New CPU Build

[Sargeras]

I'm waiting for my tax return before I purchase anything, but while I wait, I wanted some feedback on what I'm looking to get:

Case:
Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6811129021

Motherboard:
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS4 Rev. 2.0 LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Ultra Durable II Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6813128064

Graphics Card:
BFG Tech BFGE96512GTOC2E GeForce 9600GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6814143126
Core clock: 690MHz (vs. 650MHz standard)
Memory Clock: 1880MHz (vs. 1800MHz standard)

Power Supply:
Antec TPQ-850 ATX12V / EPS12V 850W Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6817371009

CPU:
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6819115037

RAM:
OCZ Platinum 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2N10662GK
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6820227178

Primary Hard Drive:
Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST31000340NS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6822148278

DVD:
LITE-ON 20-X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE Model DH-20A4P-04 - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6827106228

Sound Card:
Creative Sound Blaster SB0570 Audigy SE 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6829102002

Notes:
I don't have any experience with OCZ RAM, but Brittney swears up and down that it's very good, and I'm not sure about the sound card, but I don't want anything fancy and never had an issue with Audigy.

Advice, tips, and comments are appreciated!

[Aslanna]

Sound Card:
Creative Sound Blaster SB0570 Audigy SE 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6829102002

Notes:
I don't have any experience with OCZ RAM, but Brittney swears up and down that it's very good, and I'm not sure about the sound card, but I don't want anything fancy and never had an issue with Audigy.

Vista or XP? If I remember right there are some issues with Vista and Creative. I don't know what they are but I know a lot of people have complained. There was a thread here not long ago. Personally I'd probably look at other alternatives. Creative customer service really sucks these days. I've used SoundBlasters since.. Well the first one they ever released but I think for my next one I'll see what else is out there.

(Edit: Not even sure it's that particular model with the issues. However it is best to do your homework in advance!)

[Sargeras]

XP

I don't trust to even try Vista until long after this whole SP1 debacle settles down.

I was on the beta for the Air Force Vista platform testing, and it was absolutely horrible.

[Drolgin Steingrinder]

What are your needs as far as sound card? I'd shy far far far away from any Creative products...

Razor's latest cards are good but a lot pricier.

[miir]

Looks pretty good except for the video card.
The 9600GT actually benchmarks worse (in some games 15-20% worse) than the 8800GT. The 9600GT is the bottom rung of the 9000 series and like the 8600 is a pretty lame card.
For about a hundred bucks more you could get a 9800GTX which outperforms even the 8800GTX.


As for the RAM...
I swear by OCZ RAM. I've only ever had issues with it in a specific Asus motherboard.

[Boogahz]

I don't trust to even try Vista until long after this whole SP1 debacle settles down.

What SP1 debacle?

[miir]

I don't trust to even try Vista until long after this whole SP1 debacle settles down.

What SP1 debacle?

The imaginary one... shhhhhhhhhhhh

[Sargeras]

What are your needs as far as sound card? I'd shy far far far away from any Creative products...

Razor's latest cards are good but a lot pricier.

Just something for games, music, and movies.

What SP1 debacle?

I have friends that have SP1 installed, and still have issues. It's literally turned me off to Vista until they put out some more patches.

ooks pretty good except for the video card.
The 9600GT actually benchmarks worse (in some games 15-20% worse) than the 8800GT. The 9600GT is the bottom rung of the 9000 series and like the 8600 is a pretty lame card.
For about a hundred bucks more you could get a 9800GTX which outperforms even the 8800GTX.


As for the RAM...
I swear by OCZ RAM. I've only ever had issues with it in a specific Asus motherboard.

Thanks for the input.

[Boogahz]

What SP1 debacle?

I have friends that have SP1 installed, and still have issues. It's literally turned me off to Vista until they put out some more patches.

Just curious, but did they download when Windows Updater indicated it was available, or did they manually retrieve and install it? The reason I ask is that I had done some research about why Windows Updater only had it available for one of my two Vista comps, and I found out that it was wasn't available on the other comp due to issues with the Realtek sound drivers on the older board.

[Sargeras]

What SP1 debacle?

I have friends that have SP1 installed, and still have issues. It's literally turned me off to Vista until they put out some more patches.

Just curious, but did they download when Windows Updater indicated it was available, or did they manually retrieve and install it? The reason I ask is that I had done some research about why Windows Updater only had it available for one of my two Vista comps, and I found out that it was wasn't available on the other comp due to issues with the Realtek sound drivers on the older board.

Uhh, good question! I honest'y don't know how they got it, just that they did. I'll have to ask them when I see them later this week.

