DH's pimp needs thorough new system advice

BiGBrOwNPimpsta · May 10, 2007, 06:15 PM

Well my friends, i've been in here since 2003 with me 800mhz amd athlon, it died suddenly in april 2003 and rushed me into get a 2.66ghz p4 system. the start was shaky due to a crappy sis 648 chipset but i had the legendary 9700 pro at the time. my P4 is now finally starting to crap out; WoW is lagging, music videos and HD video is lagging, media center has plagued me for months. With vista its been more consistent but a 2.66 P4"B" just can't handle it anymore. Video card has no PS 3.0 support or h.264 support...soo its time to replace. My bro will be paying this and declaring it under his business (he's a chiropractor, so a gaming machine definitely is useful for one who plays 0 games). In addition, i've been major sick with multiple issues out of school and work, I'm a complete bum at home right now in pain since January. So i feel guilty buying a new PC, but without a proper system it drives me mad...anyways off to the important part...

So I am looking to build a new Quad Core system, it wil be a Media Center/Gaming Hybrid. I may also be getting a discount from this store through a contact. Anyone in the Toronto area knows the hardcore asian guys at Canada Computers (www.canadacomputers.com). Very hardcore Chinese run business. Anyways, what I'm looking to build is this with prices (in CDN):

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 $639
Asus P5B Deluxe $211
OCZ PC2 6400 2GB Kit Platinum $175
WD Raptor 150GB $263
Thermaltake Purepower RX W0144RU 600W ATX PSU $133
Lite-ON 20x S-ATA DVD (2 Burners) $85

Sub-total $1510
Total (w/ 14% taxes) $1724

I will be buying a video card myself, trying to sell off my x850pro, 2gb OCZ kit and dvd burner for 200 bucks to my godbro with install and computer tuneup lol. Get a discount for a BFG 8800 GTS 640MB from my old work and add that in here.

My soundcard will still be my X-FI, keeping my tv wonder elite, keeping my 2x250gb hard drives. I am getting a copy of Vista Ultimate from my bro's friend who runs msn Canada for cheap, will run xp for the time being if I have to.

so to summarize what will be brought over (excluding peripherals)

SB X-FI Xtreme Music
250 GB WD 16MB HD
250 Segate 16MB HD
TV Wonder Elite

and the video card I HOPE to get is the BFG 880GTS OC2 640MB, (yes I'm switching back to nvidia unfortunately, I don't have high hopes for the Radeon HD 2K series)

So this brings me to my questions

1. I have an Antec SOHO Fileserver case, very nice case with a window and it's Royal Blue. Should I strip it down and rebuild it with that case. I have terrible shitty Sunon brand case fans and am looking for high end 8cm fans that are silent and keep stuff very cool. I don't think my case can fit 12cm fans unfortunately. If you guys think I should not keep this case follow on to...

2. Then what similar case should I get that is not expensive, doesn't look crazy like a Thermaltake Xaser, quiet, fits 12cm fans? Please check www.canadacomputers.com for me if you can, but any recommendations are good. I don't want to go over $150 CDN for case ideally.

3. Comptability with the motherboard and all other hardware; does this setup look like it would have any issues running on XP and Vista (incudling the 8800 GTS HOPEFULLY). Compatbility with Vista and X-Fi i know and I have kinda found a workaround. Does anyone have any reports on common conflicts seen by running a similar setup of hardware?

4. Is that enough juice for that system, I don't want to spend too much on the PSU and have had a great experience with my Thermaltake Purepower for 3 yrs now. Anything else that is similar and on that site please recommend it to me.

5. Any other changes I should make to cut costs, I require a lot of USB ports and flexibility for my case. Noise from the system is not a huge issue; my current system sounds like a jet with these $5 fans.

I asked for a lot, and probably will have more questions. This is consultation in return for those audigy guides i wrote back years ago punks! This took me about an hr to type as I reinstall office on Vista here because the whole system is so amazingly slow right now. So sorry for typos!

