[civilr]

Hi everyone. I am new here I just signed up and currently I am running some really old piece of **** computer. (don't ask). You could say I am just starting to get into the trend of staying up to date with the latest stuff.

Anyways, I am on a limited budget and I live in Canada so I will list my prices in CAD. Here's what I am expecting to get within the next few days...ANY comments/suggestions would be really helpful but please remember the total in this thread is my threshold I can't spend anymore. (Please note I would like to be my stuff all from one place for the matter of ease and reducing shipping costs because DirectCanada offers free ground shipping and I would rather have parts than faster shipping).

Case: XION2-BK - $80 - http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=15190AC3311

I feel this case is cheap and effective. It is large enough to contain my parts and I feel it retains a sleek design with an effective cooling setup and comes with the fans.

Mobo: EVGA NForce 680I - $268 - http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11610BD2947

This mobo is to help me stay on top of things. I admit it's a little expensive but I hear it is good for overclocking and still retains a good performance level if I decide overclocking just isn't going to work for me. I am also very satisfied with previous EVGA products I have boughten and they offer a great warranty with literally no questions asked incase I mess something up.

And yes, I plan to run 8800GTX in SLI mode soon.

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 - $198 - http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=12200BD1282

The E6300 wasn't my first choice in processors but it is the cheapest I can go while retaining the benefits of the Conroe core. What's the point in spending 3 times the money for something I can hit by overclocking on air.

Heatsink: Zalman CNPS9500 - $55 - http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=15210AC4527

This is obviously to complement my CPU so I can achieve my desired overclock, I will also be pairing this with some AS5 paste.

PSU: OCZ GameXStream 600W - $122 - http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=13220AC0613

My choice was originally a 500W Fortron until I realized that it might not have enough juice to power my system and future upgrades. I was stuck between this and the TT ToughPower but I have heard nothing but terrible things about the ToughPower so I chose this.

Memory: Ocz Gold Xtc PC2-6400 2GB - $268 - http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=13220BD7505

This memory was my last choice but I realized that the motherboard only supports certain types and this was the cheapest 2GB PC2-6400 800MHz memory I could find on the site.

GPU: Evga E-GEFORCE 8800 Gts - $499 - http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11610BD1442

I chose this card because I want to be ready for the DX10 wave of games even though they wont be out for a while. This card sounds like it can pretty much handle everything (my monitor only supports 1280x1024 and thats how I like it) for the price. It's also my choice because EVGA lets me tradeup within 90days and I know I will be trading to the GTX when I get the money.

TOTAL PRICE w/ shipping/tax: $1,615.02 CAD

Please note that I do not want to shop at multiple stores because of shipping costs and the hassle. If you want to recommend cheaper places to buy parts (IN CANADA ... So don't say newegg please) then please try and convert the entire system to that website, if it's cheaper please let me know and I will gladly go there.

I would also like to say that I do not need a HDD because I am going to use one of the 250GB WDs that I have in this comp now. I am also going to be using one of the DVD+-RW drives I have as well (I don't really use CDs anyways).

I acknowledge that there might be a bottleneck because of the GPU/CPU combo but I plan to overclock them both. I have a friend who is going to be helping me with overclock my stuff because I don't really understand it at all. I would like to learn though for my own personal knowledge so if you could recommend and good tutorials or bits of information on doing so I would love any help.

ALL suggestions and comments are welcome. Please remember I am buying this soon. I will let you all know when I make the purchase. THANKS IN ADVANCE!

 

[OpTioN]

Very nice build there, but you REALLY shouldnt get 8800GTX SLI , not even 8800GTS SLI, 1 8800GTS will be incredible. IMHO 8800 SLI is a huge waste unless you are gonna be running a 30' Dell LCD. And if for some reason you are gonna get sli ( You will need a better psu.. ) something like the PC Power and Cooling 750W.

 

[The Fury]

Also if you decide not to go SLI then the Asus p5b deluxe (non wifi) mobo. It will be your best bet as overclocking results are great and its a stable mobo. Also the evga mobos are still having the bugs removed from them so they are still a little glitchy especially with sata but i think they may have fixed that now.

Fury

 

[gravity]

Yes, I think you should get yourself at least the E6400, it has more L2 Cache. That 8800 SLI set up is, in one way, ridiculously powerful ! I'd rather get the E6400 first...

 

[civilr]

Thanks for the info on this one. I know the 8800GTX sli is seriously overpowered but I won't be doing it anytime soon. I plan in the near future (I will probably wait until my 90days are almost up to trade to a 8800GTX from GTS.

I chose this mobo because I plan to go SLI in the future with the GTXs when more GPU intensive DX10 games are released and I don't want to have to buy a new mobo etc... when I want to upgrade.

Also, I know the power supply seriously isn't capable of running the GTXs in SLI but I chose it because it'll do the best job at supporting my GTS and near future GTX for now.

Any other comments, anyone notice any compatibility problems, etc...?

*Edit: @ Fury, the did release a BIOS update fixing many of the known bugs and some other stuff only they knew about.

 

[civilr]

Didn't notice this one but Gravity. from what I see the E6300 and E6400 both have 2MB L2 cache. The only difference is the $100-200 price and the tiny increase in clock speed.

 

[gravity]

Oh yea you're right silly me !

 

[PROBN4LYFE]

Welcome!!!

 

[The Duke]

HI and WELCOME

This post is looking more like an Intel Build Log section post.