(Newegg add to cart)
http://secure.newegg.com/Shopping/AddToCart.aspx?Submit=Add&itemList=N82E16811156062%7c1%2cN82E16813131320%7c1%2cN82E16820134582%7c1%2cCOMBO.115172.00-995-050%7c1

What say you oh mighty wolf web? I opted for more DDR2 800 memory rather than DDR2 1066, because performance gains for that are modest.

I already have other required accessories (optical drive, 3 hard drives, keyboard, mouse, geforce 9800 GTX+, dual tuner tv card, 37" LCD monitor + 21" LCD Monitor, 5.1 stereo, 1500 VA UPS). Am I missing anything?

This says I should be ok with the 500W power supply:
http://www.thermaltake.outervision.com/Power

The 4 case fans should keep everything cool.


Feedback?

7/29/2008 8:22:51 PM

Use tinyurl

Don't use the term 'puter'

7/29/2008 8:39:29 PM

URL fits fine on my screen.

7/29/2008 9:11:16 PM

Quote :

"Use tinyurl Don't use the term 'puter'"

[Edited on July 29, 2008 at 9:14 PM. Reason : message_topic.aspx?topic=472002]

7/29/2008 9:13:43 PM

The case looks like a background wallpaper for a 15yr old goth kid on Myspace. It's ugly as sin.

The power supply is a RaidMax, which I would use a doorstop and nothing more. I still don't understand how people can spend a thousand dollars on a computer and then get a 25 dollar power supply, the ONE part that can destroy everything else in a split second.

Is there a reason you have two CPU's in your cart?

Good call on the memory.

CPU I'd either go with the 9600 Phenom, or seriously seriously consider going Intel with a Q6600.

7/29/2008 9:17:06 PM

^ I agree with noen, most PS's bundled with cases are absolute shit. Spend the money and get a stable power supply that also allows you to expand your system as you see fit.

7/29/2008 9:29:44 PM

A case with a door always seems like it would be a hassle to me.

If you want a case that still maintains a consistent front, you could go with this one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146041

I have it, there are 2 drive bays with external buttons and openings so that your disc drive will blend with your case.

7/29/2008 9:30:56 PM

Case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129025

Power supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703009
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703005

Either one will last you another 3 computer builds at least.

7/29/2008 9:36:57 PM

@Noen,

I think the case is ugly too. But it has fans blowing directly on both the CPU and graphics card, I thought that was a redeeming quality.

Was thinking about upgrading the PSU too, I wasn't sold on the case/PSU combo.

There's only one CPU (Phenom 9950 BE) associated with that link, if you had something in your cart already it would have appeared as well. Chose AM2+ because future socket AM3 processors will be compatible with socket AM2+, so I'll be upgradeable.

Thanks for the input. I'm gonna try to put together an Intel build for comparison.

7/29/2008 9:39:00 PM

Another question, do you think the stock cooler is sufficient on the Phenom?

7/29/2008 10:26:51 PM

I don't see why it woudn't be unless you OC.

Why would they sell their proc with insufficient cooling? that would just be asking for trouble.

7/29/2008 10:50:34 PM

Q6600 FTW! I'm running a torture test on my OC right now. This CPU rocks.

7/29/2008 11:20:39 PM

What mobo are you running?

7/30/2008 12:23:28 AM

^^

message_topic.aspx?topic=118820&page=1

7/30/2008 12:50:07 AM

E8400 Core 2 duo, best bang for the buck right now.

Also 500w power supply might be a little tight.

7/30/2008 1:11:18 AM

ASUS P5Q Pro

7/30/2008 7:12:25 AM

Problem is decent LGA 775 motherboards cost more than AM2+.

New build:

$235 + $0 S/H - AMD Phenom X4 9950BE
$104.99 + $9.39 S/H - ASUS M3N78 Pro (nVidia 8300, 7.1 audio, IEE 1394a)
$14.99 + $0 S/H - OCZ 700W Power supply (sorted power supplies 600W+ by rating and this was #1)
$109.99 + $0 S/H - Antec Nine Hundred Case (three 120mm fans, one 200mm top exhaust fan)
$88.99 + $6.99 S/H - 2x2GB OCZ DDR2 800 (PC2-6400) 5-4-4-15 RAM

- $20 CPU + Motherboard combo

7/30/2008 4:51:54 PM

looks good to me, although i'd still go intel, but for an amd setup, not bad

btw, the P182 that Noen linked has 2 fans in the front similar to the nine-hundred, although the nine-hundred IS a lot cheaper AR

[Edited on July 30, 2008 at 5:06 PM. Reason : .]

7/30/2008 5:03:10 PM

Is there a reason all the reasonably priced LGA 775 boards don't even support DDR2 800, let alone DDR2 1066?

