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Non Gaming Discussions => Off-Topic => Topic started by: Samwise on August 02, 2005, 06:49:06 AM

Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: Samwise on August 02, 2005, 06:49:06 AM
Yeah, I think it might be about time to get a new PC... for now I\'m just toying with the idea, so here\'s what I\'d assemble. If you have any suggestions let me know:

Athlon 64 X2 4200+ CPU
(https://psx5central.com/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.redshift.dk%2F1%2F1.jpg&hash=a01134cecbdc0eddbba61bf6d38466e156162028)

Asus A8N-E motherboard
(https://psx5central.com/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.redshift.dk%2F1%2F2.jpg&hash=fd9e2e54457b2549695c4acdede8bab4d3e71a33)

Gainward 7800 GTX gfxcard
(https://psx5central.com/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.redshift.dk%2F1%2F3.jpg&hash=0c39f025741e9e37ab0f8c1d1d3df93daea813a9)

Western Digital Raptor 74 gb - 10k rpm
(https://psx5central.com/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.redshift.dk%2F1%2F4.jpg&hash=501cf34b2aba1e8a784b98203a639f417bca60b4)

Western Digital Caviar SE 250 gb - 7.2k rpm
(https://psx5central.com/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.redshift.dk%2F1%2F5.jpg&hash=23ac09c9a6472f4b88b93490e21b7bfc5c21142a)

Antec P180 case
(https://psx5central.com/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.redshift.dk%2F1%2F6.jpg&hash=5c5f2da82eb411a6889426e600aded00f2435ccb)

NorthQ 500W PSU
(https://psx5central.com/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.redshift.dk%2F1%2F7.jpg&hash=b245db2794b964def611c819870de728a67df00d)

LiteOn DL DVD burner
(https://psx5central.com/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.redshift.dk%2F1%2F8.jpg&hash=1ea3a6834aa83085c1332a5a40739477b248fd63)

Samsung 17" TFT
(https://psx5central.com/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.redshift.dk%2F1%2F9.jpg&hash=f8c23f525a6c056d324c8cb834b96979dfaf2c2e)


Focus is on performance, yet relatively quiet operation. Lemme know what you think.

EDIT: Forgot RAM. :)
I\'m thinking 2x1 Gb Kingston.
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: Paul2 on August 02, 2005, 06:59:45 AM
on the dvd burner you are getting, which model lite-on is it?  Is it the latest one that can burn 16x -/+R single layer and 4x -/+R dual layers?  If so, then that\'s the latest burner from Lite-On.  I am just curious because I think all Lite-On burners have the same faceplate and I am just curious on which model you are getting.
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: Samwise on August 02, 2005, 07:02:00 AM
Quote
Originally posted by Paul2
on the dvd burner you are getting, which model lite-on is it?  Is it the latest one that can burn 16x -/+R single layer and 4x -/+R dual layers?  If so, then that\'s the latest burner from Lite-On.  I am just curious because I think all Lite-On burners have the same faceplate and I am just curious on which model you are getting.
Oh I haven\'t decided on a specific burner yet. But I\'ll just get the best of them, they\'re not that expensive.
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: GigaShadow on August 02, 2005, 07:36:54 AM
Hey Sammy - how do you afford trips to the US and a nice PC soon after?  I guess being a Man Whore does pay!
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: Samwise on August 02, 2005, 07:37:36 AM
Quote
Originally posted by GigaShadow
Hey Sammy - how do you afford trips to the US and a nice PC soon after?  I guess being a Man Whore does pay!

Yes, my body is in demand! ;)
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: JBean on August 02, 2005, 09:31:44 AM
Looks pretty nice actually... just two questions/suggestions

why not get an SLi board just in case?

I\'d go with EVGA for the 7800gtx, they just instituted a full lifetime warranty (just like BFG), and they have their step-up program.  They even took it a step further and let you overclock it without voiding the warranty (go to the EVGA site for the details though).  Look into it if you don\'t know about it, it\'s definately worth considering.

But overall that rig is gonna kick ass :thumb:
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: Samwise on August 02, 2005, 09:36:21 AM
Quote
Originally posted by JBean
I\'d go with EVGA for the 7800gtx, they just instituted a full lifetime warranty (just like BFG), and they have their step-up program.  They even took it a step further and let you overclock it without voiding the warranty (go to the EVGA site for the details though).  Look into it if you don\'t know about it, it\'s definately worth considering.
I don\'t know EVGA, but Gainward is a great brand. The version I\'m looking at buying runs at 470 MHz/1300 MHz from the factory and it\'s virtually whisper quiet. :)
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: Knotter8 on August 02, 2005, 09:40:02 AM
Well, I love my Gainward 6800GT but it\'s anything but whisper quiet.

