Building a present, need advice and suggestions

[nookuwn]

Hi guys (heh just notice there's a few of these building rig thread, here's another)

Need some advice on building my brother a present. He was thinking of either getting a PS3 or a PC, but he forget that he mostly play strategy games and some home dvd making, so the PC is logical choice to me. He was saying PS3 is cheaper, but he doesn't know he need a HD LCD as well, which cost more than a PC.

The bro is married and poor , so the siblings are pitching in to make this happen.

I first came to this forums in 2003 for help with an overheating problem rig, this is the same rig he's using today . I was a noob then, now... i'm a little better than that .

Anyhow here's the system I have in mind

1 x $67.08 Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB SATA2 7200RPM 16MB 8.9MS Hard Drive 3 Year Mfr Warranty

1x $49.68 Coolermaster CAC-T05 Centurion 5 Aluminum ATX Tower Case 5X5.25 1X3.5 4X3.5INT SILVER-BLACK No PS


1x $88.40 Intel Pentium Dual Core E2180 Dual Core Processor LGA775 2.0GHZ 800FSB 1MB Retail Box


1x $94.36 Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L Atx LGA775 P35 1333FSB 1PCI-E16 3PCI-E1 3PCI SATA2 Sound Gblan Motherboard


1x 78.75 Ocz Platinum Xtc REV.2 PC2-6400 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-800 CL4-4-4-15 240PIN Dimm Dual Channel Memory Kit


1x $90.30 Corsair VX550W 550W ATX 12V 41A 24PIN ATX Power Supply Active PFC 120MM Fan


1x $48.42 Thermalright ULTRA-120 Extreme 6 Heatpipe Cooler LGA775 Heatsink *Fan Not Included*


1x ~ $200 19"/20" WS LCD


1x $50 ATI X800XL Crossfire card

Total = $769
Grand total = $769x1.06 = $815.6


A few things...
- most of these come from one store, and everything in CND $.
- He already has the famous NEC 3550A. so no need for dvdRW.
- building this with some upgrade path in mind, mostly, quad and 2nd dx10 card.
- should I go with 2gb of nice stuff or 4gb of the memory listed, should cost about the same. The cheap crucial stuff is rated at 667mhz 4-4-4-12, 1.8v, I think.
- LCD which one should I get between these two, BenQ FP94VW 19" OR LG L204WTX Silver/Black 20" OR should I get something else? something in $200 range.
- Does Xfire card work as standalone? (bought this 2nd hand a while ago, never did use it or even tested)
- I need to order these any time now, because it takes time for the order to arrrive.
- Is there anything else you would suggest?

thanks

 

[mewisemagic2]

does that mobo support sata? if it does get a sata hard drive. it will be a little bit faster and probably cost the same

 

[nookuwn]

does that mobo support sata? if it does get a sata hard drive. it will be a little bit faster and probably cost the same

heh, ya just notice i picked an ata drive, I was basically adding the cheapest 250gb drive I can find. Thanks.

 

[White_Pawn]

if he is a gamer, you'll need more graphics power than a punny x800xl.

If you are open to overclocking, get the e2140 and OC it to 2.8ghz~3ghz. That OC for the e21xx cpus are quite doable.

For graphics, i'd go with atleast a x1950pro. If you still have any more money, get the hd3850. I believe that would be the best videocard, its not TOO expensive, but it definitely packs a punch in terms of performance.

I don't think there is much need for 4gigs of ram. To get 3ghz on a e2140, you would need 375fsb. If you get the e2160, then it would only take 333fsb, and ddr667 ram would be able to do that.

For LCD, i'd go with the bigger 20" LG.

 

[nookuwn]

if he is a gamer, you'll need more graphics power than a punny x800xl.

If you are open to overclocking, get the e2140 and OC it to 2.8ghz~3ghz. That OC for the e21xx cpus are quite doable.

For graphics, i'd go with atleast a x1950pro. If you still have any more money, get the hd3850. I believe that would be the best videocard, its not TOO expensive, but it definitely packs a punch in terms of performance.

I don't think there is much need for 4gigs of ram. To get 3ghz on a e2140, you would need 375fsb. If you get the e2160, then it would only take 333fsb, and ddr667 ram would be able to do that.

For LCD, i'd go with the bigger 20" LG.

He mostly play RTS, particularly COH, so i think it should be ok.
I'll OC it alright, thats why I get the E2180 to go along with the slow ram, it's the same price as the E2160. M0 stepping OC any better than the L2?
hmm, I want 4gb now, just because, I may not be able to find more of it later. hmm decisions....

 

[WildMonkey]

E2140/E2160s oc better.
you should do DDR2800 1x4gig usually less than $100

 

[NewbieOneKenobi]

- Is there anything else you would suggest?

thanks

Yes. If it's a gift, I suggest some modding to make it unique in a permanent way. Perhaps you could make a window with his name or something like that, or, if more people are cooperating, even make a custom acrylic case. Whatever modding you do on it, it's going to carry that unique character as a present and his own machine rather than one of the many desktops around.

 

[nookuwn]

Yes. If it's a gift, I suggest some modding to make it unique in a permanent way. Perhaps you could make a window with his name or something like that, or, if more people are cooperating, even make a custom acrylic case. Whatever modding you do on it, it's going to carry that unique character as a present and his own machine rather than one of the many desktops around.

That's a nice idea, but I afraid I don't have enough time to do it . It's just me ordering and putting it together. Unless there's a quick mod ...

 

[nookuwn]

Ok, I just found out that the cheap crucial is 5-5-5-15 667mhz @???v so im switching to Ocz Platinum Xtc REV.2 PC2-6400 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-800 CL4-4-4-15 240PIN Dimm Dual Channel Memory Kit.

 

[nookuwn]

my stuff came today

here are some pics

you may notice there's no power supply, grr some how they didn't included
I have to call them to see what's going on before I want to open up the contents. I'll call them in 40mins or so, because they're in the west coast.

I wonder how this works, how do they check that they didn't include my PSU.
I'll see if I can get them to ship express, with no extra charge...but then I'm no good at arguing...hope all go well.