New Build: $1336, Quad-core Q6600, 4GB DDR2-800, 8800 GTS 640MB, etc

phantomdesign

phantomdesign

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The sad story: (skipable)
I don't even want to think about how old my home computer is *cry*; surprisingly it runs HL2 quite nicely. The newest thing is a $55 graphics card that replaced a burned out 9800pro. Last night I was trying to do an updated render of my most recent automotive design using some improved photo-realistic techniques I've learned over the last year, my computer gave me the middle finger. The sad truth is modern games barely run, rendering is slow as he11 & my computer is simply very outdated (and I have $$$ to upgrade). This machine served me well, and will now become my media/internet/storage PC.

Old Computer: AMD 2000+ XP (one of the older cores), 1 GB DDR 400, GeForce6200A 256MB 8xAGP[/url]

(Curious how many times faster my new computer will be . . . currently benchmarking a 3000x2250 render on my old computer, should take more than a day).
----------
So, I have a budget of $1000-$1500 & my rig has to be great for 3D applications (modeling, large scenes, NURBS, and photo-realistic-automotive-rendering . . examples below) & new/upcoming video-games. This is a complete from-scratch build except peripherals (mouse/keyboard/monitor/etc). Hardware quality is important, overclocking preferred . . . looking high-end with reasonable prices, nothing outrageous. Suggestions/comments/critiques VERY welcome! :)

107.jpg

110.jpg


[LINK] | Type | Manufacturer | Model
Price | Shipping | Rebates (US Dollars)
Specs

[LINK] Case | Cooler Master | Centurion 5
049.99 | 0.00 | 10.00
  • ATX Mid
  • 80mm front fan
  • 120mm rear fan

[LINK] Power Supply | Rosewill | RP600V2-S-SL 600W SLI Ready ATX12V v2.01
64.99 | 0.00 | 0.00
  • 600W, 120mmFan
  • 1 x 20+4 pin,1 x 4/8 pin ATX12V & EPS12V Connector, 4 x SATA, 2 x PCI-E, 6 x peripheral, 2 x Floppy
------
[LINK] Processor | Intel | Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz
289.99 | 0.00 | 0.00
  • Quad-Core, 2.4GHz, 1066MHz FSB
  • Overclock: 3.0-3.3-3.6 (low,avg,high)

[LINK] CPU Heatsink / Fan | Zalaman | CNPS 9500 AT
49.99 | 0.00 | 0.00
  • Copper Heatsink 8x112x125
  • 2 Ball Bearing, 1300-2650 RPM, 18-27.5 dBA

Artic Silver 5 Thermal Compound

[LINK] Motherboard | Gigabyte | GA-965P-DS3
109.99 | 6.33 | 0.00
  • Good OC Support
  • Socket: LGA 775, Quad-Core
  • 1333 FSB
  • Memory:DDR2 800, 4x240pin, 8gb max
  • PCI: 1x PCI-Ex16,3x PCI-Ex1,3x PCI
  • Storage:6xSATA 3Gb/s, 1xATA100
  • Onboard:Audio 8-channel Realtek, 1000Mbps LAN
  • Ports: USB 2.0 x4 (+6), S/PDIF Out 1xOptical 1xCoaxial, Audio x6

[LINK] Memory | OCZ | 2x 2GB DDR2 800 Dual Channel
235 | 4.99 | 25.00
  • DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
  • L:at: 5, Timing 5-6-6-18
  • Copper Heatspreader
------
[LINK] Video Card | EVGA | Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS 640 MB
379.99 | 6.33 | 30.00
  • Overclock: 615-648-660 MHz (low,avg,high)
  • 8800 GTS 500MHz
  • 640MB GDDR3 320-bit 1600MHz (effective)
  • DX 10, OGL 2.0
  • 2xDVI,HDTV,S-Video Out
--------
[LINK] Storage | Samsung | SpinPoint T Series 500GB
119.99 | 0.00 | 0.00
  • 500GB SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB cache
  • RPM: 7200, Seek: 8.9ms, Lat 4.17ms

[LINK] DVD Burner | Samsung | 18x DVD Burner
29.99 | 5.84 | 0.00
  • 18x DVD +-R, 8x DVD +-RW
  • 16x DVD, 48x CD (Read)


Total $1336.90 (doesn?t include shipping or mail-in rebates)
 
looks great to me except the the power supply. i wouldnt skip out on a good power supply. rosewill isnt that great of quality.
i had one and it died on me after a year.
 
One dollar off a leet rig.
 
I would highly recommend spending some more money on a solid and reliable PSU. It looks like you will be stressing it with your system and it doesn't look like just a gaming machine so you really don't want it to crash. Reliability probably be more important. Ating Power makes the Rosewill unit. Not a brand known for it's reliability, or really known period.
You can see who manufactured a Power Supply model by typing the UL file number here and hitting search. (UL number is listed on the PSU sticker under the reverse UR logo - "e186010" for this Rosewill unit)

Enermax and Seasonic/Corsair have some good solid units for a little more than $100 on newegg.
Here are a few good PSU lists.

