I’ve got around $4,000 to spend and I want to build my first custom PC with the most bang for my buck.
My list so far:
-Display: Dell UltraSharp 2407WFP for monitor (please suggest if you know better for under $1k)
-CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo
-Video card: One of the top NVIDIA ones (undecided)
-Sound card: Sound Blaster X-FI
-CPU cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
I need your help with:
Please provide your first and second choice. If costs add up to over $4k I will mix in second choices.
Hard Drive: SATA2 Western Digital or Seagate, with at least 16MB of cache (i don’t know if it currently goes any higher, but you don’t want any less!). I would say go for 2x 500GB just for the hell of having nearly a Terabyte of storage! (1024GB)
I wouldent bother spending money on that network card, the intergrated ones in motherboards are good enough, the money you would spend on that killer nic would be better spent on better gpu or memory tbh.
From Hiper, i would suggest the Hiper Type r 580w as the only choice for a machine what your building, as i wouldent be surprised if your machine will consume alot of power, so Hiper Type R 580w as the bottom line realy, i have one, and there awsome :D, but if i were going to build something like your going to, i would proberbly go with a more powerfull PSU. I would concider looking at other brands like Antec, enermax, seasonic < one of the best, tagen.
CodeJunkie are you situated in the USA or another country?
The above hardware i linked to will combine to make a truley excellent computer, all comes to around: $2357.85 from newegg.com.
If you want you could use the left over money to go for an even better motherboard allthough i think the one i linked to is allready preety good, you could go for better memory.
For gaming i too dont really see much use, its not worth it, really, an intergrated network card is good enough for gaming… There was an article on this forum somewere some time ago, and most people dident think there was any point too. Just because he has 4k to spend doesent mean he should get stuff for the hell of it.
Try reading up on it again, but whatever really. the results are up on there site showing average performance gain and maximum recorded for common games (such as WOW and CS). Besides, it deals with the entire network stack and can also run other mini-apps (it is essentially, a mini-computer).
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can we stop talking about the dam network card?
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Maybe it can run mini apps, just another novelty, also no one is going ti die withought it, game experience is good on games like WOW with normal network adapters in mobo if you have fast internet, anyway, yea, lets stop talking about the damnd network card, its making me cry
As much of a skeptic of the KillerNIC, it does do exactly what it’s supposed to to. However, it’s not for everyone and has a few teething issues with drivers. Having said that, [H]ard|OCP did a blind test with several gamers and they did notice improved performance with between two identical PC’s with and without the KillerNIC. This isn’t something I’d say everyone should get, but if you do play online alot and have a decent video card, then yes, this could be a good product. However, if you don’t do a lot of online gaming, I’d be hesistant to recommend one of these things.
As long as you have a high-quality 600-650W, a 7950GX2 will work just fine, as well as a single 8800GTX/GTS. I’ve included the PC Power & Cooling 1000W unit. Enermax also has a 1000W unit in their Galaxy line, which is cheaper than the PC Power & Cooling, but you’re still looking at $350-400. A second choice for the motherboard might be the Abit AW9D-Max.
If you’ve maxed everything else out and have money, toss in the KillerNIC, but that’s not what I’d kill for. Like I said, it does exactly what it’s supposed to, but if you won’t be doing a lot of on-line gaming, then I’d be very hesitant to toss one in my box.
For the display, make sure to check out any and all displays you’re considering in person. I like Samsung displays myself. They’re very close, if not on-par with, Sony, sans the huge price jump. Don’t buy a display just because other people say it’s good. I know Viewsonic used to get a lot of raves from people, but I never could figure out why when I saw them in action.
On that budget, i think the Creative X-Fi Elite Pro would be better, does everything the Fatal1ty does, also it has an external box with lots of connectors on, could be very usefull.
Edit: hmm i might of been wrong about the killer nic, i want one now…
Please review my list and tell anything I should know before I get ordering. I will start placing orders later tonight or tomorrow. Thank you all for helping.
The nic you linked to, you really dont need that, you have got good intergrated lan which will be jsut as good as that, the one you linked to is really for old pc’s that dont have lan on the mobo’s.
Infact the lan onboard the motherboard oyu are going to get is better than the nic you linked to as the lan onboard oyur motherboard is capable of 10/100/1000 when the nic you linked ot is capable of 10/100/200, but you will proberbly never use anythign other than 100 as thats the norm, but buying the nic is a waste of space in the pc unless your going to buy the killer nic which would take you over budget by abit. The motherboard oyur going to buy has dual lan, far far better than the nic card actually.
Apart from that, the pc looks preety good :), i have never heard of the manufacturer of the PSU though.
(Just planning that would be xmas to me :P)
