Legit Reviews

Hey, guys,

I am sorry I have not been around for a while. Some of you probably know, I asked for advice on a rig, and I was about as open minded as a closed door . Well, this time, I promise to be more open. These are the specs:

ASUS P5K-E / WiFi-AP Socket 775 Motherboard 169.99
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E4500 - BX80557E4500 - Box CPU - Socket LGA775 149.00
Antec Nine Hundred Mid Tower Case 149.99
2GB DDR2 PC8500 DUAL MEMORY / Kingston KHX8500D2K2/2GR / HyperX Memory Kit 79.99

This is all from Fry's. My last shipment from NewEgg.com was banged up, and the dent was very close to the components. The other components I already have:
Antec Truepower Trio! 600W
ASUS GeForce 8500 GT Overclocked to 600mhz
250 gb 10,00 rpm raptor drive
SoundBlaster X-Fi! Ex-Treme Audio

Thanks,
Tekgek

so, you already have the components listed at the top mobo/proc/ram/case or you are looking for opinions on those?

Cause if you are looking for opinions... my opinion is you are spending far too much on ram and mobo and far too little on processor.

Ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145034 $34AR

Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813128059 $90

Proc: intel E8400 if you can find one.

alright, I see. I will definitely go with your suggestion on the motherboard. But as for the ram, will 800 mhz ram work with a motherboard that only takes 1066 mhz ram, or do I just not know what I am talking about?.

If you've got a Microcenter nearby (hey, you got fry's surely MC is just around the corner) I would HIGHLY recommend going there this weekend and picking up a Q6600 for just $50 more than that E4500. They've got them for $199 until Sunday.

The memory will work fine, no worries!

Edit: Just noticed they also have the Antec 900 for $89, and your E4500 for $109...E45 might be good to go at that price!

I wish the closest MC wasn't 263 miles away.

I have been doing a little more shopping and I have taken to the e6750. And yes, I will see if there is a MicroCenter around.

Thanks,
Tekgek

Actually, I just checked the micro center store locater, and the nearest one is in orange county, just about 200 miles away. . But thanks for letting me know about them.

Tekgek

why dont you like newegg? i always buy from them and have never had any problems, they rma faster than any one, and they ship faster than anyone, and in the long run they have better prices than anyone.the shipping damage (if there was any) was definantly ups's fault. as for every thing else, id agree with everyone's suggestions

DaIceMan,
Okay, I will go with all your suggestions, save one: the processor. I cannot find it at Fry's, but I found an e6750 on the Fry's web site. I would order the proc online from Newegg, now that martini161 has told me that UPS probably banged the shipment, but I am in a little bit of a time crunch, here. I need the pc before Monday. BTW, I never really understood why 45nm is better than 65nm. Could someone please tell me why?

Thanks,
Tekgek

Edit: So 800 ram will work on a 1066 mobo? Just want to clarify.

yes the ram will work. as for the 45nm procces being better, it means that the transistors are 45nm in size, as apposed to 65nm. this means that you can fit more in less space. since you can fit it in more space, not as much wiring is needed, with less wireing means less electrical resistance, which means less heat wich means more overclockability

Okay, thanks for the heads up. Thank you for pointing me in the right direction, see that I had absolutely no idea where to turn for procs and mobos, not to mention RAM. Again, thanks to those who kindly advised me on this issue. You all ROCK

Tekgek

I'm surprised you had issue with Newegg. I have been ordering from them for years without incident and I rate their service and shipping a 10/10.

I recently ordered from Frys for the first time, and they use DHL who dropped my package at the wrong address.

Anything can happen, but a good etailer takes the time to compare name and ship-to addresses and uses a carrier that does the same.

Trust me, Newegg is top shelf.

Back on topic...the E6750 is an excellent choice. I run mine at 3.2Ghz OC with no voltage increase. Just be sure to get a Go stepping (I think most are by now, but be sure).

Hello, all, again!

I bought the parts and built the machine yesterday. The new machine is in my sig. I have not overclocked anything yet, as I have not seen any reason to. But I might. The salesperson at Frys said that I should spend a little more on the mobo, and I did. It does not have sli, but that is fine with me. This is my first real rig build. The other one that some may remember was heavily modified. It even POSTed and Booted into XP the first time

A salesman told you to spend more...wow! Imagine that!

Bring on the pics!

And the money was well worth it. I like ASUS, and I get dual video card slots... might come in handy in the future. These pics are not much, but they are something

That wiring is an abortion. Why in the world would you use IDE cables in this day and age?

Never mind, I don't want to know.

Is that a beige optical drive on your case? Have to agree, clean up the wiring. Round IDE cables would help.

One DVD drive is sata and the HDD is as well. being the cheapscade that I am, I plan to get a replacement for the dvd reader in the very near future (the beige one) that is a burner and uses sata. And as for the wiring, yes, I probably should clean that up

I wish I would have saw this a few days ago.

One recommendation that Iceman made, the E8400...probably the best one he made. It uses less power and overclocks generally pretty good. I have my E8400 @ 4ghz w 1.28v.

I'm glad you stuck with the P5K mobo....I have one (deluxe) and it's awesome. The best feature that the board offers is the VDROOP setting in the BIOS. It's a solid stable board.

Another recommendation I would have made to you is the case...I love my 900, but I also have a P182 that I got on the newegg deal a few weeks ago and it's a much nicer case and runs just as cool if not cooler than my 900. Plus it's much quieter. It has room behind the mobo tray to run all your cables.

perhaps I should have gotten the e8400. but I was in a time crunch, so I decided to get the e6750. Besides, one is a little cheaper, and was available when I needed it, and from what I read, the e6750 is almost as fast as the e8400. hell, it encodes one of my dvd's that out together in four minutes with no overclocking (I am not an overclocker; my machine is, in my opinion, fast enough for my needs.

tekgek wrote:perhaps I should have gotten the e8400. but I was in a time crunch, so I decided to get the e6750. Besides, one is a little cheaper, and was available when I needed it, and from what I read, the e6750 is almost as fast as the e8400. hell, it encodes one of my dvd's that out together in four minutes with no overclocking (I am not an overclocker; my machine is, in my opinion, fast enough for my needs.

I wish I had never gotten into overclocking. I would be completely satisfied with my current motherboard. Alas, I have and as soon as Uncle Sam sends a few of my dollars back my way I'm getting something to kick my E6600 in the rear a little.

Edit: forgot to add... have you ran any benchmarks on your new machine? I haven't ran 3DMark on mine in a while. I need to see where I'm standing these days.