First time builder looking for input

[PTROTH]

Yeah, $1,200 is a bit steep for me. And I don't have a dedicated spot - looks like I'll be pulling the monitor out to use it and putting it out of my daughter's reach when I'm done. Current laptop has 1440 X 900 resolution. Any suggestions for 22" or 24", as Yellowhello suggests?

[Elysium]

Originally Posted by PTROTH

I like the EVGA policies and reputation. The EVGA 768-P2-N831 ($529 after MIR at Newegg) is my current pick, but I also see the EVGA 768-P2-N835 ($579) and the EVGA 768-P2-N837 ($639). It seems the differences in these are the core and memory clock speeds. What difference do these seemingly small issues mean in terms of gaming?

They will all perform very close to each other if your only looking at gaming performance... if your benchmarking, you might see sightly higher scores, but in gaming it's barely visible. I'd get the cheapest one if I were you... it's still a 8800GTX for crying out loud!

[fstroupe]

Originally Posted by PTROTH

What difference do these seemingly small issues mean in terms of gaming?

IMO.....none.

[PTROTH]

So I'm sitting here feeling pretty good about my selections when I start reading Maximum PC's 2008 Tech Preview. Oy Vey - now I'm all stressed out.

First up is the new Penryn, touted by Intel as "the biggest breakthrough in 40 years". And how the editors expect the new chips to be anywhere from 10 to 100 times faster than current quad cores. I guess this is just the typical stress that a builder/buyer goes through as new products are announced/released. Wait for Yorkfield (reportedly) in January or go Kentsfield now?

The article goes on to state how the only chipsets and boards that are guaranteed to work with Penryn are Intel's P35 and X35. Does that mean that I could conceivably upgrade the CPU to Yorkfield with my chosen Asus P5K-E mobo?

Trying to breathe deeply and remain calm. No sense panicking before I've even purchased anything! Plus I don't need the latest and greatest, right? I'm not gonna' be a "bleeding edger". I just want to be able to play the current and the near future crop of games. I think the setup I've chosen will keep me happy for the next 18 months, by which time I might need/want to upgrade. Maybe I'm thinking too much like the laptop owner that I am - once purchased nothing is really upgradeable on a lappy - so I'm trying to remember that pretty much anything on a desktop is upgradeable. Anyone out there feel like sharing any thoughts/stories to make me feel a bit better about buying now vs. waiting?

[One4yu2c]

Originally Posted by PTROTH

So I'm sitting here feeling pretty good about my selections when I start reading Maximum PC's 2008 Tech Preview. Oy Vey - now I'm all stressed out.

Keep in mind what you're reading, which is a tech preview, designed to give you a potential glimpse at what tomorrow holds, and not an insinuation at putting off a current build. In fact, they've gone on record many times (including recently) to say that if your current rig no longer does what you need it to do, then now is the time to upgrade, no matter what tomorrow holds.

No matter when you build, there will always be something bigger, better, faster, and sexier just around the corner. You can choose to wait for the next best thing, but once you do, something else will be right around the corner, and you'll find yourself stuck in builder's limbo.

Don't get caught up playing the waiting game. Instead, when you have the money in hand, built the best rig you can from the available parts and start enjoying your computer, rather than surfing on a dated machine and reading about what's in store for next week/month/year.

[PTROTH]

Yeah, I know the mags are part of the hype machine for all the major firms trying to build excitement for the "next big thing".

Good news is that I even got tacit approval from the wife (well, she didn't say no!), so purchase date is probably sometime in November.

Since I'm a first time builder I'm hoping what everyone told me - "it's really easy to build your own" - is true. Seems hard to believe, but proof is in the pudding as they say.

[Elysium]

The ASUS P5K-E is a P35 mobo, so you can always upgrade of a Penryn CPU in the future.

[PTROTH]

I've been told that I can't use the upper HD bay with the 8800GTX card. True?

[Stormcrow]

Wow, thats what I call marketing hype. You should also check out what Intel is saying about Nehalem, how it'll offer over double the performance jump from Pentium 4 to Core2Duo.

Are you still going with the P180? If so thats going to be one cramped case with a 8800GTX. The GTX is actually longer then the motherboard itself, and you won't be able to use the top HDD slot as said. Looking over the case...I really wouldn't want to stick an overclocked Q6600 and 8800 in such close quarters like that; these two really know how to crank out the heat. In my opinion at that price point you'd be better off going with a Thermaltake Armor, which has excellent cooling and ample space for future upgrades you might like such as water cooling.

[PTROTH]

Stormcrow - I'm thinking now of the P182 as it seems to solve some problems that arose with the P180.

Someone else suggested that I wouldn't be able to use the upper HD bays with the 8800 taking up so much room. It seems just sticking the hard drive in one of the bottom slots will, however, leave sufficient room for the 8800.

This is the first I've heard there might be a problem with the mobo and GPU all sitting close together. This is where experienced builders can really help out a ****** like me. Does anyone else have any thoughts here? Short of actually going to a computer store with my ruler and actually measuring out everything, how do you ensure that everything will physically fit into the case with reasonable room?

Not planning on overclocking, but it seems like there could be some reasonable performance gain with a smallish amount of risk.

What about some kind of liquid cooling solution? Are you saying the P180 (or P182) is too small to have the Q6600, 8800, and liquid cooling? Is that where a full tower would be better than a mid?