PC Builds

[rEdaSbLood 1]

BUILD ONE:

* CASE:Sigma Gaming LaVie Med-Tower Case w/ Window And Leather Trim Front Panel 420 Watts Power Supply

* Extra Case Fan Upgrade: Default case fans

* POWER SUPPLY Upgrade: STANDARD CASE POWER SUPPLY

* CPU: (Sckt775)Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E8600 CPU @ 3.33GHz 1333FSB 6MB L2 Cache 64-bit

* COOLING FAN : Thermaltake Big Typhoon VX Gaming CPU Cooling Fan (Excellent Overclocking + Silent Proof 16dBA)

* MOTHERBOARD: Gigabyte GA-EG31M-S2 Intel G31 Chipset LGA775 FSB1333 DDR2 Mainboard

* MEMORY: 3GB (3x1GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Memory (Corsair or Major Brand)

* VIDEO CARD: ATI Radeon HD 4870 PCI-E 16X 512MB DDR5 Video Card (Major Brand Powered by ATI)

* HARD DRIVE: Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)

* Optical Drive: (Special Price) LG 20X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (BLACK COLOR)

* Optical Drive 2: 16X DVD ROM (BLACK COLOR)

* SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO

* SPEAKERS: 120 WATT STEREO SPEAKERS (BLACK COLOR)

* NETWORK: ONBOARD 10/100 NETWORK CARD

* KEYBOARD: (Keyboard & Mouse Combo) Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 3200 Laser Cordless Keyboard & Mouse

* Flash Media Reader/Writer: INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer (BLACK COLOR)

$$1103

 

BUILD TWO:

# CASE: CoolerMaster Cosmos Silent Gaming Tower Case w/ 420 Watts Power Supply (Original Color)

# Extra Case Fan Upgrade: Default case fans

# POWER SUPPLY Upgrade: STANDARD CASE POWER SUPPLY

# CPU: Intel® Core™2 i7-920 2.66 GHz 8M L3 Cache LGA1366

# COOLING FAN : Intel LGA1366 Certified CPU Fan & Heatsink

# MOTHERBOARD: MSI X58 Platinum Intel X58 Chipset SLI/CrossFireX Mainboard Triple-Channel DDR3/1600 SATA RAID w/ eSATA, Dual GbLAN, USB2.0, IEEE1394a, &7.1Audio

# MEMORY: 3GB (3x1GB) PC1333 DDR3 PC3 10666 Triple Channel Memory (Corsair or Major Brand)

# VIDEO CARD: ATI Radeon HD 4850 PCI-E 16X 512MB Video Card (Major Brand Powered by ATI)

# VIDEO CARD 2: NVIDIA GeForce 7200 GS TurboCache supporting 256MB PCI-E (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)

# HARD DRIVE: Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)

# Optical Drive: (Special Price) LG 20X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (BLACK COLOR)

# Optical Drive 2: 16X DVD ROM (BLACK COLOR)

# SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO

# SPEAKERS: 120 WATT STEREO SPEAKERS (BLACK COLOR)

# NETWORK: ONBOARD 10/100 NETWORK CARD

# KEYBOARD: PS2 MULTIMEDIA INTERNET CONTROL KEYBOARD (BLACK COLOR)

# MOUSE: Microsoft® Optical Wheel Mouse (BLACK COLOR)

# Flash Media Reader/Writer: INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer (BLACK COLOR)

$$1175

 

BUILD THREE:

# CASE: NEW!!! CoolerMaster Cosmos Silent Gaming Tower Case w/ 420 Watts Power Supply (Original Color)

# Extra Case Fan Upgrade: Default case fans

# POWER SUPPLY Upgrade: 680 Watts Power Supplies (Hush Power Supply SLI/CrossFire Ready)

# CPU: (Sckt775)Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E8500 CPU @ 3.16GHz 1333FSB 6MB L2 Cache 64-bit

# COOLING FAN : Asetek Liquid CPU Cooling System (Extreme Cooling Performance + Extreme Silent at 20dBA)

# MOTHERBOARD: Biostar TP45 HP Intel P45 CrossFire Chipset LGA775 FSB1600 DDR2/1066 Mainboard w/GbLAN, USB2.0, &7.1Audio

# MEMORY: 4GB (4x1GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory (Corsair or Major Brand)

# VIDEO CARD: ATI Radeon HD 4850 PCI-E 16X 512MB Video Card (Major Brand Powered by ATI)

# HARD DRIVE: Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)

# Optical Drive: (Special Price) LG 20X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (BLACK COLOR)

# Optical Drive 2: 16X DVD ROM (BLACK COLOR)

# SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO

# SPEAKERS: 600Watts PMPO Subwoofer Stereo Speakers

# NETWORK: ONBOARD 10/100 NETWORK CARD

# KEYBOARD: PS2 MULTIMEDIA INTERNET CONTROL KEYBOARD (BLACK COLOR)

# MOUSE: Logitech Optical Wheel Mouse (BLACK COLOR)

# Flash Media Reader/Writer: INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer (BLACK COLOR)

$$1063

 

WHICH IS THE BEST CHOICE???

