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are these parts ok + few questions

2K views 22 replies 5 participants last post by  Impetus 
#1 ·
Some of you may remember the thread i had about my sound card (here

My current specs are:

Motherboard - Gigabyte 8S648FX (socket type? o_O)
CPU - Intel Pentium 4 2400 - 800FSB
RAM - Kingston 512 mB DDR333
Video Card - ATI Radeon X1300 Pro
Sound Card - Realtek AC97 Audio
Hard Drive - Seagate 80GB 7200
OS - Windows XP Professional
case - 875P-L Beige USB 2.0 ATX Tower
PSU -
PT Power supply
Model: PT-A450w
ATXP4 Power Supply Unit


I've done some research and along with some support from you guys, I came up with the following parts to buy:

512M DDR400(Kingston) $74
5.1 Audigy Value $49
OCZ 600W GameXtream $185
16x Pioneer 111D Beige oem Drive Only $45

These are australian dollars and are the prices from www.msy.com.au

Im wondering if these parts are good or not, and whether anyone else knows better products (performance/price wise) at australian stores (preferably victoria based) [Also, the DVD burner should be beige, for obvious reasons]

Also, my questions are:

Is it okay to combine DDR333 with DDR400 ? (DDR400 is cheaper)

Will I be able to use both my speakers and headset (so that makes 2 sound output channels and 1 sound imput channel)? If I cant, can anyone recommend a sound card that would allow me to use both for around the same price?

For the DVD burner, what does "oem drive only" mean? Is the DVD burner any good btw?

Thanks for the support ^^
 
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#2 · (Edited)
An extra note reguarding PSU:

i just used the psu calculator and it seems i calculate 415W (includes 30% increase for current specs).However dai recommended me getting a new PSU so i considered 550W-600W. Now that i think of it, maybe i only need 500W-550W?

I might consider adding another harddrive (i dont know if my motherboard can handle another hdd or not). If it does and i do, the calc. power supply jumps straight up to 502W. Seagate 200GB 8MB Cache 7200rpm IDE Hard Disk Drive for $79 at msy sounds really good.

$185 for the ocz is a little too pricey for me.

Antec “True Power 2” 550W $149 looks more appealing to me, just wondering if antec are good? Heck with it i'll copy paste the PSU's msy is selling.

 
#3 ·
just one thing, how did you manage to come up with 500w for your system? i get a little over 300w with the specs you listed, a few usb devices, and a few fans, i dont know how you got an extra 200 watts... in any case, the antec 550w is ok, but id still go for the gamexstream, as it will support any new system you buy, barring sli/crossfire.
 
#4 · (Edited)
well it gets up to 500W if i add in a second harddrive as well as the extra parts i mentioned. Im planning to buy a second PC fit for proper gaming at the end of the year - i just need to fix some lag issues and crashing problems with the current one.

edit: i put surge compensation to 25%, capacitor aging to 30% and another 30% (because everyone says to add 30%) My PC is 4 years old and i assumed my PSU was a cheap brand.
 
#5 ·
Your mobo is a 478 socket, I would suggest you consider upgrading the memory to 1Gb of PC3200 memory (2 X 512 dual channel kit). While the OCZ psu is by far superior to the Antec unit you quote, Antec dooes make a better psu in their trio line of psu's that may be more inline with your budget than the ocz unit, with similar quality to ocz. You really should not try to mix pc2700 and pc3200 memory....especially since your mobo supports dual channel. In most cases doing so leads to instability (due to differing latencies and voltages) if you are lucky enough to get it to work, and its just not worth the effort imho. As for dvd drives, in that price range Lite-on would be the better choice and offer greater performance. Also typically when you plug a headset in, it disables the speakers, there may be a way to disable that function but I'm not familiar with it. And, OEM is Original Equippment Manufacturer....its a bare drive with no retail packaging or software and may have a shorter warrenty period, but an oem drive is identical to a retail drive.
 
#6 ·
I would agree whith not mixing the DDR333 and DDR400. I would just stick with DDR400.
For the little extra dollars I don't think you will be dissapointed with the OCZ power supply come upgrade time, it is far cheaper to spend a little extra now than have to get a whole new unit next time.
I have used both liteon and pioneer DVD burners and i personally like the pioneers, theyhave not given me one iota of trouble were my liteon was a pain after a while, i have had 3 pioneers and all 3 i still have and are still powering on
 
#7 · (Edited)
Cool thanks everyone.

One question on the PSU. WIll it definitely fit in my case? I did find out the dimensions of the current PSU.
# Unit Dimensions:
# 3.25 x 6 x 6-inches (H x W x D (approximate))
The ocztechnology site says that the gamexstream is 150 x 140 x 86mm, which according to my calc and google is approx. 6 x 5.5 x 3.4 inches. The site doesnt specify which measurements correspond to what.

Also, the ocztech site says under its specifications that it has "2 x PCI-E". My mobo doesnt have any pci-e. Is that a problem? (taken from here)

I've found 2 sites that are very nice:

Corsair DDR 1GB PC-3200 (512MBx2) Value Select RAM (VS1GBKIT400) - $126.50
From centrecom

Seagate Barracuda 160Gb 7200 8Mb cache Hard Disk - $80.30
From Centrecom
BTW, i dont know whether my mobo supports sata II or not, so im just sticking with the normal one.

Creative Sound Blaster - 5.1 Channel $25.30
From Centrecom

OCZ GameXstream 600w PSU - $179.00
From pcmaniacs

Pioneer 111 Dual Layer 16x DVD+-RW Beige - ~$50
Available from both centrecom and possibly pcmaniacs (i emailed pcmanics asking for them to ordera beige version)

Is the Corsair ram i mentioned any good?
 
