Building new comp. - Page 2

ajensl · 02-12-2008, 07:16 PM

I'd buy a motherboard that supports DDR2 and DDR3, but isn't that going be kinda hard to find? I thought that the physical RAM slot on the motherboard would be different for both (like DDR and DDR2).

The way technology is going at the moment I would have thought that DDR3 would become the standard fairly quickly.

New architechture at the end of the year you say? Hmm...maybe DDR2 is the way to go. Gakk...I really don't know. I've got the money for DDR3 but if the board is going to be useless for upgrading after a year...this ***** is doing my head in. Who would of thought buying a new computer would be this hard?

Actually, I knew it'd be this hard...damn this.

Am I going to run into any problems with XP w/SP2 running this hardware? Is there some terrible incompatibility that I don't yet know about that forces me to upgrade to (blech) Vista?

**emosun** · 02-12-2008, 07:35 PM

Not really just make sure if you have 3 or more gb of ram that you have the 64 bit version of vista or xp.

As for a board that would support ddr2 and ddr3 I don't actually know if any exist but it would be ideal for now. It would probly have two slots for ddr2 and two seperate slots for ddr3. I think you should probly just get a ddr3 board, you can always reuse the ram in your new board if you upgrade the cpu/motherboard in the future.

floydfan · 02-12-2008, 08:05 PM

yeah, he could get ddr3 now, but think about this: right now, ddr2 is less than half of ddr3 prices. if he gets ddr2 now, and ddr3 on a later upgrade, it will cost him the same amount of money in the end because by then ddr3 would have gone down to ddr2 prices, and the ddr3 he will get then will be the real deal after its had time to mature.

**emosun** · 02-12-2008, 08:30 PM

He could go either way its really just a matter of if he wants to spend alot for alot of speed now or save some money and wait a year or so.

MaXXimus · 02-13-2008, 07:57 AM

emosun I think you may need to do some more reading in regards to DDR3. I have yet to find one article that says anything in regards to DDR3 being worth buying... all have stated that DDR3 is no better then DDR2 right now. Thats why originally was going with a Maximus Extreme motherboard and DDR3 and then did some extensive research and opted for getting the Maximus Formula and DDR2 1066Mhz... and this will give me the same (if not better) performance and save me $700. I personally would never recommend anyone throwing their money out of the window. Now I did find a couple reviewers who said that DDR3 can give you a slight performance boost depending on your configuration... but still in the end they said it was only a 1% - 5% increase, so if you want to get that kind of performance increase for that insane amount of money then so be it... I would perfer to have a couple extra Raptors in my system.

**emosun** · 02-13-2008, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaXXimus

so if you want to get that kind of performance increase for that insane amount of money then so be it... I would perfer to have a couple extra Raptors in my system.

Arn't raptors another very expensive piece of hardware that barely increase the speed of a pc aswell? I mean really, you just got done saying that ddr3 is a waste of money for the extra speed.

themisiek1 · 02-13-2008, 08:50 AM

Yea, Raptors are insanely expensive for hard drives. 72GB for 100 dollars, gezzzz...

Personally I would stay with DDR2 for now and within the next year or even couple monthes DDR3 prices should drop to near DDR2 prices now.

ajensl · 03-04-2008, 05:07 AM

Hey I still can't decide whether to go DDR3 and Maximus Extreme or go back to DDR2 and a DDR2 board. I've narrowed it down to these four DDR2 boards:

Asus:
Striker II Formula
Maximus Formula
P5E-WS-PRO
P5N-T-Deluxe

Price is of no concern, has anyone heard anything about these boards? Had any troubles with them or positive experiences? Don't go nutso researching, I'm sure one is as good as the other, only difference I can see is that two use the X38 chipset an the other two are nForce SLi in varying degrees of advancement. I don't plan on using graphics cards in SLi so that really doesn't matter, I'm thinking then to go with the X38 as that seems to support a higher FSB. Your thoughts? I've also heard the nForce chipsets run hotter, is this true?

