Im new here, 1st post, need help with new build..

Hey, Like I said i am new here and Im ready to start buying my parts for my new gaming rig. Just wanted some opinions and make sure its all compatible or something i can buy better. I have been doin research and looking at many many products for the better part of 6 months. now im finially ready financially. So here what I am currently looking at:

- Cooler Master CM Stacker 830 ATX Full-Tower Aluminum Case with Vented Side and 1000-Watt Power Supply

- EVGA nforce 780i SLI Motherboard - A1 Version, NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI, Socket 775

- Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 or the Q9300 cant decide witch one

- 2x EVGA GeForce 8800 GT Video Card - Superclocked Edition, 512MB GDDR3, PCI Express 2.0,

- Corsair DHX XMS2 Dominator Dual Channel 2048MB PC8500 DDR2 1066Mhz Memory (4 x 1024MB)

all and all gonna cost round $1300 not too bad concidering income tax checks are here so ima go for it.

will all this be compatible? And im going to stay with Windows XP 32 bit

You'll have a problem using all of the memory (since it is 4gigs) in Windows 32bit. Might want to think about going x64.

You could save some money and go with memory modules such as these http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145176. On that chip, these will support just as high of an overclock as the 1066mhz dominator sticks.

IMO sli isn't worth it, you wil only achieve 30% more than 1 card
buy a GTS or GTX and go for 1 card which kicks *** on its own
not even taking into account whether you can get it running flawlessly or not, save yourself the agro

the Q6600 runs nice on a 400Mhz bus speed and 8 multiplier for a nice stable 3.2Ghz overclock
on that note get DDR800 memory and run 1:1 ratio with the FSB

sorry to **ss on your 6 months of research but better you get it right 1st time

dudleycpa said:

You'll have a problem using all of the memory (since it is 4gigs) in Windows 32bit. Might want to think about going x64.

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True, but 4 GB with 3.xx GB accessible is still better than 2 GB. My 32-bit Windows XP work PC was upgraded from 2 GB to 4 GB last year, and it made a big difference when working with large models.

Bobby07, I just question why you would go with 4x1GB of memory rather than 2x2GB. In general, it's easier to overclock and to troubleshoot problems with fewer memory modules. Plus you'll leave yourself room to upgrade to 8 GB if you ever switch to a 64-bit OS.

KillrBuckeye said:

True, but 4 GB with 3.xx GB accessible is still better than 2 GB. My 32-bit Windows XP work PC was upgraded from 2 GB to 4 GB last year, and it made a big difference when working with large models.

Bobby07, I just question why you would go with 4x1GB of memory rather than 2x2GB. In general, it's easier to overclock and to troubleshoot problems with fewer memory modules. Plus you'll leave yourself room to upgrade to 8 GB if you ever switch to a 64-bit OS.

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Yep I agree, if you want 4 GB of memory pay a little more for 2 x 2GB sticks.

1. I agree with previous posters, Go with 2x2gb sticks if you want 4 gigs of Ram.

2. Nice choice on case, However I seriously question buying a 1000 watt PSU, Simply no need, If you go SLI this Corsair model would be far more than you would ever need. Personally I think you could get by fine with the 620hx, However if you want the extra power the 750 would remove any doubt.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

3. I also agree with not going SLI and getting a 8800GTS or GTX, Less heat, Less power draw and you can always upgrade to SLI later if you still feel the need.

ScottinIndy said:

1. I agree with previous posters, Go with 2x2gb sticks if you want 4 gigs of Ram.

2. Nice choice on case, However I seriously question buying a 1000 watt PSU, Simply no need.

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I didn't even notice that. Not only that, but is it a generic that comes with the case?

GameSinewPCs said:

I didn't even notice that. Not only that, but is it a generic that comes with the case?

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He is likely looking at the Stacker deal that has the Coolermaster 1000 watt psu already with it, At the egg it is 379+15 shipping so it comes to $394. The same case without the PSU is $259 with free shipping. IMO I would go that route and get the better PSU ( Yes even though it is only 750 watts). Better build quality and 5 year warranty on the Corsair PSU. The Corsair is $140 after rebate, So in the end he pays basically the same price, He just gets a higher quality PSU with a strong single rail and 4 years extra on the warranty.

Thats what I was assuming. But some people do add in odd parts occasionally. I second the Corsair 750TX, though the 650 will also suit your needs just fine.

Hrm, why bother with 1066 memory with a Q6600? Those things are only 266 FSB so you'd need to clock up to something like 4.8ghz before you'd see any point of that memory. A decent 4-4-4-12 set of 2x2GB DDR2-800 would serve you better and save some cash, while leaving room open for future upgrades..

GameSinewPCs said:

Thats what I was assuming. But some people do add in odd parts occasionally. I second the Corsair 750TX, though the 650 will also suit your needs just fine.

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Yeah, I think the 650 would actually be the proper choice in regard to what he truly needs. $99 after $20 rebate as well, Might as well save some money and get what you need instead of just paying extra for overkill.

Okay, I took your ideas of the Corsair 750... and combined it with a bandwagon jump

Antec 900 ($119.99) (probably find it cheaper elsewhere)
CORSAIR 750W Power Supply ($174.99) (140 AR)

Save yourself like... $100+... use some of that to buy a good CPU cooler.

Thermalright Ultra-120 CPU Cooling Heatsink ($60)

good point ill go with the 2x 2gb ram, as for the psu it comes with the case so why not and the case and the psu are made for eachother its $350 for the case and psu. as Indy stated.

