Wanting to build a PC

[captaincranky]

Relax...

The Intel board should have built in LAN for broadband, the drivers are on the software and driver DVD that comes with the Board. (In the retail Version). You would need to buy a modem if you have Dial-up.

Link to this Intel page to compare the different models of 965 chipset boards: http://www.intel.com/products/desktop/motherboard/index.htm?iid=mbd_main+dt

I'm not convinced on that processor, eh so what.

The case looks alright, they're calling it TAC (thermally advantaged chassis),which is good.

You can install a 120mm rear fan in that case and it would be a very good idea to do so.

To run DDR2 800 (PC6400) in the Intel 965 boards it must have 5-5-5-15 timings and be 1.8 Volt. Again Intel's site has tested various RAM modules and will tell you which ones will work. I wimped out and bought DDR2 667 in Kingston Value RAM. That memory always works for me. The choice of particular brand always stirs up a hornets nest. My suggestion is to visit Intel & the product reviews of the 965 boards on Newegg to get a feel for what's going on.

As always, post back as you refine your choices.

 

[CMH]

You don't need 5-5-5-15 timings for RAM to work on P965 boards. I've got a 4-4-4-12 timings RAM, which is running quite happily at those timings. Its also rated 2.1V, but was running happily on 1.8V.

I'm not a big fan of P4s, the Core2Duo would give much better value for money, but if the P4 is significantly cheaper, stick with it.

80gb HDDs won't last too long on my comp, I can fill it up in just a few months. Given that larger sizes are just a few dollars more, you might want to reconsider. Of course, if you don't plan to download much, 80gb can take forever to fill up with word documents.

I second the notion about DVD-RWs. You might as well grab one for a few dollars more. You'd never know when you'd need to burn that DVD.

I don't know too much about Intel brand boards. It'll work, but people usually go for other makers.

 

[LinkedKube]

i agree with CMH, go for it, upgrade 8it you can yoiu compoenents

 

[LinkedKube]

!!!! cpu

i agree with CMH, go for it, upgrade if you can yoiu compoenents and go from there

 

[JackGallagher]

Thanks for the help,
Ive tried to change to what you said but the DG965WHMK and CORE2 DUO processer is too expensive for my budget.
But I have made some changes
HARD DRIVE
WESTERN DIGITAL 120 GB SATA2/300
7200RPM
8MB
SEEK 8.9MBPS
DVD DRIVE
LITE-ON LH-20A15-11C
DVD+-RW(+-R DL) DVD-RAM

Do you think these are o.k? they are the most i could afford. Will the DVD burn dvds as im not sure what all the letters mean.

Here are the prices of my components at the cheapest I could find
RAM
66POUND ($120)
CPU
55POUNDS ($110)
MOTHERBOARD
70POUNDS ($140)
PSU
45POUNDS ($90)
HDD
40POUNDS ($80)
DVD
30POUNDS ($60)
CASE
45POUNDS ($90)
WINDOWS XP
60POUNDS ($120)

Do you think these are good prices for the spec of components I am getting, I tried several price comparison sites and these are the best I could get.
Many thanks,
P.S Since i cannot buy all in one go i am buying bit by bit, do you think i should build it as i get the parts or wait till i have all the parts to build it?

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Motherboard
RAM
CPU
High-Quality Case + PSU combo
HDD
DVD Writer
Video Card
Total comes to about 390 pounds, without considering the OS and with VAT included. All the parts I have chosen are of the best quality. I chose the AMD processor and mobo because it's cheaper and more powerful than any of the offerings from Intel, except the Core 2 Duo of course.
Those are my personal recommendations. Feel free to mix and match wherever you think appropriate. I hope I helped.

 

[JackGallagher]

Ok thanks for your recommendations. I still havent decided on which to buy yet tho. I may set the system up and wait a month or two and then buy a good graphics card for about 200poounds. Do you think the motherboards graphics card is good enough for running oblivion, doom or chenobyl games. on the spec it says Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator X3000 (Intel® GMA X3000) onboard graphics subsystem. I dont know what this means but would it run these games?
Many thanks,
jackgallagher

 

[captaincranky]

Hmmm....

