My Ultimate Cost-Effective Setup, Or Tom's Hardware .com Rocks!

[bcboy]

When I decided to get my self a new toy, I started researching the web on information about new technologies...Enter Tom's. You guyz rule ! Now I know more than I ever thought I would about the newest technologies.
My new toy, after two weeks of research, and a week of waiting for parts , is as follows:

Asus P5N32-E SLI Plus Motherboard with nForce 650i hybrid chipset
Intel Core 2 Duo e6550 2.33GHz w/4MB L2 cache
2x Kingston DDR2-800 Dual-Channel 1.0GB
Zotac GeForce 8400 GS 256MB GDDR2-800 (459MHz GPU)
1x 250GB IDE HDD
1x 250GB SATA HDD
1x 16x DVD-RAM

All this bundled into a beautiful shell...
http://btecanada.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/6336

It makes my old Athlon64 3000+ setup look like a 486
And all this for under $800! (though the GeForce, the IDE HDD and the DVD-RAM all came out of my old computer)

EDIT: The only reason I got the GeForce 8400 instead of the 8800 is cuz I already bought the card for my old computer, and I figured I could get some more mileage out of it yet...Though with GDDR2 instead of GDDR3 there's not that many miles left on it

 

[bcboy]

shameless bumpage cuz i love my new system

EDIT: and another one cuz I just posted to like 7 different threads and un-bumped mine

 

[bcboy]

one more bump. It's my thread, I can bump it if I want.

 

[akhilles]

Persian: It makes my old Athlon64 3000+ setup look like a 486

Pros: My children, gather round! No retreat, no surrender; that is Spartan law. And by Spartan law we will stand and fight... and die. A new age has begun. An age of freedom, and all will know, that 300 Spartans gave their last breaths to defend it! Also the Price.

lol. I don't disagree with your statement.

Any reason you picked out a pata & sata hard disks?

If you're from B.C., that store is in ON. You should really shop at ncix.com.

What will you use this computer for? Overclocking, gaming, etc.?

 

[bcboy]

Okay,

1) I'm in ON now, I'm originally from BC.
2) the IDE drive is coming from my old computer, the SATA is going to be purchased for my new computer.
3) I'm gonna use this beast for gaming mostly. If I overclock it, it won't be by much. I'm not about to melt a $200 CPU.

Oh, and that chip you posted: 256KB L2? Have you gone completely outside your mind? The e6550 has 4MB, that's right 4MB of L2 cache. Don't make me laugh, Spartacus. 300 of you are about to get yer buttz handed to ya

EDIT: P.S. Ya forgot the sunglasses smiley when ya quoted me

 

[aevm]

If you're in Ontario and shop at ncix you save 8% because you don't pay PST.

Congratulations on your E6550/8400GS. Don't know if it's worth a post and two bumps though. How many bumps should I do then, for a Q6600 and overclocked 8800 GTX? Tell you what: now find yourself a girlfriend and boast to her, not to the forum.

 

[rgeist554]

You're not doing that processor justice! Push it to it's limits with an 8800 series and another gig of RAM! (Your L2 Cache speed is reliant on the speed of your L1 Cache, keep that in mind) Decent starter system though, good job.

 

[akhilles]

I don't know where you get those parts, but ncix is having a sale. What a shocker.

http://www.ncix.com/promo/promosale.php?webid=14days

You can price-match directcanada.com for less. The Ballistix is $45 after rebate.

Anyway, your list looks good. Not sure what games you play. 8800GT 512MB is going to be out next week. End of Oct. About $255. Faster & cheaper than 8800GTS.

 

[bcboy]

As far as ncix goes, its too late, I'm typing on my new gear now
And if i had a gf i wouldn't be able to afford the damn computer

Whaddaya mean, 'starter system'? My starter system was a TRS-80 Mk1 lol! This is a megaton of dynamite versus a cherry bomb compared to any other computer I've ever owned.

The 8400 i had already bought to upgrade my old computer for BF2, figured i'd get a dx10 card at the time. Plus for a hundred bucks off ebay it was a good deal imo. Vista went on that computer right afterward, but its comin off now that it's back to the 6100 o/b.

Yeah, I probably will put another gig in the banks, and then work on payin out for an 8800...For now this more than takes care of my needs for the near future. Heh, no more TrustedInstaller bug, i got a whole processor just for it

Alas, all is not well in Paradise, however. The RAM hadn't been delivered locally at the same time as the rest of the parts, and case. My computer guy is my hero though, he loaned me a 1g stick of 667 to last me the week until my RAM shows up. Let's just say that I've got two turbofans blowing a huge amount of processing 'air' into a shopping bag...



EDIT: ? Just ran my first render in Poser. After working with a 2.0GHz AMD single, I gotta say, DAMN THATS FAST! Can't wait to see the speed of an animation render...no more half hour renders for 5 minutes of animation!

 

[bcboy]

Um, can anyone tell me how to permanently set affinities? I know how to set each process one-by-one, but I want to basically force Vista onto one core while I use the other core for my games and software. I tell ya, it's damned inconvenient to have to do it all one at a time after boot-up...

 

[bcboy]

Bumped, cuz I would like an answer.

 

[bcboy]

Dewd, all this processing power is useless without my RAM. Running it on 1g 667 just isn't cuttin' it. I can't play any real game yet...It's gonna be a long week...

 

[james_8970]

Quit bumping and do some research.
Since you bought a 8400, you obviously didn't do enough research, hope you don't game.
And why did you get 1GB of 667MHz RAM? You can buy 2GB of 800MHz of RAM for as little as 60$ now.
James

 

[bcboy]

The 8400 i had already bought to upgrade my old computer for BF2, figured i'd get a dx10 card at the time. Plus for a hundred bucks off ebay it was a good deal imo. Vista went on that computer right afterward, but its comin off now that it's back to the 6100 o/b.

...

Alas, all is not well in Paradise, however. The RAM hadn't been delivered locally at the same time as the rest of the parts, and case. My computer guy is my hero though, he loaned me a 1g stick of 667 to last me the week until my RAM shows up. Let's just say that I've got two turbofans blowing a huge amount of processing 'air' into a shopping bag...

Dude, read before you post. My 2x1g DDR2-800 doesn't arrive till Friday. And I bought the 8400 for my old computer, and this mobo didn't have onboard. And despite what you might think, the 8400 games just fine

But thanks for giving me a reason to bump again :lol:

 

[killz86]

Dude, read before you post. My 2x1g DDR2-800 doesn't arrive till Friday. And I bought the 8400 for my old computer, and this mobo didn't have onboard. And despite what you might think, the 8400 games just fine

But thanks for giving me a reason to bump again :lol:

And yes i did read your post above this. i would say get a better card. because that will not play crysis if it does it will look like a slide show. and alot of new games will run poor on it. i am just saying and letting you know

The 8400GS is a low range card and poor performce for gaming. now you can say what you like. but i did alot of countless hours reading and gathering info on my build. i would at min. got a 1950pro or 8600GTS. or would of waited for the 8800GT which is coming out monday. here is my build.

Asus P5K-V
Q6600 stock
4gb ddr2 XMS2
1950Pro
74gb 10k raptor
160gb 7.2k
2 dvd-rw's with LS
700 thermltake toughpower
armor series case
20" widescreen

thats just my 2 cents

 

[bcboy]

Yeah, don't worry, I'll be getting a new GeForce soon enough. But after shellin out big-time for the system, the rest of the parts (HDD, couple of fans I'd like to have on the case, new keyboard, GeForce) will have to be one at a time. But all the games I actually own will run like Ben Johnson now