#8 ·
with your PSU you will find that the 4 mounting holes are a standard size and the overall width of the psu may vary a little from psu to psu but should be ok
The ram looks to be a great price
Also i would not worry if you get a SATA 2 hard drive as they can be jumpered back to SATA spec using usually a jumper at the rear
 
#9 · (Edited)
Thanks a lot blackduck30

Im thinking of not buying the hdd for now (budget, plus i got a dvd burner to burn off stuff now :tongue: ) But im probably gonna stick with the ocz gamexstream 600w because its meant to be so good and i could be add a hdd in the future.

Any comments on the sound card? Will it do the job? Hopefully it wont crash my PC like my onboard card does (i think its my onboard sound card :normal: ) i tried searching for reviews but google showed up live! versions instead of the old one.
 
#11 · (Edited)
I've been doing some research on this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817812004 power supply. You get 20amps on 4 rails, 1 more amp per rail than the TruePower, and the Mushkin has 4 rails, the TruePower only has three.

At any rate, here's the advantages of the Mushkin over the TruePower:
+4x 12v rails @ 20Amps v.s. 3x 12v @ 19Amps
+Rail Fusion technology (combines rails when extra power is needed for up to 28amps on two rails)
+Costs Less
+Modular Cable Management
+Looks better :p

=edit=
I looked up the specs for the OCZ PSU, It's got 4 rails too but it's only 18 amps per rail. Plus, the OCZ is only "SLI Compatible", the Mushkin is "SLI Certified". And of course, the Mushkin is about $90 USD less. You only lose about 20 watts...so yeah...
 
#13 ·
the amps per rail mean absolutely nothing... antec's 550w trio has 42a total for the 12v line, mushkin has 38, although it has more rails... the ocz 600w has 48 for the 12v rails, but load on the 3.3/5v rails will bring the max down, as it doesnt have independant voltage regulation, so the total is definately less than 48, but still more than the mushkin...
 
#16 · (Edited)
??? the Mushkin XP-650W psu has 4 rails rated at 20 amps each, it is also made by the same mfg as the OCZ powerextreme 600W. The Mushkin HP-550W psu only has 2 12V rails rated at 20A each....taken from Mushkins website. Rail fusion is only in play when used in SLI or Crossfire setups, which is not possible on the Gigabyte 8S648FX mobo, thus each rail will have 20A available. I also like the Mushkin psu over the Antec
 
#17 ·
hmm. I heard that mixing DDR400 with a DDR333 would only reduce the speed of the DDR400 stick to that of the DDR333. Budget's cutting short considering im also after a new system at the end of the year.

If i find a ddr333 512mB stick is it alright if i use that? Im not planning on doing anymore upgrades on this current PC. So whatever I buy now is pretty much final - no moving parts to another system.
 
#18 ·
While it is supposed to work that way, I would say its the exception and not the rule, to try you will either have to find an exact match to your current memory or one that has the same latancies and voltage requirements and preferably the same chips....even then there is the possibility it woun't be stable. Thus in a case like yours we typically reccomend getting rid of the one module in favor of a new dual channel kit with matched pairs of memory tested to work in dual channel mode.
 
#21 ·
so far i've only upgraded my sound card to an audigy value. im thinking of upgrading ram but im not sure whether to get 2x512mB sticks or just one 1 gig stick.

choosing between these two:

Corsair DDR 1GB PC-3200 (512MBx2) Value Select RAM (VS1GBKIT400) - $124.30

or

Corsair DDR 1GB PC-3200 Value Select RAM (VS1GB400C3) - $116.60
 
#22 · (Edited)
Ok my computer just restarted on its own without me doing anything -

i think this is a power supply issue. I wanted to buy the OCZ but the store i get it from is a little far away, plus they dont have a beige dvd burner nor ram in stock.

Do you think the Antec TruePower II-550 Watt PSU $143.70 will do, or should i really invest in the ocz/antec trio brands (means i have to pay extra for petrol or shipping (an extra 8 dollars for shipping on this other site).

It is an old PC afterall...after a few more years it wont run high end games anymore ; but i'll have a new second system for that)

thanks.
 
#23 · (Edited)
sorry for quadruple posting but yeah;

i've changed my mind. im choosing between the ocz gamexstream 600w or the antec trio 550w. the ocz is 30 australian dollars more than the antec. if u had my system, which power supply would u go for ;s

as for RAM, are there really any differences between using a 1 gig stick or 2x512mB sticks. i think my mobo can handle a max of 2 gigs...so in the future, would it be worth having 2x512mb + 1 gig stick or just having two 1gig sticks.

apparently i have Hyperthreading which makes my 2.4GHz proccessor performance rated at 3.62GHz (from systemrequirementlab.com - the increase seems a too good to be true) so i was wondering if it would be worth considering an upgrade to 2 gigs in the far future.


As for my game crashes, they're over! (i think) . i hear static when im loading something though (like another program or something) But at least it doesnt crash anymore! hooray

thankyou so much TSF, my 2 year problem has finally come to an end! But - recently my computer suddenly restarted on its own. Now i think its the power supply; the power supply calculator gives me something like 460w (including the extra 30%) which isnt good. hence im considering the upgrade above.

anyway thankyou again.

EDIT (before i forget and have to make a 5th post in a row);

what does TWINX mean? that is, whats the difference between
Corsair TWINX 3200C2 1024Mb/1Gb KIT (2x512Mb)
and
Corsair Value Select PC3200 1024Mb/1Gb KIT (2x512Mb)

besides the price difference of 55 au dollars.
 
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