NEW PC BUILD PLZ HELP!

[snoopy_gep]

Hey Im thinking of building a new pc for the FIRST TIME!! and i was wondering if i could get some help from you?

Well here are the specs that I have looked at so far:

INTEL CORE 2 QUAD Q6600 2.40GHZ LGA775
SEAGATE 320GB 7200RPM SATA 16MB HARD DRIVE

CORSAIR XMS2 XMS2-6400 2 X 1GB DDR2-800(4-4-4-12) or
Kingston ValueRAM (2 x 1GB) Dual Channel DDR2-800MHz PC-6400 Non-ECC

GIGABYTE P35-DS3L ATX MOTHERBOARD
MGE XG SIDEWINDER II GAMING CASE with 450W PSU
INNO3D GEFORCE 8500GT 512MB GDDR2 PCIE


OR


Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 2.33GHz LGA775
GIGABYTE P31-DS3L P31 LGA775 DDR2 1066
ASUS 8500GT 256MB Silent PCI-E Graphic Card Seagate 320GB SATA 7200rpm 16MB Hard Drive
Thermaltake SOPRANO Silver Case With TT 430 Watt PSU
Kingston ValueRAM (2 x 1GB) Dual Channel DDR2-800MHz PC-6400 Non-ECC

Well there it is, im still confused with some of the parts like the ram (ECC or non ECC) . I know you cant mix between the two and the hard drives with the 8mb cache vs the 16 mb cache and sata vs sata2. Is 8mb considered to be sata and 16mb is sata2?

 

[snoopy_gep]

And does it make a big difference between a DDR 3 and a DDR 2 GPU? Does a DDR3 GPU consume more power?

And would it be better if I run XP instead of vista because I dont think I would be needing such a fancy advanced OS. Im quite happy with XP and besides I prefer my games eating up my pc resources rather than the OS.

 

[akhilles]

http://www.computer-memory-upgrade-stick.com/ecc-vs-non-ecc.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GDDR3

DDR is for mobos whereas GDDR is for graphics cards.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cache#Disk_cache

Hard disk cache memory has nothing to do with SATA/SATAII. It's the internal cache memory. A bigger cache memory would be better.

You still haven't gotten Vista? MS may be rolling out a new Windows next year.

http://www.windowsvienna.com/

MS will end support for XP soon, in order to, fill_in_the_black.

What games/apps you run?

 

[snoopy_gep]

Yea i guess i wont be needing EEC ram lol

Can sata2 work on a motherboard that supports sata1?

Ill wait for vista to improve and stuff before i get it. Xp seems good enough atm.

My current pc cant run games like KOTOR, well it can but its really laggy, Half Life 2 , doom 3 ,swat 4 and those kind of games.

 

[notherdude]

Only thing is Vista gets you dx-10 and you will have a powerful new system fully able to run Vista well.

 

[coltz]

Please for goodness sakes don't get 8500GT, it'll struggle even with Doom3. (Note that if KOTOR is all you want though, it'll be fine) If you are on -that- low a budget, at least do yourself a favor and buy an 1650pro or 7600gt for <$70. That'll do you a lot of good over the 8500GT which can't really play anything above WoW level.

 

[imrul]

Please for goodness sakes don't get 8500GT, it'll struggle even with Doom3. (Note that if KOTOR is all you want though, it'll be fine) If you are on -that- low a budget, at least do yourself a favor and buy an 1650pro or 7600gt for <$70. That'll do you a lot of good over the 8500GT which can't really play anything above WoW level.

depends what you want to play

 

[rickpcnerd]

Whats your budget? This what I got for under $800. This processor are much faster than Q6600 in games if q6600 not overclock, but still faster if E8400 are overclock. You probably want xp, better game performance. Anyway, there are only like 3 DX 10 titles, it will take about a year to develop games fully DX 10 optimize. Windows Vienna will launch on 2009, by the time they release TRUE DX 10 games, Vienna will be out that time. here the specs, and is a very quiet pc.

power supply Ultra / V-Series $58.12
ntel E8400 Dual Core Processor $212
GigaByte GA-P35-DS3L Motherboard$102.93
VisionTek Radeon HD 3850 Video Card $184.01
Patriot Memory 2GB PC2-6400 LAT:4 $73
Pioneer DVR-112D Dual Layer DVD±RW Writer $35.71
WD Caviar SE 250GB Hard Drive $64.00
COOLER MASTER Centurion 534 RC-534-KKN2-GP 58.28

ncluding tax/ shipping in TOTAL: $787

all comes from www.pricegrabber.com

 

[akhilles]

Go with rickpcnerd's suggestion.

SATAII is backward compatible with SATA, BUUUT, performance won't be the same. It'll be at SATA speed.

