December Build, critiques needed.

GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
edited November 2007 in Hardware
This December I plan on finally having the money to build myself a desktop PC again. Looking at what's out there these days... holy crap! My last desktop PC was a Barton 2500+ with 9800 Pro. I'm currently using my ex-wife's PC until she moves back to the state, and that is a Dual-core AMD at 2GHz with a 7600GT.

My total budget is around $1000 before mail-in rebates, and that will include a 20"+ wide screen monitor, so I'm looking to keep the rest of the build under $700.

Here are the parts in my Newegg wish list currently:

Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813131196

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819116036

RAM: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820227139

Video Card: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814125070

Power Supply: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817341010

HDD: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822136074

I've got about fifty bucks budgeted in for a SATA DVD Burner and a multi-card reader on top of those parts.

Opinions? If you suggest an alternate motherboard, please find a WiFi card to go with it; I picked this particular motherboard because of the built-in 802.11g capability.

Comments

  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited October 2007
    I suggest replacing the PSU with a modular version from HiPer (Sorry Ryder). I also think you'll like the 8800GT coming in November/Early December which will have amazing performance for the price..

    LAstly, if you can at all afford it, go with the 6xxx series Core 2. The 2xxx is so crippled.
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited October 2007
    Such as this PSU?

    I picked the CPU that I did because of this article from THG, but I could probably upgrade assuming prices fall by December...
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited October 2007
    That's what I have, and it's an amazing PSU. My system is overclocked to the limit of today's best air cooling, and it never budges. :D
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited October 2007
    I understand that you are on a budget and are looking for a well-balanced mid-range computer. Fair enough. What I don't quite understand is that you've selected a high performance motherboard with a ho-hum processor. The Kentsfield quad cores should be very reasonably priced around Christmas. They are already showing up in the used market at near $200 - that's how I purchased mine. You could run a quad off a far less expensive motherboard. If you aren't looking to overclock, go for a less expensive Gigabyte or MSI board. MSI make great solid boards, but aren't overclocker friendly.

    Don't limit yourself to 20" TFT. There have been some amazing sales lately. CompUSA online yesterday was advertising a 22" WS ViewSonic for $199. No, I'm not kidding.
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited October 2007
    Well my plan was to initially get a lower performance CPU and a relatively future-proof motherboard, then upgrading the CPU down the road as more quad core selections come out, and as I get more money.

    I'm certainly not limiting myself to 20" monitors, I'll go as large as 22" - I'll just be looking for the right price sweet spot.
  • BuddyJBuddyJ Dept. of Propaganda OKC Icrontian
    edited October 2007
    Check the shorties GH. The monitor I just posted looks tasty.
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited October 2007
    It sure does...
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited October 2007
    Well my plan was to initially get a lower performance CPU and a relatively future-proof motherboard, then upgrading the CPU down the road as more quad core selections come out, and as I get more money.
    Excellent! Smart. Is that board you selected upgradeable to 45nm Intel and DDR3? If so, it gets my approval.
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited October 2007
    Unfortunately it doesn't appear to be DDR3 upgradeable, but if you have any suggestions in that arena, by all means run them by me!
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited October 2007
    A couple models from the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS* line are. I don't remember right now which ones are and which ones are not. I'm sure MSI, Asus, and Abit also have upgradeable boards. You'll have to read the fine print.

    You will find many boards that will are 45nm "ready," which means drop-in or first a BIOS update. Generally, if a major mobo manufacturer claims that, it will happen. Intel has been very good in the last 18 months in advance release of specs to the motherboard makers.

    Some boards will be 45nm capable but not DDR3. To me, that's acceptable. 45nm is almost here. Inexpensive DDR3 is not even close. But that's the way I look at it.

    Most motherboards with P35 and X38 chipset will be upgradeable to 45nm quad core, assuming their manufacturer updates BIOS releases.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited October 2007
    Don't forget to check the "open box" section of Newegg. I've purchased motherboards twice before under that category, and the boards were just fine.
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited October 2007
    From what I've read, the motherboard I've selected above will definitely support 45nm, but no indication on DDR3. Safe?
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited October 2007
    45: Definitely.
    DDR2: Definitely not.
  • BuddyJBuddyJ Dept. of Propaganda OKC Icrontian
    edited October 2007
    Worth waiting for the X48s?
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited October 2007
    Not at all. It just adds definitive DDR3-1600 support with 2 sticks only, which most boards already support without Intel's blessing.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited October 2007
    With the P35 and 38 chipset, on a quality motherboard, you can already push the FSB way, way up, as long as your RAM is good clocking stuff or you use Mobo/CPU/memory dividers. Sure DDR3 is/will be faster, but I just don't see it as compelling right now. I DO see quad and especially 45nm quad as highly desirable.

