[Desertwolf]

Hi people, im new here, i kinda stumbled this website, but itwas perfect timing. It was perfect timing because im kinda of a noob with hardware and building PCs (this is my first time) Someone had helped me build a theoretical 1000$ gaming PC and i just wanted other experts opinion before spending 1000$ . Me and my friend are building the computer (hes gonna help me build it) its going to be 1000$ and primarily for gaming.

heres what i really want in it
1) a descent case
2) has to be acceptably noisy (parents threaten they will throw it out if its crazy loud and their no kidding)
3) I would prefer to go with Intel
4) 500 gig HD (not a priority though)
5) 8800 GT vcard (250$?)ive been hearing that some brands are alot better than others such as XFX..
7) Ill be willing to sacrifice some of other part for good cooling (not the 200-300$ kind though.. my budget is tight) (the reason for this is because my friend build a new PC and hes been having a [bleep] of a time with cooling, its constantly getting hot)
8) I am Canadian so any stores that are good in Mississauga region? (i was mostly going to buy from Tiger Direct ins tore, and I dont want to buy online because price cuts will probably equal out after shipping so theres no point)

So a friend gave me this build and i just wanted your opinions on it

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 Dual Core Processor LGA775 Conroe 3.0GHZ 1333FSB 4MB
Mobo: Gigabyte EP35-DS3R ATX LGA775 P35 1600OC FSB DDR2 1200OC 1PCI-E16 SATA RAID Sound GLAN Motherboard
RAM: Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X2048-6400C4 2GB 2X1GB PC2-6400 DDR2-800 CL 4-4-4-12 240PIN Dual Channel Memory
HD: http://www.ncix.com/...u... Digital WD
Case: NZXT LEXA Blackline ATX Case Black 4X5.25 2X3.5 5X3.5INT No PS Temp Display Window Front USB & Audio
PSU: Corsair HX520 CMPSU-520HX 520W ATX Triple 12V 40A Continuous 24PIN ATX Modular 120MM Power Supply
DVD: LG GSA-H55L DVD+RW 20X8X16 DVD-RW 20X6X16 DL 10X Lightscribe DVD Writer IDE 2MB Black OEM W/ SW
Cooling: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro LGA775 2500RPM 45CFM
V-Card: XFX GeForce 8800 GT Video Card - Alpha Dog Edition, FREE Company of Heroes PC Game, 512MB DDR3, PCI Express 2.0, SLI Ready, (Dual Link) Dual DVI, HDTV, HDCP, Video Card

I dunno, the friend who helped me seemed to know what hes talking about but i wanted a second opinion? how is this build for a cheap gaming PC?
Any suggestions or modifications etc.? Any recommendations to stores in my area (GTA) which are cheaper than Tiger Direct?

Thanks in Advance

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One thing I'd change is the DVD-drive, I'd go with Pioneer but it seems like Tiger Direct does not have one so just get this LG SATA drive.
For the hard drive, you can go with the Western Digital, however Seagate offers 5 years warranty, 2 years longer than WD. Take a look at this Seagate 7200.11 500GB

8800GT generally runs hotter as it is a single slot card (heat is not pushed out of the case but instead stays inside the case), I suggest buying 8800GTS 512MB (G92) as this has a separate exhaust fan so that the heat is directly pushed out of the case.
To save money though, you can mod the card like I did, I used Arctic Accelero and replace the stock fan. You should go with the XFX brand of video card because they offer double lifetime warranty (if you resell the card, the other person also gets the lifetime warranty) and also Mod-Friendly (you can mod the card, like changing the fan and such).

Are you thinking of overclocking your processor? That CPU fan (cooling) you have chosen is not a very good one for overclocking. I know someone with P182 case, E6850 and stock fan and the temperature is around 25C (no overclocking).

I suggest buying it at NCIX as they generally have a much lower price than TD, they also do price match so if there's a lower price somewhere (use shopbot.ca to compare) then just price match it to save some more money.
Also note that NCIX starts their new sale tonight so watch for their prices if you do decide to go with NCIX.
NCIX also does not charge PST.
Also note that there are some deals where you select one component and that includes free ground shipping for the entire order.

For example, the Intel e6850 is $365.99 at TigerDirect and $222.00 at NCIX so the difference would definitely cover the shipping cost already. The only thing I'd really buy at Tiger Direct is the case as shipping it across the country will cost quite a bit.

Kamille

Edited by kamille316, 29 April 2008 - 10:19 AM.

