Building new PC soon, need advice.

Rogacz

Hi 01110101010100001011010 gurus.

I plan on building new rig soon and I need some advice.

Machine will be used for gaming and 3D rendering mostly, but I'm a reasonable gamer and I'm doing 3D renders just for fun so nothing extreme is really needed.

Tell me what do you think about it.

Parts selected by me:

INTEL CORE 2 DUO E6420 2.13 GHz BOX / S- 775

ASUS P5N32-E SLI - nForce 680i, SATA II, DDR 2, PCI-Ex, S-775

GEIL DDR2 2048 MB / 800 (Dual 2 x 1024 MB), 4-4-4-12

PCIex ASUS GF 8800 GTS 320MB, 320bit - EN8800GTS/HTDP/320

ASUS DRW-1814BL - 18x DVDRW DL, OEM, LightScribe,

LG L1900E - 19", 4 ms, 2000:1, 300 cd/m2, DVI,

PENTAGRAM Silent Force PSF-500-A12S - 500W

I would like to hear your opinion mainly about:
- Display. Is it worth it's money?
- How about mobo? I was also thinking about intel chipsets, are they better than nF680i?

Oh, and I got sound card and hdd so it's not included.

ChaosMinionX

How about a budget? That would help immensely.

-chaos

kris23

yea a budget.....

also, there are plenty of things that could be improved in that set up,

first is the motherboard, there really isnt no need for SLi especially if you plan to get something like vista, the Intel P35 chip is a far better choice if so,

next is the geil memory, skip that and get Crucial, they have the best memory, Micron D9s

you seem to like ASUS a little much, you should really get some different stuff. i know ASUS isnt exactly the cheapest company in terms of graphics cards so if possible, you should get an eVGA 8800GTS most likely cheaper..... although i dont know if they do advanced excange all the way in poland....

lastly..... your monitor is absolutely tiny, you are disgracing a powerful card like the 8800..... at the very least, get a 1680x1050 res 20.1 inch monitor to make a good use for the 320mb

LASTLY, i just need the budget and where you plan to shop for these components if it is a website....

ChaosMinionX

Kris, when you gonna get a rig and go up against me in roadees

Dyre Straits

Only two things I notice that I might suggest going a little more/higher on:

1. Intel CPU: If you don't plan to overclock, I'd go with the E6700 2.66 MHz. AND, if you can swing a Quad Core, even better.

2. RAM: There are several manufacturers providing RAM w/ 1066 MHz speeds now. That mobo should support this RAM with BIOS updates/Chipset Updates and it would be a nice boost for you with the rendering especially.

Just my 2 cents.

Rogacz

Thanks for your replies

Budget: About 5000zl (even a bit less I think, 4700 or something). 1$ ~ 2.7zl
Shop: www.arest.pl

I've been using ASUS parts all the time so I know how stable they are. But it's always nice to try something new ;-)
CPU: C2D definitely but it's all about the money. C2Q is way too expensive now.
Mobo: I don't care about SLI but I do care about good chipset and cooling.
GPU: ASUS was just a proposal. I'd like to get 8800 GTS 320 megs, so firm is exchangeable.
RAM: I don't know if I can get memory (the one that kris23 mentioned) in Poland in reasonable price.
LCD: I don't aim at big display. What I want is good display, not necesary big :P But if you know something good... ;-)

Thanks again

ChaosMinionX

So about $1800-1900 USD......

CPU: Q6600 - $260-300 on or after July 22nd
Mobo: Asus P5K Deluxe - $250-260 currently
RAM: Corsair 8500C5D Dominator Modules or OCZ Reaper 1150 - bout $200
PSU: OCZ GameXstream 700w - bout $140 currently
VideoCard: 8800GTX about $500-550
Display: Samsung 226BW 22" 2ms 3000:1 dynamic contrast (1000:1 static) $300

Budget using max prices listed ---- bout $1750USD, gives you a start on what to look for, I dunno how pricing goes in Poland on that stuff, but its what I would buy on that budget.

Rogacz

Relax mate... It gave me
7822.00zl
so... C2Q is overkill ATM, and I don't really need 8800 GTX, GTS with 320 megs will be ok. And I don't want 16:9 display.
Btw. AFAIK Win XP Pro sp2 supports 2 CPU and I'm not convinced with Vista so far.
Such PC would be a killer, but we have to calm down a bit I think :P

However, this mobo looks sweet. And memory modules are quite nasty also.

Grace

CPU : Intel E6420, these things are good enough and overclock very well
Mobo : Gigabyte P35-DS4, just as good as you'll ever need
RAM : 2X1GB of good PC2-6400 RAM. Anything faster does not worth the price-performance ratio, even if you overclock heavily. Avoid the Geil, look at Crucial.
PSU : Definately one good >600W unit.
Video : The cheapest 8800GTS you'll find.
HDD : As long as it says "Seagate" on it, it will be fine. Just get the size you like. 320GB and 500GB drives offer the best price/performance ratio nowadays, so just pick the number you'll need.

Display is your choice but I like the 19" monitor which you chose. 20.1" monitors will look worse in gaming because they are shorter. 22" are just too expensive. And I do believe that widescreen monitors are not the best for gaming. A 19" is just fine if you sit close to your PC.

Rogacz

That sounds reasonable.
I'd preffer ASUS board but I have Gigabyte now and it's running very well too.
As for RAM - I'm a fan of Kingston Hyper-X memory but I don't think if those are worth the money now.
I've been using Seagate drives for roughtly seven years and I'll stick with them even longer. However my new 250GB Seagate HDD is loud as my old old 4GB WD.
And PSU... 600 Watt?

Grace

If you prefer an Asus, the P5K is a fine board. No need to go for the Deluxe if you don't need the extra features. Still, the Gigabyte is a killer on the price/performance ratio factor.

