Crit. this quote from AVADirect please...

I

Izzeren

Weaksauce
Joined
Dec 7, 2005
Messages
106
I will be purchasing a new machine very shortly, but before I made the plunge spending this amount of money I would like some advice from you knowledgable folks here. If there is anyway that I could get the price down a bit more that would be great. I want to make sure I leave myself enough room to expand when the needs arises so if you have any suggestions on how I may do that and cut down on the price a bit I would appreciate it.

PRODUCT(S) QTY UNIT PRICE TOTAL
+ GAMING PC, Core 2 Duo SLI Gaming System 1 $2431.60 $2431.60
INTEL, Core™ 2 Duo E6600 Dual-Core, 2.4GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 4MB L2 Cache, 65nm, 65W, EM64T EIST VT XD, Retail

ZALMAN, CNPS7000B-CuLED Copper CPU Cooler, Socket 478/754/939/940, Blue LED

ZALMAN, ZM-MFC1 Black/Silver 6-Channel Fan Controller Panel, 5.25" Bay

SERVICE, Overclock This Rig

eVGA, nForce 680i SLI 775 T1, LGA775, nForce 680i SLI, 1333MHz FSB, DDR2-1200 8GB /4, PCIe x16 SLI /2, SATA 3Gb/s RAID 0+1 /6, HDA, GbLAN /2, FW, ATX, Retail

CORSAIR, 2GB (2 x 1GB) XMS2 PC2-8500 DDR2 1066MHz CL5 (5-5-5-15-2T) 2.2V SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC

eVGA, e-GeForce 8800 GTX 575MHz, 768MB DDR3 1.8MHz, PCIe x16 SLI, 2x DVI, HDTV/S-Video/Composite Out, Retail

SEAGATE, 320GB Barracuda 7200.10, SATA II 300MB/s, 7200-RPM, 16MB cache

RAID, No RAID, Independent HDD Drives

MITSUMI, Black Internal 1.44MB 3.5" Floppy Drive

LITE-ON, LH-16D1P-187 Black 16x48x DVD-ROM Drive, IDE, Retail

LITE-ON, LH-20A1H Black/White 20x DVD±RW Dual-Layer Burner w/ LightScribe, EIDE/ATAPI, Retail

COOLERMASTER, CM Stacker 830 Evolution (RC-830) Black Tower Case, EATX, No PSU, Aluminum, SLI Certified

CORSAIR, HX Series 620W Modular Power Supply, 24-pin ATX12V EPS12V, Triple +12V, Multi-GPU Ready

CUSTOM WIRING, Standard Wiring with Round Cables

CASE FAN, LED Fans Maximum Package, Blue

MICROSOFT, Windows Vista Ultimate Edition 32-bit, OEM

SOFTWARE, No Dual Boot

GAMING PC, Gold Warranty Package (3 Year Limited Parts & Lifetime Labor Warranty, Express/Priority Service)

SERVICE, Standard Shipping (UPS, DHL, or Fedex)


Shipping ZIP-code: unknown SUBTOTAL: $2431.60
Shipping method: Ground SHIPPING: $0.00
TAX: $0.00
GRAND TOTAL: $2431
 
if you want to cut some money out, go with a 650i board, pc6400 ram, cheaper case, etc. You can cut a few hundred out of that for essentially the same performance. Awesome looking comp though.
 
Technoob said:
if you want to cut some money out, go with a 650i board, pc6400 ram, cheaper case, etc. You can cut a few hundred out of that for essentially the same performance. Awesome looking comp though.
Click to expand...


Would it be worth going with this Motherboard instead since I will probally never go SLI? http://www.avadirect.com/product_print.asp?info=1&PRID=8678 Then drop down to pc6400 Ram and upgrade ram later down the road? Also what other case would you recommend that will fit the GTX that has good cooling. I eventually plan on adding more drives so I want to make sure I have enough room in the case for future plans as well.
 
If you're not going SLI, then get the p35 mobo.
My recommendation is Gigabyte p35 or Asus P5K.
Everything else looks fine to me.
 
You will want to SLI if you can.......trust me......
Up the PSU to 750W Quad PCI-e so when you get the bug, it'll be easy.

Honestly, when you buy some new games this fall and the single GTX is sluggish, the best way to stretch your mileage will be SLI......plus the GTX prices will be a bit lower some day to help with sticker shock.

I really dont like those CoolerMaster cases......its just me.....I'm a Lian Li fan.....light,elegant and easily modded. AVA has deals with Performance-Pcs, they have a butt load of Lian-Li mods......you can really pick and choose......the new A10 has tons of room for drives.....give it a look-see.:D
 
magoo said:
You will want to SLI if you can.......trust me......
Up the PSU to 750W Quad PCI-e so when you get the bug, it'll be easy.

Honestly, when you buy some new games this fall and the single GTX is sluggish, the best way to stretch your mileage will be SLI......plus the GTX prices will be a bit lower some day to help with sticker shock.

