[SoulAssassin]

I'm pricing some things out because my system is pissing me off enough to start looking around. I already have a 320GB sata drive and Vista Business waiting for this install (as well as several IDE drives w/ an IDE add-on card).

I do not play a ton of games on this anymore although it would be a nice option from time to time, just not as hardcore as I used to be. Also, I've been out of the hardware loop for awhile so be kind :P

Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Centurion RC-534-KKR5 Black Aluminum & Mesh bezel, SECC chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 430W Power Supply - Retail

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100166L Radeon X1650XT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail

Newegg.com - Antec True Power Trio TP3-650 ATX12V 650W Power Supply with Three 12V Rails 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, FCC, TUV, CE, C-tick, CCC, CB - Retail

Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz 2M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail

Newegg.com - Kingston 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory - Retail

Newegg.com - LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner - Retail

[Electric_Head]

I've been out of the loop too....but IMO you should get 2GB RAM. Vista is a beast.

I'm waiting for quad cores to hit my price-range.

[SoulAssassin]

I was going to get 2GB but $200 just for RAM is killing me. I don't want to blow my budget on this thing because I've found that decent components have lasted me several years.

What I was planning on trying was use 1GB for now and if it seems like it'll help I'd boost it to two. Or...if anyone has an option to reduce the cost of the above and I can afford the 2GB.

[Lord Kain]

Well, I'm gonna insist. With Vista, your RAM is one of the most important parts if you want to have a pleasant experience.

Believe me, I've seen Vista on 1 GB and it's a major pain... unless you disable aero.

As for options:

650x of PSU is overkill. 400 to 500w would be enough. And also, I see that your case already have a PSU (probably cheap though)

So maybe you could settle with a case that already includes a good PSU (Antec), etc?

Or keep the cheap PSU and then change it as soon as you have money.

Again, I think that the 2 GB would be more important than a bigass PSU (short term)

[MSP]

I've got 2GB now, and when I move to Vista I'll likely double that. Otherwise that system looks pretty nice. I would buy Nvidia, but that's just me.

[ThatHideousStrength]

Why are you buying Kingston Retail memory?

Newegg.com - G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

2 gbs @ 164 bucks.

[SoulAssassin]

Originally Posted by ThatHideousStrength

Why are you buying Kingston Retail memory?

Newegg.com - G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

2 gbs @ 164 bucks.

Only because of compatibility and the luck I've had with them in the past. honestly, I didn't even see the memory you've posted. I may just replace what you put instead of the Kingston but I'll have to check the compatibility list just to be sure. Nothing worse than getting a new system and find out the memory is whack lol


Edit:
Kain...I figured the extra power may help but the Coolermaster case has a 430w PSU. I've used Coolermaster PSU's in the past and they're not bad but I was assuming I'd need to add the extra power. I think I'll take your advice, remove the antec PSU and add the RAM above.

[Lord Kain]

yup okay. And As I said, if you feel uncomfortable with the PSU, you'll have time to stack a few dollars!

And inspired from MSP's post, I suggest to get 1 GB sticks. 3 or 4 GB (for the 64bit edition) will be useable under Vista. So 4 x 512 would be retarded. I'm personnaly stuck with that, but I bought my second GB 2 years ago.

[chapel]

If you can wait a few months, Intel announced massive price cuts. Talking about a 3GHz c2d faster than the x6800 for around $300. Not to mention a Quad core 2.4GHz c2q for around the same price. Up to you, but dont be disappointed 2-3 months later when the cpu you just purchased drops by 100 or more.

[SoulAssassin]

Originally Posted by chapel

If you can wait a few months, Intel announced massive price cuts. Talking about a 3GHz c2d faster than the x6800 for around $300. Not to mention a Quad core 2.4GHz c2q for around the same price. Up to you, but dont be disappointed 2-3 months later when the cpu you just purchased drops by 100 or more.

What are the expected cuts for the current C2D line? I'm not overly ancy to get this purchased but I am getting pissed at my current system.

[Electric_Head]

Price cuts are allways a few months around the corner though. If you wait for the next price cut, you will only be dissapointed 2-3 months from then too.

[chapel]

Originally Posted by Electric_Head

Price cuts are allways a few months around the corner though. If you wait for the next price cut, you will only be dissapointed 2-3 months from then too.

These are quite large cuts on new cpus coming out.
DailyTech - Intel's Next Desktop Launch Details Revealed

Intel Core 2 Duo
Model | Core Frequency | L2 Cache | FSB | Pricing
E6850 | 3.00GHz | 4MB | 1333MHz | $266
E6750 | 2.66GHz | 4MB | 1333MHz | $183
E6550 | 2.33GHz | 4MB | 1333MHz | $163
E6540 | 2.33GHz | 4MB | 1333MHz | $163

[hans5849]

Yep, im waiting untill the price cuts

[MSP]

Damn! I could get the E6850 for about what I paid for my E6400 3 months ago... Doh! Although I have mine running at 3ghz anyway.

[SoulAssassin]

I would wait for those chips but I can't wait til Q3. This is a long overdue system replacement as it is and my motherboard caps are leaking all over the place and the performance shows. For example, if I open Winfast to watch TV my optical mouse goes beserk at random times and sometimes loses power. There are various other glitches but since I work from home it helps to have a productive machine while I'm here. Basically it's just getting annoying as hell.

[chapel]

Whats your current cpu?

[SoulAssassin]

Athlon 2100+ at stock speeds. I had to bring it back down after I saw the caps blew. Mobo is an Epox 8RDA+ which was great but not so much anymore.


OH God I just remembered I bought this CPU for $57 after rebates lol...now I'm spending $150+ for a decent one.

[Miller]

Case, get an antec and be done with it. every computer I've ever built had a cheap case. finally i blew my wad on my latest build and bought a antec, and i couldn't be happier. Newegg.com - Antec PERFORMANCE TX TX1050B Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W ATX12V v2.0 Power Supply - Retail

MoBo, Whatever floats your boat, i have been a loyal fan of asus since back in the day, now i swear by eVGA. had a gigabyte board once back in the socket 7 days, did me alright. i'd suggest a 680i chipset but may be out of your price range.

Vid Card, i'm more of a nvidia dude, but whatever.

PSU, 650 is an overkill. i'm running 4 hard drives, 2 optical drives, a 8800, a 7600, and a cpu overclocked about a ghz. 600watt psu, no problems, 500 should do you fine. look at that case i linked.


cpu, good choice.

RAM, DONT GO FUCKING CHEAP ON YOUR RAM. 2 gigs min, especially with vista. i've got 4 gigs and idling i use 50%. DONT GO FUCKING CHEAPO ON YOUR RAM


that is all.

oh yea, get a decent cooler, stock is shit

[ThatHideousStrength]

G.Skill ain't crap though! I don't know if you are implying that. I bought ddr 2 laptop ram and never had a problem, I have 1 gb DDR ram from G.Skill that works 100 % as well.

[SoulAssassin]

I've always heard good things about G Skill memory. I'm so used to Kingston for myself and customers it's a habit because of the compatibility but I'm going to give it a whirl this time.