Ordered my new computer

[AquaShrimp]

 Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0GHz, 1333FSB (Dual Core) 6000K
 * Cooler Master HyperTX Intel EXTRA QUIET Vertical HeatPipe Copper fan
 * ASUS P5N-D SLI nForce 750i, 1333FSB, SLI PCI Ex, Sound,1GB LAN, iEEE
 * 4GB (2x2GB) PC6400 DDR2 800 Dual Channel
 * GeForce 8800GT 512Mb PCI EXpress 16X dual head, tv out
 * 750.0GB Maxtor/ Seagate 7200rpm SATA2 UDMA 300 32m Cache
 * OptoRite 52x24x52 CDRW Drive
 * Sound Blaster Audigy SE 7.1
 * Realtek 10/100/1000 Ethernet Network card
 * USB 2.0 Adapter Card 4 port PCI
 * APEVIA X-Plorer Silver, Side Window, front USB,iEEE,Temp control
 * Case Fan 120 mm Extra Quiet DC fan
 * Okia Extra Quiet 650W ATX Power Supply, SLI Ready
 * Microsoft Windows XP Home CD

$1275 from a place called Magic Micro in Ohio.

[Getback]

are they assembling it? You may not need that sound card. I don't use one with that incredible chip.

[Fulmar]

Only two things that concern me from an otherwise good build.
OptoRite CDRW.  I had one of these a couple years back, was pretty cheap.  Lasted about 3 months before every disk I burned gave error or failed a burn, was loud as hell!  The Okia PSU...back in the day when I was not as smart, I bought an Okia 500W PSU for $15 (yes it was new).  Worked fine for about two years until my BSOD in games became more frequent, then I learned that the PSU was slowly dying.  I had BSOD's start 6 mo after purchase.  At the end I was getting 11.1V on the 12V rail and 4.1V on the 5V.

[AquaShrimp]

Thanks for the info guys.  Yeah they are building it for me.  This is just going to be a gaming rig.  Life expectancy of 12-18 months.  I'm definitely going to learn how to build computers.  Hopefully this will be the last gaming computer I'll ever buy preassembled.

[stephen waldron]

  If you're going to build your own computer, or, build computers for others as a sideline.. Don't make the same mistake my nephew made.  He has eight years of computer science in college.  Worked in the public sector as a tech and system consultant for ten years. 
  During all this time he accumulated a vast storehouse of used equipment, cables and wiring.  Whenever he does a small job on the side for a friend.. he uses this stuff. 
  My system worked fine for 3 years, and then my internet service started to frequently disconnect.  I'm talking three or four times a week.  Frustrated to death, I finally had the phone company send a technician out.  The guy laughed himself silly when he saw my wiring.  "Hey Dude. Look at these wires"!  "The rubber insulation cracks and breaks when you bend'em".  "This stuff must have been what, 10 years old already when it was installed" ?  I felt like a moron.
  PLEASE.  If you do work for someone else, DON'T USE THIS HAND-ME-DOWN JUNK.  I paid my nephew a thousand dollars for my computer 5 years ago, (Not a bad price for a hand built, high end system back then, a bargain in fact).  But I've had to replace EVERYTHING that wasn't ordered.  The modem, cd burner, monitor and wiring all died within 3 years. 

[Fulmar]

I keep a graveyard of old parts, but if I have to use something old into a friend or family computer, I obviously don't charge for it however because I've scavenged the parts from older systems for free.

It's handy to hold onto old parts for repairs or free computer setups for people.  But to charge money for old/used parts is pretty low.

[1701E]

I keep a graveyard of old parts, but if I have to use something old into a friend or family computer, I obviously don't charge for it however because I've scavenged the parts from older systems for free.

It's handy to hold onto old parts for repairs or free computer setups for people.  But to charge money for old/used parts is pretty low.

I a small graveyard as well, too bad the 2 Motherboards are dead .  If they weren't I'd have enough fr almost 2 new old PCs .

[Masherbrum]

I a small graveyard as well, too bad the 2 Motherboards are dead .  If they weren't I'd have enough fr almost 2 new old PCs .

I'll have a Gigabyte Socket 939 freed up soon.   If you need it, let me know.   You can have the 3500+ that is on it. 

[Fulmar]

I'll have a Gigabyte Socket 939 freed up soon.   If you need it, let me know.   You can have the 3500+ that is on it. 

There's so many side projects you can do with an old computer.  IPCop/Monowall, MythTV, FreeNas...etc etc

[Sincraft]

If you could ditch the XP home that would be nice...but not a biggy.

The biggy is, making sure that that sound card works ok. 

Creative is SERIOUSLY dropping the ball on their sound cards.  They should be considered a HIGHLY overrated HIGHLY overpriced and overhyped sound card manufacturer now. 

It is responsible for many many phantom crashes for millions of people, countless loss in CPU cycles and several gray hairs in all of us.

[BaldEagl]

If you could ditch the XP home that would be nice...but not a biggy.

The biggy is, making sure that that sound card works ok. 

Creative is SERIOUSLY dropping the ball on their sound cards.  They should be considered a HIGHLY overrated HIGHLY overpriced and overhyped sound card manufacturer now. 

It is responsible for many many phantom crashes for millions of people, countless loss in CPU cycles and several gray hairs in all of us.

My X-Fi Gamer Fatality Pro works great.

[Fulmar]

If you could ditch the XP home that would be nice...but not a biggy.

The biggy is, making sure that that sound card works ok. 

Creative is SERIOUSLY dropping the ball on their sound cards.  They should be considered a HIGHLY overrated HIGHLY overpriced and overhyped sound card manufacturer now. 

It is responsible for many many phantom crashes for millions of people, countless loss in CPU cycles and several gray hairs in all of us.

Well this may be an exaggeration by a bit.  Their drives do suck, especially for Vista.  Overpriced?  Yeah, but they have no real competition other than Asus which is just starting in the market.  Overhyped?  Yeah, but see above.

But there is a sound difference.  I have never lived with an onboard system.  Their sound quality even on the best boards is sub-par.  I was worried when I upgraded from my original Audigy to an X-Fi fatality that I wouldn't notice a difference, I did.  The sound quality in game and in my music was noticeably better.  Game performance in newer games increased (not really FPS-wise) but I could notice a little popping on my Audigy when too many 'voices' or sound samples were being generated by some games.  No more of that.

[AquaShrimp]

If you could ditch the XP home that would be nice...but not a biggy.

The biggy is, making sure that that sound card works ok. 

Creative is SERIOUSLY dropping the ball on their sound cards.  They should be considered a HIGHLY overrated HIGHLY overpriced and overhyped sound card manufacturer now. 

It is responsible for many many phantom crashes for millions of people, countless loss in CPU cycles and several gray hairs in all of us.

Whoa, why would I ditch XP?  I specifically chose that over Vista.  Vista is a huge resource hog, and would do nothing but degrade my performance in games.

[humble]

The real question mark is the power supply. To be honest I'm a bit concerned that any professional shop would build a rig around it. Just looking at the reviews on newegg its russian roulette. My other question is the 120mm fan, if its an additional fan (most models of your case come with 2 x 80mm fans) then is good. However if the system has just 1 120mm fan then that not enough airflow IMO.

I'm not a fan of the 750i chipset but its certainly not a bad MB. The real question is what happens if the PS pops and takes out the whole box? What type of warranty do they give you and how long have they been around? I'd make em swap out the PS...

[AquaShrimp]

On the rare chance that my power supply does go out, what would you recommend I replace it with?  Also, the computer has two fans.