    My Q6600 @3GHz (600MHz overclock and that's the less than stellar B3) outperforms by my dual core Pentium D's (OC 1000MHz) by over 125%, as measured by Folding@Home Monitor (FAHMon). This incredible leap in performance requires LESS energy. As measured by my APC power backup monitoring software, my no. 1 computer, upgraded to Q6600 from Pentium D, is using about 25% less power. I can only imagine what 45nm will bring.
  • mmonninmmonnin Centreville, VA
    edited October 2007
    I ordered your first mentioned PSU last night for my Q66 folding machine. If it doesnt work right we have in-house tech support. :)

    DDR3 wont be coming around for awhile. We wont start Ramping to full production for awhile. Status still shows as Sampling on the Micron website. Dont expect it to really take over until 2009. Plus the prices are too high for DDR3 to go mainstream anyway.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited October 2007
    I think the transition from DDR2 to DDR3 will take much longer than did the DDR to DDR2 change. DDR2 isn't even close to being found in the majority of PCs yet. All new machines, of course, but not the installed base.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited October 2007
    Eh, DDR1->2 really took about 2 years. 2009 is the generally agreed-upon time frame, so it's not vastly different. I do believe, however, that DDR3 will eclipse DDR2's real world speed much more quickly than DDR2 did with DDR1.
  • mmonninmmonnin Centreville, VA
    edited October 2007
    Well we are already seeing sticks of DDR3 at 400mhz quad pumped to 1600mhz and able to OC to around the same area DDR2 is. Quad and octal cores could help with the transition with the need for more data to keep all those cores fed.
  • ins4n17yins4n17y Cabanatuan City, Philippines Icrontian
    edited October 2007
    i believe dammit and nvidia are going to release two video cards aimed at 10000 points for 3d mark 06 codenamed r670/r680 and g92 respectively. they will be superfast mainstream cheap cards, so be on the lookout.

    see here:

    http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2007/10/01/ati-rv670-beat-r600

    http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2007/08/21/g92-gunning-for-800-mhz-clock

    and here

    http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2007/10/11/g92-rv670-gpgpu-monsters

    enjoy.
  • BuddyJBuddyJ Dept. of Propaganda OKC Icrontian
    edited October 2007
    ;) G92 benchmarks:
    http://forums.vr-zone.com/showthread.php?t=197629
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited November 2007
    If this deal is still going on when I'm ready to buy, I'm thinking of going with the E4500 CPU... I think it's definitely a worthy upgrade from the one I originally spec'd, yes?

    Also, I'm updating the video card specified to this 8600GT:
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127293

    I'd love to get an 8800GT, but that money's not in the cards right now.
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited November 2007
    I'm thinking of buying an HD 3850 rather than an 8600GT now... opinions?

    Also, can anyone recommend a good Micro-ATX motherboard that can work for this system instead of the P5K? I'm working on another project that requires a Micro-ATX motherboard, and while my eventual desktop PC won't need to be Micro-ATX, I really need a working mATX board for this other project. Rather than buy two different motherboards, I am thinking of killing two birds with one stone... I'm reluctant to compromise my desktop PC for this, but none of the other options panned out for the second project. :(

    //edit: I forgot to mention that I prefer a mATX motherboard with integrated video for the purposes of the second project.
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited November 2007
    Okay, never mind... I ended up buying a Dell. Can you imagine?

    It's a Dell 531 with a deal that Zanthian found me:
    http://bfads.net/Dell-Inspiron-531-w-24-Widescreen-LCD-for-659-w-100-GC

    I didn't spec it as recommended, I put in a 22-inch Samsung Widescreen, along with an 8600GT vid card and an 802.11g WiFi card.

    I'm still buying the OCZ 2GB upgrade from Newegg as I listed in my original post, along with a Lightscribe DVD burner.

    The PC I picked up is mATX as far as I can tell, so it will work for the other project as well.

    Total cost: $812 for the PC including tax and the Newegg order, about $200 under my original budget.
  • ZanthianZanthian Mitey Worrier Icrontian
    edited November 2007
    Dude, you're getting a Dell!
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