Any other computer guys on here?

[Jack_Toepfer]

Here are the specs on my new build. Let me know if you would change anything.

I'm looking for Vista 64 right now (hint hint)

$25 - N82E16827106266-LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model iHAS220-06

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106266

$110 - N82E16811129021 - Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

$130 - N82E16822148337 - Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31500341AS 1.5TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive (bare drive)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148337

$290 - N82E16824236048 - ASUS VK246H Black 24" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236048

$504 - N82E16814130449 - EVGA 017-P3-1291-AR GeForce GTX 295 1792MB 896 (448 x 2)-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130449

$290 - N82E16817379009 - ZALMAN ZM1000-HP 1000W Continuous @ 45°C (Maximum Continuous Peak: 1250W) ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Modular Heatpipe-Cooled SLI Pow

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817379009

$70 - N82E16836116025 - Creative Inspire T6100 76 Watts 5.1 Speaker

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836116025

$160 - N82E16820231225 - G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231225

$560 - N82E16819115202 - Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.158596

COMBO - N82E16813141017 - XFX MBX58ICH19 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.158596

$70 - 3 Day Shipping
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$2,199.13

So I went a little over.

I'm not sure what cooler I'm going to buy for the i7 yet. I'll give it a little more time on the market.

BD Burners are still almost $200, and I already have a PS3 for playback...

This case is awesome. A friend of mine has it and can't recommend a better case.

1.5TB drive... can be had cheaper... I'll be keeping an eye on the price of this one as it tends to fluctuate about $10.

ASUS is a brand I know and love... haven't had any experience with their monitors... but this seemed like a great deal.

The GTX 295 is the best card on the market. I'll be adding another... or 2 when I need it.

Zalman is a leader in everything they do, especially PSUs. I didn't want to outgrow the PSU with TRI-SLI, so I went big and reliable. There are several fans in the case, and OC'ing everything with also consume the volts.

The 5.1 is just because I'll also be playing the PS3 on this monitor... and I have an HD Sony SR1 camera that I'll be playing back on the PC. Not the best sound, but good sound.

G.SKILL is decent RAM. Went 1600 because it wasn't all that much more expensive than the 1333. I don't see myself needing anymore than 6GB right now... but if need be, I can do 6 more down the road, pretty cheaply. This will also support the Triple Channel on the MOBO.

i7, well, because it is the i7. I'm not worried about power consumption or heat at this point. I should be able to see about 4GHz out of this CPU with some careful clocking.

XFX is a killer brand, especially for OC'ing MOBOs. The combo @ NEWEGG saved me $25, and the board is sweet. Plenty of potential there. Never cheap out on a MOBO.



If anyone has any coupon codes I could use on NEWEGG I'd really appreciate it. Would like to get under the $2k mark.

If you see any problems or have any suggestions, I'm all ears. I know it seems like a lot for a home PC used primarily for gaming and HD video editing... cause it is. But if I don't buy it now, I'll always be behind.

[kamaleon]

that is a very well pieced out system..

The case seems very nice and practical, but personally preffer the Stacker over the rest. Much more space, check it out for the next rig.

Hard drive, make sure you got latest firmware on them.

On a system like this power supply quality is not only essential but critical, i like zalman but have no experience with them when itcomes to power supply. Last power supply that i bought was about 4 years ago (true cool 510 sli) when the truecool brand was sill 'true' to their product, it costed $350 back then. Every person that called me crazy for spending that kind of $ in just a power suply have had problems and issues from their choices of PS, someof them have died and the rest replaced from either havign unstable rails or outpowered by newer system needs.

Monitor is a good one although on a 24" 1900 x 1200 is bettter, but i cant say much cuz my 28" is that same resolution and it 'should' be higher.

Edit: Ps.. no worries about being behind, by the time you have it up and running with all the glitches worked there will be new hardware nocking in our doors lol..

overall seems like a fantastic system.

[Jack_Toepfer]

Thanks Kamaleon. I'm sketchy on the HDD... but we'll see how it goes.

Zalman is a name I really trust when it comes to PSU. A lot of the i7 guys with beefy cards are running it and they are happy.

1900x1200 is good, but I wasn't able to find one that was comparable. If you know of anything please let me know.

I'll let you know how it is once I have everything updated and ready to rock.

[triplemoutdoors]

Wow! Jack,

You are going to be the fastest poster on the forum. The beer drinking onions movement will be flawless.:cheers:

[Marv]

Wow! Jack,

You are going to be the fastest poster on the forum. The beer drinking onions movement will be flawless.:cheers:

LOL...awesome.

I'll be the first to admit, that all the things these guys are talking about is like greek to me.

I know just enough to make my way around a computer. If I had to build my own, I'd be screwed.

[Hooter]

I tried to keep up through the first two sentences, then it lost me. It felt like the chicken farming scene from Napoleon Dynamite.

Chicken Scene

[Vegistroke James]

I tried to keep up through the first to sentences, then it lost me. It felt like the chicken farming scene from Napoleon Dynamite.

Chicken Scene

LOL I'm right there with you Hooter! Since we moved into our new shop back in April I have gone thru 3 PCs and I just decided that I didn't want to do that any more. So I bought an APPLE and let me tell you what, You can have your built up PC. Having this thing is like owning that Ford F650 with the Caterpillar Motor option it is just flawless. This is of course just my opinion. Happy Trouble shooting!:chuckles:

[Jack_Toepfer]

I'm a computer programmer for a living... and a geek at heart.

