Building ultimate custom PC, need help with the list.

C

codejunkie

Geek Trainee
I've got around $4,000 to spend and I want to build my first custom PC with the most bang for my buck.

My list so far:
-Display: Dell UltraSharp 2407WFP for monitor (please suggest if you know better for under $1k)
-CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo
-Video card: One of the top NVIDIA ones (undecided)
-Sound card: Sound Blaster X-FI
-CPU cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro

I need your help with:
Please provide your first and second choice. If costs add up to over $4k I will mix in second choices.

-Motherboard
-Ram
-Power supply
-Hard drive
-Network card
-Casing
 
Your spending 4K in a computer? Sweet :D (Just planning that would be xmas to me :P)

Power Supply: Any one of the HYPER type R's
- Hiper - Products - Power Supply

Network Card: KillerNIC
Network Interface Card – Killer NIC – Network Card

Hard Drive: SATA2 Western Digital or Seagate, with at least 16MB of cache (i don't know if it currently goes any higher, but you don't want any less!). I would say go for 2x 500GB just for the hell of having nearly a Terabyte of storage! (1024GB)
 
I wouldent bother spending money on that network card, the intergrated ones in motherboards are good enough, the money you would spend on that killer nic would be better spent on better gpu or memory tbh.

From Hiper, i would suggest the Hiper Type r 580w as the only choice for a machine what your building, as i wouldent be surprised if your machine will consume alot of power, so Hiper Type R 580w as the bottom line realy, i have one, and there awsome :D, but if i were going to build something like your going to, i would proberbly go with a more powerfull PSU. I would concider looking at other brands like Antec, enermax, seasonic < one of the best, tagen.

CodeJunkie are you situated in the USA or another country?

Motherboard: Newegg.com - ASUS P5W DH DELUXE/WIFI-AP ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
The mobo i linked to has all you could want from what i seen, Wi-Fi, dual lan, Sli etc...
Another Mobo: Newegg.com - EVGA 122-CK-NF68-AR ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Ram: Newegg.com - OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
PSU: Newegg.com - SeaSonic M12 SS-700HM 700W Power Supply - Retail
GPU: Newegg.com - eVGA GeForce 8800GTX 768-P2-N831-AR HDCP Video Card - Retail
The GPU i linked to is currenty the best on the market, so very powerfull, but you could concider buying a 7900GTX or X1950XTX and waiting untill the next gen DX10 cards from ATi come out.
Case:Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Mystique RC-632-SSN1-GP Silver Computer Case - Retail
CPU: Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 2.93GHz LGA 775 Processor - Retail
The above cpu is the most high end on the market aswell i belive.

The above hardware i linked to will combine to make a truley excellent computer, all comes to around: $2357.85 from newegg.com.

If you want you could use the left over money to go for an even better motherboard allthough i think the one i linked to is allready preety good, you could go for better memory.
 
Willz said:
I wouldent bother spending money on that network card, the intergrated ones in motherboards are good enough, the money you would spend on that killer nic would be better spent on better gpu or memory tbh.
Click to expand...

If your spending 4K, i would say its worth it.

Well, im your planning on using this computer for Gaming i would recommend it, otherwise... any Gigabit network adapter will do
 
For gaming i too dont really see much use, its not worth it, really, an intergrated network card is good enough for gaming... There was an article on this forum somewere some time ago, and most people dident think there was any point too. Just because he has 4k to spend doesent mean he should get stuff for the hell of it.
 
Try reading up on it again, but whatever really. the results are up on there site showing average performance gain and maximum recorded for common games (such as WOW and CS). Besides, it deals with the entire network stack and can also run other mini-apps (it is essentially, a mini-computer).

[ot]
can we stop talking about the dam network card?
[/ot]
 
Maybe it can run mini apps, just another novelty, also no one is going ti die withought it, game experience is good on games like WOW with normal network adapters in mobo if you have fast internet, anyway, yea, lets stop talking about the damnd network card, its making me cry :'(
 
As much of a skeptic of the KillerNIC, it does do exactly what it's supposed to to. However, it's not for everyone and has a few teething issues with drivers. Having said that, [H]ard|OCP did a blind test with several gamers and they did notice improved performance with between two identical PC's with and without the KillerNIC. This isn't something I'd say everyone should get, but if you do play online alot and have a decent video card, then yes, this could be a good product. However, if you don't do a lot of online gaming, I'd be hesistant to recommend one of these things.
 
For graphic card I'm getting Geforce 7950GX2 or better so the power supply needs to be 1000W.

Please, I still need help with the other elements on the list.
 
