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6 Replies Last post: May 15, 2008 8:44 PM by rgreen4  
Click to view daheightsoac's profile New Member 3 posts since
May 14, 2008
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May 14, 2008 10:00 PM

What do yall think of this custom comp?


Hey everyone, im planning on purchasing a custom comp, all parts picked by me but i would like to know what yall think about it.

Here it is

Motherboard
EVGA 132-CK-NF79-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 790i Ultra SLI DDR3 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16813188025
$339.99

Processor
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 Yorkfield 2.5GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16819115043
$279.99

Operating System
2Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 64-bit English 1pk DSP OEI DVD - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16832116493
$179.99

Memory
OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16820227293
$330.99

Hard Drive
2- Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3750330AS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16822148298
$129.99 Each - Total $259.98

Graphics Card
EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX(G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130339
$299.99

Sound Card
Creative 70SB046A00003 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty Champion Series Sound Card
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16829102014
$179.99

Power Supply
BFG Tech ES-800 BFGR800WESPSU 800W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16817702007
$199.99

Case
COOLER MASTER COSMOS 1000 RC-1000-KSN1-GP Black/ Silver Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16811119138
$199.99

Fans
3-COOLER MASTER R4-S2S-12AK-GP 120mm Case Fan
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16835103024
$7.99 Each - $23.97 Total

Burner

LG 22x DVD+-R Burner IDE

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136144

$29.99


What Do Yall think? Please Comment

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Click to view mphenterprises's profile Member Moderators 8,384 posts since
Feb 19, 2007
1. May 15, 2008 3:10 AM in response to: daheightsoac
Re: What do yall think of this custom comp?
Hi DaHeightSoac and welcome to the PCWorld Communities. :D

Please note that the General Talk Community is not for technical questions. It is intended to be a place for PC World members to share and discuss off-topic items, and just generally have fun. For further guidelines, please refer to this Discussion. I have moved your Discussion into the Desktop Community.


This is my personal Dream PC: http://forums.pcworld.com/blogs/mphenterprises/2007/12/21/my-gift-to-myself
Click to view Kilme's profile Member 175 posts since
Feb 12, 2008
2. May 15, 2008 6:04 AM in response to: daheightsoac
Re: What do yall think of this custom comp?
What will you be using the computer for? I judge by your card choice that you will be gaming, but is there anything else? How long do you plan on keeping it? Are you planning on SLI in the future? Do you plan on overclocking? What's your budget?

Now note, that many of my suggestions are usually aimed at saving money. I see you've picked out many high end parts (overly expensive), but if you're really set on it, can afford it, and want your computer to last as long as possible, then that's fine.

First of all, I can see you've somewhat set yourself up for some SLI possibilites. The 9800GTX is already a beastly card. I'm not sure what settings you're planning on gaming at, but SLI'ing two or more 9800GTXs would be overkill. If you're dead set on SLI, you could do two 8800GTS instead. It would be cheaper than 2 9800GTXs, and would offer nearly identical perfomance. If you're sticking to one card though, you could go with the 8800GTX or the 9800GX2 if you want to get frisky. Good choice picking EVGA though, they offer nice warranties and the 90 day step up service. They also make solid cards.

As far as power goes, 700-800w is about what you're looking at. I've never heard anything about BFG making PSUs, and I see the one you picked out doesn't have any reviews at all. Not only that, but it's a bit on the expensive side. I would stay away from it if possible, although I do like that it has decent amps on the rails, and it has a lifetime warranty. This Corsair should meet your needs, unless you're planning on Tri-SLI, which I doubt (that would be reeeeaaaally overkill). Plus, it has a nice sal price at the moment.

Time for the motherboard and RAM. Again, unless you really plan on SLI, I would get a cheaper board. DD3 is really expensive right now, and the boost it gives over DDR2 is minimal. Plus, DDR2 is cheap right now. If you want to go a cheaper route, this Gigabyte board and this OCZ or this Corsair should do quite nicely. This still leaves room for SLI as well, just not Tri-SLI. The Corsair RAM is more expensive, but it comes with a free RAM cooler, which is neat I guess. The motherboard is meant to be durable, plus I can see it supports the 45nm processors.

