OC'ing my 1st .... Project "My Dream PC "

[JDept]

Here's going to be my system details (all currently o/o): Price



ASUS P5W-DH Deluxe MB : $263.38

Pentium D 805 533MHz FSB LGA 775 Dual Core EM64T Processor: $97.00

Wintec AMPX 3AXD2675-1G2S-R (2x 1GB DDR2 Memory): $162.27

WD 250GB 16Mb Cache p/n: WD2500KS (2x = 500GB) : $163.41

OCZ 700GXS SLI 700W PSU : $159.00

Thermaltake Kandalf LCS VD4000BWS Full Tower : $289.99

ATI XT1900 XTX : $386.40


Total: $1521.45


I only wanted to spend MAX $1200, however, I like top performance things and upgradeability. And also longevity. So that explains the costly MB, case, and videocard. The other things were a necessity.

I'll post my progress and pix in the near future. Please feel free to leave feedback.

~My Current System~


ACER Aspire E AMD Athlon 3500
Lite-On DVD-RW
256MB Integrated Videocard ATI X200
512 MB Ram
200 GB Seagate HD

and

AMD Athlon 1Ghz
LG 4120B DVD-RW/Ram
768 SDRam
ATI 128 MB Rage Videocard
WD 120 GB HD

KVM switch hooks up:
Microsoft Optical Elite for Bluetooth (Keyboard & Mouse)
ACER 1916W Wide 19" LCD

 

[mark8987]

You have some really poor choices there, in my opinion. Most importantly, really all of the reviews say that the 1900xtx is over-priced and poor value compared to the 1900xt. You also don't list your monitor, but it would need to be a high end monitor in order to really need such a video card - and your budget suggests you wouldn't have purchased a high end monitor. Also, video cards tend to be the things that become out of date the most quickly, and by all accounts, there are going to be very big changes in the graphics market when the R600 and G80 come out. This will devalue whatever card you buy even more.

It would be better to go for a 1900xt. You can get them for $280. With the $100 you save, you can move from a pentium D to an Conroe E6300. This processor will be much more future proof as its features will be what are incorporated in the majority of new processors in the future.

I also think the power supply is excessively expensive. You can get a high quality power supply of similar capacity for around half the price. It would be easy to upgrade the power supply in the future if you want, but there is no reason to believe you will necessarily need such a powerful power supply - particularly as they are talking about seperate power supplies for the heavy duty graphics cards that might be released in the future.

 

[adamb10]

Yeah, get Conroe, Pentium D is based off of the P4 I believe, Conroe eats Pentium D's for breakfast.

 

[quantumsheep]

Here's going to be my system details (all currently o/o): Price



ASUS P5W-DH Deluxe MB : $263.38

Pentium D 805 533MHz FSB LGA 775 Dual Core EM64T Processor: $97.00

Wintec AMPX 3AXD2675-1G2S-R (2x 1GB DDR2 Memory): $162.27

WD 250GB 16Mb Cache p/n: WD2500KS (2x = 500GB) : $163.41

OCZ 700GXS SLI 700W PSU : $159.00

Thermaltake Kandalf LCS VD4000BWS Full Tower : $289.99

ATI XT1900 XTX : $386.40


Total: $1521.45


I only wanted to spend MAX $1200, however, I like top performance things and upgradeability. And also longevity. So that explains the costly MB, case, and videocard. The other things were a necessity.

I'll post my progress and pix in the near future. Please feel free to leave feedback.

~My Current System~


ACER Aspire E AMD Athlon 3500
Lite-On DVD-RW
256MB Integrated Videocard ATI X200
512 MB Ram
200 GB Seagate HD

and

AMD Athlon 1Ghz
LG 4120B DVD-RW/Ram
768 SDRam
ATI 128 MB Rage Videocard
WD 120 GB HD

KVM switch hooks up:
Microsoft Optical Elite for Bluetooth (Keyboard & Mouse)
ACER 1916W Wide 19" LCD

Get rid of that x1900xtx, way overpriced. It's just a x1900xt with 25mhz faster clock.

Also change that D805 for a REAL CPU. Get at least an x2 3800+ or if you'd prefer to stick with Intel get a Conroe E6300 and overclock that, it';s a MUCH better CPU than the D805.

I had a D805 before @ 3.8ghz, was very hot and consumed a lot of power however. Dont waste your money on an old CPU, get a Conroe/X2

 

[JDept]

:roll: <--- this is my sad face. I spent quite a lot of time. Researching from sites such as Tom's Hardware, XtremePC, Xbitlabs, etc. And so far I haven't heard anyone say I made a good choice. I looked at cost vs performance, when I made my decision and I felt from reviews and forums that these were the best ones. I was ready to spend a lot for a video card and MB. But for my CPU I thought I'd wait and see how prices and improvements are made on the Core Duo CPUs before I get one. I wouldn't want to get the "break-in" newest Core Duo until I felt it was a reliable. Basically, I got the costly MB/Tower/VC/PSU/HDs because I wanted reliability, longevity, and expandibility.

