Build Me A Desktop ($6000 to work with):

[xDdRmAnIaCx]

Re: Build Me A Desktop ($6000 to work with):

Two things.

To Tass : You looking to overclock this or =just leave it stock speeds, that changes the parts alot.

To the rest : What is better stock speeds, SLI 7800GTX's or Crossfired X1900s?

[Tasselfoot]

Re: Build Me A Desktop ($6000 to work with):

I have no idea how to overclock... so I'm going to go with no.

My purpose for it is to have a computer that is state of the art now... and will still be decent 3-4 years from now. I'm content spending 5-6 grand for 4 years of use, especially since I'll be able to salvage some of it afterward. Considering that I spend HOURS a day on my comp, I want something that is the best. Also, in 1 week I will be out of college and earning a solid salary. This is my big present to myself for graduating and for (eventually) getting a job.

[whorlichan]

Re: Build Me A Desktop ($6000 to work with):

Also, in 1 week I will be out of college and earning a solid salary. This is my big present to myself for graduating and for (eventually) getting a job.

HA. How do you plan to earn a solid salary with no job, eh?

[Tasselfoot]

Re: Build Me A Desktop ($6000 to work with):

gtfo of my thread woman! I said EVENTUALLY.

[banditcom]

Re: Build Me A Desktop ($6000 to work with):

I just ordered this.

Monarch Furia Custom Desktop (PCI-E w/SLI) 1 $75.00

Case: 100744 - NO PS - Lian-Li PC-6070 Plus Aluminum Ult $129.99
Power Supply: 100241 - PS 550W - Antec True Power 2 550 SLI ATX $84.99
Case Fan: 100886 - 80mm - Antec 80mm SmartCool Case Fan $16.50
Motherboard: 110222 - DFI Lan Party NForce4 SLI-DR Audio/GB-LAN $165.99
Processor: 120240 - AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Dual-Core 512K Per $357.00
Thermal Grease: 800018 - Shin-Etsu G765 Thermal Grease (Cools CPU $14.99
Heat Sink Fan: 800083 - None - Fan REQUIRED - except with RETAIL
Memory: 140226 - DDR (400) 3200 - 2 GB (2 pcs 1GB) OCZ Dua $198.62
2nd Memory: None
Hard Drive: 150614 - SATA - Seagate (3120827AS) 120 GB/7200-RP $90.71
2nd Hard Drive: None
RAID Setup: None
RAID Controller: None
CD-ROM/DVD-ROM/CD-RW: None
CD-RW/DVD-RW: None Floppy Drive: None
More Storage: None
Sound Card: None
Video Card: None
Modem: None
Network Card: None
Wireless Network Card: None
Add-On Card: None
Case Function Add-On: None
Round Cables: None
Operating System: 800008 - None - No Software Support Additional Software: None
Antivirus: None
Warranty: 800413 - Standard Tech Support, 90 Day Limited War Hot Rush: None - Standard Order ( ships within 10-15 busines Nero 7 Promotion: None
DVD/CD-RW Software: None
DVD-ROM Software: None
Video Capture: None
TV Tuner: None
Lance Armstrong: 270447 - Lance Armstrong LIVE STRONG wristband
Free Giveaway: 270144 - ATI Radeon XPress Pen Free! Lance Armstrong Jersey Contest: None - Do not enter me in the giveaway
Monarch Visor: None
Shipping: Federal Express Ground - Five (5) to Seven (7) Day: $75.00
Total: $1,208.79
------------------------------------------------
1 x Sony 1.44mb Floppy Drive [WHITE] (DF144) = $12.00
Promotional Rate (Free Shipping (Tracking: Delivery Confirmation)): $0.00
Sub-Total: $12.00
Total: $12.00
-------------------------------------------------
EVGA e-Geforce 7900 GT 256MB 16X PCI Express w/ Dual DVI &
TVO
SUBTOTAL $279.00
Sales Tax (N/A) $0.00
Shipping: Fedex Ground $0.00
GRAND TOTAL $279.00
--------------------------------------------------
CREATIVE LABS Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic PCI Sound Card 24-bit - RETAIL
$109.99
LITE-ON Black 16X DVD-ROM 52X CD-R 32X CD-RW 52X CD-ROM 1.5M Cache IDE Combo Drive - RETAIL
$30.99
Subtotal : $140.98
Handling : $0.00
Tax : $0.00
Order Total : $140.98
--------------------------------------------------

Total in all: $1,640.77

My logitech mouse, keyboard, webcam, and speakers are all top of the line and still work great. My monitor I'll keep around for a little while longer, until I decide to move to one of those widescreen badboys when they go on sale. Only doing one video card as that will be PLENTY. I made it SLI in case I want to add another card in a year or two. I didn't order everything from Monarch as each of these were cheaper than Monarch was, plus there were shipping costs with the ones from Monarch on top of the slightly higher prices.