**TheMatt** · 03-04-2008, 08:28 PM

I would go with the P5N-T Deluxe. The X38 is obsolete; if you can find the X48 and really want to invest in DDR3 then I would go with that.

ajensl · 03-07-2008, 02:03 AM

Hey so I'm still in the design phase. I've decided to go with DDR3 for that little bit more lastability, considering that's the main thing I'm going for here. (Yeah I know, Nehalem and all that.) But I just thought I'd check back with you guys and see if you all approve:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad E6600 2.4Ghz
Mobo: Asus P5E3 Pro mobo (1600FSB, DDR3, X38 chipset)
Gfx: XFX 8800GTS 512mb
RAM: Kingston 2x1gb DDR3 @ 1066mhz CL7
HDD: 2x Seagate 250Gb 16mb cache
PSU: Antec 650w
CPU cooler: Zalman 9500A

Is there anything I should change? It's going to be used mainly for gaming so I was wondering if I should go an Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 3.0Ghz and keep it dual-core. But I figured quad core would mean the whole thing will last a tad longer as games get more geared toward supporting more cores.

Also will a 650w PSU be enough to support a 8800GTS?
And I'm looking at overclocking the CPU in the future, not just yet. But later on, should I be looking at a different motherboard or CPU cooler in that case? I cbf with water cooling atm so I wont be doing anything to extreme. Just squeezing a few more seasons out of the hardware till I bite the bullet and my wallet again.

**emosun** · 03-07-2008, 09:54 AM

Everything looks good, I would probly go with an 8800 GT tho and not the GTS. Other than that I like it.

**TheMatt** · 03-07-2008, 03:58 PM

I would not spend the money on DDR3 just yet. You can get the 750i now with DDR2 and save a ton of money.

ajensl · 03-07-2008, 09:11 PM

I got some real techeads in another forum to design a PC based on my budget, and they came up with this:

CPU: Intel BX80562Q6600 ( http://www.scorptec.com.au/product/25094/)

Mobo: Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3P - ( http://www.scorptec.com.au/product/25766/)

RAM: Kingston KHX8500D2K2/2GN ( http://www.scorptec.com.au/product/24489/)

Gfx card: ASUS EAH3870X2-HTDI-1Gb ( http://www.scorptec.com.au/product/26102/)

PSU: Antec 650w

DVD-RW: Pioneer DVR-215BK ( http://www.scorptec.com.au/product/25101/)

CPU cooler:Thermalright ULTRA-120-EX ( http://www.scorptec.com.au/product/23093/)

2x250Gb Seagate HDD 16mb cache

Fan: Noctua NF-R8-1800 - ( http://www.scorptec.com.au/product/25799/)

In your opinion which is better? Mainly gonna be used for gaming. Maybe a little bit of over-clocking. The cost difference between the two is neligible, I'm thinking an amalgamation of his design and mine. But I don't know, you guys do.
Thanks for all the feedback thus far.

ajensl · 03-08-2008, 02:06 AM

Sorry for the double post. I've basicallly designed two different systems, one's DDR2 and one's DDR3. The price difference is slim and doesn't really matter, and the graphics card is the other change. Which do you think will last longer/be more suited to gaming?

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.4Ghz
Mobo: Asus P5E64 WS Pro
RAM: Kingston 2x1Gb DDR3 @ 1066mMhz
Gfx card: XFX 8800GTS 512mb
HDD1: Seagate 250Gb 16mb 7200RPM
HDD2: Same as above.
Optical drive: Pioneer dual-layer 20x DVD-RW
Case: Silverstone Kublai 01
PSU: Antec 650w
CPU heatsink: Thermalright Ultra 120
CPU fan: Noctuna P12 1300RPM

OR

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.4Ghz
Mobo: Gigabyte EX38-DS4
RAM: Kingston 2x1Gb DDR2 @ 1066Mhz
Gfx card: Asus 3870X2 1Gb
HDD1: Seagate 250Gb 16mb 7200RPM
HDD2: Same as above.
Optical drive: Pioneer dual-layer 20x DVD-RW
Case: Silverstone Kublai 01
PSU: Antec 650w
CPU heatsink: Thermalright Ultra 120
CPU fan: Noctuna P12 1300RPM

Thanks for all your help.

