Cheap new build........

genieguru

My first post here

Hi guys

I'm planning to retire my old P4 computer soon and i have been keeping track with the recent happenings in the tech world

but i'm kinda confused on certain aspects,but i have a general idea of what i want
So here goes
Budget:$1000 US

1)I do a lot of video encoding(which is horrendously slow on my present computer)
So i believe quad core will be a big boost,according to all the bench marks i've seen
And im pretty sure i want to stay away from AMD Phenom,cause of the comparatively high power draw and poor performance(again relatively)

Its b/w the core 2 quad Q6600 and the new Q9300
The Q6600 is cheaper,but the Q9300 is quicker and consumes less power
So i'm in a fix about this,is the Q9300 worth the extra dough?
Any suggestions???

2)Motherboard
How much does this choice impact the performance in general
i need decent USB and Ethernet performance,and again preferably cheap

3)Memory
2 gigs of DDR2 is plenty for me

4)Hard Disk
500 GB is good to go

5)Graphics card
Nothing in the present gen sways me
I have a x1900 xt,which is awefully CPU limitted by the P4,but is still good for a while to come

6)Power Supply
Can someone pls suggest a good efficient one?
I heard Antec is good.....is it true?

7)OS
Now its b/w XP and Vista
Most web pages say go XP,but i'd like some personal insights about vista if it isn't too much trouble
I just need to know if its worth all that extra money,compared to XP

Well thats about it
Case,DVD drive,Monitor i can recycle from my old build

So pls help me out,and pls try to keep it below $1000
Thanks in advance

OldBuzzard

Welcome to DH

CHEAP, and POWER SUPPLY are two terms that should never be used together

Antecs are "OK" I guess, but they do vary in quality depending on the model.

I'd suggest ANY CORSAIR that has enough wattage for your system. They aren't cheap, but they are, across their whole range, about the best that you can get. They are very efficient, 80% or better unless very lightly loaded. DH has reviewed a couple of them, and jonnyGURU has reviewed quite a few of them. Check out the reviews and see what you think.

I know you say you can re-cycle your current case, but it wouldn't hurt to take a look at the COOLERMASTER CM690. It's not all that expensive, and is a very nice case to work with. Has lots of room inside, and cools VERY well.

thenewguy001

I just got a CM 690. It has tons of vents and comes with 3 120mm fans and is almost silent. My old P4 computer is a fricken lawnmower compared to it. At times, it makes me forget that I've left my computer on.

My only complaints:

1. The PSU slot is at the bottom, and even though it's raised off the ground I fear that there is not enough of an opening for the PSU fan to draw enough air if I ever run it at near max wattage which I'm not close to doing at the moment

2. There is a vent on the top so now I have to worry about where I put my drinks. If any liquids slide off my table it's going right onto my mobo and graphics card

OldBuzzard

PSU and heat doesn't seem to be a problem with my 620HX/CM690 combination.

The PSU fan is on the bottom, so it draws cool air from outside the case directly into the PSU. With the feet raising the case 1/2" or so off the desk/floor, and the grill on the bottom of the case cooling shouldn't be a problem.

If your Antec has the fan on the top, just install it upside down...it will work like that, and you'll get good cooling.

genieguru

ok so basically what u guys are saying is don't cheap out on the PSU right???

Anyway what about the processor,motherboard and OS??

kris23

ok, 1000 dollars is a good price

go with this,

windows vista basic
Samsung spinpoint F1 500GB
gigabyte P35 DS3L
Q9300 is good
memory, 2x2GB G.Skill DDR2 1000mhz

genieguru

" windows vista basic"

any specific reason for suggesting that?

i was lookin for some insights because most websites suggest going XP rather than vista at this point

And i'm kinda going for Antec for the PSU
Their True Power 550W is cheap and has got good reviews on newegg and some websites
So is it ok?

temeteus82

Get Vista Home Premium 32-bit.

Yeah that PSU is ok

OldBuzzard

If you are looking at this Antec
Newegg.com - Antec True Power Trio TP3-550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply with Three 12V Rails 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, FCC, TÜV, CE, C-tick, CCC, CB - Retail

Then I'd suggest you read this review at one of, if not the best, PSU sites on the net.
JonnyGURU.com - Power Supply Reviews and more! - Reviews - Antec True Power Trio 650W

Then compare the price to this
Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX ATX12V V2.2 550W Power Supply 90 - 264 V UL, CUL, CE, CB, FCC Class B, TUV, CCC, C-tick - Retail

And you will see that for about $5.00 more you get a PSU that gets a review from the same site like this
JonnyGURU.com - Power Supply Reviews and more! - Reviews - Corsair VX550W Power Supply Review

As for your OS, I'd say go for a 64 bit version. I know that there aren't a lot of apps that take advantage of 64 bits yet, but they are coming, and if you go 64 bit now, you won't have to upgrade later.

