What computer should I buy

#1.

Go for a P5Q motherboard if possible. The P5Q series are pretty OC-friendly, but I think they're incompatible with Nvidia cards. How much more (or less?) do you have to pay to switch the 9500GT for a Radeon HD 4850 or 4870?

Also, in practice, a 420W power supply will most likely not provide your components with as much as 420W of power. Your choice will most likely be sufficient, but upgrading to a 500W one still seems feasible. Corsair is a pretty good PSU brand.

I'm readin your advice guys, and I'll get back to you. I'm still designing several other models to choose from.

#1. Go for a 9500GT and a P5Q motherboard if possible. The P5Q series are pretty OC-friendly. How much more (or less?) do you have to pay to switch the 9500GT for a Radeon HD 4850 or 4870? Also, in practice, a 420W power supply will most likely not provide your components with as much as 420W of power. Your choice will most likely be sufficient, but upgrading to a 500W one still seems feasible. Corsair is a pretty good PSU brand.

Okay I played around with my #1 computer, the price jumped significantly so I'll probably still change some things up, but here's what it's got:




Case - Nzxt Alpha Gaming Tower Case w/420W Power Supply

Case Lighting - Neon Blue

500 Watt -- Power Supply

Processor - Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E8500 (2x 3.16GHz/6MB L2 Cache/1333FSB)

Processor Cooling - AVC Silent Intel CPU Fan and Heatsink

Motherboard - [CrossFire] Asus P5Q Pro Intel P45 Chipset w/7.1 Sound, Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0, IEEE-1394, Dual PCI-E MB

RAM - 4 GB [2 GB X2] DDR2-800 PC6400 Memory Module

Video Card - ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB PCI-Express x16

Hard Drive - 500 GB HARD DRIVE [Serial-ATA-II, 3Gb, 7200 RPM, 16M Cache]

CD-RW/DVD-RW Drive - LG 20X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive

Sound Card - 3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard

NIC - Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100)

Flash Media Reader/Writer - 12-In-1 Internal Flash Media Card Reader/Writer

Price: $793.00

Mantra, how does this setup sound, and how much do you think it should cost? (Retail and/or wholesale)


Case: Nzxt Alpha Gaming Tower Case w/420W Power Supply
Case Lighting: Blue Neon Light
Power Supply: 500 watt
Processor: Intel core 2 duo E8500 (2x 3.16 GHz/6MB L2 Cache/1333FSB)
Processor Cooling: AVC Silent Intel CPU Fan and Heatsink
Motherboard: [SLI] MSI P7N SLI-FI Nvidia nForce 750i SLI Chipset w/7.1 sound, Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0 Dual PCI-E MB
RAM: 4 GB DDR2-800 PC6400
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 9500GT 512MB w/DVI + TV Out Video
Hard Drive: 500 GB
CD-RW/DVD-RW Drive: LG 20X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive
And an onboard sound card/NIC

Do they sound decent? You think anything will conflict?

Mantra, how does this setup sound, and how much do you think it should cost? (Retail and/or wholesale) Case: Nzxt Alpha Gaming Tower Case w/420W Power Supply Case Lighting: Blue Neon Light Power Supply: 500 watt Processor: Intel core 2 duo E8500 (2x 3.16 GHz/6MB L2 Cache/1333FSB) Processor Cooling: AVC Silent Intel CPU Fan and Heatsink Motherboard: [SLI] MSI P7N SLI-FI Nvidia nForce 750i SLI Chipset w/7.1 sound, Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0 Dual PCI-E MB RAM: 4 GB DDR2-800 PC6400 Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 9500GT 512MB w/DVI + TV Out Video Hard Drive: 500 GB CD-RW/DVD-RW Drive: LG 20X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive And an onboard sound card/NIC Do they sound decent? You think anything will conflict?

i can build you a better system i'm sure

CPU
gigabyte makes the best motherboards right now
ram
hard drive
i'm very impressed with msi video cards, always overclocked and stable from the factory
psu

Subtotal: 673 bux $$

mix and match whatever case you like, i recommend a lian li or an antec. case lighting is for assholes but whatever you like. aftermarket cpu cooling is a waste of money unless you're overclocking or are paranoid about noise (you probably are not). check out the recommended heatsinks on silentpcreview.com, i have a scythe ninja. if you need a sound card (i recommend one if you have nice headphones and/or audio equipment) get an HT OMEGA STRIKER.

this system will probably work without issues 95% guaranteed. the weakest link is probably the ram in terms of coming DOA, but it probably won't