The dual fan still looks awesome though.
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: Samwise on August 02, 2005, 09:40:37 AM
Quote
Originally posted by Knotter8
Well, I love my Gainward 6800GT but it\'s anything but whisper quiet.
This ain\'t the 6800GT. ;)
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: JBean on August 02, 2005, 09:41:53 AM
EVGA is a respected brand, but everyone likes what they like.  Gainward makes a good card too.  The EVGA runs 490/1300 out of the box (new KO version), but i\'m sure you can get that and more out of your gainward if you really want to.  :)
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: Samwise on August 02, 2005, 09:43:37 AM
Quote
Originally posted by JBean
EVGA is a respected brand, but everyone likes what they like.  Gainward makes a good card too.  The EVGA runs 490/1300 out of the box (new KO version), but i\'m sure you can get that and more out of your gainward if you really want to.  :)
I\'m sure it\'s a great brand, but I\'ve never seen it for sale here. I guess it\'s US only.
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: Knotter8 on August 02, 2005, 09:48:14 AM
Quote
Originally posted by Samwise
This ain\'t the 6800GT. ;)


Didn\'t you sense my jealousy ? :D
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: GigaShadow on August 02, 2005, 10:11:50 AM
I have had an EVGA 6800 GT for a while and no probs at all.  Great company IMO.
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: THX on August 02, 2005, 12:21:27 PM
eVGA is one of the best companies to purchase an nVidia chipset from.  Their reviews on Newegg are almost always 5 out of 5 stars.

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/evga_e-geforce_7800_gtx_review/

Killer system btw.  Only thing I would change is the secondary HD from WD to Seagate.  They make some of the quietest drives in the business and come standard with a 5 year warranty.

If you want quiet get a big fat HSF for your CPU, an Arctic Cooler for your GPU, and hook your system fans up to a fan speed controller.
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: Living-In-Clip on August 02, 2005, 12:53:47 PM
Seagate 160 SATA here and not one second of problems. I highly recommend it.

I recommend a Chaintech motherboard over the Asus, but that is personal preference.
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: videoholic on August 02, 2005, 05:50:16 PM
you price it out yet?
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: §ôµÏG®ïñD on August 02, 2005, 06:10:15 PM
That\'s gonna be one expensive rig..  Great rig, but i\'d never spend that much on a pc.

save the cash and get yourself a car.. if u haven\'t already.
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: THX on August 02, 2005, 06:11:05 PM
You don\'t need a real car in Europe.  Just some small econobox that\'s easy on the diesel.
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: Samwise on August 02, 2005, 07:13:16 PM
I live in the heart of the land of public transportation, I don\'t need a car.

The price is $2,500-ish. I\'m sure it\'d be cheaper in the US.

But  I\'m still working out the kinks... I don\'t want to go over $2,500.
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: §ôµÏG®ïñD on August 02, 2005, 09:36:56 PM
So that\'s what you\'re gonna tell your gf.



hey babe, lets go take the public transport system pffft   ;)


just kiddin sammy.



sammy what model is the monitor?


why go 7800.. just keep your 6800GT till u need better.
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: Nolaws on August 03, 2005, 03:07:27 AM
Quote

why not get an SLi board just in case?


Sli, imho, as to be the worst thing that ever happened to computer. How would the console market react if Square-Enix anonced you need to hook 2 X PS2 to play the next FF series ??

Nvidia took the fast way to improve the gaming performance without releasing anything really new. the R&D department shine by their laziness. for %1 of the gaming comunity, another 399$ graphic card aint the end of the world, but for the rest of us, even a 399$ each 6 month is too much.

of corse you dont need to upgrade every ½ a year.. it totaly suck to play game like BFG or HL2 on a 9600pro (wich isnt 2 year old).

The overall price to keep up with the computer industries is at least 500$ per year, and its way worst if you wanna keep up with the computer gaming industrie.
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: §ôµÏG®ïñD on August 03, 2005, 03:38:22 AM
SLI was out years ago, the old monster 3d 2 cards supported it. I had 2 12meg cards running through sli.  It was great.