Plus if you go with the 2x2gig memory that Kris suggests...the 64 bit version will be able to use ALL of it, whilst the 32 bit version won't.

My feeling is that if you have a 64 bit processor, and don't run a 64 bit OS on it...it's like buying a convertible, and never putting the top down.

As for XP vs Vista...I don't have VISTA yet, but from what I'm seeing in various posts here by folks that KNOW what they are talking about, it looks like VISTA would be the way to go.

kris23

vista is good

go x64

basic is cheap, no frills, all performance

but if you want the frills go with home premium

x64 on vista is a bit better supported than x64 on XP

and 4+GB memory is a MUST you will feel a massive increase in productivity vs 2GB

kris23

oh yea, corsair makes a good PSU antecs are questionable but i wouldnt mind using it

go with a Corsair if the gap is tiny in price

genieguru

thnx a lot guys

i've decided this much
core 2 quad Q9300
1 2GB DDR2 stick(l8r upgrade to 4)
P35 motherboard(which ever brand u guys suggest)
Radeon x1900 xt(Recycle from my old PC)
Corsair/Antec PSU
500GB hard disk
Windows XP Pro(l8r upgrade to vista X64)
Case and Fans(from old build)

So thnx a lot

kris23

dont use only 1 2GB stick, get 2, you lose way too much bandwidth with one and your system will literally be half as fast. and not just any crappy 2GB set, the G.Skill PC8000s are best.

go with gigabyte for mobo. and why go with XP? waste of money especially since you need a brand new liscense to use it.


also dont go for any crappy drive, go with a seagate 7200.11 or samsung spinpoint F1, the transfer rates on most of the others arent that great.

kris23

just to point some specifics, the seagate and samsung drives all top 100mb/s

most other drives go from 50mb/s to 75mb/s and some hitting 90mb/s like i think hitachi does. WD hasnt put out a performance drive in a long time so im curious to see what they got under wraps.

and the G.Skill memory is the highest binned stuff i seen at a reasonable price, i highly recommend them or the OCZ Reaper 2x2GB 1066mhz kits.

slugbug

The 45nm quad cores won't be coming out for another month or so, just so you know. I have a Gigabyte P35-DS3L and its an amazing board for the price.

genieguru

ok thats food for thought

but i've heard that 4x512mb setups perform worse than 2x1 GB setups
So i'm assuming that the same applies for 4x1GB vs 2x2GB?(which is the reason i was planning on going for just 1 2gb stick)

i know that,thats why i asked earlier if the Q9300 is worth the wait and the extra price,and u guys implied that it was

I was planning to get seagate anyway

genieguru

come on guys
can someone pls answer my question regarding the memory configurations???

and i realized that i could cough up a bit of dough to get a new case,probably the one u guys suggested(i guess i don't need a full blown P35 board,i aint over clocking,so G33 or the new G45 would do quite nicely for me)

and a new monitor

i would love to get a cool 24 inch monitor,but they are kind of pricey
(the dell 2407 and 2408)
I found this one 24 incher for kinda cheap,is it good?

Dell 24" Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor

Something is fishy about that monitor

Then i found this 22 incher
Dell 22" Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor

And this 20 incher
Dell : DELL UltraSharp 2007WFP 20-inch Widescreen Flat Panel LCD Monitor with Height Adjustable Stand : Displays : Home & Home Office

The 24 incher is enticing,but something about it doesn't seem right
The 22 incher and the 20 incher have the same resolution,and the 22 isn't all that much more expensive

So which do u guys htink i ought to get?
And pls do answer my memory question too

Zelig

The speed penalties in moving to 4 banks of memory instead of 2 banks were with older (as in old S939, newer S939 fixed the problem, and it's not present in AM2(+)) AMD setups with the onboard memory controllers. Maybe someone can comfirm for current Intel setups?

However, running just 1 stick instead of 2 will result in a huge hit to memory performance, since dual channel mode needs matching pairs.

Check out this thread about a nice 24" monitor:
http://www.driverheaven.net/news/155...ain-month.html

Al_Vampyre

Absolutely, DDR2 is dirt cheap right now so if you're going Vista 64 (which I highly recommend) then get 2x2gb now.

genieguru

thnx for the info,regarding the memory

as for the monitor,can u guys suggest which one i ought to get from the 3 i mentioned in my earlier post
for certain reasons,those 3 are my only choice

kris23

ask Judas for that, he likes Dell monitors the best.

why though do you NEED a Dell monitor? theyre good for color but are expensive, i'd go with Zardon's deal as he said that blacks are even better than Dells