[Alphabear 11]

Personally I would be going with Build 3 because of the better motherboard, CPU and RAM. It should also have a longer lifespan if you plan to upgrade it in the future. Although I'm not quite sure why its running an Nvidia and ATI card together

[rEdaSbLood 1]

ok just did another that looks > than all

 

CASE: Sigma Gaming LaVie Med-Tower Case w/ Window And Leather Trim Front Panel 420 Watts Power Supply [-21]

CPU: Intel® Core™2 i7-920 2.66 GHz 8M L3 Cache LGA1366

HD: Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)

MOTHERBOARD: MSI X58 Platinum Intel X58 Chipset SLI/CrossFireX Mainboard Triple-Channel DDR3/1600 SATA RAID w/ eSATA,Dual GbLAN,USB2.0,IEEE1394a,&7.1Audio

MEMORY: 6GB (3x2GB) PC1333 DDR3 PC3 10666 Triple Channel Memory [+150] (Corsair or Major Brand)

VIDEO: ATI Radeon HD 4850 PCI-E 16X 512MB Video Card (Major Brand Powered by ATI)

CD: (Special Price) LG 20X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (BLACK COLOR)

CD2: 16X DVD ROM [+23] (BLACK COLOR)

 

$1260

 

i really like this build.......

Edited November 30, 2008 by rEdaSbLood

[Luk3us 63]

Are you building it yourself or is it prebuilt for you?

 

Also moved to hardware.

[Alphabear 11]

Sounds to me like a prebuilt system.

[Sonic 296]

ok just did another that looks > than all

 

CASE: Sigma Gaming LaVie Med-Tower Case w/ Window And Leather Trim Front Panel 420 Watts Power Supply [-21]

CPU: Intel® Core™2 i7-920 2.66 GHz 8M L3 Cache LGA1366

HD: Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)

MOTHERBOARD: MSI X58 Platinum Intel X58 Chipset SLI/CrossFireX Mainboard Triple-Channel DDR3/1600 SATA RAID w/ eSATA,Dual GbLAN,USB2.0,IEEE1394a,&7.1Audio

MEMORY: 6GB (3x2GB) PC1333 DDR3 PC3 10666 Triple Channel Memory [+150] (Corsair or Major Brand)

VIDEO: ATI Radeon HD 4850 PCI-E 16X 512MB Video Card (Major Brand Powered by ATI)

CD: (Special Price) LG 20X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (BLACK COLOR)

CD2: 16X DVD ROM [+23] (BLACK COLOR)

 

$1260

 

i really like this build.......

Massive overkill on the RAM, no need for 6GB. Most of it will be wasted. You would get away with 4 GB. So you might as well save some cash or use it elsewhere, like a nice 22" or 24"" monitor or something.

[mormreed 0]

well if he is running XP then up to 8gb is used, the second 4gb won't show up but windows will use it

[Sonic 296]

Actually your incorrect.

 

Both Vista and XP 32bit can only see about 3.5 GB RAM max. Vista and XP 64 bit don't have this memory limit.

[rEdaSbLood 1]

so the fourth build is best? aside from RAM overkill, which may be useful in the future...was also thinking of adding a blu-ray drive

 

and yes these systems were built on cyberpower.com

 

 

Edited November 30, 2008 by rEdaSbLood

[Nmenth 291]

Pff, overkill is good.

If he wants to spend the money, overkill it!

[Alphabear 11]

My suggestion would be if you want to spend the extra, keep the RAM at 3GB and go for a 4870 over a 4850.

[rEdaSbLood 1]

ORDER PLACED!!!

