Looking for the best bang for my buck! (whole new PC)

[Letters]

There's always a point where getting that last little bit of performance isn't worth the hundreds of dollars it costs... for me, anyway. The tricky part is finding where that point is and where I could use some advice.

I consider myself "fairly" knowledgable about the different parts of a computer, but I'm not one of those comfortable enough to order the single parts off of Newegg and put it all together myself. Getting the right case, motherboard, and power supply to be compatable with everything is confusing to me (as are SLI and Crossfire), and I wouldn't know where to start even if I had everything I needed! Sooooo for my last 2 computers, I've just ordered custom ones from iBuypower (desktop) and Cyberpower (laptop). They're cheap as hell and I had no complaints either time, so at this point I'm planning to go with iBuypower again for this new desktop. My only complaint with the desktop was I ordered a shit GFX card (Geforce MX440), but I upgraded it to a Radeon 9600 long ago and it's still going along fine today. The notebook (my current main computer... Pentium M 1.7 GHz, 1 gig of memory, mobility 9700) has problems I'm not sure is even related to Cyberpower... it's used only as a desktop these days and needs to constantly be on a fan pad if it's running any sort of game, even something like Baldur's Gate II, or the processor gets too hot and it clocks itself down to 1/3 of its maximum speed every few minutes and everything gets choppy for a few moments before it clocks back up again... annoying. This happens in all more-demanding games even sitting on the fan pad. I guess the reason I'm still iffy is their prices are just so damn cheap compared to everything else, so if anyone can put me at ease there, that'd be nice!

So! On to what I'm looking for! The best bang for my buck... don't want to spend a holy bejesus amount of money (around $2000 being my max... not including a monitor), but I also don't want to be able to run current games nicely for a long time... not sure how long I can reasonably expect given the rate everything changes, but for so much money I don't want to buy a new one every year... or even two years just to be have non-choppy experiences in new games. Going through the entirety of Neverwinter Nights 2 on my laptop was not that cool. I don't need the BEST quality... antialiasing and anisotropic filtering... don't care, probably didn't even spell them right. I like to be able to put the in-game detail levels at high, though... the low ones can really look like butt. Also, I'm content at 1024x768 or 1280x1024 resolutions... everything gets so small after that! I already have a fked up monitor (more on that at the end) that'll have to do and pretty good 2.1 sound, and mouse and keyboard don't matter as long as the mouse is optical and they're both clean.

Now, here is my preliminary thinking for a setup from iBuypower:

Case ( Raidmax O2 Gaming Tower Case w/400W Power Supply Blue )

Power Supply ( 650 Watt -- NZXT PRC-650 Power Supply SLI Ready )

Processor ( Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6600 (2x 2.4GHz/4MB L2 Cache/1066FSB) )

Processor Cooling ( CoolerMaster Liquid CPU Cooling Fan System Kit )

Motherboard ( Asus P5N-E SLI nForce? 650i SLI Chipset w/6-channel CODEC, Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0, IEEE-1394 Dual PCI-E MB )

Memory ( 2048MB [1024MB X2] DDR2-800 PC6400 Memory Module Corsair-Value or Major Brand )

Video Card ( [==New !!!==] NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTX 768MB w/DVI + TV Out Video )
Video Card Brand ( Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA )

Hard Drive ( Gaming HARD DRIVES [Serial ATA-150, 10,000 RPM] WD Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 16M Cache Hard Drive )

CD/DVD Drive ( [** Special !!! ***] 18X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD?R/?RW + CD-R/RW Drive Black )

CD-RW/DVD-RW Drive ( [** Special !!! ***] 18X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD?R/?RW + CD-R/RW Drive Black )

Sound Card ( Creative Lab Sound Blaster Audigy SE )

Network Card ( Intel Pro 10/100/1000 Network Card )

Keyboard ( Logitech Deluxe Keyboard Black )

Mouse ( Logitech Optical Internet Mouse Black )

Operation System ( Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium + [Free 60-Day !!!] Microsoft Office 2007(Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Access ....) )

Wireless Network Adapter ( [Special !!!] Wireless 802.11g 54Mbps PCI Adapter )

Warranty ( Warranty Service Standard 3-Year Limited Warranty + Lifetime Technical Support )

Total Price: $1948.00 (and they usually have something like 5% instant rebate... says the deal expires today but I'm pretty sure they always do it!)


