03-04-2005, 09:18 PM
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#1
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Moderator
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Henrietta, New York
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To build a PC:
Since I'm constantly being bombarded with "omtg wut shud i getz0rz? lolomgwtfbbqsauce," and I always answer with basically the same parts...I'm going to make life easier for myself. I'll list a few price ranges, and my recommended specs. If my mind changes on something, I will edit this thread. There are absolutely no special circumstances that would change my opinions on what hardware to get. The following is what I will recommend. Always. Lastly, these price ranges are for the tower's hardware only. Mouse, keyboard, monitor, speakers, OS, the case itself, etc, are NOT factored in. If you need those, you'll need around $500 more than the listed price.
Cheap:
Motherboard: ASUS p5nd2 ($89.99)
CPU: Intel Pentium D 805 ($120.99)
Video card: eVGA 7600GT ($209)
Ram: 1gb OCZ ddr2 667 ($123.99)
Hard drive: Seagate 160gb 8mb cache ($72.99)
Disc drive: Lite-on DVD rw ($34.99)
Powersupply: Antec 450w ($65.99)
Zalman heatsink($62.99)
total: $780.93
Good:
Motherboard: ASUS p5nd2 ($89.99)
CPU: Intel Pentium D 805 ($120.99)
Video card: BFG 7900GT ($309)
Ram: 2gb OCZ ddr2 667 ($189.99)
Hard drive: Seagate 160gb 8mb cache ($72.99)
Disc drive: Lite-on DVD rw ($34.99)
Powersupply: Antec 450w ($65.99)
Zalman heatsink($62.99)
total: $946.93
High end:
Motherboard: ASUS MN2 deluxe ($146.99)
CPU: Athlon64 socket AM2 3800+ ($150)
Video card: 2x eVGA 7900GT ($618)
Ram: 2gb OCZ ddr2 667 ($189.99)
Hard drive: Seagate 160gb 8mb cache ($72.99)
Disc drive: Lite-on DVD rw ($34.99)
Powersupply: Antec 550w ($99.99)
total: $1312.92
Silly and over-priced:
Motherboard: ASUS MN2 deluxe ($146.99)
CPU: Athlon64 x2 4600+ ($575)
Video card: 2x eVGA 7900GT ($618)
Ram: 2gb OCZ ddr2 667 ($189.99)
Hard drive: Seagate 160gb 8mb cache ($72.99)
Disc drive: Lite-on DVD rw ($34.99)
Powersupply: Antec 550w ($99.99)
Total: $1737.95
If you have more money than that...I envy you.
Note that *most* prices are taken from Newegg as of 7/06/05. Others were changed as they were edited.
Also, the $800 and $1000 setups were laid out with the intention that the CPU be overclocked. Hence the aftermarket heatsink. With it, the pentium D 805 can easily reach 3.6+ ghz
Questions? Comments?
__________________
"There once was a buggy AI
Who decided her subject should die.
When the plot was uncovered,
The subjected discovered
That sadly the cake was a lie."
Last edited by Shadow221 : 06-15-2006 at 10:49 AM.
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03-04-2005, 09:41 PM
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#2
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I see you...
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Kiester, Minnesota
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Those are some nice lists. Too bad my PC is only comparable to the $800 setup.  Anyway, good work. 
__________________
A-5
My DM4
Your DM4 and Ion with A/S Co2 expert
9/11, OK City, 7/7, and more - attacks on freedom
from our own government
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03-04-2005, 09:44 PM
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#3
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Moderator
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Henrietta, New York
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That $800 setup is better than mine
lousy 2 year old hardware.
__________________
"There once was a buggy AI
Who decided her subject should die.
When the plot was uncovered,
The subjected discovered
That sadly the cake was a lie."
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03-04-2005, 09:51 PM
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#4
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Watch out, Mr. Scale!
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Virginia
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Thank you very much shadow, this will come in handy in the future.