Why don't you get a 8800GTX with the money you're spending?

PC Power and Cooling do some awesome PSUs (better than Hiper, but they're expensive).
 
Here's a suggested list:

Motherboard: Asus P5W-DH
CPU: Core 2 Duo E6600
RAM: Crucial Ballistix DDR2-8000 1GBx2
Video Card: MSI GeForce 8800GTX 768MB
Hard Drive: Seagate 500GB SATA
Optical Drive: Pioneer DVR-111D 16x DVD-RW
Sound Card: Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty
Network Card: Bigfoot KillerNIC
CPU cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling 1KW 1000W
Case: Antec Nine Hundred

As long as you have a high-quality 600-650W, a 7950GX2 will work just fine, as well as a single 8800GTX/GTS. I've included the PC Power & Cooling 1000W unit. Enermax also has a 1000W unit in their Galaxy line, which is cheaper than the PC Power & Cooling, but you're still looking at $350-400. A second choice for the motherboard might be the Abit AW9D-Max.

If you've maxed everything else out and have money, toss in the KillerNIC, but that's not what I'd kill for. Like I said, it does exactly what it's supposed to, but if you won't be doing a lot of on-line gaming, then I'd be very hesitant to toss one in my box.

For the display, make sure to check out any and all displays you're considering in person. I like Samsung displays myself. They're very close, if not on-par with, Sony, sans the huge price jump. Don't buy a display just because other people say it's good. I know Viewsonic used to get a lot of raves from people, but I never could figure out why when I saw them in action.
 
On that budget, i think the Creative X-Fi Elite Pro would be better, does everything the Fatal1ty does, also it has an external box with lots of connectors on, could be very usefull.

Edit: hmm i might of been wrong about the killer nic, i want one now.....
 
[ot]
lol

same here, but i dont have a spare £120 (+ rip off Britain charge) to get one!

and i don't even play games :S

i think i just like the idea of processors for different tasks (Graphics, physics, network etc)
[/ot]
 
The final list:

Display: Dell UltraSharp 2407WFP
Home & Home Office: UltraSharp 2407WFP Wide-Screen Black Flat Panel Monitor, LCD with Height Adjustable Stand

CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700
Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 2.66GHz LGA 775 Processor - Retail

Video card: BFG Tech BFGR88768GTXE GeForce 8800GTX 768MB
Newegg.com - BFG Tech GeForce 8800GTX BFGR88768GTXE HDCP Video Card - Retail

Sound card: Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Professional Series
Newegg.com - Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Professional Series - Retail

CPU cooler: ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler
Newegg.com - ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler - Retail

Motherboard: EVGA 122-CK-NF68-AR Socket T (LGA 775) NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
Newegg.com - EVGA 122-CK-NF68-AR ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Hard drive: Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFDRTL 150GB 10,000 RPM 16MB Cache Serial ATA150
Newegg.com - Western Digital Raptor X 150GB 3.5" Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - Retail

Memory: CORSAIR Dominator 2GB (2 x 1GB)
Newegg.com - CORSAIR 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

Power supply: Athenatech XF Xtreme Force PS-1KWXF
Newegg.com - Athenatech XF Xtreme Force PS-1KWXF 1000W Power Supply - Retail

Optical drive: Pioneer Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW...DVR-111D
Newegg.com - Pioneer Black 16X DVD±R ATAPI DVD Burner With 5X DVD-RAM Read - OEM

Casing: RAIDMAX ATX-701WB Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Newegg.com - RAIDMAX ATX-701WB Black Computer Case With Side Panel Window - Retail


Adds up to: $4,060.92 :eek: ...:)

Please review my list and tell anything I should know before I get ordering. I will start placing orders later tonight or tomorrow. Thank you all for helping.
 
The nic you linked to, you really dont need that, you have got good intergrated lan which will be jsut as good as that, the one you linked to is really for old pc's that dont have lan on the mobo's.

Infact the lan onboard the motherboard oyu are going to get is better than the nic you linked to as the lan onboard oyur motherboard is capable of 10/100/1000 when the nic you linked ot is capable of 10/100/200, but you will proberbly never use anythign other than 100 as thats the norm, but buying the nic is a waste of space in the pc unless your going to buy the killer nic which would take you over budget by abit. The motherboard oyur going to buy has dual lan, far far better than the nic card actually.

Apart from that, the pc looks preety good :), i have never heard of the manufacturer of the PSU though.
 
Your far away from your 4K$ budget you set...

I would get two of those hard disc's, 150GB Disappears so fast!

[ot]
Please don't tell me your going to play solitaire with this thing :P
[/ot]
 
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