$1500 to spend

xev · Post by **xev** » Mon May 19, 2008 5:27 pm

Im building a new system for my friend. He would like it to be not loud, but the greatest concern is getting the best performance w.o overclocking at this point.

the only thing i know off the bat is to recommend a 8800gts with an acclero s1 rev 2 as the video card
for cpu he would like one of the newer quad cores--so i'm thinking q9300.

he has a monitor, keyboard, etc

so if at all possible anyone can recommend a mobo, dvd driver, ram and psu.

for psu im thinking either modu82+ 625 or a Corsair TX650W, HX520 or 620.

thanks a lot

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Tue May 20, 2008 5:33 am

Q9300 is good cpu. Allows to do good gaming and excellent number grunching, while takes less power than Q6600.

There are some good motherboard choices:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813136038
This good budget board but may require a bios update to get fully work with 45nm cpu's. The board layout is very basic, but good and working.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131275
This is pretty good board what I've heard. Doesn't break the bank.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813136046
This is expensive one, but has excellent power modules, which are priceless when you have Quad. However might be bit too much if you don't plan OC'ing.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813130098
I've heard also good stuff from this MSI P35 board. The Chipset cooling looks bit excessive but my friend likes it and hasn't have problems with that. But he doesn't have Q9300 but older Q6600.

Fo0r the Ram: Mushkin or Corsair 800MHZ DDR2 are probably one of the best ones in price / performance and both brands are known to be good OC memories aswell. DDR2's doesn't have significan't differencies.

I'd look personally 2x1 GB DDR 800 Mhz with 4-4-4-12 timings. Patriot, Corsair, Mushkin, Crucial, OCZ and other should have quite good selection for thuis cirteria and all with lifetime warranty.

PSU: I have HX 620W and its wonderful PSU. Peoples seem to like new Enermax modu PSU's and SPCR tests show they are excellent PSU's. I'd probably recomend going for Enermax this time.

Aris · Post by **Aris** » Tue May 20, 2008 12:06 pm

HARDWARE:
Antec NSK3480 Case
Corsair 520HX PSU (Turn PSU upside down so fan faces up if putting in the NSK3480)
Asus P5E-VM HDMI Micro ATX Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 Yorkfield
A-DATA 4GB (2x2gb) DDR2 800
MSI 8800GTS 512mb
Western Digital 300GB Velociraptor (est $300) (wait for it... wait for it...)
Scythe SQD 2.5
Samsung CD/DVD Burner SATA

Subtotal: $1301

FANS:
2x Scythe S-Flex 1200rpm Fans
Zalman Fanmate 2 Fan Controller

Subtotal: $34

HEATSINKS:
Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme CPU Heatsink
Thermalright HR-03 VGA Heatsink

Subtotal: $118

GRAND TOTAL: $1453 +shipping

Get the Antec Solo if you really dont like the NSK3480. The micro atx board is pretty solid though. I cant really see it missing anything. Even has HDMI. You could save a little money getting an Accelero S1 over the HR-03. Also could save a little getting a standard 3.5" hard drive, like the WD GP series. If you do get a larger 3.5" drive, then get the larger SQD enclosure for it. Ram is Ram, the ones i linked have stock JDEC 1.8 voltage, so its guarentee'd to work with any board. All RAM have lifetime warrenties.

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Tue May 20, 2008 12:46 pm

Expandability of that Motherboard and case is pretty much Zero though. You can't use much more modern PCI-E sound cards when GTS block's only PCI-E 1x slot.

XS Janus · Post by **XS Janus** » Tue May 20, 2008 2:21 pm

soon... coming to a HTPC near you...

Aris · Post by **Aris** » Tue May 20, 2008 3:15 pm

thejamppa wrote:Expandability of that Motherboard and case is pretty much Zero though. You can't use much more modern PCI-E sound cards when GTS block's only PCI-E 1x slot.

Only need a sound card if using anolog signals, the motherboard has a digital audio output. Keep the signal digital, with a digital output, and you dont need a sound card. the DAC on sound cards is the only reason their better than integrated sound. DAC is Digital to Analog Converter. If it stays digital, then its pointless to use a dedicated sound card. Not to mention all the bloatware and spyware that creative has with their products, which is what most people typically use for sound cards.

And it does have 1 free PCI expansion slot. So you COULD put a sound card in if you really felt the need. What else do you really need? Everything else is onboard.

I didnt pick apart your opinions when you put them out there for recommendation, and trust me, i do see things i dont agree with on your selections. So post your opinions on what you think is good, and let everyone else do the same, and let the OP decide what HE wants.

Plekto · Post by **Plekto** » Tue May 20, 2008 5:30 pm

The motherboard is the engine of the computer. It's not good to ever cheap-out here, especially if you plan to use ANY on the on-board components.

- Case - Almost anything on the recommended list here.
- Power Supply - Same.
- Accelero S1 and the GT8800 is fine. Get the GT though. the GTS is a lot more money for not a lot of extra speed. Instead, upgrade in 1-2 years to a better 2nd tier card.(rinse, repeat)
- CPU is fine. Get a Ninja CPU cooler. Best cooling IMO, for a reasonable cost. Get the Thermalright 775 mounting kit as well - this gives it all a solid mount.
- Sound card is tricky. You need something like an Audigy with real hardware sound. Fully 3/4 of all Audigys ever made offload processing in whole or in part to the CPU. Avoid these like the plague.
- Fans. Scythe makes good ones. The fluid bearings don't make more noise as they get older, which is a huge pet peeve of mine.
- Ram? I like Mushkin because they don't inflate their specs. You want ram with low voltage listed and good timings. Given Windows memory limitations, 2x1 GB is fine. No single process in 32-bit Windows can occupy more than 2GB anyways(even with 4 installed, the extra 1-1.5 that you can use goes to other processes). blame Microsoft for purposely crippling their OS to force you to buy the 64 bit version. I'd just get some good DDR2/800 or 1066 memory and call it a day.

NOTE - if you pan to run Linux or BSD, you can tweak the OS to enable 42bit addressing, or fit up to 16GB on most boards(technically it's 128GB, but I haven't seen 32GB modules yet... heh)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820146726
Something like this is good. For this price, you can get 4GB.

- Hard drive. Western Digital GP are good. Laptop drives are better, of course. Fujitsu and WD make the best laptop drives, IMO. Their SATA 2 drives are very quiet, especially if they are suspended in the case.

You should have at least $500+ left over to

xev · Post by **xev** » Tue May 20, 2008 6:22 pm

how stable is xp 64bit nowadays? i think 4 gb of ram would be better, but i think xp is better than vista, besides you can make xp look like vista if necessary.

so 64 bit xp ok?

thanks for all the other tips.
i think the hx520 is the correct psu, muskin ram, mobo is still uncertain

for a case he wants something stylish. perhaps antec 900 or cosmos s.
any tips for a reliable case that isnt impossible to use.

Post by **CA_Steve** » Tue May 20, 2008 8:18 pm

If his goal is gaming, get a dual core 8400 and save $100.

If his goal is using CPU intensive applications, and they support quad core, ok, get the quad core.

If his monitor in 1600 x 1050 or less, then get less video card. The 9600GT performance for it's price range...and in SLI, it outperforms any single single card, for <$300.