EDIT: and another question, does this setup sound like it will have longetivity and dependability? My mobo has luckily been great to me and ASUS is a hell of a lot better than MSI I know that. I expect to upgrade the video card in 2 1/2 yrs and memory later but not next year I hope.

Judas · May 10, 2007, 06:26 PM

1:

go over to coolermasters website and take a look at the Centurion 532C, i may not have a window (but you can get a panel to fit), but the overall case layout is quite excellent. With a little more cabling management, you can make the case look quite good, clean and very excellent airflow. All the 532Cs i've received come with a 120mm silient fan mounted in the front, you can easily get another 120mm fan to mount in the back as well.

2: Refer to above

3:

The only concern would be the Creative sound card and Geforce within Vista, while more and more people are saying that as things progress, the support for these products are indeed getting better, but i've still heard alot that say that there are still quite alot of issues.

as for XP.. don't think there should be a problem really, but vista works so nice on a fully supported system (consider maybe waiting for ATI to release the R600 start of next week? )

4: 600 watt's "should" be plenty for your system. I wouldn't recommend anything else other then if you WANTED another option, perhaps OCZ's GamerXStream 600 or 700 model which i find are quite excellent.

5: Getting a intel core 2 quad core cpu is pretty damn beefy, dropping down to a normal dual core would REALLY cut the costs a significant amount. Aside from having one of the most absalute power beast, having quad core isn't REALLY a nessity just yet. You may be able to save quite a few dollars getting a dual core for the time being, and then making later purchasing the quad variants when AMD releases thier quad core forcing intel to drop there prices (possibly)....

BiGBrOwNPimpsta · May 10, 2007, 06:30 PM

yea dropping to dual core isn't an option, I'm looking to keep this system 4 years and cores are going to doubling like insane soon hahaha. I know you hate creative Judas :P, and they do suck but i Like my X-Fi and wont be settling for onboard sound at all. I heard about the issues too, but I forgot what they were. Could you link them for me?

and I will check the case

Judas · May 10, 2007, 06:41 PM

Mostly the lack of features that nvidia and creative actually promote. For example, the methods in which Vista uses/produces sound doesn't allow for creative EAX to function the way creative made it. Various driver issues, crashes, or audio issues. So forth and so on, googling it should show a few results quickly ( "Creative" "Vista" ). But i still heard creatives trying... so is nvidia.

I've also heard that the latest Nvidia driver has been working quite well.

4 cores is alright, i just figured it's probably the first and easiest thing to bring the cost of the sucker down a large margin.

BiGBrOwNPimpsta · May 10, 2007, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Judas

Mostly the lack of features that nvidia and creative actually promote. For example, the methods in which Vista uses/produces sound doesn't allow for creative EAX to function the way creative made it. Various driver issues, crashes, or audio issues. So forth and so on, googling it should show a few results quickly ( "Creative" "Vista" ). But i still heard creatives trying... so is nvidia

ALchemy and YouP-Pax for Vista has solved 70% of the issues, vista changed the drive HAL around. so i know that issue. its just I hope my mobo doesn't reject somehardware like the vid card or sb x-fi. thats what im concerned about

Judas · May 10, 2007, 06:58 PM

i don't think you'll run into any issue like that.. if you do, i'd probably return the board emediately...

or test the components it's not likeing in another machine quickly to determine what the deal is.

No, looking through, you shouldn't have any issues within XP on that system, hardware should work quite well together, vista you should probably only run into issues specific to the creative or nvidia parts.. that's all. (or software that may not agree with vista)

BiGBrOwNPimpsta · May 11, 2007, 08:06 AM

i found a store that's walk distance for me cal PC Village and had a good time dealing with them in the past. www.pcvillage.com.

i think I will be chaning to the OCZ gamestream 600w PSU. Looks more relaible. I also used a PSU calculator to slightly overestimate my power needs

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

great tool for anyone who is wondering how much power their system is consuming. In addition, its updated with the latest hardware.

