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Author Topic: New PC time - parts list  (Read 24285 times)
angry.bob
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on: October 08, 2007, 12:09:32 AM

So it's time for a new PC. I stopped reading anything about new hardware after I built my (then) state of the art AMD 2600XP pc years back. After skimming Anandtech here's what I came up with:

Antec NSK4480 case
Asus P5K motherboard
Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4g (1066mhz)
Crucial 4gb DDR2 667 (2gb X 2)
BFG BFGR88768GTXOC2E Geforce 8800GTX 768mb DDR3 PCI-E factory over-clocked W/HDTV & 2DVI
Maxtor 320gb 7200rpm SATA2 hd
Pioneer DVR-212 18x SATA Double Layer DVD RW Drive

Anyone see anything that wouldn't work or is generally known to have problems i.e. it's crap, has cooling problems, whatever. Cost isn't really an issue, though I don't want or need the fastest video card or processor.

Also, is Vista still having issues with drivers and whatnot, or should I stick with XP Pro?

Thanks in advance.

Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muß man schweigen.
schild
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Reply #1 on: October 08, 2007, 12:12:46 AM

Why limit yourself with the DDR2 667? I mean, you're maxxing everything out everywhere else.

Stick with XP Pro until SP1.
Trippy
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Posts: 23612


Reply #2 on: October 08, 2007, 12:19:47 AM

Are you in any particular hurry? The X38 motherboards will be coming out soon followed by 45nm CPUs followed by NVIDIA 98XX cards followed by PCI-e Creative Lab sound cards.

Also schild is right -- you want DDR2-800 memory at the minimum. If you plan on OCing you may want the P5K Deluxe instead.

Salamok
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Reply #3 on: October 08, 2007, 01:19:50 AM

I'd go with a seagate 500 or 750 gig HD, plenty of performance with server class durability.
angry.bob
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Reply #4 on: October 08, 2007, 06:30:57 AM

I'm not in a super hurry, but I want to have it ready and running by the end of the month. As much as I love my current PC, it's on it's last legs and can barely handle Hellgate or anything from the last six months. I'm getting wierd memory error pop-ups about addresses that can't be read along with a host of other things. I could probably fix that by getting new memory, but I'm using it as an excuse to build something newer. Besides, I'm wary of being on the first wave of new motherboards and chipsets. Waiting for the new Nvidia cards is tempting, but...

The 667mhz memory is what came in the bundle and is part of the buildup and testing package, I didn't realize there was much faster available. I should have because it's only a little faster than the DD2 that's in this machine. I may drop the ammount down  so I'm not wasting cash on 4gigs of it, and then get faster from Newegg or something and put this stuff in my wife's machine. I'm also switching from the P5K which only supprts DDR2 to the P5K-C which supports DDR2 and DDR3 so I can switch up to DDR3 when it's not $1100 for 4gigs.

Looking at the price difference between 2 and 4 gigs I'm definately dropping. 4 gigs is $200, 2 gigs is $50. $50 I wouldn't feel guilty about throwing the memory at squirrels in my yard.

Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muß man schweigen.
Murgos
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Reply #5 on: October 08, 2007, 07:00:33 AM

I'm using Vista Home Premium.  Seems ok, no issues so far.  Haven't noticed any problems with games or drivers.  Well, except that my USB wireless Lan dohicky will not be supported for Vista, but that's more D-Link being asses than MS being asses.

edit: Might help others: http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/guide-200708.ars
« Last Edit: October 08, 2007, 07:02:46 AM by Murgos »

"You have all recieved youre last warning. I am in the process of currently tracking all of youre ips and pinging your home adressess. you should not have commencemed a war with me" - Aaron Rayburn
Trippy
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Reply #6 on: October 08, 2007, 07:03:12 AM

You'll need to replace the power supply in that case or get a different case without a power supply like the Antec Solo.
Ookii
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Reply #7 on: October 08, 2007, 07:10:36 AM

Are you in any particular hurry? The X38 motherboards will be coming out soon followed by 45nm CPUs followed by NVIDIA 98XX cards followed by PCI-e Creative Lab sound cards.