I need to order an IDE-to-SATA for 6 month old 2nd harddrive in my current computer... hmm..

[Tasselfoot]

Re: Build Me A Desktop ($6000 to work with):

Hmm... I just really wish I understood what all that crap actually meant. But it still means nothing.

I appreciate the help though.

[banditcom]

Re: Build Me A Desktop ($6000 to work with):

-You need a nice case. Lian-Li cases are nice.
-You need a good, solid, strong PSU (power supply unit). Probably at least a 550W.
-You need a good, solid, mobo (motherboard), which are usually the more expensive ones. Since you're doing SLI, you must get the PCI-E /w SLI option if you go on Monarch. Also good motherboards tend to allow easy overclocking (which I have no experience with.. but will soon).
-You need harddrives that fit with the motherboard. If it's SATA, you get SATA drives. If it's SATA3, you get SATA3 drives (not sure if you can straight up connect SATA to SATA3 or if you need a converter).
-Geforce 7900 GT = Geforce 7800 GTX in performance, except the 7900s are much much cheaper. Basically the redesign made them cheaper.
-Not sure if all the current SLI mobos are like this, but, they don't do 16x in SLI mode. Each are 8x. Every one I checked on did that (these are bandwidth numbers that really don't have impact today).
-Thermal Grease is recommended. Might as well for $15.
-You'll want at least a DVDROM drive in one bay while a DVDRW in the other, so you can copy straight from one to the other. Although I've never copied DVDs before and it may be recommended to copy to the HD first and then to the blank DVD?
-Don't RAID. You don't need it and don't want to risk crashing those large harddrives, especially if you spend time making them full.
-Don't get 4 gigs of RAM. It'll slow down your computer having all 4 slots full like that. 1 gig currently is plenty for most people. 2 gigs are great, especially since they'll be in dual channel. Again, the 4 gigs will do more harm than good.

I personally wouldn't waste my money going for the dual core FX 60 CPU, nor would I waste my money on dual 7900 GTXs. Hell, I wouldn't even get the 4800+. The extra cache doesn't do much, and it only does a little for certain things like encoding... Go with the 4600 and dual 7900 GTs (or just 1.. dual is overkill at the moment... could always get another a year from now).

[Tasselfoot]

Re: Build Me A Desktop ($6000 to work with):

We'll see. Just got... ALOT of money from my father/grandmonther for graduation. So... it may burn a hole in my pocket.

[banditcom]

Re: Build Me A Desktop ($6000 to work with):

Ehh.. it's seriously a waste. The upgrade in performance is very, very little. You could save that money easily. I think it's very stupid unless say you had gotten 1mill+... Even then I probably wouldn't lol..... 3% increase now... 8% increase later.. (just guesses)... So not worth double the cost...

[Tasselfoot]

Re: Build Me A Desktop ($6000 to work with):

This is what I'm thinking of getting:

