Once again building a new PC, looking for recommended parts

[snacks]

Seems fine from the reviews, aside from the usual random issues, but I won't be messing around with things, I'll just put in what I need and not bother with it until I have trouble.

 

[Tbolo]

I will help you...I build PCs on a daily basis. What was your budget and what all do you need/already have. I build 1000 dollar rigs all the time(I think that was your budget) and know how to get the best bang for the buck.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Seems fine from the reviews, aside from the usual random issues, but I won't be messing around with things, I'll just put in what I need and not bother with it until I have trouble.

Which mobo are you referring to here?

 

[snacks]

Both seem fine, but as far as ease of use, might one be preferable over the other?

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

The Gigabyte one would be preferable solely because of their better tech support. Feature-wise, I think the DS3L doesn't have RAID while the IP35 does. Both are equally easy to use however.

 

[snacks]

Considering spending more money on the motherboard. Not too ridiculous, but enough for a nicer motherboard. Maybe around $250, but that's only if absolutely necessary, if someone looks nice for less than that, that's fine too. For features, I don't think I care about RAID, not sure about SLI. It would be good to have it, but it's not a huge deal.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Try an X38-based mobo in that case. The ASUS P5E is a great one.

 

[snacks]

I've added some stuff and had help from other places, so I'm going to post everything I have. I've also increased the budget a little bit:

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

EVGA 122-CK-NF68-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
or the GA-P35-DS3L. Probably going to stay with the cheaper board.

Still an eVGA 8800GT, just ordering from whichever site looks best.

Antec earthwatts EA500 ATX12V v2.0 500W Power Supply

G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
Or just 2 GB, like posted earlier.

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model SH-S203N

Arctic Silver Ceramique Thermal Compound

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler
Or Tuniq Tower 120 with Scythe SFF21F.

And the E8400.

I haven't checked every single part yet, but I thought I'd just post this.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Everything looks pretty good. For a better cooling alternative, try the Tuniq Tower 120. It's for about $45 or so with shipping on Newegg, and delivers much better performance than the Freezer 7 Pro. You'd just need a good fan for it, and the Scythe SFF21F, Yate Loon D12SM-12 and Panaflo M1A(120mm) are excellent options.

 

[snacks]

Seems fine, now I'll need a monitor, and is that it?

 

[Tbolo]

If it's reliable and is worth the bit of extra money, that's fine, but really, is 1gb even necessary?Back later.

Can't answer if it's necessary but I can run higher AA settings than my old GT 512MB. Also, it has a three- phase power solution which the basic improvements this makes is a cooler running card (total thermal output of the entire card not just the GPU) and more stable power. So far a little more money you get: better heatsink, HDMI adapter, 1GB of GDDR3 and three-phase power solution.

 

[snacks]

Right now I'm more concerned with a monitor. I've seen some that seem good enough, but trying to get some opinions from other people. Trying to spend less than $200, and at least an 18 inch screen.

 

[Tbolo]

Here's a $189 20' widescreen from Acer with a 1680 x 1050 rez. I have had good luck with Acer in the past.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009131


Palit 8800GT Super 1GB 740/970 SLI
E6600 @ 3.6 1.47v
Asus P5N-e SLI @ 400
GSkill 2x1Gb DDR800
WD 74GB Raptor
Audigy ZS
Hiper TypeR 580 PSU
Antec 900 v.2
LG L226WTY-BF
3Dmark06 16200

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

The Acer monitor previously mentioned looks like an excellent bargain. Definitely recommended.

 

[Tbolo]

The Acer monitor previously mentioned looks like an excellent bargain. Definitely recommended.

It has great reviews too. The office I work in uses all Acers and we all love them. I just bought a 22 inch LG and retired my 19" Acer with a glossy screen to my daughter. Kind of miss it

Palit 8800GT Super 1GB 740/970 SLI
E6600 @ 3.6 1.47v
Asus P5N-e SLI @ 400
GSkill 2x1Gb DDR800
WD 74GB Raptor
Audigy ZS
Hiper TypeR 580 PSU
Antec 900 v.2
LG L226WTY-BF
3Dmark06 16200

 

[Tbolo]

The only reason why i gave up my Acer 19" is because I got that LG for 200 bucks from a friend. He paid $400 for just 2 months B4. The contrast is 3000/1 and the rest of the specs are great. You can find 22" monitors for around 200 but you have to remember they have the same rez as the 20 inchers and side by side you can hardly tell the size difference. Here'e a link to that LG:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824005097
Here's an Acer 22 inch for 219:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...E&N=2010190020 1309822582&bop=And&Order=PRICE

