Mid-Range Build Idea

[Oifish]

I've done a bit of research and I've came up with this as a possible build:

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm

Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 Wolfdale 2.8GHz

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45

Patriot Viper 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800

SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 4850 512MB PCI Express 2.0x16 HDCP

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s HDD

Antec Neo Power 430 430W ATX12V

I already have an Creative X-Fi Card, Acer 21.5" 1080p LCD, and 2 SATA optic drives... so those are not needed. All of this would be ordered through Newegg. Any suggestions or thoughts would be awesome.

 

[theAnimal]

Looks pretty good.

I would change the HDD to WD SE16 320GB or Caviar Black 640, and the PSU to Antec Earthwatts 430 or Corsair VX450, and for that resolution an HD4870.

 

[Oifish]

I was looking on newegg for an HD4870, and there was a ton of different brands, asus, sapphire, ati, etc.... Any particular brands I should steer clear of?

 

[imported_Couchpotato]

All of the major brands are ok as long as you stick to the big name brands.

If you can stick it out the 4850 and 4870 will drop in price to $129 and $149. April 6th, the 4770 and 4890 will come out also which leads to the drop in the previous cards.

 

[Ausm]

I like this mobo better

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128359

I would steer clear from Seagate go with a Western Digital.

Power supply is on the weak side go with one of these

Absolute steal deal here with free shipping too!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817341010

More expensive but definately good quality

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817139005

 

[theAnimal]

Visiontek & XFX have the best warranties.

If you do get a 4870 you'll need a PSU with 2 PCIe connectors. I would recommend a Corsair VX550 or Antec Earthwatts 500.

 

[Oifish]

This build isn't going to take place until May... so it'll definitely be after the 4870 price drop. Thanks for all the tips, very helpful. Keep em' coming!

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

I'd suggest 1066 ram or above... 500fsb & above is fun and with that board or the UD3R, you'll have no problem even on a quad - but 4x2gb sticks will be a challenge if not impossible to reach 500fsb - so stick with 2x2 and its roughly the same price

 

[polarbear6]

my chip which is almost the same as 9550(in terms of configs not in terms of the cores)
maxes out at 1.4v for 4.0 ghz to get stabilty

it is darn impossible to get 500 fsb unless we have liquid cooling
or ln2 cooling
i mean we need a insanely high vcore for anything to happen [-(

 

[Ausm]

Originally posted by: Oifish
This build isn't going to take place until May... so it'll definitely be after the 4870 price drop. Thanks for all the tips, very helpful. Keep em' coming!

In that case I would definitely score that power supply i mentioned above because you won't see it that cheap again.

 

[Oifish]

I was looking at video cards (4870s) and all of the memory clock speeds are different, ranging from 900Mhz to 4000Mhz. Should I get the one with the fastest speed?

 

[Oifish]

Just got the OCZ PSU today! Here is the finalized list...any more suggestions?

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811129042

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128359

SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102801

OCZ StealthXStream OCZ600SXS 600W ATX12V
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817341010

Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 Wolfdale 2.8GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819115206

Patriot Viper 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820220334

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS 320GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822136074

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835186134

 

[DSF]

Why the 1066 RAM? DDR2-800 is plenty fast even if you want to overclock that chip to its limit.

At any rate, there's no sense in picking specific models right now for a build that's a month and a half away.

 

[Oifish]

Originally posted by: DSF
Why the 1066 RAM? DDR2-800 is plenty fast even if you want to overclock that chip to its limit.

At any rate, there's no sense in picking specific models right now for a build that's a month and a half away.

Ok, going to ddr2-800 will save about 30 bucks. And I'm picking stuff now because there are some excellent rebates on the mobo and ram that expire at the end of march that will save me about $50. Easier on the credit card too when I space it out. I'm weird too and like to have a set plan to follow. :laugh:

 

[Trashman]

Just keep in mind newegg's 30-day return policy, the only downside to that thinking, but can relate, have done in past.

 

[DSF]

Originally posted by: Oifish

Originally posted by: DSF
Why the 1066 RAM? DDR2-800 is plenty fast even if you want to overclock that chip to its limit.

At any rate, there's no sense in picking specific models right now for a build that's a month and a half away.

Ok, going to ddr2-800 will save about 30 bucks. And I'm picking stuff now because there are some excellent rebates on the mobo and ram that expire at the end of march that will save me about $50. Easier on the credit card too when I space it out. I'm weird too and like to have a set plan to follow. :laugh:

Rebates come and go. On items like motherboards and RAM they'll be back again in no time. Trashman beat me to the other point. Dealing with Newegg's returns department is nice and easy, especially if you get multiple bad parts. Rare and unlucky, but it does happen.

 

[Oifish]

One final question I promise. Should I go with XP or Vista? I can get vista cheap through the university, so money's not a problem for the OS.

 

[feraltoad]

I'd pick up a copy of Windows 7 Beta and hope they release it soon. They only gave out 10 total keys for the beta so you won't have any problem activating a copy. Nothing wrong with Vista I'm using the Win 7 beta and it's great.