1 Topic by Mr.D

  • Mr.D
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  • Registered: 2003-02-22
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Topic: Possible purchase

I have been really out of the hardware scene for a long time. My laptop has served me well so far, but I am really looking to build a new pc within the next few months (August would be a good estimate for construction).

The last time I built a PC I got dicked because it was right before everyone realized RD ram was stupid and they all switched to DDR. I am just looking for something like that not to happen again. My two big intrests in a new PC are 1) It is quiet and 2) Value. I don't want anything top of the line, but I would like it to last me a good 3 years. I guess what I am mainly looking for is general tips when shopping. What is a waste of time, what should I aim for, are any products amazing as far as value / price is concerned. Since I will also be building it myself, something that is simpler to build is a plus. I have had issues in the past with motherboards that have weird extra snaps for cards and stuff or make it rediculously difficult to install ram without feeling like you are going to break it.

2000$ is probably my high end limit, I would prefer to spend less though because I do also need a new monitor as well ( although I have looked around and those seem to have excellent prices at the moment).

  • Registered: 2006-04-09
  • Posts: 115

Re: Possible purchase

I assume you mean $2000 USD, as I dont really know where you are from.  I am configuring a very high end PC for you just to show you how much $2000 can get you in a PC currently.

You can take comfort in the knowledge that basically everything right now is fairly "standardized", so as long as you dont choose 'older' technology (AGP, PATA, etc), you wont run into things like the RDRAM fiasco.  The only thing that seems to routinely change is socket type, and that normally only happens with new processor architectures.

Keep the following in mind though, should you choose to wait until August as you said, AMD and Intel both have new processor architectures around the corner (due out this year) so you may want to wait to see the performance from both of them.

I configured the following and stuck it in a Newegg public wishlist:

Motherboard:  ASUS P5N32-E SLI
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
Memory: GeIL Value Series 4GB(2 x 2GB) SDRAM DDR2 800
Video Card: PNY VCG88GTSXPB GeForce 8800GTS 640MB
Hard Drives: 3x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3500630AS 500GB
---You would probably want to configure these in RAID 5 for performance and redundancy
Power Supply:  Antec True Power Trio TP3-650 ATX12V 650W
Case:  Thermaltake Tsunami VA3000BWA
Monitor:  SCEPTRE X22WG

Total (before rebates): $2,277.91

http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=5073652



Yes, I realize thats a bit over your absolute top end, but I didnt know where to shave off a bit of $$, so I left it all in there to let you pick yourself.

This is a BEAST.  But the reason I configured it this way is to show you really how much room you have to work with when you say $2000.  Obviously you could make one more expensive than this, but honestly, you almost wouldnt need to.

One other note, that is a quad core processor, you may need to consider an operating system that supports more than 2 cores/processors.

3 Reply by Crast

  • Registered: 2002-11-01
  • Posts: 2,697

Re: Possible purchase

Some thoughts.

- Don't get a quad core.  The performance difference is minimal, even heavy multi-taskers cannot get much more performance than a dual core.    Gaming performance is the same or worse on a quad core compared to the same-clocked dual core.   It's unlikely this will change significantly in the near future.
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2866&p=15  Considering the E6600 is less than half the price of the Q6600, I'd get that.  If you really want quad core, get it in three years when it's cheaper.

- RAID5, especially the software raid5 on the nvidia cards, provides a minimal performance increase with three drives (maybe 10%), and three drives will not be quiet, due to cooperative vibration noise.  Having to get a bigger PSU to support the extra HD's won't help either.  If you really need a fast HD, get a raptor for your OS/games, use the barracudas for your data.

- You can save a bit of money by getting 4x1GB ram modules rather than 2x2gb.  I doubt you'll upgrade past 4gb of ram, 32-bit windows doesn't support it (and running 64-bit, while recognizing the extra ram, doesn't do anything for you, no single 32-bit process can address more than 2gb anyway.  (or special apps can access 3GB with the /3GB kernel extension, with major caveats)


I've made a modified wishlist:
Motherboard: ASUS P5N32-E SLI
Processor: Intel Core 2 Du E6600
Memory: GeIL Value Series 4GB(4 x 1GB) SDRAM DDR2 800
Video Card: PNY VCG88GTSXPB GeForce 8800GTS 640MB
Hard Drive: 1x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3500630AS 500GB
Power Supply: Antec True Power Trio TP3-550 ATX12V 550W
Case: Antec Sonata II
Monitor: SCEPTRE X22WG
Total (before rebates): $1,545.92

https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=6713367&WishListTitle=meesterD

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  • Registered: 2006-04-09
  • Posts: 115

Re: Possible purchase

Agreed with many things he pointed out, I was simply proving that the $2000 price tag is quite generous with current computers.