Without me doing any research on my own part, what is the timeline for all of this coming out?

Yegolev
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Reply #8 on: October 08, 2007, 07:51:22 AM

So what's the deal with "more than 2GB RAM" and "Vista"?  Since I didn't see the usual comments when someone mentions installing more than 2GB RAM.  I'm still waiting for SP1 before I ditch XP, but I'm curious.

Why am I homeless?  Why do all you motherfuckers need homes is the real question.
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Salamok
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Reply #9 on: October 08, 2007, 08:00:49 AM

So what's the deal with "more than 2GB RAM" and "Vista"?  Since I didn't see the usual comments when someone mentions installing more than 2GB RAM.  I'm still waiting for SP1 before I ditch XP, but I'm curious.

It can directly address more than 2g of ram.  No guarantees that there isn't a "Windows Vista That Addresses Less Then 2 Gig Of RAM For The Ultimate Home Business" version though. 
MrHat
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Reply #10 on: October 08, 2007, 08:07:59 AM

I think you need the 64-bit version to access more than like 3.5gb's of RAM.

But I dunno.

Keep the comments coming, my build won't come till Dec. at the earliest.
taleril
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Reply #11 on: October 08, 2007, 08:24:52 AM

Anandtech had some very in depth articles about the 2GB limit a while back.  32 bit XP and Vista have the same problem.  I think the only way to really avoid it is to get XP 64 or one of the Vista 64 bit versions.

Part 1 http://www.anandtech.com/gadgets/showdoc.aspx?i=3034
Part 2 http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=3044&p=1
Part 3 http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=3060&p=1
Engels
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Reply #12 on: October 08, 2007, 09:08:10 AM

If you must buy now, and you're feeling a bit antsy about later upgrades, this P35 chipset motherboard by Gigabyte might be a good compromise. As you can see from the pictures, it has 6 memory slots, 4 for DDR2, 2 for DDR3. It also purportedly will support th new 45nm CPUs.

I have it, and am largely pleased with it. However, if you are into overclocking, its a good solution -if- you know what you're doing. The Windows-based utility for overclocking is more flash than useful, and its use is fairly confusing. The BIOS configuration is extensive, and unlike Asus, is mildly comprehensible to the amateur.

I should get back to nature, too.  You know, like going to a shop for groceries instead of the computer.  Maybe a condo in the woods that doesn't even have a health club or restaurant attached.  Buy a car with only two cup holders or something. -Signe

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Trippy
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Reply #13 on: October 08, 2007, 09:11:36 AM

Are you in any particular hurry? The X38 motherboards will be coming out soon followed by 45nm CPUs followed by NVIDIA 98XX cards followed by PCI-e Creative Lab sound cards.
Without me doing any research on my own part, what is the timeline for all of this coming out?
Novemberish though the first batch of CPUs will be the high end models. The more mainstream stuff won't be available till next year.
Alkiera
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Reply #14 on: October 08, 2007, 09:15:56 AM

PCI-e Creative Lab sound cards.

I have yet to find any convincing reason to purchase anything from Creative Labs newer than my SB PCI128...  I keep hearing stories about how combinations involving their newer hardware have been the source of crash-related issues since the Live! era, and have yet to hear anything contrary to that.

Also, I am not an audiophile.  I have a good ear for pitch, but game/computer 'music' and sound effects haven't really impressed me except when they are particularly bad.  I do tend to play with the sound on, as games often make good use of it, but I neither expect nor really desire Dolby 5.1 out of a game.  Stereo effects that don't make my ears bleed and aren't really distracting are all I ask.