As long as people aren\'t forced into having to go sli for gaming. Then i personally don\'t care. If it does get to a point where we need to have 2 gfx cards in our machines to play games. Then i\'ll be pissed.
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: JBean on August 03, 2005, 05:07:24 AM
as much as you may dislike SLi, it\'s still been a boon for nvidia and hardcore gamers alike.  Don\'t forget ATi is (maybe) coming out with crossfire.. I say maybe because who knows what the hell is wrong with them lately, everything is getting pushed back.  

I\'ll definately get an SLi board sometime next year when I upgrade.  Or I could get one sooner and pop another 6800GT (and re-use everything else) and get much better performance.

I\'m leaning on waiting till the 8 series GPU comes out though...
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: Samwise on August 03, 2005, 06:06:22 AM
Quote
Originally posted by §ôµÏG®ïñD
sammy what model is the monitor?

I haven\'t decided yet, I just thought it would end up being a Samsung. But now I\'ve seen a sweet 19" TFT from ViewSonic. It has a fast panel (8 ms) and great color rendition. But it\'s quite a bit more than the 17" models I had in mind.

Quote
why go 7800.. just keep your 6800GT till u need better.
I don\'t have the 6800GT, just a 6800le. But I\'ll also await the new ATI card and see if it\'s better than the 7800 GTX. Also, the 7800 GT might be an option to save some money (but I\'d have to save a bit of money doing that, I won\'t do it for $30 :)).

EDIT: Getting the X2 3800 might also be an option, as it has great overclocking potential and costs quite a bit less than the other X2 CPUs.
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: JBean on August 03, 2005, 07:31:32 AM
Quote
Originally posted by Nolaws
Sli, imho, as to be the worst thing that ever happened to computer. How would the console market react if Square-Enix anonced you need to hook 2 X PS2 to play the next FF series ??


That would never be the case because you aren\'t being forced into buying SLi to play anything.  It only allows for higher resolution, AA and the like.  Great thing about the PC arena is that everything can be scaled to run great on old hardware and cranked up on brand spankin\' new hardware.

name a game that only runs on a SLi setup :confused: (there aren\'t any ;) )
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: Nolaws on August 03, 2005, 08:11:26 AM
Quote

name a game that only runs on a SLi setup  (there aren\'t any  )


I know.. new generation of graphic card will always be better then previous one in Sli mode.

I hate the Sli technologie because it was lazy R&D. It was a simple fix to get more juice.. "look i can score XXXX with 3d2005!!!!11" Compangy (nvidia and other brand) will always rely on "sli" or their counterpart equiv when they have problem with technology advancement.

"doesnt matter if we take 3 more months to devlop the next generation, lets just SLi the previous one!"
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: THX on August 03, 2005, 09:09:39 AM
The competition keeps them in check.

You can say the same thing about dual CPU setups, but they serve a purpose, for servers and users alike.

Like JBean said this is the PC industry where you aren\'t foced to do anything with all the options available to you.  If you have the bread to enjoy an SLI setup then go for it.

It does make sense to have two GPUs process and scan each alternating line though. :)
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: Living-In-Clip on August 03, 2005, 10:16:07 AM
I\'m more curious about the downgrades you\'ll make in the process of building this computer. Let\'s face it, when we all star tto build a computer, we come up with these great spec\'s and then we realize how much it all will cost...Eventually, you start cuttin\' things and lowering the budget.
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: Samwise on August 03, 2005, 10:17:28 AM
Quote
Originally posted by Living-In-Clip
I\'m more curious about the downgrades you\'ll make in the process of building this computer. Let\'s face it, when we all star tto build a computer, we come up with these great spec\'s and then we realize how much it all will cost...Eventually, you start cuttin\' things and lowering the budget.
Yeah, that\'s what I\'m doing right now. :)

I want to keep it under $2,500.

EDIT: I\'m at an acceptable price now. But only if I discard 1 gig of memory. :crying: I\'d like 2 gigs, but I guess I can live with 1 gig for a while and upgrade later. Or I could buy some lesser RAM, but I want to stick with dual Crucial Ballistix PC3200 CL2 as it\'s a great overclocker at low timings.
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: Living-In-Clip on August 03, 2005, 10:27:36 AM
Quote
Originally posted by Samwise
Yeah, that\'s what I\'m doing right now. :)

I want to keep it under $2,500.

