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[Cheeto]

+ ADDED 2.27.08 @ 0911 hours - Updated first post with the Tech Report February Builders guide. *Thanks Hazaro!!*

Kitchen PC. Wow, where have I been? :lol

 

[rohlfinator]

The link posted earlier from Tech Report has a similar build that's much better.

You're at least getting a i7 and GTX 260, for that price you shouldn't go for less.

Just buy the OS and monitor now and wait a few weeks for another paycheck to order everything else if a few hundred breaks the budget, you'll be much better off with a i7 & 260 than 9600 and Quad.

This sounds like a smart idea. If he decides the i7 machine is too pricey, he could always bump it down to something closer to their "Utility Player" and save a few bucks. The Phenom II is a little slower than that Q9550, but for that budget he'd benefit from scaling back the CPU and getting a nicer graphics card. 8GB of RAM seems kind of overkill, also, though it depends on what he's planning to do with it.

 

[Lv99 Slacker]

What's the deal with SSD drives nowdays? I think it was some time last week where I read an article on how online retailers are really slashing down the prices of netbooks with SSD hard drives, because of complaints of how slow they are. I've read NewEgg reviews on some G.Skill MLC drives where people recommend that you turn off defrag/indexing/pagefile and install MFT software (which can cost $100 of more) to avoid the slow random writes and the 3-4 second freezes every 20sec. Are these issues exclusive to MLC drives or do you encounter them with SLC as well?

 

[Minsc]

What's the deal with SSD drives nowdays? I think it was some time last week where I read an article on how online retailers are really slashing down the prices of netbooks with SSD hard drives, because of complaints of how slow they are. I've read NewEgg reviews on some G.Skill MLC drives where people recommend that you turn off defrag/indexing/pagefile and install MFT software (which can cost $100 of more) to avoid the slow random writes and the 3-4 second freezes every 20sec. Are these issues exclusive to MLC drives or do you encounter them with SLC as well?

SSD are great so long as you don't use them. They all seem to suffer from horrendous fragmenting and there is no fix at the moment, defragmenting on the OS level makes them worse as the drives firmware will fragment the hell out of the data :lol Unfortunate, since they are a ton faster, but I just can't get behind them any more knowing that their performance will slow to a crawl after normal use.

 

[MWS Natural]

A buddy of mine is looking to build his first computer in years and would like neogaf's help, he wants a mid-range gaming rig.

http://maiwaifu.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/rsz_11untitled.jpg[IMG][/QUOTE]

Damn $1,400 is mid-range?

 

[larvi]

SSD are great so long as you don't use them. They all seem to suffer from horrendous fragmenting and there is no fix at the moment, defragmenting on the OS level makes them worse as the drives firmware will fragment the hell out of the data :lol Unfortunate, since they are a ton faster, but I just can't get behind them any more knowing that their performance will slow to a crawl after normal use.

I wouldn't think fragmentation would cause a big performance hit on a SSD drive since there is no seek time. Typically that's what caused the degradation on moveable head media.

 

[Crazymoogle]

SSD are great so long as you don't use them. They all seem to suffer from horrendous fragmenting and there is no fix at the moment, defragmenting on the OS level makes them worse as the drives firmware will fragment the hell out of the data :lol Unfortunate, since they are a ton faster, but I just can't get behind them any more knowing that their performance will slow to a crawl after normal use.

That's pretty overblown. :lol

Intel SSDs use some interesting block write combining, which leads to internal block fragmentation. The net result is that write speeds can be cut in half if you use a ton of small files, but once overwritten with large files those areas read faster again. Other drives are less likely to be hit as hard.

PCPER goes into this quite a bit; the interesting side is that something like the OCZ Vertex - which is coming out shortly - has transfer rates so high that even at a max internal fragmentation level it would still have transfer speeds on par with a mint X25-M.

What's the deal with SSD drives nowdays? I think it was some time last week where I read an article on how online retailers are really slashing down the prices of netbooks with SSD hard drives, because of complaints of how slow they are. I've read NewEgg reviews on some G.Skill MLC drives where people recommend that you turn off defrag/indexing/pagefile and install MFT software (which can cost $100 of more) to avoid the slow random writes and the 3-4 second freezes every 20sec. Are these issues exclusive to MLC drives or do you encounter them with SLC as well?