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Trippy
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Reply #15 on: October 08, 2007, 09:26:31 AM

You are missing out on 3D sound but if you don't care about that then be happy. The Live definitely had lots of issues, Audigy very few and I haven't had a single sound card related issue with my Xi-Fi card.
Jimbo
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Reply #16 on: October 08, 2007, 12:39:31 PM

I upgraded my two computers to this hard drive :

Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10,000 RPM 16MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136011

It is one of the few things I'll probably reuse on the 3 new computers we will be building for the home next summer.
Pennilenko
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Reply #17 on: October 08, 2007, 01:33:20 PM

So it's time for a new PC. I stopped reading anything about new hardware after I built my (then) state of the art AMD 2600XP pc years back. After skimming Anandtech here's what I came up with:

Antec NSK4480 case
Asus P5K motherboard
Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4g (1066mhz)
Crucial 4gb DDR2 667 (2gb X 2)
BFG BFGR88768GTXOC2E Geforce 8800GTX 768mb DDR3 PCI-E factory over-clocked W/HDTV & 2DVI
Maxtor 320gb 7200rpm SATA2 hd
Pioneer DVR-212 18x SATA Double Layer DVD RW Drive

Anyone see anything that wouldn't work or is generally known to have problems i.e. it's crap, has cooling problems, whatever. Cost isn't really an issue, though I don't want or need the fastest video card or processor.

Also, is Vista still having issues with drivers and whatnot, or should I stick with XP Pro?

Thanks in advance.

Hehe, I built a machine thats half of that, and it simply crushes everything i throw at it. Going overkill for a reason or just getting the option to make a geeks wetdream come true?

With that build you might as well go SLI on the graphics card set up. Go for 2 - 320 Meg 8800GTS's, same price as the single card you are looking at. Seriously the benchmarks between the Smaller Ram GTS and the Bigger Ram GTS arent different enough to justify the anal rape......er i mean NVidia pricing that the GTX is.

P.S. Do you play DoD? If so do you know Killer.Bob or any of the couple other Bobs?
« Last Edit: October 08, 2007, 01:48:48 PM by Pennilenko »

"See?  All of you are unique.  And special.  Like fucking snowflakes."  -- Signe
Pennilenko
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Reply #18 on: October 08, 2007, 01:47:10 PM

I upgraded my two computers to this hard drive :

Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10,000 RPM 16MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136011

It is one of the few things I'll probably reuse on the 3 new computers we will be building for the home next summer.

Despite the high RPM , those drives are held back by the Serial ATA150 connection standard. Any drive with a 16 meg cache @ 7200 RPM right now on the SATA 3.0 G/Sec Is competing for half the price approximately.

Im not saying the drives are bad, they are in fact great drives. Just the hype around them is a bit overdone. They arent the Raptor Jesus of data storage.

I really beleive in people making sensible hardware decisions. So much technology that people throw their money at is overhyped and overpriced.
« Last Edit: October 08, 2007, 01:53:38 PM by Pennilenko »

"See?  All of you are unique.  And special.  Like fucking snowflakes."  -- Signe
Salamok
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Reply #19 on: October 08, 2007, 02:02:06 PM

I upgraded my two computers to this hard drive :

Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10,000 RPM 16MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136011

It is one of the few things I'll probably reuse on the 3 new computers we will be building for the home next summer.

Despite the high RPM , those drives are held back by the Serial ATA150 connection standard. Any drive with a 16 meg cache @ 7200 RPM right now on the SATA 3.0 G/Sec Is competing for half the price approximately.

Im not saying the drives are bad, they are in fact great drives. Just the hype around them is a bit overdone. They arent the Raptor Jesus of data storage.

I really beleive in people making sensible hardware decisions. So much technology that people throw their money at is overhyped and overpriced.

/boggle

I haven't looked in a few months but is there a single drive solution (no solid states) that can exceed 1.5gbs for long enough to even have a noticable impact?  Every review I have read has the Raptor coming out as the fastest SATA drive on the market and it has had that crown for 3 years or so.