Now for the processor. If you only plan on playing games, then a quad won't do you too much good at the moment. However, if you plan on doing some Photoshop, video editing, and other such taxing activities, or if you just want your computer to be future proof for as long as possible, then your Q9300 is a great choice. If you want a dual core however, the E8400 is also a nice choice. Either way, if you plan on overclocking, I'd recommend something other than the stock heatsink. This Xigmatek is a great cooler, and it's cheap to boot. I can't comment on the sound card, since I don't use them. The only one I've ever used is a cheap $20 one for my old computer when the onboard sound died.

You have some mega storage going on there. The price is nice, plus they have 32MB cache. Very good. The OS is always a personal choice, so I won't comment on that either. Although I will say that Vista Ultimate is good for futureproofing, since I think it comes with both a 32-bit and 64-bit installation disk. The case is also a personal favorite of mine. The only thing you need to realize for that case is that the hard drive cooling is less than optimal. Your drives aren't Raptors or anything, so I'm sure they'll be fine though. They fixed that problem in the future revision of the Cosmos, but it's so ugly, that I couldn't justify purchasing it. The other case I like right now is the Antec 1200. It has some nice cooling like it's predecessor, but is larger, and has included cable management holes and such behind the motherboard tray. The only thing I don't like about it is the side panel window. I just don't like side windows. Also, there's the gaudy blue lights it comes with, but you can replace the fans easily.

So, yeah until I know your plans, that's all I can give you. :p


Athlon X2 5000 BE 3.1GHz, Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro, Gigabyte GA-MA770-DS3 AM2+, Visiontek HD4850, Corsair XMS2 2GB DDR2 800, OCZ StealthXStream 600W PSU
Click to view coastie65's profile Old Hand 2,603 posts since
Apr 2, 2007
4. May 15, 2008 3:12 PM in response to: daheightsoac
Re: What do yall think of this custom comp?
Hi daheightsoac and welcome to the forum. Looks pretty stout. One thing though, if you are planning on gaming with that thing, you might want to rethink the 64 Bit OS as I don't think most games will work all well with that. I guess you could probably go into the display settings and reset to 32 bit, but with Vista that would be a crapshoot. coastie65


eMachines T5212.... Intel Pentium D 925 3.0 Ghz..... evga 8600 GT 256 Mb PCI-E video card..... Realtec HD audio......2 Gb 533 Mhz DDR2 memory..... Lite on CD RW; DVD +R / RW DL optical drive...... Windows XP MCE 2005....... Antec Basiq 500w PSU......200 Gb PATA HDD
Click to view rgreen4's profile Old Hand 3,144 posts since
Oct 22, 2006
6. May 15, 2008 8:44 PM in response to: daheightsoac
Re: What do yall think of this custom comp?
You can always verify with the size of the two power supplies you considered, but it should fit. I like my Gigabyte board although not quite up to the specs of yours (mines a GA-P35-DS3P, current version is a GA-EP35-DS3P).

If you go with the Gigabyte, you can download a certified memory module list from their website. They guarantee that the listed memory will be fully functional in that motherboard. It removes a lot of uncertainty when ordering memory. Here is the sheet for the GA-EP35-DS4 (Rev. 2.1). When I built mine I bought 2 Kingston Hyperx DDR2-6400 and later when they were on sale for far less than I paid, I ordered 2 more to boost my machine to 4GB.

I agree with the comment on 64bit, but with the caveat that the OEM disc only contains one version. The upgrade and full retail discs contain both 32bit and 64bit version on the DVD. Since you can get the upgrade disc for just a few dollars more, and you can do a clean install from the upgrade disc, that may be a better long term value. You can install the 32bit now for compatiblility, yet have the 64bit on hand for when the compatible programs and drivers are more prevalent. Here's a link on how to to a clean install with the upgrade disc. It has been verified that the proceedure still works in SP1.

One other comment - if you stay with the Cooler Master Cosmos case, it comes with 4 120mm fans already, yet you show 3 more in your wish list. Do you really intend 7 fans? Where would the extra 3 go, I know it is a small item.


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