Current barebone MLC drives have basically no cache and low IOPS, so while they have average seek time around 0.1-0.2ms, max seek time can be huge (such as a rare 100ms hit) is enough to basically stall the drive. Some of the really cheap MLCs cannot successfully install Vista due to this.

You're supposed to turn off defrag regardless (it's useless for SSDs) and Windows 7 fixes align issues by default. MFT is an interesting but vulnerable solution; it's basically doing OS level write combining like Steady State; great for SSD performance, but you are basically screwed if the power goes out.

SLC drives are quite a bit faster and don't suffer the same issues usually, but they are radically more expensive for similar amounts of drive space.

Pretty much the only two drives I think are buyable right now are the Corsair 128GB (a rebadged Samsung, not the fastest but still clearly faster than anything 7200rpm) and the OCZ Vertex 120GB (64MB of cache, high IOPS BIOS). There are other drives (Summit, X-25) but I still don't consider those affordable. Even the Vertex has a preorder retail of around $600 CDN.

 

[JudgeN]

A buddy of mine is looking to build his first computer in years and would like neogaf's help, he wants a mid-range gaming rig.

If you buddy wants to overclock get a Q6600 and a nice CPU fan, should save you some money. Q6600 are $199 on newegg and a good quad fan is $35.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185074

Your Power supply is overkill get a 550W antec for $80

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016

You can get a better graphic card for $5 less, HD4850

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102770

Drop the ram down to 4 GB save yourself another $50

 

[Enduin]

So I searched the thread and saw this was sort of talked about around a month ago dealing with Laptops, but does anyone have an idea how soon ATI's 4850s or 4870s are going to make their way into the laptop market. Graduation is in 2 1/2 months and its about time to retire my crappy G4 and get something gaming capable and not all beat up to enter real world.

Gateway's FX series is quite appealing since Im looking for something under 1500, though I dont exactly need a 17" screen, and the Sager's seem really nice as well but a bit more expensive. I want something thatll be pretty capable for the next 3 or so years until I get a secure job and living situation for when I can have a nice desktop setup.

So is May going to still be a bit soon for the ATI cards to make their way in and are there some better systems I should be looking at to get the most bang for my(and hopefully my gracious family's) buck?

 

[ilbambino]

So, i'll be going in a business trip on the following days, and will take the chance to buy a new laptop, i want a lightweight one , with long battery life, but at the same time to be really capable, i would spend a max. of 1000usd, any suggestions?

 

[Anticitizen One]

Hey guys, I had a problem with one of my older laptops. I have a Compaq Presario 1200-XL111 that I bought in 2000 and something happened with the jack where the AC plugs in to recharge the battery. I even bought a new AC adapter and it still won't work.

I checked online and wikipedia mentioned this:

"Compaq Presario 1200 laptops are often found with damaged power jacks. Some of these power jacks appear to have been blown in half due to some sort of short; others rip their copper traces off of the motherboard due to stress placed on the power jack. Presario 1200 laptops typically have four tiny copper rings embedded in the motherboard behind the power jack that can be used to reattach a slightly damaged power jack and repair the failing unit."

Im wondering if there is a relatively cheap way to fix the laptop?

If I can't salvage it, is it possible to transfer the data from the harddrive to another laptop or pc?

Thanks

 

[brain_stew]

Hey guys, I had a problem with one of my older laptops. I have a Compaq Presario 1200-XL111 that I bought in 2000 and something happened with the jack where the AC plugs in to recharge the battery. I even bought a new AC adapter and it still won't work.

I checked online and wikipedia mentioned this:

"Compaq Presario 1200 laptops are often found with damaged power jacks. Some of these power jacks appear to have been blown in half due to some sort of short; others rip their copper traces off of the motherboard due to stress placed on the power jack. Presario 1200 laptops typically have four tiny copper rings embedded in the motherboard behind the power jack that can be used to reattach a slightly damaged power jack and repair the failing unit."

Im wondering if there is a relatively cheap way to fix the laptop?

If I can't salvage it, is it possible to transfer the data from the harddrive to another laptop or pc?

Thanks

Ofcourse, just remove the harddrive and place it in a USB caddy for whatever type of drive it is (probably a 2.5" IDE), should cost more than $10/$20 for the caddy and it means that you can use the drive as a portable externall USB HDD. There's other solutions but that'll be the easiest/quickest.