I have the 74gig which I dropped in a few years back and I love it, I have since added a 750gig barracuda which I love more but not because it is faster.
« Last Edit: October 08, 2007, 02:03:59 PM by Salamok »
Pennilenko
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Reply #20 on: October 08, 2007, 02:43:11 PM

I upgraded my two computers to this hard drive :

Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10,000 RPM 16MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136011

It is one of the few things I'll probably reuse on the 3 new computers we will be building for the home next summer.

Despite the high RPM , those drives are held back by the Serial ATA150 connection standard. Any drive with a 16 meg cache @ 7200 RPM right now on the SATA 3.0 G/Sec Is competing for half the price approximately.

Im not saying the drives are bad, they are in fact great drives. Just the hype around them is a bit overdone. They arent the Raptor Jesus of data storage.

I really beleive in people making sensible hardware decisions. So much technology that people throw their money at is overhyped and overpriced.

/boggle

I haven't looked in a few months but is there a single drive solution (no solid states) that can exceed 1.5gbs for long enough to even have a noticable impact?  Every review I have read has the Raptor coming out as the fastest SATA drive on the market and it has had that crown for 3 years or so.

I have the 74gig which I dropped in a few years back and I love it, I have since added a 750gig barracuda which I love more but not because it is faster.

Seriously the major problem we have right now is that the connection standard far exceeds the actual hardwares ability to use all of that connection speed.

My advice on the drives stems from the fact that i have 2 Seagates in raid 0 , before that i had 2 of them raptors in raid 0, I challenge any human being on the planet to notice a difference with their human senses. Seriously a human can't observe or count fast enough to notice the difference between a raptor and a nice seagate or WD.

My wallet can sure tell the difference though.


P.S. I just looked up what you were saying. Well at least the cable isnt a choke point LOL. However online benchmarks between the raptor and seagate i love so much arent far enough apart to justify the cost difference. I mean you would really have to be a super techi OCD geek to throw the money away on the raptor based on its benchmarks alone.
« Last Edit: October 08, 2007, 02:47:14 PM by Pennilenko »

"See?  All of you are unique.  And special.  Like fucking snowflakes."  -- Signe
Salamok
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Reply #21 on: October 08, 2007, 03:00:46 PM

I agree the Raptor wins by a miniscule sliver, 3 years ago though the performance gap was much larger.  Anyhoo, the Barracuda is a much better all around drive, it has 10 times (5 if comparing to the 150gig model) the capacity and comes very close to matching the Raptor's speed.  Unfortunately neither drive is cheap.

Lt.Dan
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Reply #22 on: October 08, 2007, 04:05:54 PM

Do some googling on the factory OC'd graphics card.  Some previous versions have had terrible stability problems out of the box - not the kind of thing you'd want after paying top dollar.
Hoax
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Reply #23 on: October 08, 2007, 04:57:19 PM

If your having fun, nothing says having fun like having a 10,000+ rpm small HD to actually install windows on.  If your not having that much fun don't forget to partition, hopefully you aren't that retarded but I never know these days.

Otherwise, I'm in pretty much the same boat as you, computer getting old (3+ years now I'd wager) some parts are grinding down (cpu cooler fan has a squeak, one case fan is dead for who knows wtf reason, had a odd seemingly related memory error the other day) looking forward to building a new rig, until I remember all the other things I want to put money towards..


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hal
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Reply #24 on: October 08, 2007, 05:51:16 PM

All in my opinion only. Core 2 dual rocks. The highest speed memory you can get with out over clocking rocks. (This has been Intel's failing in the past, but not any more if you shop smart). There is only one choice in video cards. And saying that does not make me happy. Do not buy ATI, Do not buy SLI. Buy the best vid card that you can afford. And game on brother. I will not advise above 2 gig's memory unless you know exactly what drivers you are going to use with your 64 bit operating system (XP or Vista). If you do know please post describing your build. It is gonna happen and it is going to rock hard when it does. But, to my knowledge it is not there yet. It is due. But unless you are able to write 64 bit motherboard drivers it just ain't ripe. Please correct me if you know different.