I really dont like those CoolerMaster cases......its just me.....I'm a Lian Li fan.....light,elegant and easily modded. AVA has deals with Performance-Pcs, they have a butt load of Lian-Li mods......you can really pick and choose......the new A10 has tons of room for drives.....give it a look-see.:D
Click to expand...

SLI is not a cost effective solution for someone with budget concerns. And without knowing what kind of monitor he plans to use, I wouldn't be so quick to say that SLI is a great option for him.
 
Technoob said:
SLI is not a cost effective solution for someone with budget concerns. And without knowing what kind of monitor he plans to use, I wouldn't be so quick to say that SLI is a great option for him.
Click to expand...

Well I am currently using the Samsung 226BW 22" Monitor. I have no plans on upgrading it anytime in the near future since I just got it about 2 months ago. That is another reason I dont feel SLI would benefit me as much, but then again I could be wrong.
 
I have to take sides with Magoo here....

Keep in mind that GPUs will always drop over time - in the future, SLIing (is that a verb?) could cost you a lot less than swapping your old card for a new one. Yeah, SLI has it's drawbacks, but it adds some exrtra expandability to your system....

As far as cases- the Antec P-182 is another nice lower-budget case with good airflow. Big mamer-jammer, though!
 
Technoob said:
SLI is not a cost effective solution for someone with budget concerns. And without knowing what kind of monitor he plans to use, I wouldn't be so quick to say that SLI is a great option for him.
Click to expand...

Not to argue, but you're already spending 550+ bucks on one 8800 GTX, that aint so budget in my book.

If the monitor can do 1600x1200 or better the SLI advantage is obvious, when the time comes. The 8800 GTX SLI is a great upgrade path, without changing anything else in your computer.

If you want to use the budget argument, get one 8800 GTS 640MB Superclocked from evga, and add another later, same SLI features, less expensive card.
 
I would also suggest paying the extra few bucks and getting Antec Tri-Cool fans. There are up to 7 120mm fans that can go in this chassis, and if you have loud fans, it will be distracting. AVA equips this case with either Tt or Lian-Li fans, and neither have speed throttles and are quite loud. The Tri-Cools will be adjustable, and if you keep all of them on 'low,' you'll still have a shitload of airflow without the noise signature.

I would also agree with the sentiment of bumping your RAM down to 6400 and maybe getting another gig of it. If you have any plans to go to 64-bit, get 4GB of RAM. Never hurts.

If you haven't talked with Misha at AVA yet, I'd do that before making any final decisions. Totally stand-up guy and will give you 100% honest advice. Look around here and see what others have said about him - nothing but positives.

Other than that, congrats on the new rig, and best of luck with it.
 
I appreciate everyones feeback on everything. I just got off the phone with Misha from AVADirect and I think we have finalized everything. I just need to make one small cahnge and that is the floppy drive to a floppy/card reader combo instead.

Here is the final specs though which I should place the order for on Friday once I get the money in the bank.

PRODUCT(S) QTY UNIT PRICE TOTAL
+ GAMING PC, Core 2 Duo SLI Gaming System 1 $2217.68 $2217.68
INTEL, Core™ 2 Duo E6600 Dual-Core, 2.4GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 4MB L2 Cache, 65nm, 65W, EM64T EIST VT XD, Retail

ZALMAN, CNPS7000B-CuLED Copper CPU Cooler, Socket 478/754/939/940, Blue LED

ZALMAN, ZM-MFC1 Black/Silver 6-Channel Fan Controller Panel, 5.25" Bay

SERVICE, Overclock This Rig

eVGA, nForce 680i SLI 775 T1, LGA775, nForce 680i SLI, 1333MHz FSB, DDR2-1200 8GB /4, PCIe x16 SLI /2, SATA 3Gb/s RAID 0+1 /6, HDA, GbLAN /2, FW, ATX, Retail

CORSAIR, 2GB (2 x 1GB) XMS2 PC2-8500 DDR2 1066MHz CL5 (5-5-5-15-2T) 2.2V SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC

eVGA, e-GeForce 8800 GTX 575MHz, 768MB DDR3 1.8MHz, PCIe x16 SLI, 2x DVI, HDTV/S-Video/Composite Out, Retail

SEAGATE, 320GB Barracuda 7200.10, SATA II 300MB/s, 7200-RPM, 16MB cache

RAID, No RAID, Independent HDD Drives

MITSUMI, Black Internal 1.44MB 3.5" Floppy Drive

LITE-ON, LH-16D1P-187 Black 16x48x DVD-ROM Drive, IDE, Retail

LITE-ON, LH-20A1H Black/White 20x DVD±RW Dual-Layer Burner w/ LightScribe, EIDE/ATAPI, Retail

THERMALTAKE, Armor Black Full-Tower Case w/ Window, EATX, No PSU

CORSAIR, HX Series 620W Modular Power Supply, 24-pin ATX12V EPS12V, Triple +12V, Multi-GPU Ready

