OT: Building a new computer...

[Ragnarok]

Ok, so I'm building a new computer. I've got most of it down, I think. Care to look at what I have so far and critique and offer suggestions?

Motherboard: ASUS P5LD2 R2.0 LGA 775 Intel 945P ATX
Price: $84.99

Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4Ghz LGA 775
Price: $279.99

Power Supply: Thermaltake Purepower W0129RU ATX12V 600W
Price: 104.99
Notes: I am not set in stone with this unit. Probably only need a 400W supply anyways. Would prefer to stick with Thermaltake as the brand. Any recommendations? Connectors will need to power SATA drives preferably...

Memory: Kingston 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM 800 (PC2 6400) -- x2
Price: $57.99ea/$115.98 total.

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda ES 320GB 7200RPM
Price: $94.99

Still need: Video card, DVD/CD burner and case.

Any suggestions on how to make this better? I'm trying to keep everything under $900-$1000.00. Again, not everything is set in stone, this is just a starting point. Keep in mind I'm trying to go with SATA on the drives and such.

[Romulus68]

You have $300 left......spend $50 on drive, $150 on a GeForce Video card (a GTX version in the 7000 range) and $150 on a LCD Viewsonic monitor.

[Renegade 13]

There's really no point going out and getting the latest, greatest thing, when you can go two or three hardware generations back and get a helluva lot better value:dollar ratio. Dual- and quad-core processors are all shiny and flashy now, but you really don't need them at all, and won't for some time.

[Fyron]

For reference, Ars Technica maintains some good hardware buying guides:

http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/guide-200708.ars

[Raapys]

Think I'd rather go for a GeForce 8xxx card, for shader model 4.0/DX10 support.

[AstralWanderer]

Is gaming a priority? If so, then so will a decent graphics card. Otherwise, get a cheap one and spend the savings on a better monitor (which you'll be looking at most), keyboard and mouse. The best choices here really come down to personal taste - I recently got a Logitech MX Revolution mouse which is beautiful hardware but its SetPoint drivers are downright horrid.

[Ragnarok]

AstralWanderer said:
Is gaming a priority? If so, then so will a decent graphics card. Otherwise, get a cheap one and spend the savings on a better monitor (which you'll be looking at most), keyboard and mouse. The best choices here really come down to personal taste - I recently got a Logitech MX Revolution mouse which is beautiful hardware but its SetPoint drivers are downright horrid.

Gaming is not really that big of an issue for me. The most graphic intensive game that I play is SE5. I also do some 3D modeling troubleshooting at work; but that is rare.

I'm definitely going with Nvidia as my chipset of choice, but the manufacturer I'm not sure about. Is there any particular brand of video cards that stand out above the rest?
I was thinking of something like this: ASUS EN7600GS SILENT/HTD/256M GeForce 7600GS 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported
That card is only $80.00 and would probably be fine for me.

I also changed my power supply to this: Thermaltake TR2 RX W0146RU ATX12V Ver2.2 450W Power Supply
It cost $65.00 instead of $105.00 and should provide enough power.

I found the drive to get: LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model for only $38.00.

So for everything so far, not counting the case, I only have $760.00 in the machine. Not bad at all.

Thanks for your suggestions so far. Keep them coming.

[Atrocities]

Fyron said:
For reference, Ars Technica maintains some good hardware buying guides:

http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/guide-200708.ars

Thanks, this is very helpful to those of us who our of date as far as knowledge goes.

[Will]

The Core 2 Quad chip isn't worth it. In most benchmarks the Duos beat the pants off of it, and it doesn't really offer any better multitasking performance. I would bump it to a Duo E6750 instead, at $194.99; that brings total to about $600 plus tax, and leaves only video card, optical drive, and case. For optical drive, Lite-On is pretty much the best value out there... basically same exact thing as Sony drives, only 10-20% less expensive. A good burner is about $30-35. Video card... take your pick, from the $125-225 range. And don't cheap out on the case. It really depends on what kind of look you want, but general rules: the less plastic the better, well established compartments for PS, MB, and HDD makes your life much easier, and you do NOT want to use any fans that may come with the case (buy at least two separately). A decent case will probably run you $60. You're better off going for the ones that are closer to $100+. Lian Li's are excellent.

And I'll second the suggestion to go for a nice monitor; you can get a nice 19" for almost $150 these days, and 22" for a bit over $200. 24" and 30" are still really expensive ($600-1200), but you won't know how you lived without once you try them. But that is beyond your budget, so just something to think about.

[GuyOfDoom]

I've been a fan of this case since I saw it:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129021