**emosun** · 03-08-2008, 08:34 AM

I'd would go with the ddr3 setup if you can afford it. But change the 8800 gts to a gt. It would also probly be cheaper to get one 500gig hdd then two 250gig hdds.

ajensl · 03-08-2008, 05:36 PM

Someone on this forum told me to go with 2x250Gb drives. I'm guessing their reasoning was that if one conks out then I've still got a functioning computer. But I like having 2 drives anyway, and there's only about $10 price difference between the two options.

Why do you say 8800GT over either a GTS or a 3870X2?
I've seen the 3870X2 smoke the 8800 GT/GTS in benchmarks and in Fraps testing in-game. Is it just because the new Catalyst drivers that support it aren't out yet? Or because games have to add support to it before it works how it's s'posed to?
Forums are pretty much divided over this, as well as whether to go Q6600 or not. I'd love to go E8400 but they're not in stock till end of April and I've already been waiting ages for a new PC. I can always just upgrade later.

02-12-2008, 07:16 PM	#21 (permalink)
ajensl Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 19 OS: XP SP2	Re: Building new comp. I'd buy a motherboard that supports DDR2 and DDR3, but isn't that going be kinda hard to find? I thought that the physical RAM slot on the motherboard would be different for both (like DDR and DDR2). The way technology is going at the moment I would have thought that DDR3 would become the standard fairly quickly. New architechture at the end of the year you say? Hmm...maybe DDR2 is the way to go. Gakk...I really don't know. I've got the money for DDR3 but if the board is going to be useless for upgrading after a year...this ***** is doing my head in. Who would of thought buying a new computer would be this hard? Actually, I knew it'd be this hard...damn this. Am I going to run into any problems with XP w/SP2 running this hardware? Is there some terrible incompatibility that I don't yet know about that forces me to upgrade to (blech) Vista?

02-12-2008, 07:35 PM	#22 (permalink)
emosun Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 3,468 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: Building new comp. Not really just make sure if you have 3 or more gb of ram that you have the 64 bit version of vista or xp. As for a board that would support ddr2 and ddr3 I don't actually know if any exist but it would be ideal for now. It would probly have two slots for ddr2 and two seperate slots for ddr3. I think you should probly just get a ddr3 board, you can always reuse the ram in your new board if you upgrade the cpu/motherboard in the future. __________________ Speedfan-->http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php Everest -->http://filehippo.com/download_everest_home Benchmarks-->http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/g...Score,794.html

02-12-2008, 08:05 PM	#23 (permalink)
floydfan Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 367 OS: xp pro My System	Re: Building new comp. yeah, he could get ddr3 now, but think about this: right now, ddr2 is less than half of ddr3 prices. if he gets ddr2 now, and ddr3 on a later upgrade, it will cost him the same amount of money in the end because by then ddr3 would have gone down to ddr2 prices, and the ddr3 he will get then will be the real deal after its had time to mature.

02-12-2008, 08:30 PM	#24 (permalink)
emosun Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 3,468 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: Building new comp. He could go either way its really just a matter of if he wants to spend alot for alot of speed now or save some money and wait a year or so. __________________ Speedfan-->http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php Everest -->http://filehippo.com/download_everest_home Benchmarks-->http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/g...Score,794.html

02-13-2008, 07:57 AM	#25 (permalink)
MaXXimus Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 33 OS: Vista 64-bit & XP 32-bit (Dual Booting)	Re: Building new comp. emosun I think you may need to do some more reading in regards to DDR3. I have yet to find one article that says anything in regards to DDR3 being worth buying... all have stated that DDR3 is no better then DDR2 right now. Thats why originally was going with a Maximus Extreme motherboard and DDR3 and then did some extensive research and opted for getting the Maximus Formula and DDR2 1066Mhz... and this will give me the same (if not better) performance and save me $700. I personally would never recommend anyone throwing their money out of the window. Now I did find a couple reviewers who said that DDR3 can give you a slight performance boost depending on your configuration... but still in the end they said it was only a 1% - 5% increase, so if you want to get that kind of performance increase for that insane amount of money then so be it... I would perfer to have a couple extra Raptors in my system.