__________________
Bat cave for life
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03-04-2005, 10:15 PM
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#5
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.
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good food, good info, good BBQ Sauce
Good job  |
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03-04-2005, 10:27 PM
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#6
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ROOOOAAARRRR
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Boston suburbs
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for the $2k setup, I'd spec out more than 120gigs of storage
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03-05-2005, 05:27 AM
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#7
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Illinois
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Quote:
Originally posted by Shadow221
That $800 setup is better than mine
lousy 2 year old hardware.
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same. what huge price drops there have been. a few months ago, the 3200 was over 200 bucks.
__________________
Quote:
Originally posted by -=ReD-hAzE=-
 Shush you. I was just about to seduce her and make her mine. Now you've gone and spoiled it damn you!
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Quote:
Originally posted by Shadow221
You officially rule.
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03-05-2005, 06:34 AM
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#8
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Recoil Junkie /1*\
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Wisconsin
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The 6800 Ultra is not worth the money, when you can get the 6800GT to do the same speed.
__________________
"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made or kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." -John Stuart Mill
"Safeguarding the rights of others is the most noble and beautiful end of a human being." -Kahlil Gibran "Voice of a Poet"
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03-05-2005, 07:06 AM
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#9
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•PÄIÑTBÄLL3R4L!F3•
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Ontario Canada
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intead of what ever hard drive you have there it should be a Western Digital 120GB+ hard drive......more is alawys better when it comes to computers....unless its viruses and spam.
__________________
 PAINTBALLER 4 LIFE
|~~~~~~DYE~~~~~|__
|~~~~~DM4~~~~~||'""|\___
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(@!)!(@)""**|(@) (@)****|(@)
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03-05-2005, 11:26 AM
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#10
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Moderator
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Henrietta, New York
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I have a seagate 120gb in every setup. I was going for gaming performance, not media whoring. That $2000 system will run Doom3 on max settings at 1600 x 1200 at 60+ fps. 120gb is more than sufficient for gaming. Also Seagate > Western digital. Both are plenty reliable and fast, but seagate runs significantly cooler.
Flamethrower, as much as the 6800gt can be overclocked, so can the 6800ultra. By your argument I could say that a base 6800 is all you need because you can unlock the extra pipelines and overclock. I've actually used and tuned both the ultra and GT. The 6800ultra is capable of running circles around a 6800GT.
Elite, more is not always better. I have a long argument on 1gb vs 2gb of ram just last night. Just one example of how more is not necesarily better.
__________________
"There once was a buggy AI
Who decided her subject should die.
When the plot was uncovered,
The subjected discovered
That sadly the cake was a lie."
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03-05-2005, 11:41 AM
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#11
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Registered User
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Holy crap. I havent read over it yet but thats going to come in handy.
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03-05-2005, 01:31 PM
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#12
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The never ending debate
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Hanmer, Ontario
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we paid 2000$ for our comp, and is worse than an 800$ comp........
__________________
My setup:
2004 black Unmilled BKO (modified)
12" All American Full Freak Set
Empire Reloader B
72/3000 Pure Energy HPA Tank
80 Cubic ft scuba silver fill station
ULP 50/50 ram shot count (just for you SP) 5000
Laptop fund: 300/1000
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03-05-2005, 01:34 PM
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#13
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Moderator
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Henrietta, New York
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You do know that the totals I listed don't include the case, monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers or an operating system? Those would add another $500 or more to the price.
So, assumign yours included all of those, you only overpaid by $700-$800 
__________________
"There once was a buggy AI
Who decided her subject should die.
When the plot was uncovered,
The subjected discovered
That sadly the cake was a lie."
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03-05-2005, 01:53 PM
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#14
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B.C. or Bust
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Near San Jose
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Very nice. I do need some advice though, but it is for a P4... 
I need to replace allot of parts to get it cooled again, and I'd like it to look fancy.
I'm getting a Aspire X-Navigator, and using the stock case fans.
