Should I build My own PC?

[walkngdude]

Hi Gang, I'm new here and thought I'd ask a big question.

Should I build My own high end gaming/video editing system?

I was/am planing on buying a high end system and was looking at Falcon Northwest. Reading reviews and some forums, people are saying that $5100 is too much (I would have to agree) and that they could build a better system for $2000 less. So I wanted to see if that is true.

I took a pre configured system from http://www.sharkyextreme.com/guides...cle.php/3102861 checked the prices at newegg.com and tried to configure a matching system at http://www.falcon-nw.com/
and the system I priced for $3445 from newegg cost $5100 at Falcon. $1600 more.

Here is a word doc on the components I picked at newegg: http://members.aol.com/walkngdude/buildingpc.doc

Now I've added some cards and drives to the PC's I've owned and managed to fix software problems myself and stuff. I don't think I want to pay more than 4 grand on any PC and I would get a real kick out of putting the system together and throwing some funky lights inside and save $1600. But I've got some kids now and don't have a lot of spare time. Falcon gives a 3 year warranty, what warranty would my home brew system have? And am I likely to have a lot of problems getting it to run?

Thanks and any input on components and such would be helpful, and web sites too.

Marc

[Soulburner]

It all looks great but I will recommend one thing.

Change out the motherboard to the ASUS P4C800E Deluxe instead.

The MAX3 was sort of a failed experiment for Abit and the board just doesn't perform on par (consistently) with the ASUS. Too many of its features just "don't work" for a lot of users, and the P4C800E will be just as fast, overclock just as much (or farther), with less troubles.

[Mista K6]

Well, just a suggestion, but if you wanted to save some cash you could by a 2.6GHz Intel P4 and overclock it to a 3.25GHz with a 1000Mhz FSB (instead of 800). This would be quite a bit faster than the normal 3.2Ghz and its cheaper. Of course, if you dont fancy overclocking, then dont :thumb: . : peace2: Mista K6

P.S.> I've been reading some reviews and that MAX3 is a nasty board, I second getting ASUS P4C800E

[Wiggo]

Hi Gang, I'm new here and thought I'd ask a big question.

Should I build My own high end gaming/video editing system?

In one word, YES.

[walkngdude]

Thanks for the heads up on the Abit board. I think I'll take your advice but do you have a link handy showing trouble with it?

The ASUS P4C800E Deluxe looks like a great board. Do you think all the parts I listed will work well with it? I'll have to research if I can figure out where to read up on this stuff.

Is the Corsair XMS TWINX1024-3200LLPRO good for the P4C800E? Or should I be looking at something else? How about the THERMALTAKE W0019+PFC Silent Purepower 480W? Is that a compatible and good choice for this board? I just picked that one out of the air. Will it be OK with a sata raid 0b setup?

And thanks for the overclocking tip Mista K6. But I haven't gotten that far in my skills yet. I was thinking about cutting back on some stuff like the hard drive size, 22 inch monitor, SoundBlaster Audigy2 ZS Platinum Pro and the Klipsch ProMedia Ultra 5.1 to get the P4 3.2 EE for a Grand.

I guess that would be too much of a waste of money for the EE but I don't get to upgrade often so I figure I better take it while the wife's agreeable. LOL


Thanks
Marc

[amd_man2005]

I'll second Soulburner's remark about the Abit board. It has many issues, although hit and miss. If you get one without issues, its a great board. But normally you get one thats messed up somehow, and then your pissed because the board doesn't perform how you want it to. Go with the Asus P4C800-E as said earlier

[maximus7001]

It's good to see more people building their own machines. And the way to do it is from scratch. Good decision. Some people buy a junky premade machine and think it can be easily fixed up , total waste of time and money, they end up rebuying almost the whole thing anyway.

I just have a few suggestions. And since you intend to deal with newegg, the links are for there. And I am guessing your location is usa. I am also assuming you want high end stuff.

You mentioned video editing. A gfx card with video in would better suit you as it does me.
This asus r9800xt 256mb has video in and would better suit you. And for $481, the price is about the same. And asus is about the only ati partner to offer a 3 year warranty. And this card supports open gL2.0 unlike nvidia's 5950u counterpart that only supports v1.5


As far as cases and psu's go, I would recomend

this thermaltake case/psu bundle, it comes with lots of stuff. It also comes in black but there is free shipping on this one.

I am also with soulburner on that asus p4c800e. And what mista k6 says about the p4 2.6 is also what I would do.

[Soulburner]

And this card supports open gL2.0 unlike nvidia's 5950u counterpart that only supports v1.5

Do you have proof of this?

AFAIK Nvidia supports the latest OGL, and it would make perfect sense because they have the best offering for Doom 3.

[theyneverknew]

Has an official OpenGL 2.0 spec even been released yet? i didnt see one at opengl.org :confused:

[maximus7001]

It's listed on nvidia's site here at the bottom right of the page with the heading "compatability".

Here is shown an asus r9800xt with open gl2.0 support.

[Soulburner]

Then that would mean Doom 3 does not use OGL 2.0.

But why not? It has to....theres no way in hell you can get a game looking that damn good, best ever in the history of gaming, without a breakthrough in technology which would come in the form of a new API with new features...

[FLaCo]

In one word, YES.

I second that..its a great feeling when you get it to work...

[walkngdude]

Thanks maximus7001, for the link to the case. I like it even though it is a bit flashy for me. I like the fans. I would like a cool running system and as quite as I can make it. Also I think I might want a bigger power supply. But I wont be able to buy until February 15.

And for video editing. I was told it woulld be handy to have two monitors but I don't want to get too far away from the gaming system. Dad's need to have fun too. LOL

Thanks
Marc

[Ace07]

Well you can have 2 monitors and still be a gamer....video editing on one and the game on the other.....the thing is you just gotta do some research to get the right video card so you can set that up. Just a thought.

[G13man]

I haven't bought a comp since 1988 when i got ripped severly . [386 dx was an sx and when he exchanged it it became a packerd bell. ] warrenty ha junk. your warrenty when u build ur own is what u bought and where [do ur research on components and where u buy] my k6-2 cost 8oo when i built it [ equivalants komps woulda cost 1550 +] i'm now just getting ready to build a new[ ecs 755, 3g,512 memsingle 9600xt] and reuse other stuff laying around [ the things u can get when others buy new hehe]. and the stuff now days wow , u'll love building ur own. gl hf