Build Review

[Carl Martin]

Finally getting ready to put together my new build and thought I'd bounce these off you guys to make sure I'm not making any mistakes.

As you may know, I'm not much of a gamer, mostly Cube & Sauerbraten, so I thought a mid-range card would do the trick.

Gave a lot of thought to the processor. E8400 is very tempting, but they're so hard to find and I'm not sure they're worth the current inflated price.

Carl


Case Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

Motherboard Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Processor Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail

Video Card Newegg.com - XFX PVT88SFDD4 GeForce 8800GS 384MB 192-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

Memory Newegg.com - Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

Power Supply Newegg.com - OCZ StealthXStream OCZ600SXS ATX12V / EPS12V 600W Power Supply 100 - 240 V CB, CE, CSA, UL, FCC - Retail

Hard Drive Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST3500320NS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Optical Drive Newegg.com - LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner - Retail

Monitor Newegg.com - Acer AL2216Wbd Black 22" 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor with HDCP support 300 cd/m2 700:1 - Retail

XP Pro

[onebxr]

Newegg.com - SAMSUNG SpinPoint T Series HD501LJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
I have 2tb of these drives and I love them, also a bit cheaper and they are very quiet.
Micro Center Online - the center of .computer shopping
E8400 for a great price
-1

[screwballl]

I myself have had problems with samsung drives but never a problem with the 7200.X or WD drives

Still have a 40GB WD drive manufactured in Feb 2001 running 24/7 here

[Carl Martin]

Thanks guys. Guess I'm pretty much of a Seagate fanboi. No problem and absolute silence.

Great find on the E8400. Thanks!!!!!! I see they also have the CM RC-690 case for only $20 after rebate... sweet.

I'm wondering on the 8800GS video card. Newegg has two of them. (Other one has a slower clock speed; 580MHz compared to 690MHz on this one.) I've read that this one has near GT performance, and like I said, I'm not much of a gamer so I figured this should surpass my needs. Am I correct?

Carl

[onebxr]

glad I could help, as far as the 8800gs, since its such a new card I have no point of reference for it. I must say tho that the 8800gt is awesome. If it gets near that performance than I think you will be more than happy.
-1

[screwballl]

for a non gamer, the gs should be fine

[Parker]

Originally Posted by Carl Martin

Guess I'm pretty much of a Seagate fanboi. No problem and absolute silence.

w0000000ttt!!
+1 for Seagate!!!!

I'm wondering on the 8800GS video card. Newegg has two of them. (Other one has a slower clock speed; 580MHz compared to 690MHz on this one.) I've read that this one has near GT performance, and like I said, I'm not much of a gamer so I figured this should surpass my needs. Am I correct?

Carl

The GS should be fine for your needs. I say, Go for it man!

Oh and BTW, when you get your stuff, make sure you post some pics!!

[screwballl]

yes we love pictures here

[Parker]

Originally Posted by screwballl

yes we love pictures here

Yeppers!
Pics or ban, Carl!!!

jk...

[Elysium]

Yeah, I like Seagate too. The WD drive I have and the WD I got my friend have been acting up (due to user error or not I'm not sure). But for my very first build I did go with Seagate and it's been running ever since.

Wow, nice find with the 8800GS. That card is new to me... I'd like to see how it stacks up against the 8800GT and others.

And yes, pictures!