 

FREEBIE: FREE! (FarCry2) Game

FREEBIE: FREE! (Halo 2) Game

CAS: Sigma Gaming Unicorn Mid-Tower 420W Case w/ Side-panel Window

CPU: Intel® Core i7-920 2.66 GHz 8M L3 Cache LGA1366

CD: Lite-On DH-401S 4X Blu-Ray Player [+76]

CD2: LG 20X DVD+/-R/+/-RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER [+23]

FAN: Intel LGA1366 Certified CPU Fan & Heatsink

HDD: Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)

KEYBOARD: Microsoft® Wireless Desktop w/ Wireless Internet Keyboard & Mouse

MOUSE: XtremeGear Optical USB 3 Buttons Gaming Mouse

MOTHERBOARD: MSI X58 Platinum Intel X58 Chipset SLI/CrossFireX Mainboard

Triple-Channel DDR3/1600 SATA RAID w/ eSATA,Dual GbLAN,USB2.0,IEEE1394a,&7.1Audio

 

MEMORY: 3GB (3x1GB) PC1333 DDR3 PC3 10666 Triple Channel Memory

NETWORK: ONBOARD 10/100 NETWORK CARD

OS: Microsoft® Windows Vista Home Basic w/ Service Pack 1 (64-bit

Edition)

POWERSUPPLY: 680 Watts Power Supplies (Hush Power Supply SLI/CrossFire Ready)

SOFT: Free 60 Days Microsoft® Office® 2007 (Words, Excel, Access, Power

Point, Outlook + More) - Windows Vista Required

SERVICE: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL

SUPPORT

SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO

SPEAKERS: 600Watts PMPO Subwoofer Stereo Speakers [+15]

USB: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports

VIDEO: ATI Radeon HD 4850 PCI-E 16X 1GB Video Card [+50]

WNC: PCI Wireless 802.11g 54Mbps Network Interface Card [+19]

 

$$1274

[Doctor Destiny 41]

I hope that RAM is 1.5V or lower. X58 boards have issues with 1.5V or higher memory.

[rEdaSbLood 1]

how would i find out?

Edited January 2, 2009 by rEdaSbLood

[Doctor Destiny 41]

Check the manual that lists your specifications and look for RAM manufacturer. Then look it up on Newegg or the manufacturer website.

[TheBlackOut 7]

Why didn't you buy the parts and build it yourself? Cheaper

[rEdaSbLood 1]

don't know how to build PC's...and prob not that much cheaper?

 

and i wont have my new pc till next week...

[TheBlackOut 7]

Not too much cheaper but cheaper none the less... and building a computer is easy, a newb can do it

 

Just noticed.. you picked Vista Home Basic? Eh, if you were going Vista, should have gotten Home Premium

[rEdaSbLood 1]

built the pc off cyberpowerpc.com......vista premium was more money...and xp was more money than vista...go figure..

 

whats the difference anyways?

 

btw i really appreciate the help

Edited January 4, 2009 by rEdaSbLood

[Nmenth 291]

xp was more money than vista...

I would have gone with XP anyway, although I know there are those here that would disagree. Just my .

[Sonic 296]

You don't want Vista Basic. Its probably worse that XP in some regards. Vista Home Premium is what you want or Vista Ultimate.

 

Windows Vista Home Basic

Similar to Windows XP Home Edition, Home Basic targets budget-conscious users not requiring advanced media support for home use. This edition lacks the Windows Aero theme with its translucent effects. However, it does support DWM compositioning, just without the glass effect. Home Basic supports one physical CPU, but with multiple cores[6] 64-bit Home Basic supports up to 8 GB of RAM. Comparable to Windows XP Home Edition,[8] this version includes Windows Firewall, parental controls, Safety Center, Windows Movie Maker, Windows Photo Gallery, and more functions.

 

Windows Vista Home Premium

Containing all features from Home Basic, this edition also supports additional features aimed for the home market segment, such as support for HDTV and DVD-authoring. It also includes games, support for mobile and tablet PCs, for network projectors, for touchscreens, and for auxiliary displays (via Windows SideShow), and a utility to schedule backups. Home Premium supports 10 simultaneous SMB peer-network connections (compared to 5 in Home Basic). The version of Meeting Space included also allows for interaction (in Home Basic, one may only view meetings). This edition has functionality comparable to that of Windows XP Media Center Edition. Like Home Basic, it supports only one physical CPU, but multiple cores. 64-bit Home Premium supports up to 16 GB of RAM.

Look here for more http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-v...ns/default.aspx and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Vista_editions.

[rEdaSbLood 1]

what about windows 7?

