KingofLodis

I've got all the money I need for my computer now! :) Now I can run around buying the parts or order them all from Newegg or tigerdirect or something! The question is, however, whether or not I should change up some of the planned parts I was buying.

So far, this is what I've bought, and I need to buy all the other parts together so that I can test them all in one go. (I don't have a comp that can test the parts.):

Ultra Aluminus Case (with fans :P)
http://www.ultraproducts.com/product...&productID=411

Antec Truepower Trio 650W PSU
http://www.techfear.com/articles/200...trio_650.shtml



These are the things that I was looking into buying (compliments to TheMatt and others for the suggestions on all to buy):

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M sharing L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115003

GIGABYTE GA-965P-S3 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128017

OCZ Gold Series 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 533 (PC2 4200) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227075

Western Digital Caviar RE WD1600YS 160GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136062

LITE-ON 16X DVD±R DVD Burner W/5X DVD-RAM Write Black ATAPI/E-IDE Model SHM-165P6S
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106017

SAPPHIRE 100101L Radeon X850XT PE 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16 Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102052
I can't find this video card on newegg anymore for some reason... Is there a better alternative for = price or a bit more?

ZALMAN CNPS9500 LED 92mm 2 Ball Blue LED Light Cooling Fan with Heatsink - $63.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835118223

AND!!! I also need an operating system, I'm getting bored of Windows 2000 Pro. Should I get Vista? Or maybe I should just stick with Pro? Or XP? >_>

My current budget: 1000$ Flat

TheMatt

Nice Computer! Some of those parts are exactly what I would have chosen.

The X850XT PE was a great card, but since it is gone, have a look at these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102034 <<< A little better than the X850XT
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102061 <<< Better if you can afford it

I would check out this HSF, it is much less expensive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835118003 <<< The same thing as you listed, a nice HSF

Other than that, it is an awesome rig.

BTW, the links are broken.

PanamaGal

Looks pretty good. As for the OS, either go for Vista now if you're chomping at the bit, or keep W2K for a while longer, then go to Vista as more drivers emerge and mature. Not really much point in going with XP now from what I can see.

Tumbleweed36

Hi,

Looks like a very nice rig and you have done it correctly. If it were mine and a new build (and if you have the bucks), I would go ahead and make the switch to Vista IF you are now bored with what you have. Might as well make the big jump and get it over with. That is my opinion.

KingofLodis

@All regarding OS:

Well, what I have right now, in terms of OSs, it's also not compatible with a few of the games that I want to play. Like take The Battle for Middle Earth 2 for example... I'm afraid that a lot of the newer games might require XP or better as well...

If I got Vista, would all the XP games be compatible?

If this is so, then I'll see about getting Vista some time, so I can just make the big jump and get it over with as you suggest :P

@TheMatt:
I don't understand the difference between the two video cards except the fact that one costs more money... How is the second better than the first? And how is that HSF any different than the first? (No offense ment by this, I realise that it might be read in an annoyed sort of way ;P It's hard to tell how someone is talking on the net >_<)

Sorry about the links, I tried to fix them, but I'm having troubles with it... It seems to keep wanting to make the links "smaller" with the "..." in random places when I copy and paste it...

Doby

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/buyorupgrade/upgradeadvisor.mspx

You can run the above tool to check what programs are compatible with vista that is if you have them installed on a xp machine, even though you are not upgrading that particular machine it will still tell you if the programs installed on it will run with vista.

I would also ask over in the gamers section

KingofLodis

The DVD burner/player isn't available anymore, is there a better one somewhere for around the = price of the one I posted??

And this still remains:

@TheMatt:
I don't understand the difference between the two video cards except the fact that one costs more money... How is the second better than the first? And how is that HSF any different than the first? (No offense ment by this, I realise that it might be read in an annoyed sort of way ;P It's hard to tell how someone is talking on the net >_<)

Sorry about the links, I tried to fix them, but I'm having troubles with it... It seems to keep wanting to make the links "smaller" with the "..." in random places when I copy and paste it...

(((The second video card link you gave me is kinda iffy... 19% bad reviews... Ouch...))

PanamaGal

I like this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827151136

TheMatt

The second one has a GPU clock that is 80 MHz faster, and a RAM clock that is 200 MHz faster. Just faster performance, that is all. With the X1900, and X1950 cards, it goes like this:

GT < Pro < XT < XTX

The X1900GT will be faster than the X850XT PE, but not by a whole lot. The X1900Pro will be much better than the X850XT PE.

Keep in mind, some people got the unlucky card from the batch, and usually people will be more likely to post a review if their card was DOA or had another problem. The latest reviews were all good, so it is a safe bet.

KingofLodis

(Argh, I just typed a whole thing and then hit 'quote' oy, writing again!)

So when they start figuring out what's wrong with the video cards being sent out to people, they start fixing it before they continue to sell it... And all the while trying to improve it? Like the Xbox 360 deal in a way? :P (That seems to be the most logical thing to do in this case...)