I started with nothing, and I still have most of it

I'm not a complete idiot... Some parts are still on backorder.
Trippy
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Reply #25 on: October 08, 2007, 05:55:07 PM

With that build you might as well go SLI on the graphics card set up. Go for 2 - 320 Meg 8800GTS's, same price as the single card you are looking at. Seriously the benchmarks between the Smaller Ram GTS and the Bigger Ram GTS arent different enough to justify the anal rape......er i mean NVidia pricing that the GTX is.
1) The P35 doesn't support SLI

2) A single GTX is better than dual GTSes. The benchmarks are about the same, the price is less for a GTX and you don't have to deal with the hassle of using SLI drivers.

angry.bob
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Reply #26 on: October 08, 2007, 07:00:49 PM

Hmmm, 64 bit... I hadn't even thought about that. Is 64 bit a problem with drivers or something? Should I get 32 bit XP, or forge into the brave new world of XP 64?

Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muß man schweigen.
hal
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Reply #27 on: October 08, 2007, 07:05:23 PM

If not being available would present a problem, then yes. The shit ain't there. Vista 32 bit is nearly there but 64 bit is vapor ware. Same with XP.

I started with nothing, and I still have most of it

I'm not a complete idiot... Some parts are still on backorder.
angry.bob
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Reply #28 on: October 08, 2007, 07:22:27 PM

Hmmm, 32 bit XP it is then. Which I assume will run fine on a 64 bit system, just not using the hardware to it's full potential or something.

Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muß man schweigen.
Yegolev
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Reply #29 on: October 09, 2007, 07:47:47 AM

I read, probably on Anandtech, that XP-64 has been "abandoned"... probably in one of those three articles linked above.  In any case, it would appear that Vista64 is the only hope for bothering with more than 4GB or RAM, and I mean that in a "hope it gets here in a few years" way.  Apparently MS requires Vista drivers to be 64-bit, but I'm not terribly confident about that.

Why am I homeless?  Why do all you motherfuckers need homes is the real question.
They called it The Prayer, its answer was law
Mommy come back 'cause the water's all gone
rattran
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Unreasonable


Reply #30 on: October 09, 2007, 08:42:08 AM

I'm running Vista home premium x64, with an evga 680i, 4 gig of corsair 1066, c2d 6420, 8800gts, xfi sound, sata dvd, a couple seagate 500 (.10s)  with no driver problems at this point. Before I switched to the xfi, I was having problems with the crappy razer barracuda drivers, but that was it. I'd have used onboard sound, but the mic was too damn quiet in both xp and vista.

If I had to build a rig now, I'd probably stick with the same basic setup, but go for quad core, and a gtx. I'll second the 'don't go SLI' Going for a single card still leaves the SLI option open if at a later point you need more oomph.

The X38 boards don't seem significantly better than the P35, and I'm happy with the nvidia 680i chipset myself.
Sky
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Reply #31 on: October 09, 2007, 09:11:01 AM

Do some googling on the factory OC'd graphics card.  Some previous versions have had terrible stability problems out of the box - not the kind of thing you'd want after paying top dollar.
My first O/C card had dud ram on it. Second one is fine. (evga 8800gtx factory o/c) Annoying to have to return it, but ultimately I'm satisfied.
MrHat
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Reply #32 on: October 12, 2007, 12:18:08 PM

Anyone hear anything new on the 8800GT?

I'm flush with cash and ready to buy, but if new stuff is coming out..
rattran
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Unreasonable


Reply #33 on: October 12, 2007, 02:57:30 PM

9800 series is supposed to launch in early Nov. Around the 13th I think. Should be dx10.1 hardware compatable
Trippy
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Reply #34 on: October 12, 2007, 05:15:41 PM

Anyone hear anything new on the 8800GT?

I'm flush with cash and ready to buy, but if new stuff is coming out..
How flush?
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