Advice on this final build

[zoz123]

Hi All,

I spent over a month researching and I am willing to buy my new computer this week, here are the specifications:

Please advise me if I can have better choices for Ram or any other area, I will order pretty soon and I don't want to make bad decisions.

Logitech Elite Multimedia Keyboard USB/PS2 (967234-0403)
$29.00 $29.00
220535 Logitech MX1000 Laser Cordless Mouse (931175-0403)
$59.00 $59.00
250336 Logitech Z-5500 Digital 5.1 Speakers w/Digital Decoder (970115-0403)
$275.00 $275.00
80502 Monarch Nemesis Custom Desktop w/PCI-E
$59.00 $59.00

Case: 100168 - NO PS - Thermaltake VA9000BWS Kandalf Sup $183.00 $183.00
Power Supply: 100996 - PS 650W - Silverstone ST65ZF SLI ATX 12V $162.00 $162.00
Case Fan: None
Motherboard: 110704 - Asus A8N-SLI Premium nForce4 SLI Audio/GB $179.00 $179.00
Processor: 120231 - AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Dual-Core 1MB Per $950.00 $950.00
Thermal Grease: 800018 - Shin-Etsu G675 Thermal Grease (Cools CPU $14.00 $14.00
Heat Sink Fan: 130099 - Zalman CNPS7000B-AlCu Silent CPU Cooling $37.00 $37.00
Memory: 140328 - DDR (400) 3200 - 2 GB (2 pcs 1GB) Corsair (TWINX2048 3200c2PT) $254.00 $254.00
2nd Memory: None
Hard Drive: 150239 - SATA - Western Digital (WD740GD) 74 GB/10 $175.00 $175.00
2nd Hard Drive: 150939 - SATAII - Western Digital Caviar SE 250 GB $150.00 $150.00
RAID Setup: None
RAID Controller: None
CD-ROM/DVD-ROM/CD-RW: 160721 - DVD-RW - Sony DW-D26AB 16x6x16x Dual Laye $61.00 $61.00
CD-RW/DVD-RW: 160236 - DVD±RW - NEC ND-3540A 16X Dual Layer DVD± $42.50 $42.50
CD-RW Software: 210613 - Ahead Nero 6.3 Suite DVD+-RW Software (OE $6.99 $6.99
DVD-ROM Software: 210601 - Cyberlink PowerDVD 6.0 (OEM) $6.99 $6.99
Floppy Drive: 170110 - Mitsumi 1.44 MB 3.5" Floppy Drive (Black) $20.00 $20.00
More Storage: None
Sound Card: 180329 - Creative Audigy 2 ZS 24BIT/5.1/IEEE/MIDI/ $96.00 $96.00
Video Card: 190490-2 BFG Geforce 7800 GTX OC 256MB GDDR3/PCI-E $1,248.00 $1,248.00
Modem: 200102 - QuickConnect 56K V.92 PCI Modem $19.00 $19.00
Network Card: None
Wireless Network Card: None
Add-On Card: None
Case Function Add-On: None
Round Cables: None
Operating System: 210111 - Microsoft Windows XP Professional w/Servi $150.00 $150.00
Additional Software: None
Antivirus: None
Warranty: 800009 - 3 Year - Parts & Labor - Plus $49.00 $49.00 $49.00
Hot Rush: None - Standard Order ( ships within 8-13 business
Far Cry Promotion: 270332 - FREE Full DVD Version of Far Cry 64/32 -
Napster Promotion: 270136 - FREE Napster Music Download for 4 Months
Half Life 2 Promotion: 27F854 - FREE Half Life 2 Full Version Coupon with
Monarch Logo Stickers: 800058 - Nemesis Logo (pictured above)
3rd Hard Drive: 150939 - SATAII - Western Digital Caviar SE 250 GB $150.00 $150.00
Video Capture: None
TV Tuner: None
Subtotal for 80502 with your selected options: $4,012.48

Note: I will buy a DELL FP2405 monitor wo be combined with this computer

Your advice is much appreciated..

 

[zoz123]

bump

 

[shoRunner]

why do you have 2 dvd burners, your paying too much for your HD and memory. and why get a 4800 when you can get a 4200/4400 and overclock. and i wouldn't get the PSU, $160 is too much, when you can spend ~$100 and get an SLI PSU.

 

[SGtheArtist]

Why do you need 2 DVD burners?

Other than that its a pretty impressive build, best of luck when it all goes together.