[kamille316]

One thing I'd change is the DVD-drive, I'd go with Pioneer but it seems like Tiger Direct does not have one so just get this LG SATA drive.
For the hard drive, you can go with the Western Digital, however Seagate offers 5 years warranty, 2 years longer than WD. Take a look at this Seagate 7200.11 500GB

8800GT generally runs hotter as it is a single slot card (heat is not pushed out of the case but instead stays inside the case), I suggest buying 8800GTS 512MB (G92) as this has a separate exhaust fan so that the heat is directly pushed out of the case.
To save money though, you can mod the card like I did, I used Arctic Accelero and replace the stock fan. You should go with the XFX brand of video card because they offer double lifetime warranty (if you resell the card, the other person also gets the lifetime warranty) and also Mod-Friendly (you can mod the card, like changing the fan and such).

Are you thinking of overclocking your processor? That CPU fan (cooling) you have chosen is not a very good one for overclocking. I know someone with P182 case, E6850 and stock fan and the temperature is around 25C (no overclocking).

I suggest buying it at NCIX as they generally have a much lower price than TD, they also do price match so if there's a lower price somewhere (use shopbot.ca to compare) then just price match it to save some more money.
Also note that NCIX starts their new sale tonight so watch for their prices if you do decide to go with NCIX.
NCIX also does not charge PST.
Also note that there are some deals where you select one component and that includes free ground shipping for the entire order.

For example, the Intel e6850 is $365.99 at TigerDirect and $222.00 at NCIX so the difference would definitely cover the shipping cost already. The only thing I'd really buy at Tiger Direct is the case as shipping it across the country will cost quite a bit.

Kamille

Edited by kamille316, 29 April 2008 - 10:19 AM.

[Desertwolf]

Thanks for the reply Kamile 316
Ok first i don't really plan to overclock the processor, to tell you the truth, right now the main purpose for this PC is to play games..
For the V-card issue is it really a problem? If it is ill try to go for another V-card, like my OP said im pretty new to buildings PCs and therefore I currently dont have the ability to modify the V-card so my only option is to try in some way to lower the temperature. Regarding NCIX, the reason Ild rather not deal with them is because if stuff is DOA or doesn't work properly then its a whole mess sending it back and getting back here, its too time consuming + might cost me more in long run

Other than the processor, TD would probably cost me 100-150$ more and taking into consideration shipping the difference will work out to be around 50$ which I am willing to spend, however if this new sale can make the difference at least more than 150$ (after subtracting shipping and such) then I might go with NCIX.

Do you have any experience with NCIX? Are they a good company?

Anyways, on my current build how long would i be able to run the computer before it gives me heating problems (i usually run my PC 7-11 hours a day..)

Thanks for the advice

[kamille316]

I have bought about 90% of my components at NCIX and recommend it a lot. Their customer support has improved over the past few months. I have also shipped back my motherboard thinking it was broken (it wasn't), I asked for cross-shipping and they didn't charge me extra (they do charge you for the price of the component you're sending back if you're doing cross-shipping, but they refund you your money when they receive the package you're sending back, this will only work if you bought the ExpressRMA option, which is pretty cheap anyways) for sending them back an opened package that wasn't broken anyways.

If noise is not a problem, you can increase the speed of the fan of the 8800GT but the noise depends on the speed of the fan, if I have it at 100% speed, it sounds like a jet plane There are some 8800GT from other manufacturer that offers a different fan (third party fan, not the stock fan) but these ones does not come with lifetime warranty, at most it would be 3-year warranty.

As long as you have exhaust and intake case fans, you should be okay. Since you're not overclocking, your processor is good. Video card is your only problem here and as I have stated, either pay a few more for the 8800GTS or just settle with 8800GT. Room temperature also needs to be considered here as intake case fans sucks the air from your room into the case.

What kind of heating problem does your friend have?

Here's a pic of your build using NCIX.
These are regular prices, when the sale is up or if you do price match, the total would be much less.
This is without GST and shipping.
As I have mentioned before, buy the case instore so you save money on shipping since computer case is quite heavy.

Edited by kamille316, 29 April 2008 - 10:57 AM.

[Desertwolf]

Ok, ill see what I can do, thanks alot for your help. Do you have an estimate usually on how much the whole thing would cost me in shipping w/o the case (since uve dealt with them, and i would like it at least by 5-8 days)

without the case and maybe without the PSU (i can get similarly priced one at TG) the weight should end up as 20 pounds.. any estimates? (im trying to see how much i can save)

[kamille316]

I can't really say how much it shipping would be as I live in Alberta. Shipping though should take around a week, however, processing (as you are a new customer) would probably take quite a bit of time (around 3+ more days).
TigerDirect is having an End of the Month sale, you should take a look. EVGA is also a good manufacturer that offer lifetime warranty on their video cards.