Need build advice.

[Jesta]

Its time to make myself a new computer.

I have about $800 to spend, i can get more. It just means a longer wait :) So if theres something thats worth another 2 weeks wait i can get another few hundred.

A few parts that might or might not be recyclable from my old computer include:

7800GX evga nvidia 256MB video card. (could be a 6800, i cant boot my old computer up to check.)
3x 512MB corsair ddr2 ram.
600w corsair PSU (brand new.)
2x 200GB WD HD's. (7200RPM if i remember right.)
22" LCD flat screen monitor.

I have a windows xp pro cd-key, but ive lost the disk so i will probally have to buy windows again to.

[Yellowhello]

Welcome to HL! What is going to be the primary use for this computer? (Gaming, general use, etc.)

[oldman_gamer]

Hi Jesta and welcome to HL.What do you plan on doing with your new build? General home computing,gaming etc?





OOPS! sorry yellow....crossed post here.Atleast I was thinking right

[screwballl]

You still have very respectable parts, the suggested parts depends on your use.
If it is gaming then a faster dual core like a E8600 should work quite well or if it is every day stuff and some media encoding then a slightly slower quad core should fit it nicely. From there we can suggest parts, possibly a P35 or 680i/780i based board.

[Yellowhello]

Originally Posted by screwballl

You still have very respectable parts, the suggested parts depends on your use.
If it is gaming then a faster dual core like a E8600 should work quite well or if it is every day stuff and some media encoding then a slightly slower quad core should fit it nicely. From there we can suggest parts, possibly a P35 or 680i/780i based board.

Games like Crysis and COD4 now take advantage of quad-cores, so actually I'd recommend a quad-core regardless if gaming or not.

[Jesta]

sorry i knew i forgot something.

I play WoW mostly, but i also do light graphic designs. (PS CS3.)

I have no real complaints about the computer i made a few years ago, its held up against the test of time well. But i made the mistake of using a stock PSU that came with my tower and it fried and melted into my mother board. Which is why i got a very nice corsair psu this time around.

So i dont really play many games outside of MMO's and RTS games. (starcraft 2 is coming!) which are not really not to graphic intensive.

RAM has gotten very cheap, So im thinking it'd be worth the extra 65-75 to get new ram.

[Yellowhello]

My recommendations:

Motherboard: DFI Blood Iron (Seems like the price jumped up to $150 on those :S)
CPU: Intel Q6600
RAM: Crucial Ballistix 2x1GB
GPU: Evga 8800GT

Total: $770 before shipping/tax

That should last you a few years, if you continue to use the machine like you have been.

[Jesta]

Originally Posted by yellowhello

My recommendations:

Motherboard: DFI Blood Iron (Seems like the price jumped up to $150 on those :S)
CPU: Intel Q6600
RAM: Crucial Ballistix 2x1GB
GPU: Evga 8800GT

Total: $770 before shipping/tax

That should last you a few years, if you continue to use the machine like you have been.

I checked my newegg history and got the exact parts i have left over. here they are.

Graphics card -
Newegg.com - EVGA 256-A8-N542-AX GeForce 7600GS 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail

PSU -
Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX ATX12V V2.2 550W Power Supply 90 - 264 V UL, CUL, CE, CB, FCC Class B, TUV, CCC, C-tick - Retail

My ram and HD i got at a local computer store.

[Yellowhello]

Originally Posted by Jesta

I checked my newegg history and got the exact parts i have left over. here they are.

Graphics card -
Newegg.com - EVGA 256-A8-N542-AX GeForce 7600GS 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail

PSU -
Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX ATX12V V2.2 550W Power Supply 90 - 264 V UL, CUL, CE, CB, FCC Class B, TUV, CCC, C-tick - Retail

My ram and HD i got at a local computer store.

Keep that PSU (it's a pretty nice one) but that GPU is AGP (as opposed to PCI-E), making it a bit outdated.

[Jesta]

ok thanks for the advice.

With the windows disk that puts it over $900 so that means i cant order it for another 4 weeks. Instead of two. Ill check back then.

Is there a way to get a replacment windows disk? i still have all the packaging i just cant find the disk itself.