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@AngryNarwhal_111
The case is personal preference so with your budget, it's not that foolish to spend extra on a case that appeals to you since you aren't really severely gimping yourself by downgrading to 4GB and a slightly less powerful graphics card. Plus, you can re-use the case for your next build, the build after that, and basically every build in your lifetime if you wanted to.
The Radeon 6850 is good choice if you want to buy everything from Newegg and factor in the mail in rebate. If you don't mind ordering from Amazon as well, the Sapphire Xtreme Radeon 5850 for $150 would be a better choice: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B004W75ATI/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&qid=1305149130&sr=8-1&condition=new *out of stock atm but it might come back in stock by the time you purchase
Performance difference between the two cards can be seen here: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/291?vs=295
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Yeah you need a Wi-Fi network interface (wireless adapter) if you want to use that. Pretty much only a few mini-ITX motherboards have onboard wireless.
I'm guessing the extra case fan is to round out the appearance? Price seems high for an Antec TriCool, but I guess you want to keep all the fans the same blue color or it'd look dumb.
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Mushkin is a well respected brand, they're just not as well known among the non tech-savvy consumers. A much better brand than Kingston imo. Keep in mind that all memory chips all come from the same few manufacturers (Samsung, Micron, etc) and that the brand only affects quality control / post-sale support.
Yes, you'll need a wireless adapter if you want wireless internet.
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Any thoughts? I've never heard of the memory brand, and part of me wants to support Kingston HyperX for their support of esports, but 8gb for 70 bucks is a great deal.
Funny, they only support e-sports to get this reaction so they can charge more for products. Funny how that works out. Since it's nothing personal for anyone, why spend more?
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@myrmidon Yeah the fan is for appearance's sake, I doubt I'll actually need the extra cooling though it'd be cool to have.
@skyR Thanks for the report on mushkin, glad to hear they're good.
@jinglehell Touché 
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Hey guys,
I have a general question, about hardware stores. Considering I'm living in the EU I wanted to ask if there is a possibility to buy hardware from the US/Canada? I see all those shiny low $ prices I couldn't resist to ask... Maybe someone has some experience with it? Is there any tax?
Thank you guys!
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On May 12 2011 08:16 Ulli wrote:Hey guys, I have a general question, about hardware stores. Considering I'm living in the EU I wanted to ask if there is a possibility to buy hardware from the US/Canada? I see all those shiny low $ prices I couldn't resist to ask... Maybe someone has some experience with it? Is there any tax? Thank you guys! 
I'm pretty sure that's the entire reason customs exists. Import tax protects the economy by keeping money inside it, or making sure you pay to bring things in, to keep value similar. Or something. I do computers, not economics. That's probably the kindergarten level economics 101 reason.
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the Z68 mobos have arrived today, is it better off getting the Z68 mobo or the P67?
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On May 12 2011 09:19 Impulsa wrote: the Z68 mobos have arrived today, is it better off getting the Z68 mobo or the P67?
Depends on your budget and what you are going to use it for.... Z68 boards start at the $160 pricepoint.
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On May 12 2011 09:19 Impulsa wrote: the Z68 mobos have arrived today, is it better off getting the Z68 mobo or the P67?
Does the Z68 have features that you may use? Some Z68 motherboards may not support the use of integrated graphics, which can be useful if your graphics card dies and you need a backup. But most will. Also, some may not support Virtu for Quick Sync support while using a discrete graphics card. Z68 also has Smart Response Technology (SSD caching as an option) available on Z68, which may be useful if you were thinking about using a lower-capacity SSD and don't want to manage what goes on each drive.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4329/intel-z68-chipset-smart-response-technology-ssd-caching-review
Aside from those things, there are no advantages to Z68 over P67, so if the P67 option is cheaper, you can just get the P67 motherboard if those things mean nothing to you. It's the same deal as P67 vs. H67 or H61. Don't pay for features you don't need.
On May 12 2011 09:29 skyR wrote:Show nested quote +On May 12 2011 09:19 Impulsa wrote: the Z68 mobos have arrived today, is it better off getting the Z68 mobo or the P67? Depends on your budget and what you are going to use it for.... Z68 boards start at the $160 pricepoint. Not really, it looks like.
Gigabyte Z68-D3 - $120 (no integrated graphics support) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128501
AsRock Z68 Pro3 - $130 (same price as P67 Pro3 so why not?) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157251
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Just want to say thanks for all the help in this thread. After reading some and planning my build with some help from skyR, I went from knowing absolutely nothing to building my very own first computer within a week. I put it together yesterday and everything works perfectly. SC2 runs smooth on max settings for only a little over $700. For anyone debating whether or not to build -- definitely go for it. Thanks everyone!
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Any problems if I want to buy 2x4Gb of RAM to mix with my 2x2Gb of a different brand of RAM? Just wondering.
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On May 12 2011 10:22 Blisse wrote: Any problems if I want to buy 2x4Gb of RAM to mix with my 2x2Gb of a different brand of RAM? Just wondering.
Well, knowing what RAM you have and want to buy would be good. A whole lot of things need to be the same or it won't help and could hurt.
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Well if they have diffrent clock speeds they will all run at the lowest clock. Also some people report errors when mixing different size sticks of ram. It won't damage any of your components but it may cause instability in windows.
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Just a quick question. On the previous page, you guys were talking about how multi-gpu setups have notoriously bad driver support. Is this problem present in multi-gpu single-pcb cards? (e.g. Radeon 6990 or GTX 590)
I'm not looking to buy one, I'm just curious.
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On May 12 2011 10:57 aDawg wrote: Just a quick question. On the previous page, you guys were talking about how multi-gpu setups have notoriously bad driver support. Is this problem present in multi-gpu single-pcb cards? (e.g. Radeon 6990 or GTX 590)
I'm not looking to buy one, I'm just curious.
If it's just curiosity, I suggest google. Just be careful, you might actually learn something.
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Didn't really search any retailer for z68 boards =\ Reviews and Gigabyte themselves made it sound like z68 would replace the higher-end boards first and start trickling down to the budget boards near the end of the year. I'm genuinely impressed and shocked that Asrock is replacing their entire p67 lineup with z68 motherboards at the same pricepoint. nvm guess its only the pro3 that's at the same pricepoint -_-
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