 

[KoolDrew]

That is hard to read.

 

[zoz123]

I am getting two burners cuz a burner costs few dollars more than a DVD or CDR/W drive and have DVD burning capability. From my previous experience with my Lite-On CDRW, it copies CDs from some brands well (Samsung, LG) buti it never copies creation CDs for some unknown reason. So i thought of having 2 burners for DVDs/CDs from two different manufacturers will do the trick as it will offer more compatibility wityh blank CDs/DVDs.

As for the silverstone powersupply. Its one of the very few power supplies that offer steady 650 Watts (710 peak). Its expensive unit but not much from Enermax noise taker (costs around 155$ and its 600 Watts).

This system is dual core, dual video cards, has two burners and also Three hard drives and I want to be able to add more drives, PCI cards and also some USB devices..etc. So I need the best powersupply (I have 250 Watts powesupply in my gateway system and it blew my ATI 9800 SE card because it couldn't secure enough power fotr it so a chip on it got burnt). I don't want to get into such problems so I decided to get the best power supply unit I can afford.

I am not intending to do overclocking. I am a hardware N00B Thats why I chos ethe 4800+

As for the many Hard drives I need, I am in fact a webmaster and gamer, I keep large soccer videos on my computer and make editing and complie them for the website. I also multitask alot and I like to have plenty of space for my games and videos.

I am sorry I copied and pasted the cart so it looks a bit confusing.

As for the RAM, is that the best I cn get in terms of performance? I have been told that these have the best timings for a 2x 1GB sticks.

Thanks all for your advice

 

[Bona Fide]

RAM - Don't get that. Get this.

HDD - Get a Seagate drive. You'll thank me later.

CPU Cooler - Get the Zalman CNPS7700-Cu or an XP-120 with a fan.

Motherboard - Get a DFI SLi-DR instead of that ASUS board. ASUS sucks the big one.

 

[zoz123]

Thanks for the advice

I am limited by the parts that Mohnarch offer cuz they will build the system for me. I will check if this RAM is available there or not.

As for the Seagate drives, I always liked them over WD but those are 16 MB cash SATA II. I couldn't find something like that by Seagate (at least at Monarch).

As for the cooler, Monarch have the 7000S not the 7700.

 

[shoRunner]

enermax unit for $89 at monarch
http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant...oduct_Code=100122&Category_Code=ps-500

and get the cheapest 1GB x2 memory you can get, timings mean next to nothing.

 

[Bona Fide]

No, don't get 1GB. You'll need more for gaming if you intend to keep this computer for a year at least. Get the OCZ 2x1GB Value RAM. He is right that timings don't mean much, to a certain extent. Especially in that Kandalf case, where at least one fan will be blowing across the DIMM's anyway. You can do some decent overclocking that way.

 

[zoz123]

Originally posted by: shoRunner
enermax unit for $89 at monarch
http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant...oduct_Code=100122&Category_Code=ps-500

and get the cheapest 1GB x2 memory you can get, timings mean next to nothing.

I meant Enermax Noisetaker 600 Watts, it costs 155$ at Monarch. The Silverstone is 7 bucks more and 650 Watts sustained power, nothing can beat this expect PC power and cooling which costs much more

 

[zoz123]

Originally posted by: Bona Fide
No, don't get 1GB. You'll need more for gaming if you intend to keep this computer for a year at least. Get the OCZ 2x1GB Value RAM. He is right that timings don't mean much, to a certain extent. Especially in that Kandalf case, where at least one fan will be blowing across the DIMM's anyway. You can do some decent overclocking that way.

I am getting this RAM:

Twinx2048-3200C2PT

Overview

The TWINX2048-3200C2PT is a 2 GByte matched memory pair specifically designed for motherboards using chipsets with dual memory channels. Current dual channel chipsets include the Intel 865PE/G and 875P, and the Nvidia nForce2 Ultra. This memory kit consists of two CMX1024-3200C2PT DDR400 CAS-2 memory modules that have been tested together on either an 875P or an nForce2 Ultra dual channel DDR motherboard. This memory has been verified to operate at 200 MHz (DDR400) at aggressive 2-3- 3-6 latency settings on Intel CPU platforms, and 2.5-3-3-6 on AMD platforms. TwinX memory kits are designed to provide the ultimate in performance and stability in dual channel boards. MEMORY KIT FEATURES