Otherwise it looks great.
-Psycho- said:
One dollar off a leet rig.
Click to expand...
round up :p
 
Asus, your private message inbox is full :)
 
SeaSonic S12 Energy Plus SS-550HT ATX12V/EPS12V, 80Plus, Active PFC, RoHS, 2PCI-E(6Pin), 550W Power Supply - Retail

The Brick said:
Get a mainboard with the P35 chipset, they're much better for quadcores. Not sure about the PSU. Looking at this list, which I trust, it's bound to be crappy.

Oh and get a SATA optical drive, will save you a lot of hassle with the big IDE cable.
Click to expand...

I'll look into the P35 chipset & SATA-optical & get back here with my research.
 
if you can afford a quad core and 4gbs of ram then you should be able to afford atleast an GTX if not Ultra :/
 
Ravioli said:
if you can afford a quad core and 4gbs of ram then you should be able to afford atleast an GTX if not Ultra :/
Click to expand...
He needs the RAM and the processing power and the GTS should do fine for about 4 years. Mine I just RMA'd though because I think it fried itself. EVGA were quick on the ball though and let me send in the card for a rplacement ASAP. Nice renderings btw. :thumbs: What I did was get this power supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817189008 Another no-name company but I took the chance and it turned out ok. The fans are very silent, the cabes are all wrapped up, and it has no flashy lights. Efficiency is very good as well. Great rebate too. You might get lucky and get a G0 CPU because they OC bettter, run cooler, and use eletrictiy but I can't tell a difference because my G3 runs great. This CPU cooler, while large, keeps the CPU always at 30C (and gets great reviews): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835109140 Includes everything including the thermal grease. I got this mobo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqxeHdSwbp8 you can pick either one but I got that one. The layout of board was amazingly superb and my GTX fits nicely in it. Everything is color coded (including the ribbon cables), they made it easy to OC and automatically knows your RAM is in dual channel mode! :naughty: The on-board audio, while it's Realtek, is 7.1 HD-Audio! Now I would highly recommend you get this RAM though: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820211066 Much cheaper and is gaming RAM from a great company with a rebate! My build is this: http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=7309927 Other than that everything is ok but don't get Vista, it runs really slow right now.
 
Ravioli said:
if you can afford a quad core and 4gbs of ram then you should be able to afford atleast an GTX if not Ultra :/
Click to expand...
Quad-core & 4GB ram are for 3D work; more business than pleasure. I also chose the 640mb 8800GTS over the 320mb version for the same reason. I did closely look at the GTX and Ultra & didn't feel the price-difference was worth it, especially considering GTS's OC potential.
hool10 said:
Nice renderings btw. :thumbs:

What I did was get this power supply: <snip>

You might get lucky and get a G0 CPU because they OC bettter, run cooler, and use eletrictiy but I can't tell a difference because my G3 runs great.

This CPU cooler, while large, keeps the CPU always at 30C (and gets great reviews): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835109140 Includes everything including the thermal grease.

I got this mobo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqxeHdSwbp8 you can pick either one but I got that one. The layout of board was amazingly superb and my GTX fits nicely in it. Everything is color coded (including the ribbon cables), they made it easy to OC and automatically knows your RAM is in dual channel mode! :naughty: The on-board audio, while it's Realtek, is 7.1 HD-Audio!

Now I would highly recommend you get this RAM though: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820211066 Much cheaper and is gaming RAM from a great company with a rebate!

My build is this: http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=7309927 Other than that everything is ok but don't get Vista, it runs really slow right now.
Click to expand...
Renders: Thanks! I've actually gotten a lot better since those renderings, but my computer can no-longer keep up.

PSU: Interesting; I think I like the other two options I linked earlier.

Motherboard: I was looking at that one, seems to have fairly good ratings & reasonable price.

Memory: if I use 2BG sticks, I'll have room to expand.
 
http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=8040507
Had too much free tiem at work so I switched the PSU and the Harddrive... (Samsung to Seagate and after some research the PSU = Hiper)
--
Case
The only thing I'm being extremely indecisive about is the case. I usually overlook the case because it's not what I usually consider as part of the hardware. Since I'm dropping some cash (including a nice heatsink) & planning on overclocking, I'm beginning to rethink this a little. In one sense, I'd really rather save the cash for other stuff . . . but some stile and superb cooling might be worth it. I guess it could save a harddrive or processor, or maybe allow me to overclock a little further, plus a case is reusable. The price difference (%140 to $40) is a big jump though.

#1: Antec Nine Hundred $140 + $0 s/h, 1x 200mm 3x 120 mm fans
#2: X-Blade $47 + $12 s/h, aluminum, 1x120mm 2x80mm fans
#3: COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 $50 + $0 shipping - $10 rebate, 120mm and 180mm fans.

#1 Is expensive, but the reviews and insane fans would make any geek have an orgasm. #2 Isn't that expensive, it's aluminum (which my brother claims improves cooling) with 3 fans, not bad at all with a great price. #3 is cheap but has good reviews.

Opinions?
 
