[dante]

So my 4 year old emachines isn't really cutting it anymore, and the wife has agreed to a shiny new desktop. Have shopped around a little bit, and have always come back to cyberpowerpc.com as an online store that seems to give quite a bit of bang for your buck. My computer technical are somewhat similar to my biking technical skills - can usually get the job done (have replaced motherboards, added ram, CD/RW drives, etc) but definitely not a skilled professional. Just stating that since if there is a technical issue with the computer, I'm fine with popping the case open and seeing if I can fix it...

Computer will be used mostly for photography editing (hobby, not professional) and storage, and secondly for gaming... Any thoughts on the build kit listed below? Have heard good things about the C2D processors, especially that they run quick and efficiently, so I'm hoping that 500w power will be enough to run it and the video card. I know it's only 1g of RAM, but since I'm not doing full-blown professional photo editing I was thinking it should be ok, although I'm considering changing it over to 1x1g slot instead of the 2x512mb that's currently listed in case I want to up it to 2g.

Otherwise I'm a bit in the dark about the specific graphics cards and motherboards, but most of the stuff that they have gets good reviews... Thoughts about overall build and cyperpower in general? Total cost is $1060, which seems to be a screaming deal, but haven't bought from them before.

Thanks!

info:
# *BASE_PRICE: [+999]
# CAS: ($20 off Mail-in Rebate) Xion III Gaming Mid-Tower 420W Case with Side Window [-20] (BLACK COLOR)
# CASUPGRADE: 12in COLD CATHODE NEON LIGHT [+10] (BLUE COLOR)
# CS_FAN: Extra Case Cooling Fan [+3] (1 x Fan)
# CPU: (Sckt775)Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E6750 CPU @ 2.66GHz 1333FSB 4MB L2 Cache 64-bit
# CD: (Special Price) 18X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (BLACK COLOR)
# FLASHMEDIA: INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer (BLACK COLOR)
# FAN: INTEL LGA775 CERTIFIED CPU FAN & HEATSINK
# HDD: Single Hard Drive (320GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)
# KEYBOARD: PS2 MULTIMEDIA INTERNET CONTROL KEYBOARD (BLACK COLOR)
# MOUSE: Logitech Optical Wheel Mouse (BLACK COLOR)
# MODEM: PCI 56K V.92 FAX MODEM W/ VOICE
# MOTHERBOARD: (Quad-Core FSB1333) Asus P5N-E nForce 650i SLI Chipset LGA775 FSB1333 DDR2 Mainboard
# MEMORY: (Req.DDR2 MainBoard)1GB (2x512MB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory (Corsair XMS2 Xtreme Memory w/ Heat Spreader)
# NETWORK: ONBOARD 10/100 NETWORK CARD
# OS: Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium (32-bit Edition)
# POWERSUPPLY: 500 Watts Power Supplies [+49] (Ultra V-Series 500 Watts ATX PSU (Black))
# SERVICE: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS 24/7 LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT
# SOUND: 3D WAVE ON-BOARD 5.1 SOUND CARD
# SPEAKERS: Logitech X-230 2.1 Configuration Speakers System
# USB: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports
# VIDEO: NEW!!! NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB 16X PCI Express (EVGA Powered by NVIDIA)
# WNC: PCI Wireless 802.11g 54Mbps Network Interface Card [+19]

 

[BadDNA]

I'd double the memory but otherwise it seems like a decent build.

 

[dante]

wow, thanks for the quick response! might cut back on the video card then and bump up the RAM, not sure I need a $400+ video card and the screamingly-high FPS that goes with it. I'm sure I probably wouldn't even notice the difference between the 8800 and the 7950 or 7900, but would notice the difference between 1g and 2g when processing 10mb RAW photos...

 

[binary visions]

You definitely do not need the 8800GTS. Drop it down to the 7950GT (which is an excellent card) and pick up the memory to 2gb.

Ditch that ugly +$10 light

It doesn't appear to be a screaming deal to me but it's not bad and if you don't want to piece it together yourself then it's at least an excellent build, and won't skimp on the quality of some components like a Dell/Compaq/whatever would.

I also might go for two hard drives - one small drive for your applications and OS, and one big drive for photos and videos. That provides you a number of benefits, like being able to format your OS drive if you want to, without backing anything up... or replace your storage drive if it starts to fail or you need more space, without having to reinstall the OS... or transport your storage drive somewhere else - friend's house, whatever - without leaving your computer unusable.

