Building new computer

[nismo91]

hi all, i hav think of my troublesome pc in my previous thread and i think im goin to buy a new one as it;s already 2 years old.

current specs :
intel p4 2.4ghz 533mhz 1mbL2
intel 865 chipset with i/ vga
512mb ram
80gb 7200rpm
dvd-ram dl ls

and i would like to upgrade to :
intel e6300 1.86ghz core duo
intel 965 chipset with i/ vga
1gb ram
160gb 7200rpm
(same) dvd-ram dl ls

how do you think, worth it? or i should use E6400 which cost more or less 50US$. beside, i choose intel mobo as for me i do not need external GPU cause the computer is not intended for gaming purpose. its just a home pc.

your comments are greatly appreciated.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

For home use, the E6300 is fine. However, why would u need a Core 2 Duo for home use? A Pentium D/Celeron D would be quite adequate for that purpose.

 

[Grafficks]

I agree, a nice Pentium D would be OK for home use, giving you all the dual-core power you need for less than a Conroe. My Pentium D was the best dual-core I could afford at the time without breaking the bank, and I use it for gaming. But if you really want a Core 2 Duo to ensure that you're set for the future, then the E6300 would be great, go for it.

You could also up the capacity of the hard drive, they sell for pretty darn cheap nowadays. You might also want to add another optical drive too, just to make your CD/DVD backups a lot more convenient, if you do that stuff a lot.

Good luck!

 

[nismo91]

thanks for the tips... well, i want to put core duo as i saw in the newspaper saying that core duo (e6300) is faster than pentium D (2.66ghz) with and it use less power. the price were close too.
for harddrive, nice inputs but i don;t know why my brother still have more than 40GB free space in the pc right now
so putting >160gb is not a good idea for him.
btw does core duo has higher temperature standard than pentium 4 / D? cuz from what i see, intel core duo (mobile) is having higher temp than intel centrino. (70*C idle & 60*C idle respectively).

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Core 2 Duo and Core Duo are different. Core Duo is only for laptops while Core 2 Duo is for laptops and desktops. Core Duo does run a bit hot but Core 2 Duo doesn't. While it is true that the Core 2 Duo is faster than the Pentium D, it is also most expensive, the E6300 costing almost twice as much as a good Pentium D. So Pentium D is a good choice but if u need the extra power, go for Core 2 Duo.

 

[nismo91]

@rage thanks for the great infos, now i know why there's two stickers , core duo and core 2 duo. now about the power supply. after counting the power requirement in a website (i forgot the name) i think 300W is enough to hold the pc. but if i put 400w will it show any difference in performance?

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Nope. Even if u put in 1000W it won't matter. Ur PC will only use what it will need. But just to be on the safe side, buy a high-quality 400-450W PSU. It should cost around $40-50 and will power everything in ur system quite nicely.

 

[nismo91]

ok thx bcuz previously i hav prob with 300w psu (pc wont start at all) so i think choosing the safe side `PSU` could give me less trouble. now for the fan, how much 12mm fan do i need (excludin cpu and psu fans)? currently my home pc has 5 fans and i think its so noisy but at least it suppose to be safer than less fans.

 

[Grafficks]

You should get a good quality PSU from a reputable manufacturer. Don't go looking for wattages around the 300's anymore, a good 400-450 Watt would be great.

If you say your PC right now has 5 case fans at the moment, then it should be enough. My PC has 4 case fans right now and it sounds like a lawn mower. For your new PC, put as many case fans as you want, but make sure you can tolerate the noise level.

There's no specific recommendation I can give you on how many case fans you should have, but I strongly recommend that you have a rear exhaust fan below the PSU (beside the CPU) at the back. I find that the fan there really helps the CPU temperature, and it makes a 5 degree difference on my PC.