I thought GT and Pro were worse than XT according to the little chart thingy? So how is X850XT PE worse? >_> The X1900's are generally better than the X850's? Sorry for my ignorance >_<

So you would still recommend the second one you posted above the first?

And the only difference between the HSF's we posted are one has LED lights? And the other doesn't? Or is there something better about one of them? >_< *will look into this deeper*

Thank you very much for this suggestion :) It looks better than the one I posted ^.^

(Sorry if I seem rude to anyone in this post, I've been up all day and I'm kinda grumpy ._<)

KingofLodis

Is this RAM compatable with my motherboard?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227126

I looked at the bottom of the motherboard info, under "features" and I'm curious...

Would you recommend I get this ram over the other ram? It's around 10$ cheaper with a mail in rebate... But I need performance too...

TheMatt

It starts with GT as the worse, and goes to XTX as the best. The X1900 series is better than the X850 series because it has newer shader. The memory and core clocks are about the same. It also has the same amount of pipelines but many more vertex and pixel shaders.

This RAM won't really give you better performance. It will allow you to overclock though. Since it is cheaper, and the other is not available, I think you should go for it. I will check if it has been verified as compatible.

EDIT: That RAM has not been verified as compatible on OCZ's web site, and furthermore, OCZ lists only having tested PC2 4200 DDR2 533 MHz RAM. This RAM has been tested according to Corsair's site, so I would pay the extra couple of dollars for that added piece of mind.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145566

KingofLodis

Wow, those Corsair look promising... I have no idea whatsoever how to overclock a stick of ram... And to be honest, I've been afraid to do it before because I know what can happen if you do it wrong...

So you suggest I buy the corsair ram?

I've looked at a few RAM info places, and I don't understand what the difference between the Mhz and the timings are.. Which is it better to focus on for a performance PC?

What would I be able to overclock these corsair ram sticks to?

(On a side note, it does say something on my mobo's specifications that says something about it only being compatable with 5-5-5 timings... If I overclock it will that mess anything up?...

TheMatt

When you overclock a processor by increasing the FSB, you are also overclocking the chipset and RAM. If you don't use RAM that runs at a speed equal or close to the memory bus, then you will encounter stability issues.

I would get the corsair RAM instead because you are guaranteed it will be compatible.

Basically, the bandwidth of your RAM is calculated like this:

Speed (MHz) x Width (Bytes) = Bandwidth

So...

800 MHz x 8 B = 6.4 GB/s

That is your theoretical bandwidth. Unfortunately, because of latencies and slow timings, the theoretical bandwidth is rarely reached. The speed will be reduced depending on the timings. The first number refers to the latency, which is the most important. For DDR2 800 MHz RAM, 6 is the standard, and reduced latency RAM can have a latency of 5 (yours), 4, or even 3.

The one thing you need to keep in mind while overclocking is the stability of the RAM. It is common practice to get RAM faster than what your system takes because that will greatly reduce the probability of memory issues. But when you are not, it is important to keep in mind that you may have to increase your RAM timings to keep the modules stable.

KingofLodis

So you think that the ram that you posted would be among the ideal choices of RAM for the computer that I'm planning to get? Would it hurt me to not overclock those sticks of ram at all..?

These are some sticks of RAM that I've been looking at, but I'm afraid of their compatability with my mobo, because neither of the websites (mobo's website or the RAM's website, say anything about being compatable... but it's possible that not all are on the website..)

I'm thinking I'm going to push my money up a bit so I can get 2x1 gig sticks of ram... But the thing at the bottom of my mobo's specs (the features...) kinda scares me >_> It says:

So I'm guessing the below two won't work?
And if not, is there 2x1gig sticks of ram for the one you posted above? I looked on Newegg, but they weren't 5-5-5-15 like the one you showed me.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227089

Or this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227139

smz

Okay, I've built a lot of systems in my years. One good thing you've done is chose newegg for your products. They are very inexpensive on most things are great service.

My only gripe about your configuration is the RAM (I know this from personal experience with 4 sets of OCZ) and your choice for a 160gb Hard Drive.

The 160gb drive isn't cost effective. I dont think it's necessary to buy a 500gb either but the differences in prices out here in California are so little between a 250 to 400 it's scary. Almost every week our local fry's sells an OEM Maxtor Diamondmax 250gb SATA for $49 with a 3 year warranty.

As far as RAM, my only trouble has been with OCZ. Kingston has never failed on me, though with my current HyperX, the overclocking abilities are endless. Don't expect that out of Value Ram (kvr series).

Video Card selection? Just paid $99 at pcclub.com for a 7600GT 256DDR3.

CPU Fan: Zalman kicks butt. That choice is one of the best ones I've ever seen reviewed. My friend has one, it's so silent it's deadly.

CD/DVD: Ante up $5 extra buck and get the SATA version. I'm not sure about the Gigabyte M/B you chose, but my G965 has only one IDE port. Everything else is SATA. It's not really a bandwidth issue, more of a CPU utilization thing.

I'm new here so I'm just blabbing.

Take it Easy.

