Creating XMas wish list - Building New Rig

[cpus456]

Household is complaining that i have yet to create a Xmas wish list
So im looking for help form my fellow RFDers :cheesygri

So this is what i've got to start

CPU - intel Quad Core Q6600 - Not set on this (suggestions are welcome) Normally a AMD fan

Memory - ?

Hard drive - Raid 0 - ?
+
500 GB Sata WD (current) for storage

Video Card - Saphire X1900XTX Water cooled
(should be coming in Monday) will update to a Direct x10 later (Gaming performance needs to be sorted out in Vista before i move over)

Mother Board - ?

Sound card - Chaintech 710 7.1 - (pulling form current sytem) Will update later

Case - Antec 9 hundred - (not set on, but want to keep it around the $100 range)

I know some components are out dated, looking for the "meat" of the system.

[ASharp]

Just out of curiosity...is there any reason you grabbed a X1900XTX? I mean, I would imagine they're somewhat expensive...unless you got it used or for a really cheap price. You can pick up better cards these days for pretty decent prices compared to a new X1900XTX (which I'm not even sure where you would even get anymore).

[Smoked]

Just out of curiosity...is there any reason you grabbed a X1900XTX? I mean, I would imagine they're somewhat expensive...unless you got it used or for a really cheap price. You can pick up better cards these days for pretty decent prices compared to a new X1900XTX (which I'm not even sure where you would even get anymore).

+1 and you can get urself a used 8800gts for $200 range which will out proform ur card by alot

[cpus456]

This is a little complicated.

So ill try to explain
=
My current system (Gateway GT5058) BTX
3800 x2
2 GB
2 x 512 corsair
2x 512 OCZ plat
t2 2.2.2.5

which has been serving me well

the problem is its a BTX
so vid cards are upside down in the case - (Fan is pointing upwards)

there is no empty slot for the exhaust fan (Which the GTS have - or else i would get one)

with the saphire, the water cooler can be put in any slot - Basically, its the most poweful card i go with (100 - 150 dollar price range)

my other options are 7900 gt (requires one slot) or the 1950 pro

Ill end up giving the system to my little brother after im done building the new one

[ali123]

how about the 3850 pro?

[cpus456]

how about the 3850 pro?

179 at nicx + 10 for shipping + tax - 220 ish
212 + tax @ canada computers

If i was to spend that much i would just wait and get a GTS for 200

Just so everyone knows, I got the the saphire for a good deal
and since its water cooled (its will be not be noisy) +1:cheesygri

So could we please continue with the purpose of the thead

[ASharp]

If i was to spend that much i would just wait and get a GTS for 200

The 3850 performs around the same level as the GTS and you can get it now versus a couple months down the road but yeah, you're right, 100-150 is a pretty good price for the 1900XTX. It's a little dated but, it still does its job relatively well. Not so good if you don't have a water cooling system already set up though.


So could we please continue with the purpose of the thead

Right, right, the rest of the system. Well, for RAM, it's pretty cheap these days. If you want decent but cheap, the OCZ Platinum XTC Revision 2 costs around $50 (after MIR) for 2x1GB sticks. If you want a little higher, the Crucial Ballistix RAM sticks aren't bad either. They were actually $45 after MIR for 2x1GB at NCIX about a month or two ago.

As for the motherboard, there's a really nice list over here at AnandTech (http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=29&threadid=2067695&enterthread=y). Take a look at the third post from the top entitled "Motherboard - Intel Platform" and you'll get a nice up-to-date list of good motherboards at different price ranges with some features listed.

The hard drive...if you want speed, you can't go wrong with the WD Raptors, otherwise if you just want to RAID 0, just grab a couple of Seagate or WD drives that are of your desired capacity (and price) and rig it up and you're set.

[cpus456]

As for the motherboard, there's a really nice list over here at AnandTech (http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=29&threadid=2067695&enterthread=y). Take a look at the third post from the top entitled "Motherboard - Intel Platform" and you'll get a nice up-to-date list of good motherboards at different price ranges with some features listed.


very nice list, thanks it really appreciated