 

[Darklord]

Will 16:9 be a problem for some games?
Most monitors are 16:10 and a lot of games support 1680 x 1050 but I'm not sure about 1920 x 1080. I don't want badly stretched picture or cropped ones on games from last year or something. Do games support 1080 as well?

 

[Hazaro]

Im wondering if there is a relatively cheap way to fix the laptop?

If I can't salvage it, is it possible to transfer the data from the harddrive to another laptop or pc?

Probably no cheap way to fix it. Only option I would think would be to send it to the manufacturer for repairs. (Laptops aren't my thing, it's an educated guess)

As for data transfer that is very easy.

Will 16:9 be a problem for some games?
Most monitors are 16:10 and a lot of games support 1680 x 1050 but I'm not sure about 1920 x 1080. I don't want badly stretched picture or cropped ones on games from last year or something. Do games support 1080 as well?

If you have a 360 you will get black bars, is you have a PS3 (I believe) there will be a tiny amount of stretching, but it is non-noticeable for me when I play my PS3 on my 1680x1050 monitor. Pretty sure the crosshair is still a circle too.

PC games are obviously fine besides Assassins Creed and Mercs 2 tmk.

 

[zon]

I'm looking for a new keyboard for my PC and I would like to get some recommendations from you guys. I was a bit interested in the keyboard from Razer, but the price is putting me off.

Any advice?

 

[brain_stew]

Will 16:9 be a problem for some games?
Most monitors are 16:10 and a lot of games support 1680 x 1050 but I'm not sure about 1920 x 1080. I don't want badly stretched picture or cropped ones on games from last year or something. Do games support 1080 as well?

Nigh on any PC game that supports 16:10 resolutions will support 1080p, if not they can usually be forced. If they don't you'll just get small black bars at the side but I've found very few games like this. Go for it, 1080p monitors are the way forward, much more flexible, heck, a growing number of games are forgoing 16:10 support for just 16:9 support as it happens, so that all users have the same aspect ratio.

 

[ChoklitReign]

I'm looking for a new keyboard for my PC and I would like to get some recommendations from you guys. I was a bit interested in the keyboard from Razer, but the price is putting me off.

Any advice?

Saitek.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823175103

 

[Hazaro]

I'm looking for a new keyboard for my PC and I would like to get some recommendations from you guys. I was a bit interested in the keyboard from Razer, but the price is putting me off.

Any advice?

I own a Saitek Eclipse (Red) and I like it a lot. Only problem is that my W,A,S,D, C and right Shift key all having some fade on them. :lol

The lights on it are pretty bad though, even at night it's easier to see they keys with the light off, but it it's pitch black then it helps, kind of...

I got mine for $20, I think $35 is a little much though.

 

[OokieSpookie]

I'm looking for a new keyboard for my PC and I would like to get some recommendations from you guys. I was a bit interested in the keyboard from Razer, but the price is putting me off.

Any advice?

I picked up a Logitech G15 from Circuit City , a little overkill really but quite nice.

 

[Shanks]

Not sure where else to put this so. Do normal 360 controllers work wirelessly with the pc? I see they have one specifically for the pc but its got that dongle thing I'm not too fond of. At that point I'd just get the wired one but I would rather just use a normal controller so I don't have to buy another one...

 

[Hazaro]

I picked up a Logitech G15 from Circuit City , a little overkill really but quite nice.

There's also some difference between the refresh and the older model, I think some prefer the older one.

I probably won't be spending over $50 on a keyboard soon though :lol

 

[Median]

Not sure where else to put this so. Do normal 360 controllers work wirelessly with the pc? I see they have one specifically for the pc but its got that dongle thing I'm not too fond of. At that point I'd just get the wired one but I would rather just use a normal controller so I don't have to buy another one...

They don't without the dongle. You can pick it up for $20 off of Amazon, don't know for sure about in stores.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000HZFCT2/?tag=neogaf0e-20

 

[Hazaro]

They don't without the dongle. You can pick it up for $20 off of Amazon, don't know for sure about in stores.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000HZFCT2/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Might as well get a wired controller for $25 or $30 though

 

[Median]

Might as well get a wired controller for $25 or $30 though

Are they that cheap? Here in Canada you'd be hard pressed to find one under $40.

 

[Hazaro]

Are they that cheap? Here in Canada you'd be hard pressed to find one under $40.

Amazon market place is where I bought mine new for $28, there's on there for $29 right now. (OEM)

All I see for Canada is $40 though.