CUSTOM WIRING, Standard Wiring with Round Cables

CASE FAN, LED Fans Maximum Package, Blue

MICROSOFT, Windows Vista Home Premium Edition 32-bit, OEM

SOFTWARE, No Dual Boot

GAMING PC, Gold Warranty Package (3 Year Limited Parts & Lifetime Labor Warranty, Express/Priority Service)

SERVICE, Standard Shipping (UPS, DHL, or Fedex)


Shipping ZIP-code: unknown SUBTOTAL: $2217.68
Shipping method: Ground SHIPPING: $0.00
TAX: $0.00
GRAND TOTAL: $2217.6
 
Izzeren said:
MICROSOFT, Windows Vista Home Premium Edition 32-bit, OEM

GAMING PC, Gold Warranty Package (3 Year Limited Parts & Lifetime Labor Warranty, Express/Priority Service)
Click to expand...

Upgrade to the retail version (not OEM). If you upgrade the CPU or motherboard you'll have to buy another copy of Windows too. OEM is licensed to the original machine only.

Is all that warrant necessary?
 
The 3-year warranty comes standard from AVA. One of the bonuses of buying from them.
 
billb said:
Upgrade to the retail version (not OEM). If you upgrade the CPU or motherboard you'll have to buy another copy of Windows too. OEM is licensed to the original machine only.

Is all that warrant necessary?
Click to expand...

As Jason said the warranty is one of the nice perks that comes with a machine from them.

As for the windows part, I have no clue what you are talking about. Every version of windows I have ever owned all except 1 has been OEM. As far as I know you can use any version of windows be it retail or OEM on any machine you own so long as it is just 1 machine. They are not tied to any specific machine. As long as you have the license number to type in and register it you are fine. You may have to call Microsoft if you install and uninstall to many times to get an activation number from them but that should be it.
 
Izzeren said:
As Jason said the warranty is one of the nice perks that comes with a machine from them.

As for the windows part, I have no clue what you are talking about. Every version of windows I have ever owned all except 1 has been OEM. As far as I know you can use any version of windows be it retail or OEM on any machine you own so long as it is just 1 machine. They are not tied to any specific machine. As long as you have the license number to type in and register it you are fine. You may have to call Microsoft if you install and uninstall to many times to get an activation number from them but that should be it.
Click to expand...

Yes exactly. No reason to waste money on retail if you're... buying the computer with it.

Anyways, it looks good. One thing that bugs me is thats a pretty low end CPU fan for such a high end rig. Might want to consider a Zalman 9700. Notice that the 7000 isn't even listed as supporting socket 775 (might be an oversight though)

Do you really need 2 optical drives? You could save money by only getting a DVD-rw/everything drive instead of two drives.

I also think the fast ram is a bit of a waste. If you've got the money, why not I guess, but it seems unnecessary for a machine thats not ULTRA FAST in every other area (not quad core, not sli) but you have super fast ram. Sorta pointless, but its your call.
 
The CNPS9700 isn't bad either, but I would prefer the Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme. It and the Tuniq Tower are simply the best air coolers out there right now.
 
taylorwilsdon said:
I also think the fast ram is a bit of a waste. If you've got the money, why not I guess, but it seems unnecessary for a machine thats not ULTRA FAST in every other area (not quad core, not sli) but you have super fast ram. Sorta pointless, but its your call.
Click to expand...

Gotta agree here.... as far as bang for your buck, expensive RAM isn't always the best way to go...
 
kilgore777 said:
Gotta agree here.... as far as bang for your buck, expensive RAM isn't always the best way to go...
Click to expand...

No it's not.

taylorwilsdon said:
I also think the fast ram is a bit of a waste. If you've got the money, why not I guess, but it seems unnecessary for a machine thats not ULTRA FAST in every other area (not quad core, not sli) but you have super fast ram. Sorta pointless, but its your call.
Click to expand...

The ram he has isn't the expensive kind. BTW the higher performance ram will bennefit overclockers as they can keep a 1:1 ratio with higher clock frequencies. Quad core processors historically don't overclock as well as their dual core counterparts so this logic seems flawed.
 
PC8500 ? Last time I checked that's the expensive kind.

Drop to a non SLI board, P965 or P35. Drop the RAM to PC6400, even that is overkill. Drop the GTX to a GTS. Save a ton of money, get nearly all of the performance. Put the cash that you save into a high interest account or something till next year and then buy a 9900GTS or whatever...
 
Demon_of_The_Fall said:
PC8500 ? Last time I checked that's the expensive kind.

Drop to a non SLI board, P965 or P35. Drop the RAM to PC6400, even that is overkill. Drop the GTX to a GTS. Save a ton of money, get nearly all of the performance. Put the cash that you save into a high interest account or something till next year and then buy a 9900GTS or whatever...
Click to expand...

No, the PC9136 and the PC10000 are the expensive kind. As is the C3 PC6400. The PC8500 is one of the cheapest of all the Dominator modules.
 
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