Building My Computer

[Fuzzeh_Panda]

So in the future (at the end of the school year, maybe earlier), I plan on building my computer.
Due to extenuating circumstances, I decided to just see how much it would cost on my estimated budget of $1000.

Here's what I have so far.

Hard Drive (~250GB) = ~$60
Video Card (8800GT) = $290
Processor (E6600) = $230
Case = ~$50
Motherboard (Gigabyte) = $95
Memory (4GB OCZ) = $145
Power Supply (500W) = $80

Total = ~$950

So that's not bad for a pretty kick ass computer. There's going to be some extras for fans, and whatever else I'll be needing along the way.

Where can I trim the fat, sorta speak. I know prices will drop when I actually get around to buying all the parts (or finding them on sale! Right now the RAM's on sale for $100!). Which parts will drop? Should I look to upgrade them, or would it be worth it to just keep it below my budget. If I can get it reasonable enough, I plan on buying a 22" monitor as well. What do you think?

[Jedakiah]

You might be stretching your PSU to its max.  Always leave some room for it.

By that time AMD's new line up will be common place.  Depending on how it turns out you might want to take a look at one of their processors.  Hopefully they will provide some serious competition for C2Duos and Intel's next gen. 

Also, you might be able to purchase a 9600 by that time...  Which will probably be better than an 8800. 

I still preach the same things:
Always buy Corsair memory.  There are other manufacturers that put out products of similar quality, but the company is awesome and easy to deal with. 

Wait and see, you can't predict the computer hardware marketplace months in advance.   

[b@!!ofH8]

Where will you be purchasing them from?  You should put the product links in with the exact components for us to check out.   I can vouch for the Corsair power supplies.  I'd also consider spending a little extra cash for the quad core Q6600 and an aftermarket heatsink and fan.

[Fuzzeh_Panda]

You might be stretching your PSU to its max.  Always leave some room for it.

I don't know how to find the power limits for components. I.e., how much power does component each use? Really. I have no idea.

By that time AMD's new line up will be common place.  Depending on how it turns out you might want to take a look at one of their processors.  Hopefully they will provide some serious competition for C2Duos and Intel's next gen.

Will that drive the price down on Core2Duo's? I don't really like AMD. But if it's cheaper (thought I doubt it will be)...

I still preach the same things:
Always buy Corsair memory.  There are other manufacturers that put out products of similar quality, but the company is awesome and easy to deal with.

I don't know if I am willing to spend another $100 for a RAM I can "trust". My roommate swears by OCZ.

Wait and see, you can't predict the computer hardware marketplace months in advance.

Sure you can! At least try.

Where will you be purchasing them from?  You should put the product links in with the exact components for us to check out.   I can vouch for the Corsair power supplies.  I'd also consider spending a little extra cash for the quad core Q6600 and an aftermarket heatsink and fan.

I'll probably be purchasing them from where ever is the cheapest (Within limits. I have to to at least trust the place, good return policy, etc.). I put in the links for the earlier components. They're all to newegg, but don't think that means I'm going to buy them all from there. It was just most convenient to look up parts there.

Do you really think I should get a Quad core? Nothing's even optimized for those yet. Steam JUST came out with dual-core support!

[Jedakiah]

*lol* Jaminz. 

Intel already introduced major price reductions.  The price of old processors (like that one will be by then) will always go down slightly in time.  But your not going to see dramatic price cuts on those ever again, me thinks.  On the other hand AMD will probably slash prices when Wolfdale goes mainstream. 

AMD's AM2+ will essentially be a revision of AM2 but with important new technologies that will improve speed but maintain compatibility.  AMD excels at revising their older processors into ones that perform faster than their competitions latest. 

C2D was the first time in a long time that Intel put out a better processor than AMD.  It was also the first time in a while that Intel revised an architecture instead of introduced a "revolutionary" new one.  Thus they strayed from introducing new tech and build upon an old one like AMD does.  Which is probably why the C2D was so awesome.  Sadly Intel's next gen is supposed to be new tech. 

In short, it looks like AMD's next gen will shift the high end market towards AMD again.  (And hopefully help pull AMD out of the hole financially.)  It will be worth looking into an AM2+ even if you're not a fan of them.  However, as I said earlier we'll have to wait and see for sure. 

