My govt assisted total upgrade....

[MadMan007]

I would also hold off on the sound card, try out the onboard. If you think its good there is no point in spending the extra money. Only reason I have an X-Fi is because I won it at a Counter-Strike tourny. I plan on trying out my new MB's onboard and maybe selling the X-Fi since their Vista drivers are horrible, 20% CPU usage unless I disable all of the enhancements.

Really? Is this a common occurance and complaint or is there any way around it? And which enhancements change the CPU usage that much?

 

[Dermen]

Really? Is this a common occurance and complaint or is there any way around it? And which enhancements change the CPU usage that much?

Google audiodg.exe and X-Fi for more info. It seems to be pretty common.

That RC590 is interesting. I had wished the 690 had all 5.25" bays and used their 4-in-3 device for HDDs, more so for my server with 10 HDDs than my main rig though. I like the top of the 690 better with the mesh hiding the fans since I'm not a big fan of exposed honeycomb fan grills, I think they are ugly. For a normal rig I think I would still prefer the 690.

The pictures show three 120mm led fans on the front, but it only comes with one and the most you can really install is two unless you don't have a CD/DVD drive.

 

[Niku-Sama]

if any thing i would ditch the super fancy case, what case do you have now?
i'd also lose the puny raptor as your main drive, get something decent sized thats Sata II.

the way i see it, is you dump the case in the wish list and since it doesent come with a PSU in the first place use that money on a PSU.
i cant belive it costs $140 and it doesent come with a power supply i mean thats freakin nuts, antec makes ok supplies but i wouldnt buy stock in them but they still didnt put a power supply in a $140 case.

i have bought $20 cases that had power supplies so you atleast got going untill something better came long

 

[ou_phidelt]

if any thing i would ditch the super fancy case, what case do you have now?
i'd also lose the puny raptor as your main drive, get something decent sized thats Sata II.

the way i see it, is you dump the case in the wish list and since it doesent come with a PSU in the first place use that money on a PSU.
i cant belive it costs $140 and it doesent come with a power supply i mean thats freakin nuts, antec makes ok supplies but i wouldnt buy stock in them but they still didnt put a power supply in a $140 case.

i have bought $20 cases that had power supplies so you atleast got going untill something better came long

Most high end cases do not come with a power supply for a reason. The computer is being custom built and most users want to pick out there power supply, so the included one is just pointless and drives up the cost. If you, or the OP do not want to pay for a high dollar case there are many out there for a good price. The mention RC690 comes to mind. Not to mention most included PSU's are absolute junk that most of us would never let power on any system. Take everyones advise and spend the money on a quality PSU. There is a reason why we go over this on almost every build thread by a noob, it is very important. The cheap PSU may work for a while but the day it goes and takes your while system with it you will wish you had spent the $80-$100 for a decent unit.

 

[Sofaism]

Case I have right now is from my first computer (that I owned and wasn't my parents), and I got it in May 2002, it's a Antec sx1040 white which was built by cyberpower...

and Niku-Sama, I was planning on and have always used a second drive (which i'm keeping an eye out for right now) for my files, downloads, porn , etc... but just use master drive for OS and apps, and I've never been able to fill a 74 gb raptor, but is sata II much better then sata? was thinking I could get another 74 (newer raptor) and the ip35 pro instead of -e and run them in raid 0

 

[Sofaism]

A little update (incase you care):

Case: ($57)
M9 ATX

Video Card: ($225)
BFG Tech BFGE88512GTSE GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB

CPU: ($228)
Xeon e3110

M/B: ($90)
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L

Memory: ($90)
G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

PSU: ($114) (got from buy.com, just using newegg for links when I can)
CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX

Heatsink + fan + thermal paste: ($89)
Ultra-120 eXtreme
don't really need to post this, but AS5
SCYTHE SFF21F 120MM S-FLEX

Total: $894

 

[LilBuddy]

Congrats on it all! I would be on the lookout for deals on the Coolermaster 690 and Antec 900. Microcenter usually has the 690 for $19.99AR and Fry's usually good deals on the 900. I paid $69.99 for my 900 a few months ago.

Go ahead and use the old case but I think it is kind of a pain to switch it all out when you get the new one.

Have fun!

 

[Dermen]

Amazon has the G9 for $45.99 AR, Link

 

[Sofaism]

Amazon has the G9 for $45.99 AR, Link

Yeah I saw that, very tempting...

 

[Sofaism]

http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0279208#rebate

how's that for a case? found a few reviews on newegg, but that's about it...

The case I have now, i don't think it's made for ATX m/b's... So i need one by next week or i'll have my computer setup on a piece of wood and cement blocks...

thanks!

 

[LilBuddy]

Never seen that one before but it looks pretty good. It is kind of like an Antec 900 without the big 200mm fan and the additional 120mm fan upfront. For $40 I'd say that is a good deal. Check out and see if the Coolermaster 690 has any deals, sometimes they are like $19 AR at Microcenter.

 

[Sofaism]

I checked, they don't... I ordered case

stage 1 is done: order parts
stage 2 starts next week, putting it all together, then stage 3 OC'ing