02-13-2008, 08:50 AM	#27 (permalink)
themisiek1 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 314 OS: XP My System	Re: Building new comp. Yea, Raptors are insanely expensive for hard drives. 72GB for 100 dollars, gezzzz... Personally I would stay with DDR2 for now and within the next year or even couple monthes DDR3 prices should drop to near DDR2 prices now. Last edited by themisiek1 : 02-13-2008 at 09:00 AM.

03-04-2008, 05:07 AM	#28 (permalink)
ajensl Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 19 OS: XP SP2	Re: Building new comp. Hey I still can't decide whether to go DDR3 and Maximus Extreme or go back to DDR2 and a DDR2 board. I've narrowed it down to these four DDR2 boards: Asus: Striker II Formula Maximus Formula P5E-WS-PRO P5N-T-Deluxe Price is of no concern, has anyone heard anything about these boards? Had any troubles with them or positive experiences? Don't go nutso researching, I'm sure one is as good as the other, only difference I can see is that two use the X38 chipset an the other two are nForce SLi in varying degrees of advancement. I don't plan on using graphics cards in SLi so that really doesn't matter, I'm thinking then to go with the X38 as that seems to support a higher FSB. Your thoughts? I've also heard the nForce chipsets run hotter, is this true?

03-04-2008, 08:28 PM	#29 (permalink)
TheMatt Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,693 OS: Win 3.1, 98, NT 4.0, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	Re: Building new comp. I would go with the P5N-T Deluxe. The X38 is obsolete; if you can find the X48 and really want to invest in DDR3 then I would go with that. __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides

03-07-2008, 02:03 AM	#30 (permalink)
ajensl Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 19 OS: XP SP2	Re: Building new comp. Hey so I'm still in the design phase. I've decided to go with DDR3 for that little bit more lastability, considering that's the main thing I'm going for here. (Yeah I know, Nehalem and all that.) But I just thought I'd check back with you guys and see if you all approve: CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad E6600 2.4Ghz Mobo: Asus P5E3 Pro mobo (1600FSB, DDR3, X38 chipset) Gfx: XFX 8800GTS 512mb RAM: Kingston 2x1gb DDR3 @ 1066mhz CL7 HDD: 2x Seagate 250Gb 16mb cache PSU: Antec 650w CPU cooler: Zalman 9500A Is there anything I should change? It's going to be used mainly for gaming so I was wondering if I should go an Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 3.0Ghz and keep it dual-core. But I figured quad core would mean the whole thing will last a tad longer as games get more geared toward supporting more cores. Also will a 650w PSU be enough to support a 8800GTS? And I'm looking at overclocking the CPU in the future, not just yet. But later on, should I be looking at a different motherboard or CPU cooler in that case? I cbf with water cooling atm so I wont be doing anything to extreme. Just squeezing a few more seasons out of the hardware till I bite the bullet and my wallet again. Last edited by ajensl : 03-07-2008 at 02:06 AM.

