New Sugo sff to replace my old SN25P

[msdmoney]

So my SN25P died and it's time for a new computer.

I really liked the shuttle but I'm tired of being stuck with proprietary parts, and the shuttle warranty is only 30 days for new parts (like a PSU). I want to stick with an sff system, but I'm going to move to a Sugo.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
I play a lot of games, other than that just web browsing mostly.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Around $1300 with tax and shipping (not including monitor), but it's not a hard set number.

3) Where do you live?
Socal

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.

Here is my current parts list.

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8500
CPU Cooler: SILVERSTONE NT06-LITE
Motherboard: ASUS P5E-VM HDMI LGA 775 Intel G35 HDMI Micro ATX
Memory: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 2 sets for 8gb total. I already bought one set in the newegg sale. I know 8gb is probably overkill but I like the idea of superfetch in Vista and memory is cheap.
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31000333AS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Already Bought in newegg sale.
Video Card: EVGA 896-P3-1257-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked Edition 896MB I am going to wait for reviews of the GTX 285, and see it pushes prices down. But I don't like to spend an extreme amount of money on the top graphics card. I'm also thinking of reusing my current 8800gts 320mb until I upgrade my monitor. By then I figure the next round of graphics cards will be out which will be more than just higher speeds. I'm also interested in the 4850X2, but I keep reading that people are having problems with the drivers.
Case: SILVERSTONE Sugo SG01B-F Black
Power Supply: SILVERSTONE ST75F 750W ATX Modular
DVD Burner: LG Black 22X
Card Reader: Nippon Labs ICR-BB All-in-one USB +eSATA Card Reader
Additional Case Fans: ENERMAX UC-8EB 80mm 2 for above video card

Anything I missed or any suggestions for an SFF case?

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
I'm reusing my mouse and keyboard, and I'll be reusing a 500gb hard drive as a backup for storage. Once I have the new computer running I'm going to format the 500 gb and use it to keep a copy of games saves, files, music, etc. I already have speakers too.

6) Will you be overclocking?
No

7) What size monitor do you have or plan to have?
For now, I will be using my current L90D+ 19" 1280x1024 LCD. Eventually I want to upgrade to the 28" Hannspree at 1920 x 1200 combined with a Samsung 19" widescreen LCD that I already have on another CPU in portrait mode. Is there anything I should consider now for eventual dual monitors?

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Looking to build in the next couple weeks.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
No RAID, firewire, or SLI/Crossfire. I just want a good stable motherboard.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
Yep, Vista 64 Ultimate

 

[NichoTL]

About the mobo: it is a great mobo, but the feature that makes it stand apart is its overclocking ability, which you won't be using. In that case you could check the boards based on the nvidia 9300/9400 chipsets or also the P5Q-EM. Maybe. Or you could stick with the P5E-VM HDMI and one day try your hand at overclocking (pretty addictive, I might say).
Now the PSU: waste of money. You need a good 500W that's all.See another one of my posts here:
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1033596351#post1033596351.

One last thing: the 8Gb is definitely overkill... Some people around these forums contend with (only) 2GB. So 4GB should do IMO. With the money saved on the PSU and the RAM maybe you can get a good SSD instead of your VRaptor with your 2nd HD for storage.

 

[dunc4n]

I think it looks pretty good. But I'd go with a q9550 myself.

 

[NichoTL]

I think it looks pretty good. But I'd go with a q9550 myself.

Nah. For gaming the Duos are better value. For bragging it's another story

 

[msdmoney]

About the mobo: it is a great mobo, but the feature that makes it stand apart is its overclocking ability, which you won't be using. In that case you could check the boards based on the nvidia 9300/9400 chipsets or also the P5Q-EM. Maybe. Or you could stick with the P5E-VM HDMI and one day try your hand at overclocking (pretty addictive, I might say).
Now the PSU: waste of money. You need a good 500W that's all.See another one of my posts here:
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1033596351#post1033596351.

One last thing: the 8Gb is definitely overkill... Some people around these forums contend with (only) 2GB. So 4GB should do IMO. With the money saved on the PSU and the RAM maybe you can get a good SSD instead of your VRaptor with your 2nd HD for storage.

Thanks for the advice.
I'll probably stick with the P5E-VM HDMI mobo, from what I have read it sounds like a very solid board. When I was looking at the P5Q-EM thread it looked like people were having a lot of problems.

Maybe I'll get this 500W PSU instead. It's a short cable power supply intended for sff's.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256027
Will that be enough if I was to ever add a double card like a 4870X2 or GTX 295?

I'll probably stick with 8gb since ram is so cheap. I know 4gb is the max needed for pretty much anything, but I would like to use the Superfetch feature of Vista to cut down on some program load times.

Nah. For gaming the Duos are better value. For bragging it's another story

That is why I was going to go with the duo....but after reading the coming intel price drops I'm seriously considering a q9650. It's now only a $130 premium over the E8500, and I'm less likely to want to upgrade the CPU anytime in the future, whereas I'll probably swap out the video card a couple times during the life of the computer.