Please bring on any and all comments about anything! Sorry for the couple walls of text there, but I wanted to make sure everyone knew where I was comin' from.


Edit: Thought of a couple more questions... the E6700 processor is about $100 more than the E6600... worth it? And I know ATI is coming out with some new stuff here pretty quick, but I haven't heard good things... dunno if it'll be better than that 8800 GTX beast there.




(Unrelated but since I'm here... my monitor. It's a MAG Innovision LCD... max resolution is 1280x1024. It has an odd problem, though. When I turn it on it will do -nothing- for about 5 minutes except its power light will kinda flicker on and off sporadically but then it magically starts displaying stuff and is fine until it's turned off or goes into standby mode... any ideas?!)

 

[The Brick]

The e6700 is not worth it.

8800GTX does not qualify as 'best bang for the buck'. The 8800GTS 640 does.

Do you care about overclocking at all? If you want to make this thing future proof, it's highly recommended. You have the right parts for a fair overclock.

That PSU you chose is NOT recommended. It's an awful brand and it will probably give you shit in the future. If you can, see if you can get the Corsair HX620. Those are among the highest quality power supplies available.

And do I see the full version of Vista home premium? You're better off (meaning a lot cheaper) if you get the OEM version (32 bit).

I don't know if it's a big difference in price, but get at least an Audigy 2 ZS. They should be dirt cheap too by now.

The raptor harddisk is a nice drive. But don't you need some storage? The WD RE2 400gb is a nice deal. It's a fast drive (not noticibly slower than the raptor).

I have no idea what's wrong with your monitor.

 

[Ravioli]

I would go for an AMD processor instead, maybe just cuz im more familiar with them.

 

[Icarusintel]

I would go for at least an X-Fi Xtreme Music for your sound card. They've gotten really small and cheap now, and they're definitely worth it for the boost in audio quality.

 

[[RnL]Stefan]

Now, here is my preliminary thinking for a setup from iBuypower:

Case ( Raidmax O2 Gaming Tower Case w/400W Power Supply Blue )

Why not get a case without PSU? Saves a few bucks 0_o
Power Supply ( 650 Watt -- NZXT PRC-650 Power Supply SLI Ready )

Processor ( Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6600 (2x 2.4GHz/4MB L2 Cache/1066FSB) )

Just fine, you can OC it to almost 3Ghz, and save the 180 bucks for the 6700..in a year you can easily get a quadcore for that price anyway.

Processor Cooling ( CoolerMaster Liquid CPU Cooling Fan System Kit )

Motherboard ( Asus P5N-E SLI nForce? 650i SLI Chipset w/6-channel CODEC, Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0, IEEE-1394 Dual PCI-E MB )

Memory ( 2048MB [1024MB X2] DDR2-800 PC6400 Memory Module Corsair-Value or Major Brand )

Video Card ( [==New !!!==] NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTX 768MB w/DVI + TV Out Video )
Video Card Brand ( Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA )

Hard Drive ( Gaming HARD DRIVES [Serial ATA-150, 10,000 RPM] WD Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 16M Cache Hard Drive )

I personally would get 1 500gig disc or 2 250gigs and raid them. i *think* you won't notice too much of a difference with the raptor.

CD/DVD Drive ( [** Special !!! ***] 18X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD?R/?RW + CD-R/RW Drive Black )

CD-RW/DVD-RW Drive ( [** Special !!! ***] 18X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD?R/?RW + CD-R/RW Drive Black )

Sound Card ( Creative Lab Sound Blaster Audigy SE )

Go for the X-Fi or even better: stick with the Onboard sound for a while. The creative drivers are terrible currently and they don't support CMSS (stereo channel mixed to 6 channel audio) - without you will only hear sound from the front speakers, when listening to MP3s for example. The Audigy drivers do not support that (yet - or maybe never). The standard intel or realtek sound chip does...