You don't need 5-5-5-15 timings for RAM to work on P965 boards. I've got a 4-4-4-12 timings RAM, which is running quite happily at those timings. Its also rated 2.1V, but was running happily on 1.8V.

I'm not a big fan of P4s, the Core2Duo would give much better value for money, but if the P4 is significantly cheaper, stick with it.

80gb HDDs won't last too long on my comp, I can fill it up in just a few months. Given that larger sizes are just a few dollars more, you might want to reconsider. Of course, if you don't plan to download much, 80gb can take forever to fill up with word documents.

I second the notion about DVD-RWs. You might as well grab one for a few dollars more. You'd never know when you'd need to burn that DVD.

I don't know too much about Intel brand boards. It'll work, but people usually go for other makers.

First I'm "stateside", and I think we're a bit spoiled on price here in the "colonies". IE: Windows XP home would be $90.00. Ya got me on the conversion to pounds.

The memory issues I ascribed to were on Intel boards, not Intel chipsets on other boards, and occurred when only running certain DDR2 800 RAM.

I don't/ won't run a system with 1 HDD. With the scenario in play at the moment, when you fill up the original 80 (or 120) is when I would install the 2nd drive and begin to transfer my files to it. Would you agree that a box doesn't have to be "all that it could be", on first power-up.

I can say with certainty that the processors I recommended originally are the best dollar value in Intel's line. Here again I am making recommendations based on upgrading later to the C2D.... NOT THE INTEL DUAL CORE 900 series. Over here the 641 P4 is $75.00, while the C2D 6300 Is about $183.00. This doesn't present any talking point, since the P4 costs only about 40% of the C2D. I can't speak to a dollar for dollar comparison to the AMDs, I simply don't know enough about them.

Burner VS ROM, check, on the same page. I don't have any experience with the Lite-On drives, but MY experiences with TSST drives has been very far from satisfactory, I usually find the Pioneers at Best Buy for about $40.00 retail (on SALE), with some Nero software. (Far from the whole suite). For me, these work really well and the $8.00 more for the retail package, well I get to hold it the day I buy it.
The Intel board issue is this; Intel's boards are of high quality and very stable.
They're "mainstream" boards. Since they don't have the potential for,"modding",(I'm sort of old so I call it "abuse"), they aren't going to be popular with "enthusiasts", ( and here again I possibly differ on terminology).

 

[captaincranky]

Don't misqoute me on that.....

Thanks for the help,
Ive tried to change to what you said but the DG965WHMK and CORE2 DUO processer is too expensive for my budget.

I've always maintained that a high end Celeron D or Pentium 4 (Cedar Mill) processors would get you up and running just dandy.

I'm all for buying a system piece by piece but, should you have a defective component, it may have outlived it's return or replace date just sitting in the box.

P.S. I'm building a system with the GD965WHMK board, and the Celeron 356 in it just flies. I'll get a C2D when my finances recover.

Insufficient RAM is a the root of more speed issues than processor speed.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Do you think the motherboards graphics card is good enough for running oblivion, doom or chenobyl games

No, it won't run any of those games. If you're willing to wait, the 85xx and 86xx series of NVIDIA DirectX10 cards will be out in a couple of days. They'll be a lot better than the card I suggested.

 

[JackGallagher]

I have looked at all the prices and I have estimated that it would take me for ever to buy all these things and save up for them, as some weeks I will only have 20pounds to spend. I have searched again for the exact same specs at cheaper prices,
is this ok for the RAM, as far as i can see its exactly the same but half the price;
http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Memory/DDR2/DDR2+800+%28PC6400%29/+1GB+PC6400++Elixir+DDR2+800++SDRAM?productId=24474

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Yeah that RAM will be alright.

 

[JackGallagher]

Thanks for your help. I have now decided that I will buy everything in one go and wait till I had plenty of time to build it as if I am building at different times I will probably forget where I was. I am now going to wait till mid-July so I will have a budget of 430-500pounds to spend on the system. As I thought I might as well spend a lot once instead of over different months e.t.c so I can get the full power a.s.p. Ill let you know what choices of things I have made now I actually know my budget.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

The list I gave you has excellent quality parts all around and is considerably cheaper than your earlier list, along with the RAM from Aria. You might be able to get the PC earlier than usual. The only thing is, you might want to wait for the new mid-range DirectX 10 video cards to release. Anyways, whatever you get, do let us know beforehand if you want any advice.

