My 1st Build - Need Suggestions & new to TechSpot

sry to post again but just read this ... urm what id do is go for the duo .. as i said in my previous post id wait until there is more choice in the quad market
more choice = lower prices

I'm in a bit of a hurry so I'll make some quick recommedations.

Skip the 7200.10 hdd and go for the 7200.11 instead. It's faster (especially multitasking) and runs quieter. Temps might also be better.

Get a good PSU. A corsair HX520 or HX620 or a Seasonic S12 II for efficient quiet grade A power.

i definitely agree with the price drop, so i will wait...patiently...lol,:rolleyes:

I'm curious..for the video card, what is the big difference between 256mb and 512mb? Is that the speed it runs on the mobo? I'm still learning about hardware components..

How do people notice if the northbridge or southbridge is weak?

To answer some of the previous post, mainly, I will be using photoshop on this computer. I WOULD ideally like to purchase more games, I do have one and I play it sometimes. I'll be watching all my DVDs and shows on this computer as well. I multi task like crazy, I'll have a show up and use photoshop at the same time, along with other IE up and AIM.

Thanks again!

The amount of RAM on your card indicates the amount of textures it can store so they can be processed faster. 256MB and 512MB are standard today. As for your requirements, you'd be quite okay with the E6750, since it's fast enough for Photoshop and any game you'd want to play on it. Plus, the 8600GT I recommended will allow you to watch HD videos without loading the CPU too much, hence allowing you to multitask even when you're running an HD video. In the end, the choice is yours.

not that i don't want it, but...you certainly thank us quite a lot. ^^;;

its nice to know we're getting the thanks we deserve....but at the end of every post? maybe its a bit much. i'm not sure about the rest of you guys. but...i'm just more than happy to help. so...no thanks be needed. i'm satisfied knowing that the person is getting a high quality piece of equipment that they can be happy with.

as for the question about the north and southbridges....i think i'm going to hop on that and wait for someone else to answer...because i honestly haven't the faintest about that. my knowledge only extends so far...so....please explain it to me too! hehe.

and...rage, i could be wrong, but i think judicious might go with an 8800gt. maybe i did miss something and she's sticking with the lower priced cards...but...yeah. that 8800 would definitely be more than enough for those purposes as well. correct?..

actually, y'know what? lets leave it at this: get the 8800 if you can afford it. and if not, get the 8600 as it is a very high performer as well.

i' d say that's fair.

i actually do appreciate the people's comments...i been on other forums n people dont really respond...if they do...not in a very..'nice' way...

so kudos to techspot n its members!

thanks for the clarification on the video card...lol i said 'thanks' again

o here's another question...if i build my own PC..and if I have to reformat my computer, do I just pop in the windows xp disc I bought? Or is there another method on formatting it?

I read somewhere on another thread that..someone wants to buy the PCs from retail because it comes with a manufacture reformatting disc and it's easier that way...

any clue?

OH MY GOD I LOVE YOUR AVATAR!!!! !!!!

ok...now that i have that out of my system...

here's the deal with discs and stuff:

typically if a manufacturer gives you a restore disc and stuff, that means that your operating system is literally tied to that computer.

lets say you buy a new computer like...7 years from now, and you want to move your copy of XP from the old computer.

if the copy came from the manufacturer, you're not allowed to move it. it's actually illegal based on the End User License Agreement that windows has.

if you have a separate disc, it's much easier. all you have to do when you move your copy is delete it entirely from the old machine. and when you're installing on the new one, there's actually an option in the setup that asks if you want to reformat your hard drives. so you can just pop in the disc and do it from there. that is much easier than dealing with stuff that came with the machine that you're not allowed to mess with.

i love Gir and i love Invader Zim! hehe

Ok back to your comment, so as long as I have the FULL edition of Windows XP, I can pop it in and it will ask me to format?

One of the issues I dealt with previously was that, when I pop the FULL edition of Windows XP, it doesn't format. There's two options, upgrade or partition. So I'm guessing it's sthe partition screen is where I'm suppose to erase the hard drive?

If only I can format with MSDOS, or is that possible? I tried to look for instructions, but couldn't find much.

I can only install XP on one system right? Or is it up to 3 different systems?

Thanks!

i...do believe it's the partitioning area..yes. understand, it's been a while since i last reformatted my hard drives because i've managed to find a way to keep my system stable for a long period of time.

i think the way it works with partitioning is...you have to tell it to create 1 brand new partition, and you can set the size. so set the entire size and that will do the trick. that will delete everything...etch-a-sketch style.

as for how many different systems you can install it on, i have no idea. i just know that in order to move the copy you have, it has to be an install made from a separate copy not from the manufacturer, and that it has to be completely removed from the old system.

the exact wording is that it can be transferred, but it cannot have 2 copies running on the same processor at the same time, or something like that.

The 8800GT would be overkill as far as gaming is concerned for her, unless she plans on playing Crysis or Gears of War or other upcoming titles at maximum detail, which'd look good undoubtedly but if she's not such a big gaming fan, why bother with such an expensive card at all? So thing is judicious, if you're a heavy gamer, get the 8800GT or else the 8600GT will be fine.
As far as a 'weak' northbridge or southbridge is concerned, well that depends on your definition of weak. If a northbridge or southbridge is missing features that you'll probably need most, then by your standards it's weak, but for someone who doesn't need those extra features, it's quite okay. The GA-P35C-DS3R has a P35-based chipset, as does the Abit IP35 Pro, which means they have a P35 northbridge. The P35 northbridge allows for Crossfire, DDR2 & DDR3 functionality and has support for Intel's new Penryn 45nm CPUs. How many of those features are enabled on the motherboard depends on the manufacturer of the board. For example, the Gigabyte board has DDR2 & DDR3 support, while the IP35 Pro supports only DDR2. The southbridge of a board usually decides the I\O features, such as the number of USB ports, onboard sound, number of IDE and SATA ports etc.
I hope I helped.

aha....interesting...

that helps somewhat.

the only reason i suggested the GT was because judicious mentioned buying more games. and that means buying more of the modern games. and modern means high quality graphics. which means, high quality graphics card.

with all the graphics cards and advances in graphics being made, i'd say that the 8600 will be left behind fairly soon. it's already considered too weak to play crysis. and if graphics like those keep coming up, then the 8600 will be too weak to play anything. i'm planning for the future essentially. that GT will extend the life of the system by a VAST amount. it won't need upgrades for years. the 8600 will soon need replacing.

that's pretty much my reasoning. yes, the 8600 is more than capable of doing what judicious wants right now, but...will it be able to in the future? i'm not so sure. i have greater confidence in the 8800GT than the 8600.

You can save alot of money on the AMD build by getting a athlon 6000 instead of the 6400 (a little OC on the 6000, and youve got a 6400 anyways - 200mhz isnt worth it) , and you could used that money to bump yourself up to a HD3870 or a 8800GT. Much better performance overall.

use intel.....go for better brands for rams...like Kingston or Chosir...
for graphics i will think 8800gt if you have budget

thanks for the replies guys..took awhile for me to respond back...

u guys all got good points..kudos to that...right now..i'll eagle eye on the prices...

No need to go for the more expensive brands of RAMs. Just make sure they operate at at decent speed with not too high voltage and timings.

Avoid the more costly alternatives as well as the non-name brands

will do!

Intel all the way!
make sure youve got a good powersupply like a 500watt, good coolers etc
try and get ddr2 ram and if you can find a board try dual channel memory from at least 2gb

x

Intel is the way to go

thanks! does anyone know if I have to have 4gb ram to run adobe CS3? Or will be 2gb will be sufficient?

Thanks!