 

[Shanks]

They don't without the dongle. You can pick it up for $20 off of Amazon, don't know for sure about in stores.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000HZFCT2/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Okay so that just syncs the normal xbox 360 controllers to a pc then? That works I suppose, better than buying more controllers.

 

[itxaka]

i dont think thats how it works. im no expert, but when it says 3gb i think it means 3gb. its not 3gb and 1gb of shared for the gpu. ill let someone who knows what theyre talking about comment though.

After some checking, it seems that you were rigth. It was only taking into account 3gb so I moved to winvista 64 in order to take the full 4GB into account

 

[JimmyV]

Okay guys quick questions because i cant remember this for the life of me, when it says DDR3 1333(PC3 10666) are we looking for those numbers to be higher or lower? If i remember correctly the first number is the bus speed(which should be hihger/match the mobo), correct?

 

[Haeleos]

I have an ASUS M2N-E that can support DDR2 800mhz. I'm looking to pick up 4GB of RAM, but don't know what brand to get and don't know if there's brand I should get that works well in dual channel (which I think it supports) or if it even matters. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Metalic Sand]

The syncing for 360 controllers is annoying as hell. Youll be trying to sync it and it constantly will turn on your 360 console so basically you have to unplug your 360. Thats if your using a controller usually synced to the console of course

Great playing trackmania with it.

 

[Marcos_RB01]

Gaf, I need advice on a CPU fan for my Phenom II 940 3.0ghz.....

I live in the tropics and it isn't really cool.. hot and sunny these days.

So far I'm looking at the Zalman CNPS 9900 -
http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2362

Open to any and all suggestions.

If you guys a wondering:
AMD Phenom II X4 940 BE 3.0Ghz
OCZ Reaper HPC Ram - 8gbs total
Msi K9A2 Platinum V2+
3 X Western Digital 500 Gb hard drives
2 X HP DVD writers
Sapphire HD4870 1 Gb
PC Power and Cooling Silencer 750 Watt Crossfire Edition
Lian Li PC A71-A Case

Thermal Grease of choice Artic Silver 5 High Density

Thanks in advance guys!

 

[Hazaro]

Gaf, I need advice on a CPU fan for my Phenom II 940 3.0ghz.....

I live in the tropics and it isn't really cool.. hot and sunny these days.

So far I'm looking at the Zalman CNPS 9900 -
http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2362

Thermal Grease of choice ICD7 DIAMOND PASTE

Frostytech is bullshit.
Zalmans coolers are unnecessarily heavy and priced a bit high.

I'd swap in ICD7 if you can get some and instead get a TRUE if were going to spend $75 on a cooler...
http://www.tankguys.com/cooling-products/thermalright-ultra-120-extreme.html

 

[Marcos_RB01]

^^ Lol thanks Hazaro!

I was also reading some reviews on this little beast and have already placed my order.

Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme

Next time I'll consider the paste. Have a full tube of AS5 to go thru first.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[Hazaro]

^^ Lol thanks Hazaro!

I was also reading some reviews on this little beast and have already placed my order.

Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme

Next time I'll consider the paste. Have a full tube of AS5 to go thru first.

Thanks for the reply!

Only thing Zalmans are good for is looks and for christening your new PC with blood.

 

[Caesar III]

Hey guys. I just need your help at this point.

My girlfriend has a 9800GT now but the fan is so annoying so we are thinking about replacing it. The problem is, as stated before, there is not much room in her case so the only possibility would be the backsite of the card.
I know there is a MSI 8600 with passive cooling on the back:

Do you know where I can get such a cooling device? I only find those arctic cooling thingies and such. But they are WAY too big

I hope you can help us finding such a passive cooling device. Thanks

 

[rohlfinator]

I have an ASUS M2N-E that can support DDR2 800mhz. I'm looking to pick up 4GB of RAM, but don't know what brand to get and don't know if there's brand I should get that works well in dual channel (which I think it supports) or if it even matters. Any help would be appreciated.

AFAIK it doesn't really matter. Any RAM that performs well in single channel should perform well in dual channel. You should be safe with most any of the highly-rated RAM on Newegg.

 

[HamPster PamPster]

I guess this is the best place to ask since theres no official GFW thread (that I can find anyway)

~ Does Lego Batman (or any GFW title with co-op) allow you to plug in more than one controller (could my daughter and I play with two controllers, or does one of us need to use the keyboard & mouse)

~ Will the Logitech Chillstream (looks like the 360 controller, right down to the button placement and button colors) work with GFW or is it 360 controllers only?