 

[JackGallagher]

Hello, just so i can recalculate my costs, do all the components needed come with the different parts?, ssuch as wires, the frame for cpu heatsink and fan. I am buying all retail ones btw.

 

[beef_jerky4104]

Pentium 4 duo processer D915 DUAL CORE

I've never heard of a Pentium 4 Dual core.

I have heard of Pentium 4s, Pentium Ds dual core and Core 2 Duos.

 

[morid_dll]

I am wondering if there is any way to build or customize a laptop with the specifications below:

20.1" LCD Monitor
HDD 400+ GB
1Gb enhanced Vedio card
Core 2 duo processor or what they call them Extreme with 2.30+ Ghz
4+ Gb RAM running at 600+ Mhz

No matter how much it cost. If sepecifications found in a particular laptop, I will certainly buy it.

I am really serious about having all those properties. I am a game lover I have certain games that give me a hard time to run on my computer, such as Sniper Elite, Company of heroes...... My computer is just considered absolete and should not still be existed on this modern planet

I've been looking and searching over the internet for the best ultimate high performance laptop, but it seems whenever they improve someting like a 1Gb Graphics card, they lower something else like the RAM to 2Gb, I mean why can't the 4Gb RAM be with 1Gb vedio card on a laptop? Why 4GB RAM with 512mb nVidia installed with AMD Athlon not Core Duo processor? Why you can find all the above met together except for the monitor it is 15.5" or bit larger? I couldn't find a laptop with the above specfications, so hopefully someone would be able to help me get thru with that.

 

[captaincranky]

Yes, Mostly.....

Hello, just so i can recalculate my costs, do all the components needed come with the different parts?, ssuch as wires, the frame for cpu heatsink and fan. I am buying all retail ones btw.

Hello, just so i can recalculate my costs, do all the components needed come with the different parts?, ssuch as wires, the frame for cpu heatsink and fan. I am buying all retail ones btw.

the Intel Board (retail DG965WH) comes with 2 SATA + 1 IDE Cable, RAID driver disc, DVD with drivers & "Value Added" software (see Intel's web site for details)

A "Retail Boxed Processor" comes with a heatsink/fan & w/ thermal material applied.

Cases normally come with all necessary hardware.

Retail hard drives come with cables (at least WD, SATA). Normally DVD & PATA drives do not come with IDE cables, (see board) 1 IDE cable = 2 drives

If you buy retail packages, normally you get enough hardware to complete the install.

I reread your price estimates & they're 10% to 20% above continental US.
I guess that's the nature of the current market.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

@morid_dll, try here. Good luck with your purchase.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

@JackGallagher, yeah they come with all the wires and cables you'll need. Also, for the video card, you might want to consider the video card I recommended earlier, since it offers much better gaming performance than NVIDIA's new 86xx series.

I reread your price estimates & they're 10% to 20% above continental US.
I guess that's the nature of the current market.

I think that's because of the VAT on PC hardware in the UK.

 

[CMH]

Hmm.... Are you sure that the X1950Pro beats the new 8600 series? I haven't even seen too many benchmarks yet, and according to the hardocp review, the 8600 (OC edition unfortunately) beats the X1950pro.

However, thats the only review I've read. I also find it hard to believe that nVidia would release a new graphic card at the same price as its competitor's, and have it run slower.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Look here and here. The X1950PRO even beats the 8600GTS as well, and by a good margin too. DX10 performance might be a different scene altogether though, but I have my doubts even on this. If it can't handle DX9 well, how can it handle the more complex DX10 properly?
As for the HardOCP review, it's the only one positive about the card on the net. I'm part of the HardForum and there's a debate raging about this there ATM. Apparently, they used a Made-by-ATi version of the X1950PRO while they used 3rd-party versions of the 8600. Obviously, that particular X1950PRO is more expensive than the others from Sapphire etc. and also has lower clocks (I think) thus the difference in performance. But rebuttals from the reviewer state that he does not use timedemos, but actually plays through the game in order to reach his conclusion. But then, does that mean everyone else's results are wrong and HardOCP's are right? I for one, don't think so.

