New PC time - parts list

[angry.bob]

So is all the love for the 8800 GT just because of the price point?  I understand that it's got pretty good performance, but with the money the two of you seem to be throwing at everything else... why not the 8800 GTX?

According to the only performance review I found, the difference between the 8800GT and the GTX are negligible. At the resolution I'll be using for the next several years (1689 x 1050 22" viewsonic flat panel) the performance difference is literally 2-5fps. I'd normally be pretty wary of trusting one review, but Anandtech has yet to steer me wrong. Relevant page of the review. I considered sticking with the GTX-OC2 card, but the extra $300 to gain 10-15 more FPS on WoW and Half-Life mods and pushing them into the 150fps range seemed like wiping my ass with hundred dollar bills.

Anyway, I ordered mine too. Should all be here Monday assuming it doesn't get stolen off my porch.

*edit - What Hat said.

[Mortriden]

I'm also looking for a little bit of help.  I've got most everything nailed down, but I'm hung up on the Mobo.  I'm trying to decide between these two...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128050

1   GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail -- runs cooler + more stable
Model #: GA-P35-DS3R
Item #: N82E16813128050
$129.99 

Shamelessly stolen from Hat's build

OR

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813131225

1  ASUS P5K-E LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Model #: P5K-E
Item #: N82E16813131225
$144.99

I'm leaning heavily towords this processor

1  Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6750 - Retail
Model #: BX80557E6750
Item #: N82E16819115029
$194.99

I'm like Hat and could care less about SLI.  I've got a bit of extra space on the Mobo cost, so if there's something close to that price range you know of, I'd love to hear of it. 

[angry.bob]

Argh, I haven't even gotten it yet and already a problem. Your link to the P5K-E prompted me to read the reviews on the P5K-C and apparently even though it's rated for a bunch of DDR2 speeds, it seems to not run above 800 unless you actually put DDR3 in it. So... if that's still the case, will my ram2crush memory just run cooler and more stable since it's being way underutilized, or should I call the place first thing in the morning and try to swap out the motherboard. And out of curiosity, would I really even notice a difference between 800 and 1066, or is this one of those things like people who claim to hear a .0000000000007mhz difference in their stereo because they put precision milled, vibration absorbing volume and tuning knobs on it?

[Trippy]

You might if you can notice a 1% - 2% increase in FPS:

http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=2863&p=6

[Engels]

AB, I'd suggest getting cheaper DDR2 ram that caps out at 800. I got 2x1Gig CORSAIR 240P TWIN2X2048-6400C4 from new egg for $84 and I'm doing pretty good on my rig. Its not bleeding gums edge, but its close to it. Unless you are running professional grade flight sims, I just can't see someone humanly noticing the difference. But I will let others pitch in. I'll just say this; if you think you're going to notice and care about bus speed between 800 and 1066, chances are you should also be looking at Raid 0 or 5 as well, since that's going to be a more noticeable 'bottleneck' than what is tantamount to a 200Mhz ram cycle difference.

I also got the E6750 processor Mortriden is considering, and I'm pretty pleased with it. Test benchmarked it slightly above the 6700 on most tests, and for a bit less of a cost, for some reason. I think Trippy mentioned that there is some significant architechtual difference, but hey, the number differences seemed miniscule to me.

Just fyi, DDR2 and DDR3 use different size slots. The DSR3 motherboard I have (named GA-P35C) has 6 memory slots, four for ddr2 and two for ddr3 and at least theoretically will take the upcoming 45nm Intel cpus.

[Trippy]

I personally love having RAID0, and currently am running 4 disks in raid 0, which makes a difference to me.

I hope you are backing up your data regularly otherwise this is a really really REALLY bad idea.

[Engels]

I use Acronis to make a back up image on a separate 300 gig hard drive in case of failure, yes :) Its also just a gaming machine; no vital data is ever stored on a machine that's gonna be stressed by games. Worst came to worse, I'd have to patch Wow for a week 

[Trippy]

I'm also looking for a little bit of help.  I've got most everything nailed down, but I'm hung up on the Mobo.  I'm trying to decide between these two...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128050

1   GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail -- runs cooler + more stable
Model #: GA-P35-DS3R
Item #: N82E16813128050
$129.99 

Shamelessly stolen from Hat's build

OR

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813131225

1  ASUS P5K-E LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Model #: P5K-E
Item #: N82E16813131225
$144.99

I'm leaning heavily towords this processor

1  Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6750 - Retail
Model #: BX80557E6750
Item #: N82E16819115029
$194.99

I'm like Hat and could care less about SLI.  I've got a bit of extra space on the Mobo cost, so if there's something close to that price range you know of, I'd love to hear of it. 

I'd go with the ASUS if only because it has the better rear panel layout.

Edit: rear not real

[Engels]

Did you mean 'rear' panel, or 'real'. If 'real', whacha mean?

[Trippy]

Rear, sorry.

[MrHat]

lol.

Since I bought from yesterday, the price is now down a full $10.  I hate buying tech.

[CharlieMopps]

I personally wouldnt spend a lot on a vid card right now. I'd get something decent, but cheap, and get a nice one next year.

[Murgos]

I plan to do a whole new kit in January.  I'll probably just go straight off the next Ars Technica $1500ish rig which is due out soon.

[rattran]

The 8800gt looks awfully nice right now. Pretty nice bang/buck with fps just over the gts and under the gtx.

[MrHat]

All my parts arrive tomorrow except my video card which I ordered directly from EVGA.

Damn you EVGA, it says waiting to be shipped! 

I am sad.

[angry.bob]

AB, I'd suggest getting cheaper DDR2 ram that caps out at 800.

It was too late. I'd already bought it when I posted that. I could have possible called them up and gotten it changed, but eh. Besides, if it runs cooler and more stable because it's underutilized I'm just as happy. From reading the fancy spec sheet they have for it, all the fancy ratings they have on it were done at 800 instead of 1066, and honestly, I'll probably replace it with DDR3 in a year along with the videocard anyway.

[angry.bob]

Epilogue:

I managed to contact the place and switch out the P5K-C with a P5K-SE. It's all put together and I just spent about an hour playing the titty version of Witcher. Everything about this PC is Epic Success. The load times in Witcher that everyone complains about are about 30 seconds. All the graphic stuff is cranked up to 11 and it's running smooth as butter and looking gorgeous. I give this combination of stuff 2 thumbs up. Now to spend my next 6 days off from work playing games. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.