 

EDIT: so, im not getting the PC i posted. i canceled because i forgot about a certain discount. my next build will probably be better

Edited January 21, 2009 by rEdaSbLood

[rEdaSbLood 1]

seems like my post is dead... so maybe double posting will get some attention? i apologize but i need serious help...

 

i built another one, and im wondering what is the best graphics card combination, and how much power i actually need, AND if i need a data hard drive, AND if i should get a sound card.................

 

* CASE: Sigma Gaming Unicorn Mid-Tower 420W Case w/ Side-panel Window [-17]

* CS_FAN: Default case fans

* CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-920 2.66 GHz 8M L3 Cache LGA1366

* CD: (Special Price) LG 20X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (BLACK COLOR)

* CD2: Lite-On DH-401S 4X Blu-Ray Player [+81]

* FREEBIE_CU: FREE! (FarCry2) Game

* FAN: Asetek Liquid CPU Cooling System (Extreme Cooling Performance + Extreme Silent at 20dBA)

* FREEBIE_OS: FREE! (Halo 2) Game

* HDD: Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD [-40])

* MOTHERBOARD: Asus P6T Intel X58 Chipset SLI/CrossFireX Mainboard Triple-Channel DDR3/1600 SATA RAID w/ eSATA,GbLAN,USB2.0,IEEE1394a,&7.1Audio [+19]

* MEMORY: 6GB (2GBx3) PC1333 DDR3 PC3 10666 Triple Channel Memory [+59] (Corsair or Major Brand)

* NETWORK: ONBOARD 10/100 NETWORK CARD

* OS: Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium w/ Service Pack 1 (64-bit Edition)

* POWERSUPPLY: 680 Watts Power Supplies (Hush Power Supply SLI/CrossFire Ready)

* SERVICE: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT

* SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO

* VIDEO: ATI Radeon HD 4870 PCI-E 16X 1GB DDR5 Video Card [+14] (Major Brand Powered by ATI)

* VIDEO2: ATI Radeon HD 4830 PCI-E 16X 512MB Video Card [+145] (Major Brand Powered by ATI)

* WNC: PCI Wireless 802.11g 54Mbps Network Interface Card [+19]

 

* _PRICE: 1502 with shipping and after discount

 

 

NOW, i'd like to know what is wrong with this picture and why?

 

one other thing: i was hoping to connect my TV to my computer to use it as a monitor, through a DVI connection i think it was....how do i find out if the computer would have it? would it be on the MB?

Edited January 23, 2009 by rEdaSbLood

[Doctor Destiny 41]

I wouldn't Crossfire 2 different cards. While not a problem per se, but it's just me. If I dualed out on video, I would have 2 of the same card.

 

And 6GB of RAM? Even with Vista x64, you don't need that much. 4GB would still easily be sufficient. And make absolutely certain that your RAM is 1.5V or LOWER for that X58 board. There's a warning on the board itself that says use that so do it. I checked Newegg and many sticks at that speed are above 1.5V.

 

Upgrade for more hard drive capacity. If you play a lot of games, 500GB won't get you very far, especially in today's market.

 

And honestly, I'd go back to the old LGA775 socket. It's cheaper, still going to last a long time and just as good as Core i7. However that's only my opinion, take it with a grain of salt. However, the rest is definitely something you should look at.

 

Oh, and if you want a new audio card, see if you have free PCI slots and buy your own. I used to recommend the Creative Labs Sound Blasters but the Asus Xonar is quite a bit better these days. Besides, it would be cheaper to add your own.

[rEdaSbLood 1]

thanks for responding. fyi im building on cyberpowerpc.com, feel free to go ahead and make the best build for ~1500$ and fill me in...

 

the graphics cards i original chose were 2 ATI HD4850 1gb, but i wasn't sure if two of those were better than one 4870, get me? what do you think? go for the single better card or 2?

 

the choices for RAM with the i7 were 3 then 6 on this site, and i thought getting 6 now would pay off in the future?

 

what hard drive capacity would you recommend? maybe 750gb-1tb? and data hard drives arent necessary but what do you think?

 

and i thought the i7 was the best? how do AMD cpus measure up in the market? would you recommend them instead?

 

my thing with the sound card was if it was necessary, like what would i be benefiting from getting a sound card? but you are right ill prob wait to get it on my own...

 

any input on the TV-to-PC issue?

 

oh and one last thing - is my power supply enough? coz i hear alot of things about graphics cards not getting enough power on custom builds...

 

thanks for the help i appreciate it...

Edited January 23, 2009 by rEdaSbLood