Just got a new Dell yesterday

 

[brain_stew]

I guess this is the best place to ask since theres no official GFW thread (that I can find anyway)

~ Does Lego Batman (or any GFW title with co-op) allow you to plug in more than one controller (could my daughter and I play with two controllers, or does one of us need to use the keyboard & mouse)

~ Will the Logitech Chillstream (looks like the 360 controller, right down to the button placement and button colors) work with GFW or is it 360 controllers only?

Just got a new Dell yesterday

Lego: Indy lets me use both my Saturn USB and 360 controller concurrently so you should be good.

As to your other question there's no tall and short answer. If a GFW title supports a controller it must support a 360 contoller but in most cases it will support other controllers as well.

 

[fatigues_gasolini]

My new computer stuff comes today. I want work to end so I can get home and put it together.

 

[Caesar III]

~ Does Lego Batman (or any GFW title with co-op) allow you to plug in more than one controller (could my daughter and I play with two controllers, or does one of us need to use the keyboard & mouse)

That should not be Games for Windows related. Windows can handle as much controllers at time as you can stick on it. Most of the time we use 2 Xbox wireless controllers (each one with his own receiver dongle though) to play these lego games or for example cortex command. It works really great. Even my logitech rumble pad works fine in both games combined with another one.

 

[Ashhong]

Hey guys. I just need your help at this point.

My girlfriend has a 9800GT now but the fan is so annoying so we are thinking about replacing it. The problem is, as stated before, there is not much room in her case so the only possibility would be the backsite of the card.
I know there is a MSI 8600 with passive cooling on the back:

Do you know where I can get such a cooling device? I only find those arctic cooling thingies and such. But they are WAY too big

I hope you can help us finding such a passive cooling device. Thanks

i am pretty sure i saw the MSI cooler thing on sale on newegg. or it might have been somwhere else...sorry.

wanted to say thanks to those that helped me with my questions. got my stuff up and running on vista 64, and am pretty impressed. playing L4D on these settings at max resolution is a whole nother level. the shadows on the zombies from the muzzle flash is incredible, and everything just looks scarier :lol i cant figure out how to get over 60fps though, fps_max doesnt work like in cs.

i do have one more question though. my PC keeps making this clicking sound like a drive is turning off or something. later on it will make another sound that sounds like the pc is turning on. this leads me to believe maybe the HD is going on and off as some kind of power saving measure? it made the on sound while i wasnt even touching the computer, so i dont know what controls it. isnt this bad for the HD if this is the case? what is doing it...

 

[Caesar III]

i am pretty sure i saw the MSI cooler thing on sale on newegg. or it might have been somwhere else...sorry.

I just want the cooling system of this card not the card itself

 

[LowParry]

Rate my rig!

Decided to go the AMD route this time. $800 was my budget and this is what I came up with.

AMD Phenom 9950+ (Quad Core) AM2+ 4MB Cache
AMD Black Edition Copper HeatPipe EXTRA QUIET fan
ASUS M3A78-CM , AMD 780V, Onboard Video, HDMI, GB LAN
4GB (2x2GB) PC8500 DDR2 1066 Dual Channel
ATI Radeon HD 4850 1GB PCI Express 16x dual head, tv out
250.0GB Western Digital 7200RPM SATA2 UDMA 300 8m cache
Hard Drive Cooling Fan Aluminum Internal
Samsung 20x DVD Recorder Dual Layer +R/RW -R/RW
Nikao Black Neon ATX Case w/ Temperature control, front USB & iEEE
Dual Case Fans 80 mm DC fan (two fans)
Okia Extra Quiet 650W ATX Power Supply, SLI Ready
(Using onboard sound. Have a back up sound card just in case.)

 

[rohlfinator]

i do have one more question though. my PC keeps making this clicking sound like a drive is turning off or something. later on it will make another sound that sounds like the pc is turning on. this leads me to believe maybe the HD is going on and off as some kind of power saving measure? it made the on sound while i wasnt even touching the computer, so i dont know what controls it. isnt this bad for the HD if this is the case? what is doing it...

Clicking is usually a bad sign... has it been doing that since you got the drive, or is this new? I've heard that some drives naturally click a bit when shutting down, but in general it's a sign of impending drive failure.

