newbuild review

[lfcpc]

can i please have thoughts on the below


processor 3GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E6850
O/w Vista business
motherboard abit IP35 Pro - LGA775

Memory 4g corsair air
19inch screen rate of 8ms or below
hard disk SAMSUNG SpinPoint T Series HD501LJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM  
video/graphics 320mb geforce 8800 gts

dvd burner Sony NEC Optiarc 18X DVD±R DVD Burner, OEM Version Black SATA Model AWG170S-B2 - OEM
monitors ViewSonic VX922 Black-Silver 19" 2ms DVI LCD Monitor - Retail


speakers Logitech X-230 32 watts RMS 2.1 Black Speaker System - OEM


powersupply Corsair 520W SLI Certified Modular ATX Power Supply - CMPSU-520HX

 

[akhilles]

Good specs overall. It's a gaming rig, I assume. Overclocking? Might want to get OCZ ram instead for a bit less. It's PC2-6400?

 

[lfcpc]

am bit of newbie when ordering components so need plenty of help

not gaming entirely. business and kids will be most use out of it

am concerned with hard drive issamsung any good make


what about q6600 oppsed t e850

any ideas on best make monitor 19 or 22"

thanks again

 

[g-paw]

That's pretty high end, i.e., expensive, if you're not into pretty hard core gaming. I learned quite awhile ago that you do not want kids on your computer, especially if you use it for business because they are malware magnets. They down load all kinds of crap including all kinds of programs and it is well nigh impossible to stop them. They don't try to screw things up, they can't help it. Suggest that you build an inexpensive AMD AM2 for them, around $350 to $400 or better yet, give them your old computer. From the sound of how you'll use it something like this would be a could start for your machine.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128048R
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115029

Depending on your budget, given how you're using it, 2GB of RAM would be good to start.

As for the kids, an AMD AM2 X2 3800 or 4000 with a mobo with onboard video 160GB Seagate hdd, 2GB of RAM. Rosewell has a decent case with either 450w or 500w PSU for about $50. Just put a similar machine for my 10yr old grandson and works fine for him. Can be upgraded over time. I'd also suggest sticking with OEM XP ($90) at this time, Vista still has a lot of problems and Microsoft just started beta testing Vista SP1. You can always upgrade to Vista later.

 

[tlmck]

Stick with 2gb on a 32 bit OS. 4gb is a waste of money.

 

[akhilles]

For a biz build:

e6750
GA-P35-DS3L OR DS3R
SEAGATE 320GB SATA2
2X1GB OCZ PC2-6400 WITH REBATE
NVIDIA GEFORCE 7X00 FOR NO GAMES AT ALL, OR 8600GT FOR SOME GAMES
Sony NEC Optiarc 18X DVD±R
Corsair 520W
Hanns·G HC-194D Black 19" 8ms

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127269
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824254004

Seagate offers 5 years warranty on their harddisks. Samsung isn't bad. If you don't have a case picked out:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129024

The psu in this case is high quality. I have the older v2 for my family. It's very easy to work with.

Use the savings to build a kid pc as g-paw suggested.

 

[lfcpc]

I really appreciate this.
I'm not that much of a builder, i'm ordering the aprts and get some one else to build. Hence build best I can get (£1000 max inc monitor) and will last upto 5 years Was llooking for 64 bit vista as also want programming tools and db on it (oracle 11g and java etc). I suppose the graphics card is major cost factor

do need to sort this out as otherwise will keep on thinking about it for ever

thanks for help again

 

[g-paw]

I really appreciate this.
I'm not that much of a builder, i'm ordering the aprts and get some one else to build. Hence build best I can get (£1000 max inc monitor) and will last upto 5 years Was llooking for 64 bit vista as also want programming tools and db on it (oracle 11g and java etc). I suppose the graphics card is major cost factor

do need to sort this out as otherwise will keep on thinking about it for ever

thanks for help again

Suggest once you decide on the mobo you take a look at the manual on line to decide if you want someone else to put it together or do it your self. Not only will it save you money but can be a fun, satisfying experience. Assembling is a lot easier than deciding on the parts.

 

[lfcpc]

k,i think the below are the main requirements
i'm def going for
Corsair 4GB DDR2 Cas 5 XMS2 PC6400 (QUAD2X4096-6400C5DHX)
and Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Retail Boxed

any suggestions for avg motherboard and graphics card, case, psu,

i need to stay under the £1000 limmit

 

[lfcpc]

any news on the above

much apreciated

 

[Guest]

Based on what you said earlier I'd go with the Q6600. You won't regret the extra cores if your doing database and programming on the same machine.

I just built a new system with the Q6600 on a Gigabyte P35-DS3R with 2 GB of PC6400. It's working fine for me.