 

[morid_dll]

Hey Rage_3K_Moiz, These laptops are just fantastic. I absolutely have nothing to comment about them machines, but I am afraid of one thing because these laptops doesn't seem to be known or familiar to me. I have been searching the Internet for the last 3 months for laptops and their specifications, so I am like having a good experience and I can actually tell everything about such a computer I have read about. But those laptops I absolutely have no idea what they are and how is their performance or most importantly their system responsiveness.

The most powerful computers I have seen so far are the DELL XPS M2010 for its 4GB RAM,256mb 1800 XT (low Mbs installed which is not recommended that much), and 2.33Ghz Core 2 Duo 2MB L2 Cache, and it's 20.1" intelligent LCD, and 8 integrated speakers with 1 subwoofer!. Cost about ($6200+ customized)

And the ALIENWARE AURORA MALX for its AMD Turion 64 Mobile ML44 2.4GHz 800MHz FSB 1MB L2 Cache(which is a processor that I don't prefer to have on my laptop if I am to spend more than 4Gs), 1GB NVidia GeForce Go 7900 GTX SLI, 2GB RAM, 320GB HDD @7,200 RPM, and finally its super clear glare 19" LCD. Cost about ($6000+ costumized)

So I don't know which one I am supposed to buy, I need some sort of ultimate massive high performance laptop that beats all them latops around the whole world. Cost? Doesn't really matter at all, and I buy ten of them if I wanted to do so.

 

[morid_dll]

Check out this crazy heavily customized Ailenware Tower below, and tell me what you think about this machine. But I am not going to buy a desktop! lol.

Copied Actual specifications of customized "Area-51 ALX" from www.alienware.com

Area-51® ALX

Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme QX6700 2.66GHz 8MB Cache 1066MHz FSB - Overclocked to 3.2GHz!

Operating System (Office software not included): Genuine Windows® Vista Home Premium - With no Media Center Remote Control or TV Tuner
Chassis: Alienware® P2 ALX Chassis with AlienIce™ 3.0 Video Cooling - Saucer Silver
Chassis Customization : Alienware® Standard System Lighting - Astral Blue
High-Performance Liquid Cooling: Alienware® ALX High-Performance Liquid Cooling
Motherboard: Alienware® Approved NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI Motherboard
Memory: 4GB Low Latency DDR2 Performance SDRAM at 1066MHz - 4 x 1024MB
System Drive: Extreme Performance (RAID 0) - 1TB (2 x 500GB) Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7,200 RPM w/ 2 x 16MB Cache
Primary CD ROM/DVD ROM: 18X Dual Layer DVD±RW/CD-RW Burner w/ Nero Software
Graphics Processor: Dual 768MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8800 GTX - SLI Enabled
Power Supply: Alienware® 1000 Watt Multi-GPU Approved Power Supply
Physics Processing Unit: Ageia PhysX PCI-Express Processing Unit w/ 128MB GDDR3 - Intensified Gaming Visual Effects!
Monitor: 37'' Westinghouse 1920 x 1080 Widescreen Flat Panel - Supports Blu-Ray!
Sound Card: High-Definition 7.1 Performance Audio
Keyboard: Logitech® G15 Gaming Keyboard
Mouse : Logitech® G5 Laser Gaming Mouse
Exclusive ALX Extras: AlienInspection - Exclusive Integration and Inspection - $100 Value - FREE!
Exclusive ALX Extras: AlienWiring - Exclusive Internal Wire Management - $100 Value - FREE!
Exclusive ALX Extras: Exclusive Alienware® ALX Items
Exclusive ALX Extras: Alienware® ALX Mousepad
Exclusive ALX Extras: Alienware® Mesh Cap
Warranty: 1-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support with Onsite Service
AlienRespawn: Alienware® Respawn Recovery Kit

Just about $8300 or so.

 

[captaincranky]

Buy 2.....

One for the web and 1 for gaming.