I need:
- A CPU fan/sink, I'll pay 40-60
-RAM Cooler, Thermaltake AM Kit? 10-25
-Chipset cooler 10-25
-AGP cooler, ATI 9200 20-35
-Hard drive cooler, 5.25 pref. 30-60
I also need an opinion on the aerogate gatewatch fan controller. Is it rec'd? What hard drive cooler would you recommend. all 5.25 accessories would be nice if they were black, this is going to be a Gaming case for a friend, And he wants it to look very spiffy. |
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03-05-2005, 02:40 PM
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#15
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The never ending debate
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Hanmer, Ontario
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Quote:
Originally posted by Shadow221
You do know that the totals I listed don't include the case, monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers or an operating system? Those would add another $500 or more to the price.
So, assumign yours included all of those, you only overpaid by $700-$800
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Well, this was about 4 years ago, when we got most of the best parts at that date.
__________________
My setup:
2004 black Unmilled BKO (modified)
12" All American Full Freak Set
Empire Reloader B
72/3000 Pure Energy HPA Tank
80 Cubic ft scuba silver fill station
ULP 50/50 ram shot count (just for you SP) 5000
Laptop fund: 300/1000
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03-05-2005, 02:45 PM
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#16
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Moderator
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Henrietta, New York
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You don't need to cool your motherboard's chipset, your ram or your hard drive. The front fans cool the hard drive bay sufficiently, and the rest doesn't get hot enough to need cooling. Subsequently, I know little about their coolers or which of them performs best.
As far as CPU cooling goes, thermalright has my highest endorsment.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...109-119&depa=1
Along with a nice quiet fan. This is the best flowing quiet fan I could find.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...150-044&depa=1
Zalman is my favorite company that make VGA coolers. I assume it'd be as high quality as their cpu heatsinks.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...118-116&depa=1
If you really insist on wasting money cooling everything else, remember Thermalright, thermaltake, zalman and arctic are probably the best names in PC cooling.
__________________
"There once was a buggy AI
Who decided her subject should die.
When the plot was uncovered,
The subjected discovered
That sadly the cake was a lie."
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03-05-2005, 03:54 PM
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#17
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Recoil Junkie /1*\
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Wisconsin
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Quote:
Originally posted by Shadow221
Flamethrower, as much as the 6800gt can be overclocked, so can the 6800ultra. By your argument I could say that a base 6800 is all you need because you can unlock the extra pipelines and overclock. I've actually used and tuned both the ultra and GT. The 6800ultra is capable of running circles around a 6800GT.
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No, by my logic if you want ultra speeds buy the GT and save the extra $100+.
Careful so you don't put words into peoples mouths.
You are not the only computer person here.
__________________
"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made or kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." -John Stuart Mill
"Safeguarding the rights of others is the most noble and beautiful end of a human being." -Kahlil Gibran "Voice of a Poet"
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03-05-2005, 03:58 PM
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#18
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Aggro Crag
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: 908
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Re: To build a PC:
the web page says $499.00 not $998.00
__________________
Allakhazam
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03-05-2005, 04:01 PM
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#19
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Moderator
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Henrietta, New York
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The GT is clocked a fair amount lower than the ultra. To achieve the same speed, you'd have to overclcok it.
The thing of it is, the ultra can be overclocked as well.
Quote:
Originally posted by Bigshot
the web page says $499.00 not $998.00
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Notice the "2x?" The build includes 2 of them, which is neccesary for SLI
__________________
"There once was a buggy AI
Who decided her subject should die.
When the plot was uncovered,
The subjected discovered
That sadly the cake was a lie."
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03-05-2005, 04:06 PM
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#20
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Aggro Crag
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: 908
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Quote:
Originally posted by Shadow221
The thing of it is, the ultra can be overclocked as well. Notice the "2x?" The build includes 2 of them, which is neccesary for SLI
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not i didn't see the 2x
__________________
Allakhazam
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