 

[drakan]

I'd throw down two 7800GT's for the price of one 8800GTS, with double the memory and double the clockspeed in SLi...
Also, be wary. My friend bought one from them, and they double charged him, but he got it sorted out...
I agree with BV. Go for a double drive format. Get a WD Raptor 10k for the primary (OS) Disk, and a 7200 RPM 500gb drive for storage

 

[binary visions]

I really wouldn't bother with a Raptor. They do well on benchmarks but real world testing shows only a small improvement for the large price difference, plus the heat and noise that they generate.

 

[OrthoPT]

From what I've heard recently, Cyberpower's service/quality isn't what it used to be. I bought a system form them years ago and I love it. If you're not dead set on going with them, try taking a look at www.Tigerdirect.com. Good luck!

 

[dante]

Ditch that ugly +$10 light

c'mon, it'll match the neon that's under the body kit on my 94 Civic!!

ya, had left the 8800 GTS on the build but not sure about it, part of me just wants to leave it on since they'll only give a $100 off for dropping down to the 8600. also, it's only the wimpy little 320mb version, not the 768mb monster.

have looked at a few places like tigerdirect.com, but most pre-built systems are quite a bit more for a similar build, or worse specs for a similar price. I'm not *that* worried about the service/quality, since I'm confident I can crack the case open and see if anything's lose, or reinstalling software if necessary.

Quick question - since the chip is 64-bit, should I be going for the 64-bit windows Vista, or just the 32? Any performance benefits? Pitfalls I should be worried about?

Thanks again, love the help on here!

edit - totally understand the second HD thing, but do have a 200g portable that I can drag around if I need it. Might pick up a second HD afterwards if it's running slow...

 

[Timekiller]

From what I've heard recently, Cyberpower's service/quality isn't what it used to be. I bought a system form them years ago and I love it. If you're not dead set on going with them, try taking a look at www.Tigerdirect.com. Good luck!

YES!! True


I made a purchace there 3yrs. ago... had multiple problems, wrong parts, broken parts, ect.

Horrible customer service. I would seriously urge you to look elswhere.

 

[dante]

any other suggestions as to where to look?

 

[BadDNA]

Quick question - since the chip is 64-bit, should I be going for the 64-bit windows Vista, or just the 32? Any performance benefits? Pitfalls I should be worried about?

Stick with a 32 bit OS, not many apps are designed to take advantage of the 64 bit OS yet and even more aren't compatible at all.

 

[OrthoPT]

YES!! True


I made a purchace there 3yrs. ago... had multiple problems, wrong parts, broken parts, ect.

Horrible customer service. I would seriously urge you to look elswhere.

Thanks for the back, TimeKiller.

Try www.Newegg.com

 

[dante]

also, question on power consumption. for example, the 8800 GTS 320mb card uses 165w at idle and 255w at max (or might be slightly higher for an overclocked version). the e6750 CPU uses 123w at idle and 151w at (single-core anyway). so combined, that's 288w at idle, and over 400w under max load. is there any other power consuming items that I have to be worried about? ie, at what point do I need to think about starting to bump up the overall power for the unit?

 

[Timekiller]

Sorry, I can't recomend another place, because that was the only 'custom' pc I ordered.

But I can say I love my mac.

 

[dante]

also, I'm not *that* concerned about the trustworthiness of the site, as they have an ok rating on resellerratings.com, plus I'll be purchasing via AmEx. god bless the AmEx customer protection (and warranty extending) policies.

 

[Timekiller]

yes... in that respect AmEx is a huge plus!

 

[dante]

Stick with a 32 bit OS, not many apps are designed to take advantage of the 64 bit OS yet and even more aren't compatible at all.

hmmmm. so it appears that the only real downside to 32bit OS is that it won't see more (or much more) than 2gb. however, memory is seeming to get pretty cheap, and newegg has the same memory as I've got spec'd for $60/2gb. so my plan had been to keep it to the 1g module, and then get an additional 2gb since it's relatively cheap. can you give me a quick rundown as to which aps aren't compatible at all? thought that windows 64 was sort of backwards compatible...

edit - Adobe Lightroom is my main photo editing program, along with Canon's DPP software. and only peripherals are cameras and a printer, although it looks like my camera might be supported with a 64bit vista driver...

edit #2 - I don't have an iPhone