KingofLodis

I guess I'll go with the Corsair ram... Kingston is among my favorites as well smz, but I get endless comments about Corsair being among the best. The only trouble with what's going on now, is seeing if they have the same RAM that Matt posted (same timings and everything), but with 2x 1 gig sticks of ram. (been looking on Newegg :P)

Also, the motherboard that I have up has no IDE ports. I'll look for one that's very similar, if not better, that's SATA. Thank you for the heads up btw :) I might have made a big mistake by buying it and then realising at the end that they're not even compatable :>

I'm new to the whole SATA deal... If I were to get a SATA dvd/cd drive, would it be able to plug into one of the 6 SATA 3gb/s "Storage Device" places? Or is there something missing on the specs? >_<

EDIT: I just changed my list to the same exact CD/DVD player, but just SATA instead of IDE. Once again, thanks for the heads up :)

Do you have any recommendations on a better hard drive? Equal in price?

I'm thinking this is my best bet on RAM... If there's no 5-5-5-15 2x1 gigs:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145590

5-5-5-12...

smz

Hey King:

As far as a universal product known for outstanding performance, I may give Corsair the nod on this one. The link for the Corsair at Newegg for $159 AR is a pretty good price for that level of ram. Before ram had such a significant drop, I picked up a very good deal on my Kingston HyperX 6400 for something like $200 shipped. Same 2x1gb dual channel configuration. But the kicker was it's timing. They claim the spec as 4-4-4-12 when running it at 800mhz or higher and furthermore, the require a voltage boost on your m/b to 2.1 as opposed to the stock 1.8. Anyhow as you can see, I have a stable system at 4-4-4-15 with this ram and a slightly overclocked system that stock is 2.13ghz per core and running soundly at 2.5ghz x 2.

Good choice on the Sata. I am not sure of Lite-On's quality as far as their drives are concerned. I always thought them of being more of an entry level product. Though when I bought my Samsung it was on sale. The regular price was not justifiable to some one on a budget compared to the Lite-On.

I don't recall how much the WD160 was going to run you, but many sales that we get at the Fry's store locally are also online. Let me give you my personal favorite site for bargains online and in retail stores. This site is updated every few hours and really features some unbelievable deals sometimes.

http://www.bensbargains.net

Even if you have everything hand picked and ready to go, you may find a superior deal on a particular item posted on Bens. He constantly features the latest coupon codes that you use at checkout to get added savings to already low prices. Nowadays, I don't really have a "favorite" drive. I am still caught up in the overkill SCSI era with my 10,000rpm Maxtor. But just be careful with some drives giving you only a 1 year warranty. I know some Maxtor products do and perhaps other oems? 3 Year is the standard on drives, and Seagate features 5 years on all internal products. As far as performance, I've been tracking them and there isn't anything to significant to report other than the new revision of the Western Digital Raptor SATA which blows everything away despite it still using the Sata 1.5 interface. But the price and spindle speed has everything to do with it.

A couple weeks ago, I picked up a 300GB Maxtor SATA 16mb cache with a 3 year warranty for $79 with No Rebates. I then added it to my current 300GB drive to make a 600GB Stripe without parity. This baby flies.
I am not sure if having a 16 vs 8mb cache makes that much of a difference, but if the drives are the same price, I would opt for the 16mb. On my raid that gives me 32mb of hardware cache all by itself.

I think I covered your questions. As far as all the reviews, you'll find a very large amount using Corsair TwinX memory in their test platforms. Personally I would give up one extra Cas rating for piece of mind of solid good quality ram. Not a fly by night OCZ like fry's had with a CAS 4 rating for $169. This stuff added to my hyperx caused it to crash and on a new install, it would blue screen upon the boot setup screen appearing.

Good Lucky in your picking and don't forget to visit ben's!

KingofLodis

I bought all the parts ^.^ And now for the problems! :O

The Western Digital didn't come with any CDs or instructions or anything... So I assumed that all I'd have to do is hook it up and let fly. But I have a concern. The HD says it's 160GB, but when I tell it that I want to install windows, it only detects that there's 131069MBs available. I spoke with my father about this and he said it could have something to do with the drivers... So I went to Western Digital's website, but I didn't see any information about driver's concerning the one I currently have... Any idea on what's up with that? (currently installing windows too see if there's a fix, or it's just mis-informed or something...)

(The first time I turned it on!) Another thing that scared me what after I put it all together, it was fine... Until I tried to turn it on. Yes, I put the cpu fan chord is plugged into the correct place, as is the fan at the back of the case. However... The fans didn't turn... The CPU fan twitched a bit, and I gave it a little push, and then it started up correctly, the same goes for the fan at the back of the case. Now they're working fine, but... I'm concerned with what that might mean. And it *seems* like the cpu fan (the heatsink one..) is a lot slower than it should be... Is it one of those "smart cpu fans" where it speeds up as needed? Or is something possibly wrong...?

TheMatt

You might want to take a look at this thread.
http://www.techsupportforum.com/hard...rrier-ddo.html
The CPU fan will adjust its speed based on the CPU temperature readings.