 

[lfcpc]

thanks, this is what im likely to order any changes greatly apreciated


Case
Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gamer Case

PSU
OCZ 600W StealthXStream Power Supply

Motherboard
ABIT IP35-PRO Intel P35 LGA775 Motherboard

Processor
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Retail Boxed (95W G0 Stepping)

Heatsink
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 PRO CPU Cooler (Socket 775)

Graphics
Asus GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3 PCI-Express

Hard Drive 1
Samsung SpinPoint HD501LJ 500GB Serial ATA II

Optical Drive 1
NEC 18x DVD-RW RAM SATA Drive - Black

OS
Microsoft Windows XP Pro OEM

Misc1
3 Port Firewire Card (IEEE 1394) PCI Card

Misc2
Logitech S500 5.1 55W Speakers Black/Silver

Misc3
Pinnacle DVB-T PCI Digital TV Tuner

 

[akhilles]

A similar case that is about half price after rebate is:

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10006342

The ABIT IP35-PRO PCI NIC has been reported by a forum to be slowed by as much as 35% under load. The problem is the NIC is PCI, not PCI-E. If you want Abit, get the IP35-E or IP35.

The rest are great.

 

[g-paw]

thanks, this is what im likely to order any changes greatly apreciated


Case
Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gamer Case

PSU
OCZ 600W StealthXStream Power Supply

Motherboard
ABIT IP35-PRO Intel P35 LGA775 Motherboard

Processor
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Retail Boxed (95W G0 Stepping)

Heatsink
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 PRO CPU Cooler (Socket 775)

Graphics
Asus GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3 PCI-Express

Hard Drive 1
Samsung SpinPoint HD501LJ 500GB Serial ATA II

Optical Drive 1
NEC 18x DVD-RW RAM SATA Drive - Black

OS
Microsoft Windows XP Pro OEM

Misc1
3 Port Firewire Card (IEEE 1394) PCI Card

Misc2
Logitech S500 5.1 55W Speakers Black/Silver

Misc3
Pinnacle DVB-T PCI Digital TV Tuner

Unless you need all 3 firewire ports you'd be better off getting a mobo with onboard firewire. Unfortunately, most mobo with on board firewire come with SLI but it's worth it. You'll get at most 3 PCI slots one of which will be used by the TV Tuner. If you get the firewire card, that's 2, which means one other device, e.g., a wireless card. If you ever decide to get a separate audio card, you're out of luck

 

[lfcpc]

thanks, any mobo that you know thats good and firewire

is firewire still required

are the other bits ok

 

[bfg72]

Seriously dude, lose the 4GB of RAM.

If you are sticking to Windows XP (I'm assusing the 32-bit version)
4GB will do you NO benefit at ALL.

You'll be lucky if the system (windows) even reports 3GB of System ram (if even that much).

And to be honest I don't think there is a huge benefit right now in Quad cores, since the OS and applications don't really maximize them.
Unless your a hard-core gamer or into video editing, I would dump the Quad-core too. (get an E6850 Duo 2 3.0Ghz - 1333Mhz FSB)

I would personally put my money into a better motherboard, and a second 500gb hard-drive, and RAID them together for data reliabilty and higher speed.
And a Weston Digital Raptor (150GB) is fast as hell, and would make a great Boot Drive

 

[g-paw]

thanks, any mobo that you know thats good and firewire

is firewire still required

are the other bits ok

If I were getting a new mobo, this is the one I'd get. It isn't SLI but does have firewire and is a P35 mobo. The only devices I know that generally use firewire are digital video cameras and video analogue converter boxes, although it's been years since I looked at the latter.

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813127029

 

[aevm]

GA-P35-DS3P is a very nice mobo with FireWire support. I know newegg links are useless in the UK but you can use this to look at specifications.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128067&Tpk=GA-P35-DS3P

I'm using XP/32-bit and Taks Manager reports 3.2485 GB physical memory. The missing 0.75 GB is because the 8800 GTX needs to have its own video RAM mapped in the address space and it hides an equal amount of DDR2.

The 4 GB and Quad do have benefits for some people (including myself, when using SQL Server and VS.Net). The OP mentioned Oracle and Java, so I think he should get the 4 GB and the quad after all. What bfg72 says is perfectly true for gamers but this PC will do programming work too, it's an exception.

If you already own a device that has Firewire and doesn't have USB, then you need FireWire support. Otherwise, why bother, just buy a camera (or whatever) with USB support.

TBH I'm not quite confident about Samsung HDDs. Reviews are mixed. A Seagate 7200.10 or WD5000AAKS may be safer. On the other hand, I would gladly buy a Samsung (or LG) DVD burner rather than a Sony. Same for the monitor, Samsung is my favourite, LG is a close second.

 

[akhilles]

I wouldn't be surprised if bfg72 can code.

4GB on my PC is seen as 3.5GB in XP. both system props & task mgr. It's 32-bit. That's why. 64-bit can see more than 4 gigs.

People are jumping on the quad bandwagon. You know, octo is coming out soon. What you gonna go? Upgrade? I think Intel is thinking more than octo. AMD is rolling out their tri cores. Instead of upgrading & spending hundreds of dollars on a single chip, I suggest any take a multi-threading programming class & you'll be happy with duals.

 

[Guest]

All of you that keep saying that most programs can't use the 4 cores efficiently please remember that not all programs fall into the game and multimedia category. Also keep in mind that some of us run more than 1 program at a time and we do benefit from the extra cores.

AEVM's comments are correct. Any good database engine will utilize the 4 cores. I know SQL server does and I've watched it peg 4 cores to 100% numerous times. I'm sure Oracle will too. Based on what we've been told here, I would expect this computer will see a Java program accessing db data. Both program will be running at the same time using multiple cores.

Get the Quad.