As for RAID 5, I put that in there because my next PC is going to have it.  I've had RAID 0 on all of my PCs for the last 8 years and with the increase in the size of Hard drives I'm too worried about data loss due to a failed drive, especially the amount of data they now hold, whereas before I would consider formatting without even backing up.

As for the memory, since that board supports 8 gig (not that many people use that much) and since I was originally configuring a beast, I was leaving room to put the additional 4 gig in it, rather than consuming all 4 slots to begin with.

With the exception of the hard drives (I'll stick with the 3 of them), that is actually very close to the PC I will be building that you just specced out Crast, except I dont need to purchase monitors, the PSU (I have an Antec TP-550 already), or the case.  The rest of that is actually spot-on with what I was going to purchase for myself.

One other note, we both forgot optical drives.  So unless you have those, add about $30-$50 depending on what you want.  Oh, and the case you put in there has a PSU in it.

5 Reply by Crast

  • Registered: 2002-11-01
  • Posts: 2,697

Re: Possible purchase

Originally posted by: Istarion
With the exception of the hard drives (I'll stick with the 3 of them), that is actually very close to the PC I will be building that you just specced out Crast, except I dont need to purchase monitors, the PSU (I have an Antec TP-550 already), or the case.  The rest of that is actually spot-on with what I was going to purchase for myself.

One other note, we both forgot optical drives.  So unless you have those, add about $30-$50 depending on what you want.  Oh, and the case you put in there has a PSU in it.


I actually picked out the components mostly (with the exception of the 640mb 8800GTS, I'm a light gamer so I'd probably have gone with this passively cooled 8600gt for max quietness) that I would've built had I been looking for a system at the moment (also save for the monitor).   It's really just a pretty good combination of price/performance.

For your system, if you can get a fourth drive in there, I'd recommend raid5 on four drives.. your wasted space is only 25% then instead of 33% (though you do add one more possible point of failure.)   I have a 4x300gb raid5 in my server at home, and so far it's been pretty awesome.  The read speed is about 20-30% faster than on a single drive, and the write is about the same speed, so it certainly isn't a speed demon, but having large partitions with redundancy is a sweet deal.

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  • Registered: 2006-04-09
  • Posts: 115

Re: Possible purchase

Ya, I considered 4x400s, I might still look at it if the price isnt too different from 3x500s, havent really paid attention to that yet.

I think I will see the biggest increase due to the multi-core processor.  I multitask constantly since I have dual monitors, and since WoW is a processor hog, running a DivX or DVD alternate it I generally see video lag and such.  I also notice a pauses in other applications if the 'focus' is not on them, hoping to alleviate some of that.

  • Registered: 2002-03-25
  • Posts: 3,681

Re: Possible purchase

I would avoid Sceptre screens. My roommate had one and there was loads of backlight bleed going on, which seems to be a common problem with them. I'd spend a little more and get something better.

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  • Registered: 2006-04-09
  • Posts: 115

Re: Possible purchase

I have 2 Sceptre monitors, both that exact same one I selected in the set up, I really like them.

9 Reply by Mr.D

  • Mr.D
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Re: Possible purchase

Thanks for all the help so far! How upgradeable are the wish lists you provided?

  • Registered: 2006-04-09
  • Posts: 115

Re: Possible purchase

Quite, the board we selected has future capability for the 1333 MHz FSB chips that Intel will be coming out with, and it uses PCI-E for video, so all future video cards based on PCI-E x16 will work on it.

SATA 3.0 (Hard drives), PCI-E (Video cards and other cards), DDR2 (memory), LGA775 (processor), DX10 (video card capability) etc... they are all current standards, and I think the only one that may be in any danger of becoming old is the LGA775 socket, because who knows if Intel will change the package on their next chip series, they've been known to do it mid-series before, as has AMD (See: Intel P4 sockets 423/478, AMD Athlon 64 sockets 754, 939, 940)

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Re: Possible purchase

Intel has confirmed that Penryn (the Core architecture's 45nm shrink) will be on LGA-775, but possibly requiring a new chipset or bios update. That's probably 1 year down the line though, and an upgrade then probably won't be required. I'd say your system right now is good to last for at least 2 years without feeling obsolete for anything you use it for.

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12 Reply by Mr.D

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  • Registered: 2003-02-22
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Re: Possible purchase

So things are getting closer to coming together for my computer, and I have a few new concerns / questions.

First off, the selected Video Card is now unavailible, but it was pretty expensive as it was.
Second, how do you all generally feel about sound cards? I had one previously, but I don't know how good motherboard audio is / isn't right now.
Lastly I swapped some parts in and out based on reviews, and I am still looking for a different monitor because frankly, 22" seems like it might be too big. Here is my current set list, any help or advice on the changes would be appreciated.

https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=5634306&WishListTitle=New+PC