revised a bit - new system

[crashem]

E6600

P35-board - Gigabyte Ds3r

DDR2 667 value ram 2g. ?

8800 GTS 320 mb

Samsung spinpoint HD501lj 500 gb

Optical Drive Samsung dvdrw (dont have the model #)

windows xp pro\media?

dell 24 inch

Antec 900 black steel atx midtower

corsair 520hx

speakers (no idea)

TV tuner card (no idea)



The system has a 1500 budget without the monitor

It will be used for all things:

Auto cad
large storage of movies and mp3
web
Watch cable tv (high def if I can get it)
Some gaming including older games like Empire Earth

I would like it to be cool
I would like it to be quiet
I will not overclock

Above all else it has to be very stable and needs to last me at least 4 years. I will eventually move up to vista and 4 gb ram

Now is this a well rounded system. Any change?

 

[Roguestar]

Looks good to me :thumbsup:.

 

[crashem]

Any suggestion on TV tuner or descent 5.1 speakers or any suggestions on upgrades or downgrades. Remember I want to buid a descent highend system that is upgradable to a q6600 and vista and 4gb ram. and maybe another video card all this in about 2 years. So is the Mother board a good choice and will this system be relitively quiet. And VERY stable?

 

[effee]

vista right away now. you'll see much more difference with the 2gb ram than you'll see with XP. With RAM prices at a all time low, why not just go 4GB right away now? since memory warranty is lifetime for most..there is no difference when you upgrade.

 

[crashem]

I thought Vista cause a lot of compatabiliy issues right now. Plus my decision is based on most recommendation from Anandtech and such. I really dont want something that is not compatable with a lot of software and Hardware (I dont know just going by what articles are saying) besides I have to access my job via internet and its system has problems with Vista and Adobe 7 so it is not worth the hassel. Besides the Vista is not all that expensive and I can uprade in a year or so. I can buy 4gb and keep it in a box (understand that xp and media like 2 not 4gb; does this sound right?)

So is this it guys and girls need your help. I hope to order this month. I am on a 6year old machine (rambus ram and 1.9 chip very old video card; hey it was a very nice system in its day)

 

[crashem]

Also I am not sure if my choice on ram is a smart one. If ram has fallen and I want it to last at least four years should I upgrade it to some faster units? for the future.

 

[jkresh]

if you wait one a little more then a month you will be able to get a q6600 for $50 more then the e6600 costs now. Also if you want to get a tunner then you either need xp mce or vista home premium/ultimate or sagetv/snapstream... Since you are buying new hardware you shouldnt have compatibility issues with vista, and in terms of software vista is compatible with most programs (even vista 64 which I use works with just about everything unless it is 16bit or requires its own drivers).
If you want to do hd, do you want atsc (over the air, you need an antenna) or QAM (through cable, all non encrypted hd channels)? There are lots of accetable atsc cards and a few that can do qam (the best probably being dvico's fusion 5).

 

[wiredvibes]

Logitech Z-5500 are awesome speakers i got them for like 250 6 months ago def shud be cheaper now... def dont go for vista especially if u want to play older games ull cry.... xP pro get the oEM from newegg mobo id suggest an intel Bax Axe 2 had it for like 6 months amazingly stable and good onboard audio for the speakers.... and enuf of everything .. the e6600 is the best bang for the buck in the core2duo lineup.....

 

[Trevante]

For the TV Tuner, the Hauppauge PVR-150 is a good choice. IF you want to be able to watch and record at the same time, get the Hauppauge PVR-500MCE

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...iption=PVR-150&x=0&y=0 PVR-150's

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16815116628 - PVR-500MCE

If you want HD, take a look at the HVR-1600

http://www.hauppauge.com/pages...ucts/data_hvr1600.html

HTH.

 

[jkresh]

hauppauge makes good hardware but has crappy software and support (less important since MCE works with them but still...), also the 1600 is hauppauges first qam card, dvico has been making qam cards for years now so they have a lot more experience. For an analog only tuner then either a hauppauge or amd 550/650 (the 650 actualy can do atsc as well) are good choices.

 

[crashem]

I'll take a look thanks.

I was curious about heat and noise with my choices. Any suggestions about the case and power supply.

Also it looks like I will be using vista after all. as well as waiting on the q6600.