearing about how Vista closes all other programs when playing a game, I don't see the significance in Dual Core CPUs, am I correct?)

XP does similar by removing all inactive background programs into Windows File Swapping (File Paging) of your hard-drive when you playing games or launch resource demanding applications. If your whole intention of building power-PC is to play games at decent settings with decent Frame rate, single unit CPU is the way to go as all games run on single task mode and not dual. Dual coring is for people who multi task simultaneously. But still people buy them for many reasons.

Video Card (3rd Party, effy? Couldn't find suggested one by Barney on ncix)

There’s nothing wrong with the one you found, only 25Mhz slower, but that saves money too.

LCD Monitor (Have a 30 Day No DeadPixel Guarentee. Is it worth it?)

Check the manufacturer warranty specifications, it should have minimum of two to three years manufacturer warranty, so in case dead pixels start to show up, you can RMA it.

Everything else looks fine. If you get it together, I’m sure Crysis and (Never up coming) Stalker or UT2007 will do minimum 70-80FPS on ultra setting with that thing, without OC-ing anything.

Price is a lil' more expensive seeing at ZipZoomFly stopped shipping to Canada, but I'm willing to work a bit longer just to get the computer.

Of coarse you added few things here and there, and the price is Canadian Dollar.

Any suggestions for Watercooling or Fans?

If you’re not extreme OC-ing it normal air with led (For bling-bling ) will do the job fine and keep CPU temperature under 45-50c full load. I used to water-cool and I couldn’t take the noise the pump used to make, so I went back to air-cooling.
These are the most popular Air-cooling system. (Note: AMD heatsinks are crappy especially OC-ing situations)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835118115
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835118223
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835118118

These are the three most popular examples. The fan must do somewhere 2400rpm and above to give sufficient air flow, sound should be below 30dba and must be willing to spin 50,000hrs and above. Note: Never throw away your stock cooling as it may come handy whenever a sink blows out on you.

Note: you will not upgrade system for 3yrs minimum. Which in this case is a very long time.
Don’t over-clock anything if you really don’t have to.
This system will be high-end after build, and if everything goes accordingly it will be prime stable forever.

Good Luck.

Ps. Hurry Crysis is coming

 

[Fliko]

I'm hurrying I'm hurrying!

Actually, I might be able to dish out the money no problem, the current guy I'm getting the job with started to ramble on dreaming that I become the Head of a Department while at 14...

Seems he needs lots of help, I'm working full time for the summer, I REALLY want this computer.

EDIT: Nah, Newegg doesn't deliver either. NCIX sounds promising though.

First 30 days limited warranty through NCIX.com. The remainder of the 3 year warranty is provided directly by the manufacturer.

For monitor

 

[Barney Fife]

Good Luck.