Why change the PSU? Based on Brick's link it's "Not Recommend With Tier 3 In same Price/Wattage Range". (just "Hiper", not the >650Watt models) The Seasonic model you had was listed at Tier 2 in his list. D:

You don't need to get anything fancy for the case. 120MM fan front and back would be good. Side fans mess with airflow IMO. I like to just keep it simple. :)
If I bought a good looking case under $100 with good air flow I'd buy something like this. :D
 
The Antec case is worth it IMO. People complain that it's too noisy but I find it very quiet. I still say you should get my CPU cooler. Look up some reviews for it and you will find it gives watercooling a run for its money. It's fanless too with the cooling paste included which is a major plus. You are also making a major mistake on the RAM. You could save $85 by getting the RAM I have. ;) The PSU is ok also. I have read people on the EVGA forums using 8600GTS in SLI mode with a 500W PSU.
 
hool, the problem with the ram is that it would be 4x1gb. That stresses the memory controller on the mainboard a heck of a lot more than 2x2gb, plus that it's not upgradable to 8gb easily.

I also disagree with the PSU, there's a lot better power supplies you can get for the same price.

This would be worth the extra $15 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139001
 
Looks good. I spent almost 2k with my current specs about 2 years ago. Your definitely getting a decent deal. The antec case is sexy so if you ask my opinion Id go with that. I just bought an 8800 GTS and it should be arriving today and im going to have to upgrade the rest very soon. Let us know how the quad core works out for you.
 
I looked at a number of reviews and it seems that the Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme does come out on top of most reviews, so I'll replace the Zalman. Need a couple fans for optimal performance.

That Corsair PSU had great reviews (91% 5-star? wow), so I changed my mind again, lol.

For the hard-drive, I can't find these optical harddrives on newegg. :(

EDIT: http://nexfan03.stores.yahoo.net/super-silent-yate-loon-120mm-case-fan-d12sh-12.html <-- for the fans
http://nexfan03.stores.yahoo.net/ya...blue-frame-with-4-blue-leds--high-speed-.html (with LEDs
 
What? D: An optical drive is a dvd drive. There are Dvd drives that use the SATA interface, and I recommend it.
 
You don't need a fan for the CPU cooler. You can set up the mobo in such a way that the top and back fans are right next to the cooler on the Antec 900. The CPU cooler alone should do just fine. I'm getting 30C on mine in fact without a fan on it. It will fit in but it just makes it, lol. *Also you don't need the thermal paste! The CPU cooler comes with everything including a tube of the stuff.
 
Ohhhh... SATA DVD burner, lol *slaps self*

Philips 20x DVD Burner SATA
Asus 18x DVD Burner SATA
Samsung 20x DVD Burner

Which would you chose? (not very familiar with DVD burner brands, other than Lite-On which always seems to die after 12 months).


----
Is the included Thermalright thermal grease as good as Artic Silver? I know Artic Silver makes top-of-the-line products and has for a while, I can spare a couple extra $ there.

I'll get the fans anyway, they're inexpensive and can't hurt, after all I'm spending $140 on the case, $65 on the Powersupply, etc...$15 for 2 fans isn't that big of a deal.
 
But wasting money for no reason is. I have the Antec 900 case, and it is super cool with the fans included. It's super quiet and sexy. No, compared to everything else $15 isn't a lot, but it's just waste.
 
I have that PSU (the corsair 520) and it's great. I had a Fortron unit before with similar power (500watt) but this Corsair one uses a lot less power to do the same stuff (measured from the wall).

The Zalmans 9700 is good enough and easy to put in but it is pretty expensive. lol
I'm always a fan of Thermalright products. :thumbs:
That is a good 120mm fan. They are cheap and pretty quiet.
And Arctic Silver Ceramique is awesome.

Of the DVD drives you listed, my buy order would be:
1. samsung or asus
100. philps
 
phantomdesign said:
Is the included Thermalright thermal grease as good as Artic Silver? I know Artic Silver makes top-of-the-line products and has for a while, I can spare a couple extra $ there.

I'll get the fans anyway, they're inexpensive and can't hurt, after all I'm spending $140 on the case, $65 on the Powersupply, etc...$15 for 2 fans isn't that big of a deal.
Click to expand...
Thermal paste is thermal paste and it's designed to cool. There are enough fans on the case and they are giving you the thermal paste. You can't put on the optional side fan also on the case because of the CPU cooler. Also the directions to put the fan clips on the cooler was weird. Another good reason why you don't need at all those extra fans.
 
Just Ordered! :) Can't wait!
$1515.90 price
$16.89 shipping
-$85 mail in rebates
+$30 (3 fans, probably won't use all)

I'm sure a fully built computer like this would sell for at least double, especially considering overall quality of components. :) I love building computers.

P.S. The Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail was $140 with free shipping, now it has $10 in instant savings and $30 mail in rebate. :) Wasn't there a couple days ago.

EDIT: Built an almost-equivalent system at dell.com & the price was $2929. (no monitor, no software) That's not ignoring branding/quality of items and the extra cooling components, which would drop the price of my personal build to around $1150.
 
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