My monitor is an ACER AL1916W but it's true I didn't buy the videocard b/c of my monitor. I bought it because of the newest games I can't play b/c of what I am running right now.

All in all, I am confident w/ the decision I made. And I can see where you both are coming from. But I have to stick w/ it, b/c I already purchased these things. I'll post my results and anything I feel will be important to influence others on what to do, and/or not to do.

I should have my complete system in a week. Until then, feel free to respond w/ any comments regarding my choices and perhaps choices that have been made by any of you w/ experience.

~ :?: JDept

 

[nikolokolus]

You didn't make "disastrous" choices, just not exactly the best bang for the buck.

You spent $1500 and paired a budget CPU with very high end components. I'd say you weren't completely off base waiting for the next revisions of core 2 duo to come out, but imho you should have just held off altogether and pulled the trigger when they came out and saved yourself the $100 on the 805D. That X1900XTX isn't a "bad" choice either, it just doesn't offer a proportionate amount of performance for the extra money that might have been spent on an X1900XT for instance.

Overall, you're going to be pretty happy with your new computer . . . except for the generous amount of heat produced by the 805D (especially when overclocked); just save up a couple hundred bucks over the next few months and get a core 2 duo E6300 (or E6400) and overclock that.

Other than the two less than ideal (at least from a bang for the buck perspective) CPU and video card choices, you should have a very solid platform on your hands for Overclocking . . .

 

[icbluscrn]

:roll: <--- this is my sad face. I spent quite a lot of time. Researching from sites such as Tom's Hardware, XtremePC, Xbitlabs, etc.
~ :?: JDept

Maybe you spent to much time researching and by the time you made the comittment cpu tech passed you by. I think a better choice would have been a D915 by far.

regardless the only thing i see wrong is that you say you are on a budget, then why go the xtx? its not that its a bad choice but on a budget the loss of a few mhz really does not hurt compared to the money.

I have both the d915&d805 the D805's at 4.3ghz Its speed is hard to pass up and i could not keep up with the x2 3800 (however i am no amd ocing expert) I would not trade it for anything but a conroe. Yea it runs hot but that does not matter. as far as power use after about 6months of use i cant see a bit of difference on my bills and most "real" people wouldnt either. The d915 is even more impressive as far as temp and ocing but only had it a couple of weeks so still optimizing my oc.

Good luck with your setup.

 

[ChrisBond]

Woah.. Like the others said change that X1900XTX to X1900XT for $100 less with rebate tho. And I would prefer NewEgg over Zoom but that's just me. And if decide to get E6300, don't get watercooling case unless you plan on superclocking that CPU. And trade those WD 250GB for Seagate 7200.10 HDD, a better peforming. And some Corsair XMS sticks for that price. I would give you the links to all of these parts but Newegg isn't working on my Firefox right now. =[

 

[nikolokolus]

He already purchased everything . . . too late for purchase advice, only thing now is to pull up to the bar, order the poor guy a few rounds and help him to drown his technology sorrows . . . Just kidding

 

[ches111]

In this case I would have to agree about the 1900XTX being too much.

When you consider the 1950 just released with DDR4 memory and the X10 cards will also release within a few more months the 1900XTX becomes quickly undervalued.

If you still want performance get the lower end 1900 and as said before get a Conroe.

You are close and you spent a little more than most here would have. But figure out what you want and go for it. People are just trying to help you with that bang for the buck you wanted.

 

[JDept]

Thanks for the feedback. All of you have valid reasonings and choices. And I'll be definately saving up for a sweeetttt Conroe, for sure.

IcBlUsCrn ~

Maybe you spent to much time researching and by the time you made the comittment cpu tech passed you by.

I think you were right on the money w/ that comment.

As everybody already knows the tech now changes for the better every day(s)/month(s). And so no matter what there is always some component of everyone's computer that will be outdated. And I think that's what happened to me. B/c I sat on this for 4+ mos.

8)

 

[Heyyou27]

If you're not getting a Core 2 Duo, at least get an X2 3800+; also get an X1900XT with a mail in rebate.

 

[dduummyy]

i have a 805 D and its plenty fast for what i need it for, and its never bogged on me yet. In my opinion and its only a opinion, i cant for the life of me explain why i would need a faster cpu for at least 4 more years. As for heat i have it watercooled and it runs @ 38C idle and 50C 100% on both cores. I agree though if your not watercooling it forget it. If you are, i think youd be happy with it when you fired it up especially for $97

 

[JDept]

Check out what I got today!! Ohhhh ...I can not wait.

 

[towely]

Just OC that 805 to 4ghz and you'll be laughing. You'll also have a reliable central heating system (Joking).

Seriously, though, I'm sure you'll be more than happy. Tech is changing all the time and chances are you'll upgrade relatively soon, anyway.

Good luck with the build and have fun!

 

[dduummyy]

right on! You hit the nail on the head!

 

[JDept]

Does anybody have a dual-core processor and use anything other than windows xp. I was thinking about a 64bit OS, but really don't know anything about them.