Specification

* 2048 Megabytes of memory
* Two CMX1024-3200C2PT memory DIMMs
* Tested and packaged in pairs
* Modules tested together in DFI 865PE Infinity test setup
* Packaged together immediately following system test
* Benchmarked using both Intel 875P and Nvidia nForce2 chipsets
* Legendary Corsair reliability and service
* Boots using JEDEC standard latency values
* Tested at ultra-low latency settings
* Tested at 2-3-3-6 settings on Intel platforms
* Tested at 2.5-3-3-6 settings on AMD platforms
* Dual channel testing environment
* 200MHz DFI 865PE Infinity test setup
* Lifetime Warranty (By Manufacturer)

I may e4nter the overclocking arena later but I am now too busy to learn and yeah, I liked the Thermaltake Kandalf alot, excellent cooling is what I am looking for cuz I am living in a very warm city.

 

[GuileVsGuile]

your video card is $1248??!!...thats so extravagant i could vomit

 

[zoz123]

Yes I never paid that much for a video card, My latest card was 400$ (TI4600) that I bought three years ago.

Anyway, as I am webmaster I spend most of my day in front of computers, so I don't mind paying that much as I make enough already

I would get a single card but as I am getting Dell FP 2405 widescreen which operates at very high native resolution, so running today's and tomorrow's games on it at native resolution SMOOTHLY will need such SLI setup.

Anyway, I buy new computer every 3 years so I want something to last as I am not willing to do upgrades.

 

[Michael D]

$1000+ for the video card? :disgust:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143036
Same thing and nearly half as cheap.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Uhhh... I think that figure is for two cards.

 

[zoz123]

Originally posted by: Michael D
$1000+ for the video card? :disgust:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143036
Same thing and nearly half as cheap.

Single BFG card costs $625 at Monarch so TWO in SLI cost 1248$

 

[Michael D]

It is? My bad then. I thought it was two, but each was $1,248 because that price was typed twice.

 

[PerfeK]

That's a nice setup if you can afford it. It is out of reach for most but would be fast as balls. Anyone who tells you that you're "wasting your money" is jealous. We would all get that if we could truly afford it.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I would get it if I had 2 billion dollars.

But just get a 4400+ and OC it anyday to match the 4800+. It's just like buying a 4000+. A 3700+ SD will hit the same limits in the end,

I also think an XP-120 would be better than the Zalman because you can choose your fan =). You can make it c ooler than the Zalman too.

For hard drives, I recommend you RAID 2xDiamondMax 10s or 2xSeagate 7200.8s. All faster htan the old WD Caviars. I say wait on the Raptor and get the next gen Raptors with 16mb cache. Today's raptor's are a hair faster than SATA2 HDs and I don't think they're worth it...

Finally, I like DFI more for a motherboard.

Otherwise it's good.

 

[zoz123]

Originally posted by: PerfeK
That's a nice setup if you can afford it. It is out of reach for most but would be fast as balls. Anyone who tells you that you're "wasting your money" is jealous. We would all get that if we could truly afford it.

Thanks for the nice comment

 

[zoz123]

I am just limited by what Monarch computer have because I am not building this system myself, they will do the build so I am limited with what they have, they don't have that XP-120 they only have thermaltake fans and this Zalman one.

As for the maxtor, I would like to get them but they are not available on Monarch.

The Hard drives that I chose are SATA II not SATA I and both have 16 MB cash and each cost 150$ for 250 GB, so I think they are the best deal for a SATA II and also equal the Diamondmax' cash (16 MB).

I am not sure when the new Raptors will be available,. I have to order the system this week cuz I have waited so long (first for the X2 to arrive and then the 7800). I got tired of waiting more

 

[DigitalCancer]

Umm...just to let you know, the X2's are going down in price sometime next month...supposedly...read...

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07/06/amd_low-cost_dual-core/

 

[zoz123]

Here is the link to the Hard drives I chose as secondary drives (I have one Raptor as main drive).

http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant...de=150939&Category_Code=SATAHardDrives

You think these will beat the raptor or be as good so I can drop the raptor and put on of these as main drive?

 

[zoz123]

Originally posted by: DigitalCancer
Umm...just to let you know, the X2's are going down in price sometime next month...supposedly...read...

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07/06/amd_low-cost_dual-core/

I have read that, but they are introducing more affordable Dual core processors at lower clock speeds. But it doesn't mean that the flagship model X2 4800+ will go down in price that soon.