260921 ViewSonic 20.1" VP2030B TFT LCD (Black) 1 $487.99 $487.99
220711 Microsoft Wired Keyboard 500 (White) (Retail Box) 1 $14.69 $14.69
230207 Microsoft Optical USB/PS2 IntelliMouse (D58-00015) 1 $28.66 $28.66
250316 Logitech Z-4 2.1 Speakers w/Subwoofer (970175-0403) (Retail Box) 1 $78.63 $78.63
80390 Monarch Furia Custom Desktop (PCI-E w/SLI) 1 $75.00 $75.00
Case: 100235 - NO PS - Thermaltake VA7000SWA Shark Full $146.99 $146.99
Power Supply: 101032 - PS 600W - Thermaltake W0083RU PurePower A $129.77 $129.77
Case Fan: 130146 - 120mm - Thermaltake Thunderblade A1926 Bl $9.63 $9.63
Motherboard: 110707 - Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe nForce4 SLI Audio/G $179.99 $179.99
Processor: 120480 - AMD Athlon 64 FX-60 Dual-Core (939) (Reta $1,011.00 $1,011.00
Thermal Grease: 800018 - Shin-Etsu G765 Thermal Grease (Cools CPU $14.99 $14.99
Heat Sink Fan: 800083 - None - Fan REQUIRED - except with RETAIL
Memory: 140327 - DDR (400) 3200 - 2 GB (2 pcs 1GB) Corsair $188.62 $188.62
Hard Drive: 150622 - SATA3G - Western Digital Caviar SE16 500 $262.89 $262.89
2nd Hard Drive: 150622 - SATA3G - Western Digital Caviar SE16 500 $262.89 $262.89
CD-ROM/DVD-ROM/CD-RW: 160462 - DVD±RW - Pioneer DVR-111D Dual-Layer 16x8 $55.72 $55.72
CD-RW/DVD-RW: 160237 - DVD±RW - NEC ND-3550A 16X Dual Layer DVD± $49.00 $49.00
Floppy Drive: 170508 - TEAC 1.44 MB 3.5" Floppy Drive $22.98 $22.98
Sound Card: 180425 - Creative Labs X-Fi XtremeMusic 7.1 24-Bit $113.62 $113.62
Video Card: 190595-2 EVGA GeForce 7900 GTX EGS 512MB DDR3/PCI- $1,069.38 $1,069.38
Network Card: 280758 - Linksys EG1032 32-Bit 1000 Base-T Network $29.89 $29.89
Wireless Network Card: 280220 - Linksys WMP54G 2.4GHz (802.11g) Wireless $66.99 $66.99
Add-On Card: 270050 - Fire Wire - SIIG NN-83M012 Firewire 800 M $72.00 $72.00
Operating System: 210111 - Microsoft Windows XP Professional w/Servi $165.72 $165.72
Warranty: 800009 - Standard Tech Support, 3 Year $109.00 $109.00
Hot Rush: None - Standard Order ( ships within 10-15 busines
DVD/CD-RW Software: 210613 - Ahead Nero 6.6 Suite DVD+-RW Software (OEM) $15.99 $15.99
DVD-ROM Software: 210600 - nVidia DVD Decoder 1.00.58 (OEM) $15.97 $15.97

Total is 4678. From Monarch.

Recommended changes? What is the point of RAID? Do I need a Network Card AND a Wireless Card? I'd like input in the next 24 hours, as I want to purchase this in the next day or two.

EDIT: Bolded the parts to make it easier to read.

[JurseyRider734]

Re: Build Me A Desktop ($6000 to work with):

White keyboards are a thing of the past.

[banditcom]

Re: Build Me A Desktop ($6000 to work with):

Get better RAM, monitor, mouse, keyboard, and soundcard if you want all top of the line. A better sound card will net you a remote and such. Get the Klispch 2.1 THX speakers (trust me on this.. great.. and they don't take up much space.. subwoofer does.. but any decent speaker system needs its own sub). Get logitech keyboard and mouse. Also check out cases to see what you want. Thermaltake are crap imo. :S Go with OCZ ram, as most people love it.

And 2 GTXs and the dual core FX 60 are such a waste of money man... seriously.... :/ Go with the 4800+ and 1 GTX. You can always add the other GTX down the road. Only thing getting an FX 60 and dual GTXs will get you is higher benchmarking scores... Not worth double the price.. lol

You don't need a network card, even if you wanted to use wired instead of wireless. Your motherboard has one built in. Also you don't need the Firewire. Your motherboard has that too, and with firewire, only a few things use it. If you can use USB 2 instead of firewire, you'd use the USB anyways. Not much use for it really. But yeah, you already have that built in (IEEE-1394 is the firewire port).

[Tasselfoot]

Re: Build Me A Desktop ($6000 to work with):

ok. updated it, dropped the price 500. kept the mouse the same (i don't like the new huge mice that are out, nor wireless ones). updated the keyboard... switched the soundcard, the case... and dropped the FX60 to the 4800+ and the video card from 2 to 1. Also changed the RAM.

Finally, I switched the OS from XP to x64, for the 64-bit chip. It told me something about not supporting wireless drivers... will that affect my need for a wireless card? will the wireless card not work?

[aperson]

Re: Build Me A Desktop ($6000 to work with):

Sound system: Logitech z5500 Dolby 5.1 Surround system. It will fit all your needs and is THX certified. It is the best bang for your money by far. If you want headphones additionally I'd recommend getting Grados SR-80s.

For soundcards you probably don't need more than an AudigyZS, just get something with either 3 inputs or an optical passthrough for surround.

[banditcom]

Re: Build Me A Desktop ($6000 to work with):

ap: Yeah I suggested those earlier for the sound system, but he has space constraints.

The x64 won't benefit you over the normal XP. Here's a compatiblity list in case you still decide to go with x64. http://www.ukgamer.com/article.php4?action=win64