Network Card ( Intel Pro 10/100/1000 Network Card )

Why the additional card? 0_o Your ping won't suffer from the board NIC, unless you're a "pro" gamer ;D

Keyboard ( Logitech Deluxe Keyboard Black )

Mouse ( Logitech Optical Internet Mouse Black )

Operation System ( Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium + [Free 60-Day !!!] Microsoft Office 2007(Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Access ....) )

Home Premium is fine. Do NOT get a OEM version, as it will be bound to your motherboard. Change the motherboard and get a new license..

Wireless Network Adapter ( [Special !!!] Wireless 802.11g 54Mbps PCI Adapter )

Warranty ( Warranty Service Standard 3-Year Limited Warranty + Lifetime Technical Support )

Total Price: $1948.00 (and they usually have something like 5% instant rebate... says the deal expires today but I'm pretty sure they always do it!)

Please bring on any and all comments about anything! Sorry for the couple walls of text there, but I wanted to make sure everyone knew where I was comin' from.


Edit: Thought of a couple more questions... the E6700 processor is about $100 more than the E6600... worth it? And I know ATI is coming out with some new stuff here pretty quick, but I haven't heard good things... dunno if it'll be better than that 8800 GTX beast there.




(Unrelated but since I'm here... my monitor. It's a MAG Innovision LCD... max resolution is 1280x1024. It has an odd problem, though. When I turn it on it will do -nothing- for about 5 minutes except its power light will kinda flicker on and off sporadically but then it magically starts displaying stuff and is fine until it's turned off or goes into standby mode... any ideas?!)

Price seems ok, i paid a little less for my system. Your monitor: Sell it and get a decent wide screen (20" - 22"). That beast of a system is a waste if you play on such a small crappy screen.

 

[The Brick]

Oops yeah forgot about the audigy + vista crap. Stick to the onboard or go for a real x-fi (extreme music, not the extreme audio or extreme gamer).


I would recommend the OEM version because it's like $200 cheaper (well last time I checked it was) and I don't think she'll be changing the mobo any time soon. Even so, two times $99 is still less than one time $300.

And yes.. the raptors are pretty much a waste of money nowadays.. the 7200rpm drives are really catching up. The WD RE2 drives are pretty much as fast as the 150gb raptor in most tests.

Btw you can get that cpu way over 3ghz if you're not incredibly unlucky.

 

[Letters]

Thanks for the input!

Sound Card: I'll definitely go with an X-Fi in light of those problems since they're not even that much more.

Processor: Will stay with E6600. I'm the opposite of Ravioli and only have experience with Intel, and AMD confuses me.

Hard Drive: I don't even need much more than the 55 GB one I have now so even 150 MB will seem huge! Plus, iBuypower does not even specify a brand name for any of their other hard drives...

Power Supply: The only other brand other than NZXT offered by iBuypower is Thermaltake, starting with "750 Watt -- Thermaltake Toughpower W0117RU Power Supply" as the cheapest. Is that one alright?

Case: iBuypower doesn't offer cases without a power supply included, so that's why that's there!

Vista: The home premium they offer only costs $75 so I dunno what that means.

Graphics: 8800 GTX 768 costs $126 more than GS 620... figured it was probably worth it for some more lasting power but is that not really the case?

Overclocking: No experience with that... don't wanna melt anything!

Network Card: I really only upgraded that from onboard 'cause it had some extra numbers and anything 'onboard' makes me think it's bad. That'll save me some money, hehe.


And my monitor is 19" so it's not really that small, just has a kinda low max resolution and that funky problem. BUT! A "Viewsonic 20" Wide VG2030wm TFT LCD Monitor 1680x1050" is $258 from iBuypower... dunno if it's that good, though, will probably check it out.



Again, thanks for the suggestions and info!

 

[The Brick]

Hm... Then how about looking at getting stuff from another store? Like newegg.

 

[Letters]

Newegg doesn't put it together for me. I can do upgrades, but I dunno about doin' the whole thing! Can't find any place cheaper than iBuypower that builds it, plus I've bought from them before and know they do a good job.