03-07-2008, 09:54 AM	#31 (permalink)
emosun Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 3,468 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: Building new comp. Everything looks good, I would probly go with an 8800 GT tho and not the GTS. Other than that I like it. __________________ Speedfan-->http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php Everest -->http://filehippo.com/download_everest_home Benchmarks-->http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/g...Score,794.html

03-07-2008, 03:58 PM	#32 (permalink)
TheMatt Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,693 OS: Win 3.1, 98, NT 4.0, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	Re: Building new comp. I would not spend the money on DDR3 just yet. You can get the 750i now with DDR2 and save a ton of money. __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides

03-07-2008, 09:11 PM	#33 (permalink)
ajensl Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 19 OS: XP SP2	Re: Building new comp. I got some real techeads in another forum to design a PC based on my budget, and they came up with this: CPU: Intel BX80562Q6600 ( http://www.scorptec.com.au/product/25094/) Mobo: Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3P - ( http://www.scorptec.com.au/product/25766/) RAM: Kingston KHX8500D2K2/2GN ( http://www.scorptec.com.au/product/24489/) Gfx card: ASUS EAH3870X2-HTDI-1Gb ( http://www.scorptec.com.au/product/26102/) PSU: Antec 650w DVD-RW: Pioneer DVR-215BK ( http://www.scorptec.com.au/product/25101/) CPU cooler:Thermalright ULTRA-120-EX ( http://www.scorptec.com.au/product/23093/) 2x250Gb Seagate HDD 16mb cache Fan: Noctua NF-R8-1800 - ( http://www.scorptec.com.au/product/25799/) In your opinion which is better? Mainly gonna be used for gaming. Maybe a little bit of over-clocking. The cost difference between the two is neligible, I'm thinking an amalgamation of his design and mine. But I don't know, you guys do. Thanks for all the feedback thus far.

03-08-2008, 02:06 AM	#34 (permalink)
ajensl Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 19 OS: XP SP2	Re: Building new comp. Sorry for the double post. I've basicallly designed two different systems, one's DDR2 and one's DDR3. The price difference is slim and doesn't really matter, and the graphics card is the other change. Which do you think will last longer/be more suited to gaming? CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.4Ghz Mobo: Asus P5E64 WS Pro RAM: Kingston 2x1Gb DDR3 @ 1066mMhz Gfx card: XFX 8800GTS 512mb HDD1: Seagate 250Gb 16mb 7200RPM HDD2: Same as above. Optical drive: Pioneer dual-layer 20x DVD-RW Case: Silverstone Kublai 01 PSU: Antec 650w CPU heatsink: Thermalright Ultra 120 CPU fan: Noctuna P12 1300RPM OR CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.4Ghz Mobo: Gigabyte EX38-DS4 RAM: Kingston 2x1Gb DDR2 @ 1066Mhz Gfx card: Asus 3870X2 1Gb HDD1: Seagate 250Gb 16mb 7200RPM HDD2: Same as above. Optical drive: Pioneer dual-layer 20x DVD-RW Case: Silverstone Kublai 01 PSU: Antec 650w CPU heatsink: Thermalright Ultra 120 CPU fan: Noctuna P12 1300RPM Thanks for all your help.

03-08-2008, 08:34 AM	#35 (permalink)
emosun Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 3,468 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: Building new comp. I'd would go with the ddr3 setup if you can afford it. But change the 8800 gts to a gt. It would also probly be cheaper to get one 500gig hdd then two 250gig hdds. __________________ Speedfan-->http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php Everest -->http://filehippo.com/download_everest_home Benchmarks-->http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/g...Score,794.html

03-08-2008, 05:36 PM	#36 (permalink)
ajensl Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 19 OS: XP SP2	Re: Building new comp. Someone on this forum told me to go with 2x250Gb drives. I'm guessing their reasoning was that if one conks out then I've still got a functioning computer. But I like having 2 drives anyway, and there's only about $10 price difference between the two options. Why do you say 8800GT over either a GTS or a 3870X2? I've seen the 3870X2 smoke the 8800 GT/GTS in benchmarks and in Fraps testing in-game. Is it just because the new Catalyst drivers that support it aren't out yet? Or because games have to add support to it before it works how it's s'posed to? Forums are pretty much divided over this, as well as whether to go Q6600 or not. I'd love to go E8400 but they're not in stock till end of April and I've already been waiting ages for a new PC. I can always just upgrade later.

03-08-2008, 06:58 PM	#37 (permalink)
emosun Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 3,468 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: Building new comp.