What I want out of a mobo are: 5.1 audio, DDR2 800, one PCIe 2.0 x16, two PCI (unobscured by the double-thick 9800 GTX+), support for 8GB RAM (don't need it now, but probably will a few years down the road)

Would like, but not imperative: SPDIF, 4 RAM slots

Looking at LGA775 motherboards I'd end up spending about $75 more. That and the AM2+ socket is nice since I'll be able to upgrade to AMD's next gen when it's released.

7/30/2008 5:14:08 PM

dude the only thing holding you back is the PCI-E x16 2.0 which isn't even needed, i'm not aware of any graphics cards today that uses more than the PCI-E x16 1.0 slots (although they come with 2.0 compatibility i don't think they are using more than the 1.0 spec.)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128337

what about the P45 chipset, this supports everything you asked:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128345

that and the fact that LGA 775 has been around longer than AM2/AM2+/AM3 socket

[Edited on July 30, 2008 at 5:29 PM. Reason : .]

7/30/2008 5:22:08 PM

PCIe 2.0 is for future upgradability.

Hmm... swapping the proc and mobo for a Q6600 and ASUS P5Q puts the price in the same general area (thanks for the heads up on the P45 chipset). I guess there's always the possibility to upgrade to a core 2 extreme in the future. 2 years from now it'll probably be in my price range.

From what I can tell the Q6600 and the 9950BE are about on par with each other in speed and overclockability, but the 6600 uses a bit less power.

[Edited on July 30, 2008 at 6:25 PM. Reason : ]

7/30/2008 6:15:45 PM

Quote :

"about on par with each other in speed and overclockability"

hahahaha

7/30/2008 8:13:25 PM

^ show me something that says they're not. at stock, they're dead even in anandtech's benchmarks.

7/30/2008 8:25:25 PM

I was laughing at overclockability

7/30/2008 10:52:10 PM

neither OCs well without a cooler upgrade. i just bought the Q6600 though.

7/30/2008 11:15:37 PM

yea, I've never even tried to OC on a stock HSF since my P4 . I'm assuming you're buying a HSF for it unless you're not planning on OCing it that high?

7/30/2008 11:22:47 PM

Either proc should run ok around 3GHz, but i don't plan on going that high.

7/30/2008 11:59:51 PM

Q6600 will go to 3.2 GHz no problem if you have an aftermarket CPU cooler. You can probably get to 3 GHz on stock voltage.

7/31/2008 9:06:51 AM

That's pretty much what I read. The Phenom 9950 BE will go to around 3 as well, with an aftermarket cooler you can get it to around 3.2-3.4, but it's less stable than the Q6600.

7/31/2008 12:57:48 PM

just a note, more fans != better cooling

7/31/2008 2:06:43 PM

WTF Doublepost

7/31/2008 2:17:34 PM

I'm aware it's not about the number of fans. However, more ventilation == more opportunity for cooling should it become necessary.

The case also had free shipping and a $40 MIR.

7/31/2008 2:18:17 PM

New computer uses less power than the old one when idle / surfing the net / etc.

The P5Q motherboard apparently has a few drawbacks though. No hibernation support. It won't boot if I install my parallel ATA 133 PCI raid controller, so I can't move my RAID array into the new setup.

8/5/2008 2:19:54 PM

Sounds like it's time to upgrade to SATA

8/5/2008 9:48:34 PM

I already invested a significant amount of money in my 1TB PATA array, why blow even more money over something as silly as this? I'm going to contact ASUS tomorrow and see if they can direct me to a compatible PATA RAID controller.

8/5/2008 10:30:01 PM

because you could sell the array and just get two 500gb faste SATA drives for the same price.

two 500gb SATA 3gb, 16mb cache 7200rpm drives are ~150 bucks. And will almost certainly be noticeably faster in RAID than whatever drive array you have going now.

8/5/2008 10:52:52 PM

I'll probably do that later.

In other news, 3DMark06 - 15397. Not great but 3 times the score of my old PC.

8/7/2008 8:44:59 AM

^damn that's pretty good. What are the specs again?

8/7/2008 11:08:03 AM

yea 15.5k is really good, I'd be lucky to break 10.5k with my current setup

8/7/2008 11:12:11 AM

Yeah i'm at about 12k right now with a core 2 duo and an 8800gtx. Guess i need a quad core and newer video card to get higher.

8/7/2008 12:12:54 PM

I've got:

Processor: Core 2 Quad Q6600 (G0 Stepping) @ 3 GHz (333 FSB * 9 mult), stock fan
Video Card: 512MB nVidia 9800 GTX series OC'ed to 725 MHz.
Memory: 4GB (2x2GB) OCZ "SLI" DDR2-800 @ 800MHz (5-4-4-15 exactly as rated)
Motherboard: ASUS P5Q with latest bios

Running the Prime95 torture test for an hour didn't raise any errors. Temperatures stay around 140F (60C) under full load, 98F (37C) idle. The 3DMark score was about 13k without overclocking the CPU. I don't think I can get any more out of it with the stock cooler though.

8/7/2008 5:02:28 PM