Rate my rig!

Decided to go the AMD route this time. $800 was my budget and this is what I came up with.

You'd be better served by a Phenom II -- they're right in the same price range and will outperform the Phenoms in pretty much every way.

Something similar to the Tech Report's Utility Player would fit your budget and give you better specs in a few areas. (I hate to keep linking their guide, but it's really well done. )

 

[Meier]

I am replacing my stock Intel fan with this one, anyone used one personally? Already ordered and coming via overnight, so no turning back now. :lol

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000JSFZPS/?tag=neogaf0e-20

It had excellent reviews on Newegg and Amazon so I pulled the trigger. Holy shit, that thing is mammoth! I hope it fits! :lol

 

[brain_stew]

Rate my rig!

Decided to go the AMD route this time. $800 was my budget and this is what I came up with.

AMD Phenom 9950+ (Quad Core) AM2+ 4MB Cache
AMD Black Edition Copper HeatPipe EXTRA QUIET fan
ASUS M3A78-CM , AMD 780V, Onboard Video, HDMI, GB LAN
4GB (2x2GB) PC8500 DDR2 1066 Dual Channel
ATI Radeon HD 4850 1GB PCI Express 16x dual head, tv out
250.0GB Western Digital 7200RPM SATA2 UDMA 300 8m cache
Hard Drive Cooling Fan Aluminum Internal
Samsung 20x DVD Recorder Dual Layer +R/RW -R/RW
Nikao Black Neon ATX Case w/ Temperature control, front USB & iEEE
Dual Case Fans 80 mm DC fan (two fans)
Okia Extra Quiet 650W ATX Power Supply, SLI Ready
(Using onboard sound. Have a back up sound card just in case.)

Get a Phenom ii 720 instead of that 9550+. You lose a core but gain much more performance in apps that don't take advantage of more than three cores (pretty much everything out there that is) and get some insane overclocking headroom. About the same price as well, the 9550+ just doesn't have the clockspeed to cut it, the fact its slower clock for clock only compounds that. Shouldn't really be any price difference.

Get a 320GB or 640GB HDD as they're faster and the cost increase is negligible. Don't underestimate how much space you need, you can never have enough.

Okia? Erm stay away from dodgy brands when it comes to PSUs. A 450w PSU from a decent brand is more than enough from tat rig, and will suit you better than a cheap and inefficient high wattage PSU from a no name brand.

Make sure the motherboard is compatible with the new Phenoms, it should be but I'm not sure so read up.

The 4850 hasn't got the bandwidth to use 1GB of memory stick with the 512MB version. If you're not buying for a month or so, then you could get a 4770 instead, similar performance but lower power usage and a cheaper price.

 

[dave_d]

If you buddy wants to overclock get a Q6600 and a nice CPU fan, should save you some money. Q6600 are $199 on newegg and a good quad fan is $35.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185074

Your Power supply is overkill get a 550W antec for $80

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016

You can get a better graphic card for $5 less, HD4850

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102770

Drop the ram down to 4 GB save yourself another $50

Hell, this GT is $75 and is over-clocked
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127382

 

[LowParry]

Clicking is usually a bad sign... has it been doing that since you got the drive, or is this new? I've heard that some drives naturally click a bit when shutting down, but in general it's a sign of impending drive failure.


You'd be better served by a Phenom II -- they're right in the same price range and will outperform the Phenoms in pretty much every way.

Something similar to the Tech Report's Utility Player would fit your budget and give you better specs in a few areas. (I hate to keep linking their guide, but it's really well done. )

Wow. I thought I seen this before but didn't. That's a really nice set up all around.

500w plenty for that card though?

 

[rohlfinator]

Wow. I thought I seen this before but didn't. That's a really nice set up all around.

500w plenty for that card though?

It should be fine -- Antec makes solid PSUs, and that system shouldn't draw more than about 300W under load. The Phenom IIs also draw less power than the older Phenoms.

 

[LowParry]

It should be fine -- Antec makes solid PSUs, and that system shouldn't draw more than about 300W under load. The Phenom IIs also draw less power than the older Phenoms.

Awesome. I like that whole list. Probably will swap out the CPU for the 940 though. A little extra but well worth it. Thanks for pointing me out to that guide!

Edit: This will be my first computer I build. Scary but looking forward to it.