I think we all do that. I know that I did the same thing. It is amazing how much that PC will morph from your original concept.
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: Samwise on August 03, 2005, 10:32:34 AM
Quote
Originally posted by Living-In-Clip
I think we all do that. I know that I did the same thing. It is amazing how much that PC will morph from your original concept.
It\'s not that different. Here\'s where I\'m at now:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+
Asus A8N-E
Geforce 7800 GTX (could end up GT or ATI Radeon 520)
1 Gb Crucial Ballistix PC3200 CL2
74 Gb Western Digital Raptor 10,000 RPM
200 Gb Samsung SpinPoint
Antec P180 case
NorthQ silent 500W PSU
17" Samsung TFT (or similar, not decided yet)
Dual layer DVD burner
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: THX on August 03, 2005, 11:09:24 AM
The X2 3800+ is THE best chip to buy right now for the money.  Finally AMD beats Intel at video encoding and in price.  Sweet choice! :)

To overclock AMDs do you just up the FSB?  If so consider getting PC4200 ram or something similar so you can run a 1:1 ratio with the FSB.
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: Samwise on August 03, 2005, 11:17:21 AM
Quote
Originally posted by THX
To overclock AMDs do you just up the FSB?  If so consider getting PC4200 ram or something similar so you can run a 1:1 ratio with the FSB.
Yeah, I\'m gonna up the FSB. I chose the Crucial RAM because it\'s great for overclocking (even though it\'s rated as PC3200).

I\'m thinking 2.6 GHz shouldn\'t be too hard to reach (which would make it, what, a X2 5000? :p).
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: THX on August 03, 2005, 11:24:44 AM
Hey, why don\'t AMD chipsets support DDR2?
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: JBean on August 03, 2005, 12:51:21 PM
Basically because the memory controller is built into AMD processors, and is an external chip for Intel.  Not worth redesigning a processor just for DDR2, it will be supported with the next gen chips on Socket M2

Plus I remember reading the increased latency of DDR2 wreaks havoc with the.... well here it is...

Quote
AMD\'s integrated memory controller design is much more sensitive to latency, or delays in a signal\'s journey from one point on a chip to another, Crank said. The first DDR2 chips run at 400 MHz and 533 MHz, and that\'s not fast enough to overcome the increased latency associated with DDR2 memory, Crank said. Internal tests of AMD systems with 400-MHz and 533-MHz DDR2 chips actually ran slower than systems with 400-MHz DDR chips, he said.

By the time 667-MHz DDR2 chips roll around, AMD will be ready to embrace the new standard, Crank said. This should take place at some point in 2006.


Quote
I think we all do that. I know that I did the same thing. It is amazing how much that PC will morph from your original concept.


I was just messing around earlier and came up with a system similar to yours... 4200 X2, 7800GTX, 2 GB PC3200, 250GB SATA HD, SLi Mobo, PSU, Dual DVD/CD burners and it came to under $2,300.  But i\'m getting things cost a little more on your side of the pond?  :D
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: NVIDIA256 on August 03, 2005, 01:27:23 PM
Quote
According to the source, AMD has other plans with DDR and the company will possibly make advancements in this sector. The source also said that AMD might be going its own way by not following Intel with their DDR2 implementations. Instead, the world\'s second largest chipmaker may go straight to DDR3 or XDR in hopes of adopting a better architecture. You see, DDR2 was a poor design to begin with, but considering that Intel has been making quite a few mistakes after its Prescott and i915/i925 launch, no one should be surprised.
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: mm on August 03, 2005, 01:53:12 PM
(https://psx5central.com/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nhmodularhomes.com%2Fimages%2Fphoto_gallery%2Fprobuilt%2Fcloset_door.jpg&hash=e425b8b658ced0c7522cb608d1d11c1a89c08d39)
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: JBean on August 03, 2005, 06:09:00 PM
:laughing:

back in the closet with cyrix eh? :gay::gfight: :lmao:
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: Samwise on August 04, 2005, 10:40:40 PM
Quote
Originally posted by JBean
I was just messing around earlier and came up with a system similar to yours... 4200 X2, 7800GTX, 2 GB PC3200, 250GB SATA HD, SLi Mobo, PSU, Dual DVD/CD burners and it came to under $2,300.  But i\'m getting things cost a little more on your side of the pond?  :D
Yeah, we have a lovely little thing called 25% VAT... :eek: :D

Did you remember the monitor? :)
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: JBean on August 05, 2005, 10:23:52 AM
yeah, I included a 19" LCD off of newegg
Title: Thinking about getting a new PC
Post by: Samwise on August 07, 2005, 11:20:40 PM
I think I figured out what to do about the monitor issue...