Palit 8800GT Super 1GB 740/970 SLI
E6600 @ 3.6 1.47v
Asus P5N-e SLI @ 400
GSkill 2x1Gb DDR800
WD 74GB Raptor
Audigy ZS
Hiper TypeR 580 PSU
Antec 900 v.2
LG L226WTY-BF
3Dmark06 16200

 

[snacks]

So what operating system? Vista seems like the most logical choice, but I'm still skeptical as to performance and compatibility issues.

And will I notice the difference the hard drives cache (8mb) makes? Nearly 500gb is a lot of memory for that price, but will the cache size matter with games?

 

[Tbolo]

All I'm going to say is Vista is pretty. DX10 isn't there yet and XP has Better performance so you make the choice. I reverted back to XP but I deal with iVista alot at work.

Palit 8800GT Super 1GB 740/970 SLI
E6600 @ 3.6 1.47v
Asus P5N-e SLI @ 400
GSkill 2x1Gb DDR800
WD 74GB Raptor
Audigy ZS
Hiper TypeR 580 PSU
Antec 900 v.2
LG L226WTY-BF
3Dmark06 16200

 

[snacks]

I trust XP more, but what about memory? I'll start with 2gb of RAM, but what if I want to increase that? Have there been problems with that? Wouldn't you need XP 64-bit for 4gb, and supposedly support for XP 64 isn't as good.

I still have the same question about the hard drive: Will it matter? I could have a 250gb hard drive and I don't honestly think I would run out of space, and suppose it had a 16mb cache? Would the difference be noticeable?

 

[Tbolo]

Get XP for sure and why do you think you need more than 2GB of memory. I rarely even come close to using 2/3 of my 2gig and I multitask with the best of them...In fact it's my job to multitask. So I guess what I'm saying is more than 2GB is worthless unless you use multiple memory hogging apps at the same time

Palit 8800GT Super 1GB 740/970 SLI
E6600 @ 3.6 1.47v
Asus P5N-e SLI @ 400
GSkill 2x1Gb DDR800
WD 74GB Raptor
Audigy ZS
Hiper TypeR 580 PSU
Antec 900 v.2
LG L226WTY-BF
3Dmark06 16200

 

[snacks]

Was already considering XP over Vista. I was just wondering if it has done anything to make it worth considering, since I've been on the "I hate Vista even though I don't know much about it" bandwagon since it came out. And you might want to work on the ranting thing.

Still, same question about hard drive. And wondering if I'll need more cables.

 

[Tbolo]

The only thing I see Vista has over XP is the security thing but it's so annoying I end up turning it off anyways.

Palit 8800GT Super 1GB 740/970 SLI
E6600 @ 3.6 1.47v
Asus P5N-e SLI @ 400
GSkill 2x1Gb DDR800
WD 74GB Raptor
Audigy ZS
Hiper TypeR 580 PSU
Antec 900 v.2
LG L226WTY-BF
3Dmark06 16200

 

[snacks]

So, XP Pro, 32 bit (with SP2 obviously) is fine? I don't actually think I'll want more than 2gb of ram anyway.

So that should be everything, aside from cables, right?

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Cache can have a big difference on drive speed when used for routine or repetitive data transfer but really, a larger cache won't change the maximum transfer rate at which a drive can transfer data. Also keep in mind that the cache size is very small compared to the disk cache the OS reserves for itself, and the overall system performance really depends on how well these two work together. You'd only see a noticeable performance difference between large cache differences, such as a drive with a 4MB cache and a drive with a 16MB one, in which case it is a no-brainer as to which one is faster when fetching data. Also, go for a higher capacity drive if storage is important and just to make sure you don't run out of space when you really need it.

 

[Tbolo]

I agree My 7200RPM 16meg cache benches alomst as fast as my Raptor 10,000 8meg cache. So in this case cache makes up for speed.

Palit 8800GT Super 1GB 740/970 SLI
E6600 @ 3.6 1.47v
Asus P5N-e SLI @ 400
GSkill 2x1Gb DDR800
WD 74GB Raptor
Audigy ZS
Hiper TypeR 580 PSU
Antec 900 v.2
LG L226WTY-BF
3Dmark06 16200