" A decent 4-4-4-12 set of 2x2GB " i dont understand what that means

as far as cpu's go should i stick with the q6600 or go with the Q9300.

and the 8800 gt SC edition is $200.00, and im willing to pay $400 for 2 of them for SLI.

I really apprecaite the help guys, thank you very much.

and is everything else fine meaning- the Mobo and the Vid cards?

ØC;5550663 said:

Okay, I took your ideas of the Corsair 750... and combined it with a bandwagon jump

Antec 900 ($119.99) (probably find it cheaper elsewhere)
CORSAIR 750W Power Supply ($174.99) (140 AR)

Save yourself like... $100+... use some of that to buy a good CPU cooler.

Thermalright Ultra-120 CPU Cooling Heatsink ($60)

Click to expand...

+1 Definitely

And unless you really need the 4 cores, a nice dually will be better. E8400 or Xeon 3110 would be perfect

see money is not a huge factor but i dont want the best of the best of the best, ya know. I want the quad core for future proofing (as best i can n e wayz) i messed up big time with the pc i bought in 2003. This time around i want to do it right. My total budget is around $1300 for Case/psu, cpu, ram, vid card and motherboard. ill worry about hard drives opticals mouse ect. later. i been at work for this and the last post i wrote so the qestions i really want to ask aint comming to mind at this moment. i would LIKE to keep this topic going for 2 more days till i can make a final decision. I want to order all of this stuff by Sunday night. And i plan on orderin everything from tiger direct. If n e one has other websites to suggest for purchacing (other than tigerdirect and newegg) or even product info, [please let me know. thank you all for your opionions and tips thus far.

On that note, gimme a sec and I'll post my parts list(inc price and etailer) for the main rig in my sig, If you'd like...

Meh anyway I already did most of the work to get it here, lol so here ya go.

1. Antec 900 case..............$120.00 - $20.00MIR = $100.00(Newegg)
2. E2180............................$70.00 AR - 20.00MIR = $50.00(Tigerdirect)
3. Abit IP35-E.....................$60.00 AR(Newegg)
4. TRU-120.........................$45.00 (Ebay)
5. Ballistix PC2 8500(2gig).$65.00(Newegg)
6, Coolermaster 500w PSU.$80.00(Local Computer Shop)
7. 160GB WD HD................$85.00(Local Computer Shop)
8. E8400............................$240.00(Classifieds )
9. EVGA 8800GT512...........$258.00 - $30.00MIR - $230.00(Newegg)

These are the prices and parts I was interested in and ended up getting, you may want different, but this all cost me under $700 AR and as you see from the main rig in my sig, has plenty to offer

Bobby07 said:

so why not and the case and the psu are made for eachother its $350 for the case and psu

" A decent 4-4-4-12 set of 2x2GB " i dont understand what that means

as far as cpu's go should i stick with the q6600 or go with the Q9300.

and the 8800 gt SC edition is $200.00, and im willing to pay $400 for 2 of them for SLI.

Click to expand...

a good psu at 750w is better than an unknown unbranded 1000w

4-4-4-12 ram is faster than 5-5-5-15

and I ask again why sli? a 400 dollar card will outperform 2 x 200 dollar cards in sli
plus you have the added bonus of not trying to get sli working

I've got time today to do you a spec to 1300 dollars, does that price include the drives?

I am willing to spend $1400 on the Case and power supply, CPU, RAM, video card(s) and motherboard.

Want an Intel chip and Nvidia 780i mother board and an Nvidia card(s)

as far as sayin a $400 dollar card will outperform 2 $200 cards, this one im lookin at the specs seem nice...take alook
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3548332&CatId=1558

and case: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3258952&CatId=1510
i believe the power supply is a coolmaster.. and people that have bought it say its a great psu

motherboard:http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3523225&CatId=1533

I mean i dont see too much difference in these:

GPU/VPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX

RAMDAC: Dual 400 MHz

Fill Rate per Second: 36.8 Billion pixels

Maximum Resolution: 2560 x 1600 (Digital)

Video Memory: 768MB

Memory Type: GDDR3

Core Clock: 575 MHz

Memory Clock: 1800 MHz

Memory Bandwidth: 86.4GB

Interface Type: PCI Express

Interface Speed: 16x

Connector(s): Dual DVI
HDTV/S-Video

Multiple Monitors Support: Yes

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GPU/VPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT ****I want 2 of these in SLI****

RAMDAC: Dual 400 MHz

Maximum Resolution: 2560 x 1600 (Digital)

Video Memory: 512MB

Memory Type: GDDR3

Core Clock: 650 MHz

Memory Clock: 1900 MHz

Memory Bandwidth: 60.8GB/sec.

Interface Type: PCI Express 2.0

Interface Speed: 16x

Connector(s): Dual DVI (Dual Link)
HDTV/S-Video

Multiple Monitors Support: Yes

------------------------------------------------------------------
And the infamous

GPU/VPU: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GX2

RAMDAC: Dual 400 MHz

Fill Rate per Second: 76.8 Billion pixels

Maximum Resolution: 2560 x 1600 (Digital) - Dual Link DVI

Video Memory: 1GB

Memory Type: GDDR3

Core Clock: 600 MHz

Memory Clock: 2000 MHz

Memory Bandwidth: 128.0GB/sec.

Interface Type: PCI Express 2.0

Interface Speed: 16x

Connector(s): HDMI
Dual DVI (Dual Link)

Multiple Monitors Support: Yes

the only but diffrence is the memory bandwith which is almost doubled