Legit Reviews

I have a friend who finally gave me the thumbs up to build him a pc. For the money, IMO a very good machine for what he is used to: (sorry to all the AMD fans ) not-so hot amd quad cores and single core machines (he does not upgrade often). I will also have build pictures Anyway, the parts list is below:


Cooler Master HAF 932 CASE http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi ... 32&x=0&y=0
ASUS P5N-D MOTHERBOARD http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi ... 32&x=0&y=0
PNY GEFORCE 9600GT 512MB GRAPHICS CARD http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814133239
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W POWER SUPPLY http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... IR%20750TX
INTEL CORE 2 DUO 2.5 GHZ LGA 775 PROCESSOR http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115043
CORSAIR XMS2 4 GB DDR2 800 RAM (2X2GB) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145184
SEAGATE BARRACUDA 7200.11 7200 RPM 500GB HARD DRIVE (TWO OF THEM) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822148288
SAMSUNG SATA SUPER MULTI DVD BURNER (TWO OF THEM) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827151173
ZALMAN CNPS 9700 LED 110 MM 2 BALL CPU COOLER http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835118019

If you haven't already ordered the parts, I would save a few bucks and order a modular 520HX, which has plenty of power for that build, and put those savings into a much better video card, say the 9800GT.

But then again, If he's not into gaming, or video intensive apps, you have a decent setup there.

Can't wait to see pics...

Have to agree, you'll be much happier with a better graphics card in there (and a Corsair 520W should handle it as ibleet said). Also if you plan on overclocking that CPU you might want to look into getting an aftermarket HSF.

BTW, welcome back ibleet! Long time no see...

The thing about a giant power supply... my dad is a very conservative electrician, and he says that you should always have plenty of headroom when it comes to power supplies, and I take his word for it. And besides, my friend is not into gaming (although his son will hijack the computer for Wow when he is not using it ), so I think that the extra money is well spent on a good power supply. It also leaves a lot of room for upgrading. But that's just my take on it. Maybe I listen to my Dad too much . I also did get an after market fan... the Zalman CNPS9700. I have seen good benchmarks on it.

Oh, and BTW, welcome back ibleet!

Thanks,
Tekgek

Hehe, yeah I was kinda tired last night and missed the HSF

I still say the 750 is way overkill, if you're worried about headroom the 620 should provide more than enough (then I am a little biased ). Might also look into PC Power and Cooling brand PSUs, they also make a really good product. Other than that, seems like a great build for a photoshopper/video editor. It's overkill for everyday use and the GPU is a bit weak for gaming but still, quite the epic build

Alathald wrote:Hehe, yeah I was kinda tired last night and missed the HSF

I still say the 750 is way overkill, if you're worried about headroom the 620 should provide more than enough (then I am a little biased ). Might also look into PC Power and Cooling brand PSUs, they also make a really good product. Other than that, seems like a great build for a photoshopper/video editor. It's overkill for everyday use and the GPU is a bit weak for gaming but still, quite the epic build

Yes, it may be overkill, but the parts are already ordered. so a good thing to remember for next time. But believe me this guy, will not exactly use this machine for web surfing and email. He does some pretty cool video edits and photoshop stuff (although he uses coreldraw ), so he does need the system. But I did go overkill because he does not upgrade often, and I wanted to make sure he did not waste his money.

BTW, are you sure that the 9600 GT is a weak gamer? I get 50 fps on Crysis with some settings on high, some on low with the 9600 GSO. Is there a better cheaper card that I should keep a look out for?

Thanks,
Tekgek

UPDATE: Parts are ordered, and will be here Wedsday. I will be building the machine on Christmas eve, assuming I do get anything really great for Christmas , and will probably have the pics posted by Thursday. Sorry you guys have to wait that long )

Tekgek

I was looking at things strictly from a gamers standpoint. 112 Stream processors vs. 64 creates a nice performance boost for the 9800GT, even though they both have a 256 bit interface. Also from a pricing standpoint, you get more power for nearly the same price. The 9600GT you chose was $95, while there are several 9800GT's in the $92-$99 price range.

Overall since the only game they play is WoW, the 9600GT is a solid choice. If they ever decide to try a game like Crysis, they will just have to play it on medium settings. That is not considered a weak gamer by any means, just not a great gamer.

The PSU you ordered is a Corsair...you can't really go wrong with Corsair...Enuf Said!

ibleet wrote:I was looking at things strictly from a gamers standpoint. 112 Stream processors vs. 64 creates a nice performance boost for the 9800GT, even though they both have a 256 bit interface. Also from a pricing standpoint, you get more power for nearly the same price. The 9600GT you chose was $95, while there are several 9800GT's in the $92-$99 price range.

Overall since the only game they play is WoW, the 9600GT is a solid choice. If they ever decide to try a game like Crysis, they will just have to play it on medium settings. That is not considered a weak gamer by any means, just not a great gamer.

The PSU you ordered is a Corsair...you can't really go wrong with Corsair...Enuf Said!

I actually did not know that there were 9800 GT's out there that were so cheap... if there were I would have gotten one. I did not even think to look. The last time I checked, which was about 6 months ago, the price was a lot higher. I guess, what with the release of the 200 series, the 9 series just is not in demand.

Anyway, thanks for the heads up. I will definitely talk to you before I build another rig

Thanks for all the advice,
Tekgek

may also want to look at the 4870 ive seen them for as low as 165 after rebate. and to think that about a year ago today i payed $300 for an 8800gt

Hey, all!

I just got finished building the rig, and now, I am having a problem with the onboard audio (the friend that I a building this for does not need discrete audio). The realtek HD audio driver will not install correctly. Any ideas on how to fix this? Do I have a bad mobo? Any advice will be very much appreciated. Oh, and of course, I will have build pics soon, probably on friday.

Thanks,
Tekgek

Have you enabled to on baord audio in BOS?

yes, the onboard audio was enabled when i tried to install the audio drivers

Have you tired going to device manager, select the audio chipset and directing it towards the driver from the installation CD or a file you have downloaded? Maybe the software is buggy and by selecting the driver only via device manager you'll have better luck.

Yes, I have. I get no windows, just a brief hourglass, and then nothing. I tried installing from a fresh download package and the disk that came with the motherboard, and both give me an error message. Perhaps a bios update?
Thanks,
Tekgek

Yes, if there is a more current BIOS perhaps that me help.

bios is latest version, cannot flash. Any other suggestions? right now i have an old discrete sb live! 5.1 card in the system, and it seems to be working.