I looked up the GeForce reviews @ TomsHardware, and 8800GT does smoke the 9600GT. So I'll probably throw this in instead:
BFG Tech BFGE88512GTOCE GeForce 8800GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814143118

[Ashur]

I had the XP service pack it show up in my "Get it" queue for my newer Vista PC (Gateway Phenom rig). Figuring if it blew up I could reformat with XP, I installed it. I don't notice any differences.

[Boogahz]

I'm actually very impressed with the performance of my new comp. I ended up taking the ATI card route with the HD3870. I have had zero issues with the card (once I found the extra power input on the card, doh)

[Drolgin Steingrinder]

If you want (need) a pci sound card instead of your onboard, I'd spend 20-30 more and get the M-Audio Revolution. There's a 7.1 version as well that I couldn't find on newegg in my 8 second search - but 7.1 for home use is a marketing gimmick anyway.

The Envy24T chipset is far far far far far superior to anything Creative puts out, imo. It also works flawlessly with stuff like Cubase.

[Fairweather Pure]

I just purchased an Nvidia 8800 GT OC for $200 at Best Buy. They had a 2 day special going. I also threw in another gig of RAM and bought a lightscribe DVD writer as well. I was looking at building a 3000$ super system, but instead opted on spending 300$ for an upgrade of my exisitng system, which is a Dell XPS I bought about 4.5 years ago. I was looking at a solid state drive, SLI 8800 GT video cards, a couple of terabite internal drives, and at least 4G of RAM. It's difficult knowing I can get it whenever I want, yet making the responsible decision when realizing I don't really do that much on my PC anymore. I play WOW, RTS games, and DL porn and music. I don't need all that...yet This update will keep my computer going for another year or 2. Just because you can dosen't mean you should.

Technology has come a long way since I last looked into building my own computer. Solid state drives sure look awesome. When I actually do take the plunge, that will be a requirement! I just hope they gain more capacity, which I'm certian will happen.

[miir]

I'm actually very impressed with the performance of my new comp. I ended up taking the ATI card route with the HD3870. I have had zero issues with the card (once I found the extra power input on the card, doh)

I was gonna recommend the 3870 but I didn't want to sound like an ATI fanboy.

[Winnow]

Dont want to make a new thread for this.

Intel (as scheduled) cut prices on their Quads:

http://www.cnet.com/8301-13924_1-9924121-64.html

Intel cuts quad-core price by 50 percent

Intel posted price cuts on Sunday that included reductions of 50 percent on select quad-core processors. The chipmaker also introduced new Celeron and Core 2 Duo processor models.
Intel Core 2 Quad processor


The price of the Core 2 Quad Q6700 (2.66GHz) fell 50 percent from $530 to $266, while the quad-core Xeon X3230 (2.66GHz) saw an identical cut: from $530 to $266.

Celeron price-cut highlights include the Celeron 430 (1.8GHz), reduced 23 percent from $44 to $34 and the dual-core Celeron E1200 (1.6GHz), falling 19 percent from $53 to $43.

The dual-core Xeon 3085 (3GHz) was reduced 29 percent from $266 to $188, and the Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 (3GHz), from $266 to $183, or 31 percent.

Pentium dual-core chips saw price drops too: The E2200 (2.2GHz) and E2180 (2GHz) were cut 12 percent and 14 percent to $74 and $64, respectively.

The chipmaker introduced the dual-core Celeron E1400 (2GHz) at a price of $53 and Celeron 570 (2.66GHz) at $134.

New Core 2 Duo chips were also introduced. The E8300 (6MB cache, 2.83GHz) and the E7200 (3MB cache, 2.53GHz) at $163 and and $133, respectively.

[Sargeras]

Thanks to everyone who chipped in their 2 cents .

Here's what I ended up purchasing this weekend. I was kinda bummed my tax refund took forever because I didn't have it in time to have my system up for the LAN party that I went to this weekend.

Hard Drive:
Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST31000340NS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

RAM:
OCZ Platinum 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2N10662GK

Power Supply:
Antec earthwatts EA500 ATX12V v2.0 500W Power Supply

DVD Drive:
LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model LH-20A1L-05

Graphics Card:
EVGA 512-P3-N808-AR GeForce 8800GT AKIMBO SuperClocked 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
Core clock: 720MHz
Memory Clock: 2000MHz
*drooool*

Case:
Antec P182 Advanced Super Mid Tower ATX Case (Black)

CPU:
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.00GHZ 6M 1333FSB Retail Box (BX80570E8400)

Motherboard:
ASUS P5K-E LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard (the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4 is out of stock)