BiGBrOwNPimpsta · May 11, 2007, 08:36 AM

actually I may also get a case. because if I get the system built there I do get a complete warranty rather than me paying for trouble shooting in the future.

Judas, liked your recommendation, but I think I like this one better

http://www.coolermaster.com/index.ph...Mystique%20632

***Zardon*** · May 11, 2007, 10:02 AM

im not so sure I would recommend the gamexstream PSU's. just a personal thing, having seen two die in the last year.

Judas · May 11, 2007, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BiGBrOwNPimpsta

actually I may also get a case. because if I get the system built there I do get a complete warranty rather than me paying for trouble shooting in the future.

Judas, liked your recommendation, but I think I like this one better

http://www.coolermaster.com/index.ph...Mystique%20632

I've actually got that case right now.... one thing that REALLY pissed me off about it is that you MUST install the PSU FIRST before installing anything else really. They put a crossbar roughly 4 inches from the top of the case down on the side, making it impossible to install a PSU IF the motherboard and heatsink have been installed. Other then that, i had a bitch of a time running the cabling for the case down and around to better manage it and whatnot.

Other then that it was not a bad case, but they also never designed the add-in bracket well at all, forcing you to use the screws when it's saposed to be screwless.

Overall, while the case does look not to be at all, and the front is unique.... i think the overall design of it was quite poor.

The only thing that REALLY sells me on the Centurion series and some of the other coolermaster cases, is that the entire front of the cases have that "Filtering" system, a entire honey comb mesh behind it a soft fine filter that trust me, catches dust VERY extremely well. You'll be trying to clean the front of the case on regular baises.

Judas · May 11, 2007, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zardon

im not so sure I would recommend the gamexstream PSU's. just a personal thing, having seen two die in the last year.

So far my return rate on any OCZ product (except for the VERY first platnium series ram i had every purchased), has a 0% return rate,

I beleive i've sold a total of over 50+ OCZ Specific products, 12 of which are Power Supplies, 3/4s of which are the modstreams. I'd say i've had a good string of luck.

The other Power Supplies i use are the CoolerMaster Extreme's, they've shown to be pretty damn good as well as a cheaper alternative.

And Lastly, Sparkle, the best OEM dirt cheap and solid PSU.

I've had 1 of 5 of my enermaxes quit on me though. But i beleive it was more to due with overloading it for extremely long periods of time.

***Zardon*** · May 11, 2007, 10:58 AM

well im very pleased to hear out of the 12 you have sold. none have failed to this point. however i have had 2 of the gamexstreams fail on me out of the 5 ive used in the last 12 months, which would put me in the position of not recommending them (especially as it is the only power supply i have had fail on me in the last 5 years of heavy use from various makers). Obviously this could have been a bad batch from OCZ, however i felt the need to warn the thread starter of this particular range. the Modstreams never failed and I have my doubts over the quality of the gamextreams.

**ChaosMinionX** · May 11, 2007, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zardon

well im very pleased to hear out of the 12 you have sold. none have failed to this point. however i have had 2 of the gamexstreams fail on me out of the 5 ive used in the last 12 months, which would put me in the position of not recommending them (especially as it is the only power supply i have had fail on me in the last 5 years of heavy use from various makers). Obviously this could have been a bad batch from OCZ, however i felt the need to warn the thread starter of this particular range. the Modstreams never failed and I have my doubts over the quality of the gamextreams.

Ive owned a GameXstream 700w, and now currently use the 1010w never had a problem with em

solid little powersupplies....Although ive seen several fail from people on various forums, Im guessing like you said it was probably a bad batch.

Judas · May 11, 2007, 12:56 PM

I'd try another X-Connect PSU, but due to warranty issues and the battle i had over the phone with RMA and there support and LOST, i can't justify taking another chance with them.

So while some products do fail, it happens, i'm usually willing to give them a try again if the products had been replaced or refunded for being faulty.