Only reason I posted it is because there are usually 3 ways of doing something right in the PC world.

If you can install a V3, you can build a PC. I built my first at 14... and haven't stopped.

[Hooter]

LOL I'm right there with you Hooter! Since we moved into our new shop back in April I have gone thru 3 PCs and I just decided that I didn't want to do that any more. So I bought an APPLE and let me tell you what, You can have your built up PC. Having this thing is like owning that Ford F650 with the Caterpillar Motor option it is just flawless. This is of course just my opinion. Happy Trouble shooting!:chuckles:

Hell yeah!!! Bought a MacBook last year as well, and I don't think I will ever go back. I've had this thing for almost a year and it works just like the day I bought it.

[Jack_Toepfer]

Hell yeah!!! Bought a MacBook last year as well, and I don't think I will ever go back. I've had this thing for almost a year and it works just like the day I bought it.

I agree with you MAC guys. I'm glad it works for you.

BUT - You can't do 3/4 of the stuff I do with mine and you don't have 10% of the software on yours that I use.

The reason an XP or Vista machine slows down over time is because of all of the applications that you can install and run on the machine. Mac users generally leave the thing alone and surf... buy music... and the occasional video or picture editing. Thats about it.

Nobody games on their rig (I mean "serious" gaming), or even really "works" on their computer in a way that would hinder performance.

Macs are great for people who want to spend the cash... and not have any problems. You can build a PC on the cheap and it will run as fast as the day you bought it a year from now, as long as you don't do anything to it. The age of a PC won't slow it down, it is the tons and tons of crap someone adds to it over time that slows it down.

[Hooter]

I agree with you MAC guys. I'm glad it works for you.

BUT - You can't do 3/4 of the stuff I do with mine and you don't have 10% of the software on yours that I use.

The reason an XP or Vista machine slows down over time is because of all of the applications that you can install and run on the machine. Mac users generally leave the thing alone and surf... buy music... and the occasional video or picture editing. Thats about it.

Nobody games on their rig (I mean "serious" gaming), or even really "works" on their computer in a way that would hinder performance.

Macs are great for people who want to spend the cash... and not have any problems. You can build a PC on the cheap and it will run as fast as the day you bought it a year from now, as long as you don't do anything to it. The age of a PC won't slow it down, it is the tons and tons of crap someone adds to it over time that slows it down.

Very true. I guess I am the typical mac user, because that description fits me to a T.

[Vegistroke James]

I agree with you MAC guys. I'm glad it works for you.

BUT - You can't do 3/4 of the stuff I do with mine and you don't have 10% of the software on yours that I use.

The reason an XP or Vista machine slows down over time is because of all of the applications that you can install and run on the machine. Mac users generally leave the thing alone and surf... buy music... and the occasional video or picture editing. Thats about it.

Nobody games on their rig (I mean "serious" gaming), or even really "works" on their computer in a way that would hinder performance.

Macs are great for people who want to spend the cash... and not have any problems. You can build a PC on the cheap and it will run as fast as the day you bought it a year from now, as long as you don't do anything to it. The age of a PC won't slow it down, it is the tons and tons of crap someone adds to it over time that slows it down.

Jack- I agree, the Mac is limited in its software options for sure, PC is still on top as far as your mentioned items are concerned. With that being said and now having used a MAC for sometime now I feel it is now only a matter of time until MAC invades the business applications for software, positioning them selves as the only real answer to PC's Empire of problems. With the quality of what Mac has provided, it would take an act of God to stop Mac's slow and eventual take over of the industry. I'm sorry if this sounds a bit harsh, but after having been a PC user for about 20 years I still can't believe I didn't make the switch sooner. I evan had a PC run really well for about a 5 year stretch which is amazing. After that I couldn't keep one running well for any longer than 6 months. 2 of those machines being built by spec so that it didn't have all that preloaded crap that they normally come with. I feel very strong about Apple's product now that I have had time to really work it over. Still your system that your building sounds awesome I hope it works well for you!

[Jack_Toepfer]

James, I completely agree.

Until more applications are Mac friendly, I'll stick to my PC.

How much is a "top of the line" mac these days? I just built an absolute monster of a PC for $2000 and it came with speakers and a 24" 1080P Monitor...

[Vegistroke James]

Jack- yea you've got what sounds like a monster of a machine for that price. To get a fully loaded apple with the best it can currently offer is about $3600.00 FOR JUST THE TOWER! So evan if your machine breaks down and you have to spend another $2100 on it to make it work again (which you won't) you would still be money ahead in my book. Some time though Jack when you have a spare monitor lying around and if you can afford to get rid of some spare money (LOL) go and get yourself a Mac Mini (1.83 GHz intel core 2 duo processor, 1GB of DDR2 SDRAM, 80 GB hard drive), and a external hard drive LaCie 750 GB, and a wireless keyboard and mouse for around $680.00. Then play around with it for a month or two and tell me what you think. Keep in mind that is the entry level Mac for like what you just described, an internet surfer/music junkie dream machine.

[Blue Lobster]

Ok Mac is the way to go. I went over 6 months ago and love it, it ask before any programs are going to be installed so wife/friends do not add stuff I do not want as it needs my password. I also use parallels for the odd program I can not get on Mac and it is not dual boot acts jsut like a window.

Now I will say I have the top of the line mac pro but it is a work machine so I did not have to pay for it, they are not cheap.