Kingston Hyper-X are fine but currently overpriced. Whatever carries Micron chips is fine and cheap RAM. That's why I recommended the Crucial, they always have Micron chips on them. But any kit you will find and is rather cheap will do the job.


And for the PSU, yes, 600W or better.

kris23

Gigabyte P35 DQ6 (THE most powerful P35 board!) 745zl
http://www.arest.pl/index.php?inc=pr...=9873&katid=60
ASUS 8800GTS 320mb DDR3 1085zl
http://www.arest.pl/index.php?inc=pr...D=9005&katid=5
LG 20" 1680x1050 monitor 985zl
http://www.arest.pl/index.php?inc=pr...=7973&katid=22
TAGAN 600w PSU 449zl
http://www.arest.pl/index.php?inc=pr...=7924&katid=14
Intel Core 2 Duo e6550 615zl
http://www.arest.pl/index.php?inc=pr...D=9817&katid=1

this is the best stuff i came up with, you may also want a Seagate 7200.10 drive in there too but HDDs werent in that list of components so i didnt include that

secondly, i cannot recommend any of the memory on that site as they arent that good. none of them are known to be D9 chips and none of them are 1066mhz sticks so i suggest getting them elsewhere,

if you can find them get the OCZ reaper 1066mhz DR2 memory or Crucial 1066mhz DDR2 memory. or even better, the OCZ Reaper 1150mhz like ChaosMinionX posted these all have Micron D9s

kris23

not for a few months...... by the time i have a new rig, you guys would have already been awarded most likely...... besides, id get owneed by those two 2900XTs you pack..... and my nonexistent budget...

but my plans would be... using the Abit IP35 Pro Off-Limits as DH reviews say it was better than the P5K Deluxe in OCing.....

OCZ platinum XTC 1066mhz sticks, the cheapest highly binned D9 sticks on newegg at 150 bucks for 2 gigs

the MSI 8800GTX HD OC 499 bucks and factory overclocked, very good deal.

my processor would be the e6600 or q6600 depending on if i manage to buy after the price drop

and the 7200.11 drives as they say they will be similarly priced to the current 7200.10 drives now (sub 200 bucks for 500GB)



though this is just something i want..... not like ill get it anytime soon....

Rogacz

Geez, that board must be heavy... literaly
Also a bit expensive but board is a must.
I'm not sure about that LCD. This thing is huge and in 16:9 and I've never seen such a monster in action. Is gaming and working with 3D software on such a screen comfortable?
I thought that 500w will be enought but AFAIK there's never too much power.

I plan on using my old X-Fi and Seagate 250 GB HDD so I didn't include sound card and HDD in the first post. I've also heard about problems that people have with X-Fi crap and nForce boards (nForce4 and above), so Intel chip will be a good hit I think.

EDIT:

I forgot to mention:
Arest is a cheap shop but is lacking some hi-end stuff. There is also another retailer - www.komputronik.pl, it has nearly everything PC releated but it's more expensive :P
Might give it a try though.

kris23

well..... that particular 16:9 monitor has more pixels in both length and width (the monitor you chose was a 1280x1024 right?) at 1680x1050 so it shouldnt feel that different or uncomfortable..... i mean i like them for general purpose stuff


and i ill take a look in that shop for the RAM worthy enough for that board....

also i will look for a CPU cooler as the DQ6 board has a long list of incompatible (im thinking of the arctic freezer 7 cooler, a very capable cooler)

kris23

ok, i have you.... the powerful OCZ Reaper 1066mhz RAM DDR2 2GBs
http://www.komputronik.pl/Pamiec_DRA...elny,id,41305/

Rogacz

That's monstrous.
But they are also very expensive. Isn't it better to buy 2x2GB of 800MHz sticks?

ChaosMinionX

Sorry on that budget, converting yours to USD yielded that, but pricing in Poland must be rediculous on that stuff I posted. God Id hate to see what my rigs would have cost there haha.


Generally speaking buying low end stuff rated for DDR2 1000mhz is better for overclocking, because it gives you that much more headroom on your FSB when dealing with intel. DDR2 800 1:1 gives you about a 400mhz FSB on most Mobos that clock ram with the bus (IE Everything but the 680i, and a couple others) so generally speaking if your going to be overclocking go for the higher speed ram. I myself buy really expensive DDR2 800mhz and OC it haha

kris23

What he said, if the website has crucial memory, you can get any 800mhz ram and oc it. If not, then see if they got the ocz reaper 800mhz ram, those are also d9s but of a lower bin........ Still overclockable so its possible to get the cpu up there

On the 2x2gb sticks, you will only lose performance as the only good sticks are over 400usd, it would be cheaper to get 4 sticks at 1066mhz not to mention faster.....

kris23

What he said, if the website has crucial memory, you can get any 800mhz ram and oc it. If not, then see if they got the ocz reaper 800mhz ram, those are also d9s but of a lower bin........ Still overclockable so its possible to get the cpu up there

On the 2x2gb sticks, you will only lose performance as the only good sticks are over 400usd, it would be cheaper to get 4 sticks at 1066mhz not to mention faster.....

Rogacz

I'm not a huge fan of overclocking. I mean - hardcore overclocking :P

And I really think that 2.66GHz C2D and 2x1GB of 800MHz RAM will be ok for me for some time. I still think that paying 70% more for RAM sticks to get 20% of performance increase isn't healthy.
But those reapers are really nice :> I gues I'll have to consider them.

Grace

20% performance increase just from using 1066MHz RAM instead of 800MHz? Not a chance. More like 3%, at best.


Just get a set of 800MHz RAM and run it 1:1 with a 6420 at 400MHz FSB. That would yield a clock speed of 3200MHz, more speed than you'll ever need.