Keep in mind that high end RAM is a key part of getting high frames.  If you're looking at RAM that is $100 cheaper then Corsair's XMS2 you're probably not looking in the right place.  Look at OCZ's high end stuff and you'll most likely find a price difference of $15 instead of $100.  Tons of RAM is not what games need, instead they need fast RAM.  If I were you and I was trying to build a fast gaming rig you should look at Gaming quality 2GB instead of mainstream 4GB.  Keep in mind that only 64bit apps can utilize more than 3gb of RAM.  And most apps are not, not are they going to be. 

2 cores is all you need right now.  But if you want this machine to last 2 years look at 4 cores.  They aren't that much more. 

</end rant>

[Duracell]

Indeed, especially if you are going to be using a 32 bit OS, 4gb won't do anything for you, and even if you are running 64, it won't make any noticeable difference for most things you probably do. (although I am now assuming what you do)

[Fuzzeh_Panda]

As you can probably tell, I know nothing about RAM. Does it's technology advance like processors? Or is it basically going to remain the same (Is there going to be new RAM technology coming out in the next months?).
So choosing from this list here.

What about motherboards (another component I have no idea about), is there a best one?
With an upgrade in RAM, is that something I should consider in the PSU?

I think I might upgrade to a 64bit Vista when I buy this. This is only for DX10, though so far there haven't been any games with an amazing difference (see GoW). Also, I'm praying there's a service pack or somethin', so it doesn't still suck balls.

Oh, CPUs. Yeah, I guess I can upgrade to a Quad, we'll see. Since it doesn't change any of the other components...

[Jedakiah]

I didn't know that Duracell.  I was under the impression that Photoshop would still be able to utilize that extra gig even if Windows could not.  I was wrong.

If you're going Vista 64bit 4GB of RAM is very wise.  Vista loves to suck up half of your RAM for no apparent reason.  And going with 4 cores would also help you a lot.  Keep in mind that even if one application is not multithreaded (to run on multiple cores) multiple apps can run on different cores.  And Vista takes up processor power too. 

The system you're talking about building would be a high end XP system.  But a mid range Vista one.  Vista will not get any better either.  In January Service pack 1 will fix some of the Vista issues, but plenty will go untouched.  There will be some minor changes and fixes as the years go by, but it will probably go down in history as the worse OS second to DOS.  At least you can vLite the crap out of it in the days to come.  But that will end up making it more unstable. 

[Latro]

More cores = better if you multitask.  At this point anyways.

Oh, and in terms of better for Processors. Its really relevant to what you'll do with them.  Intel Chips have always been solid in terms of stability and calculation speeds.  They've always been great for things like CAD and statistics.  BUT AMD did have an edge up on them until recently in terms of performance per watt  & performance per $.  They've been great for Gaming rigs/etc.  But lately the C2D just trashes most things AMD has put out.. Again, note the "most" in that sentence. 

[Jedakiah]

Intel Chips have always been solid in terms of stability and calculation speeds. 

That sentence made me laugh really hard.  I would love to where you got that impression. 

As long as I can remember, it has always been a seesaw market.  Intel has a better product for a while, then AMD does...  The only time I remember it straying from that is the period between the release of the Athlon and C2D.  AMD had one up on Intel on practically every front for those numerous years.  Traditionally the ups and downs were far shorter periods of time. 

[Fuzzeh_Panda]

Should I go Vista for the DX10? Or wait until mysterious operating system "Seven" from Microsoft comes out?

[Latro]

Jed, you're young.. You weren't around for the early years.  the seesaw was for about a 3 year period..  But even then, it was mostly in terms of gaming performance as you could easily overclock the AMD chips.

I thought they said Vista would have a 5 year life span..?

[Fuzzeh_Panda]

I heard three, because Vista sucks so much balls.

"Microsoft has confirmed that the planned development time frame is at least three years, putting the release date around 2010"

At least 3...anyway...

Should I wait that long, and stick with XP?

[Jedakiah]

[Latro]

Again, Vista isn't that bad after you turn of mostly everything microsoft added.

And I still believe that intel chips have always been solid stable options.