The Desktop PC Building Thread - Page 9

I don't think you can just link your shopping cart. Try adding the contents of your cart to a wish list and make it a public wish list. Link it then.

I like the Core i7 930. IMO it's the best CPU to buy for future-proofing given that the same CPU socket will work with Intel's forthcoming 6- and 8-core CPUs. Further, you can overclock that 930 to the same level of performance as some of Intel's thousand-dollar CPUs in the same family.

However, I think it's overkill for your intended use. The Core i7 will require you to buy a x58 chipset motherboard, which is not cheap. I don't think I've seen a x58 mobo for less then $200. You will also spend $250 on the CPU itself (if you can get to a MicroCenter brick & mortar store, they sell them for $199). Last, you don't want to go to a Core i7 unless you are buying triple-channel RAM, which also costs you extra (6 gigs of DDR3/1600 will run you around $170). These costs add up.

If you game the Core i7 is probably worth the cash for the increased performance. For those other uses, you can get away with a lower Core i5 CPU or maybe even one of AMD's Phenom II chips.

? LGA 1366/X58 mobos are easily had in the $100-200 range. You can even get one with USB3.0 and SATA 6GB/s. 1366 CPUs are pricey though.

1366 motherboards are expensive for sure. Most good ones start at around $200.

Yeah my setup had a 1366 for $230. And pretty much everything else named there, and it came out to about $1100. But like you said, it was overkill.

I'll be doing very little gaming, if any at all. I'm kind of just tired of my Macbook, it's getting old, and the endless amounts of semen sprayed on it are crusting up the keyboard.

I think I'm going with:

Athlon II x3 440 (would the 955 be that much better?)
GTX 460 1GB
G.Skill Ripsaw 4gb RAM
Corsair 650W PSU
WD Caviar Black 640 GB
Gigabyte Mobo SATA/USB 3

How does that look to you guys?

Since you said you are fine with using your TV, just hook it up to that and wait until something comes along

Link? Or were they used?

Check out the Samsung SHS223. It got a great review in Maximum PC Magazine. It's also hard to beat at less than $30USD.

You're right, it matters only if you are a heavy user of your drive. I'm probably not telling you anything you don't know already but a 20x drive isn't a 20x drive in "reality" most of the times as rip times tend to vary across the board.

Not only that, certain features differ wildly among various manufacturers -- my last PC had a Lite-On DVD ROM that was loud as hell. I mean loud like listening to a swarm of angry bees loud. Occasionally the drive mechanism would slip and the disc would spin at hyper-fast speed until I powered down the PC! I haven't bought any Lite-On optical drives since.

However, for the average user I do not think it makes much of a difference beyond personal preference.

I am in the process of creating/buying a NMT (networked media tank) or HTPC. I need to rip over 250+ (legally purchased) DVDs to ISO format so I can load them onto the NMT's hard drive(s). I also am converting 400+ audio CDs to mp3 format so I can put them on the same hard drive(s). Needless to say, my optical drives get a lot of use so it matters a bit.

I had the X-540, but I replaced them with the Z-5500 when Dell had them on sale. You should keep your eye open on dell.ca for cheap 24" or 27" monitors.