 

[snoopy_gep]

Wow nice build but it seems like you dont have a proper graphics card.
Isnt Pricegrabber an American or Uk retail company? I dont think they would deliver to me in NZ.

I want 2gigs of RAM. So you think that Geforce 8500GT with 512MB is just average?
What about the 512MB 7950GT card? I was thinking of getting that card last year but I thought the 8*** series would be way better and i chose the 8500gt because it seemed cheap. But i guess you get what you pay for.

Ok then what graphics card would you recommend from this list:

http://www.pricespy.co.nz/cat_16.html

 

[jsc]

Go with rickpcnerd's suggestion.

SATAII is backward compatible with SATA, BUUUT, performance won't be the same. It'll be at SATA speed.

On the other hand, without a hard drive benchmark program, you probably will not notice much difference.

Game performance and overclocking:

Based on my experience with a medium-high performance PC (well, last year, it was), gaming performance becomes GPU limited at around 3 GHz - modern CPU, not a netburst P4.

"Windows Vienna will launch on 2009 ..." Based one previous Microsoft performance, it will be late.

 

[snoopy_gep]

What about Geforce 8600 GT 512MB ?? That seems to perform better than the 8500GT.

 

[rickpcnerd]

go with ATI 3850 instead of a 8600 gt. According to benchmarks, ATI 3850 outperform 8600 gt and both cost the same.

 

[mihirkula]

Wait a couple of weeks and go for the E8400....its faster than the E6750 or for that matter the Q6600 .... and it runs cooler....

The Gigabyte DS3L is a great choice...especially if you aren't into SLI

The 8500 is a v sad card..pls do NOT get it.... as said above, the ATI 3850 blows away the low-midrange cards.....

 

[mihirkula]

ps: Here are the benchmarks for the cards...

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/607/8/

Cheers!

 

[amd_fanboi]

what they say... the HD3850 is the only budget card worth buying, IMO... none of this 8600gts rubbish...

 

[snoopy_gep]

So are you saying the geforce cards are crap? What about 7950GT 512MB. Is that a good card? How does that card compare to the 88xx series?? Less power consumption??
Man im really confuised with you guys. So Q6600 isnt a good cpu? Well i just really want a fast pc and i dont plan on overclocking because i have no experience do so. I just want to put together a good pc.

 

[akhilles]

No, not all of them. You don't look at a performance chart & jump to conclusion. You have to look at everything from performance to price to power consumption, etc.

The only card I'd get are 8800GT/GTS512 or HD3870 or HD3870X2.

Go with Q6600 stock. No o/c. You'll be happy.

 

[snoopy_gep]

man... Im really confused now. One person is saying something and another person saying the other.
i guess i got to do more research and yea


But i do agree that GF 8800GT is a good card but i heard it consumes alot of power and heats up alot but gives good performance.

Hmm what size power supply am i looking at if i do get that card??

 

[HamRadio]

you can use a power consumption calculator but probably 425W or so is what you would need, so get something around 550-750W.

Generally you don't want to operate a PSU at its limit. It would work fine, but PSUs are most efficient (less heat, more power) near the low and middle portions of their operating range.

Other factors to consider would be the noise, the reliability, and the purity of the signal. On an oscilloscope, a good power supply has very little ripple and no spikes. Just a continuous line at +12 volts on the 12 volt rails and same for other rails.

Other factors to consider would be (1) the location of the PSU fan as some cases do better with a PSU with a fan on the bottom (for example the coolermaster cosmo has a big square hole in the bottom of the case for the PSU's fan to draw cool ambient air into the PSU instead of warm air from within the case); and (2) modular power cords (use only the ones you need, store the rest in a bag in a closet, better airflow, less places for dust bunnies).

There is a link to a list of power supply units divided into tiers somewhere on this site that rates them. For example, PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610 or 750 are quiet, and reliable but the fan is at the back not the bottom (so OK for an Antec 900 case but not so much for a Coolermaster Cosmos) and they are not modular.

 

[akhilles]

GT & GT512 have the same psu requirement: 425W 28A. It'd be best to not stress the psu. So get a big brand name.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=108088

 

[rickpcnerd]

since you wont over clock, E8400 is the best choice. This e8400 run games faster than a q6600.

 

[HamRadio]

Just a suggestion:

Overclocking is really not that hard. It is only changing a few settings in BIOS and there are tons of guides on how to do it (there is a good one here at Toms even).

If you have the smarts to build your own computer, you have the smarts to overclock. Think of overclocking as getting the benefits of faster components but not having to pay for them.

So even if I have not convinced you that overclocking is the way to go, do yourself a huge favor and build your system with parts that are overclock-friendly so that if you change you mind you will only have to fiddle with the BIOS and not tear apart your system and have to buy new stuff.

I believe the following things should be considered in your build:
1. Case - make sure it is well rated for cooling. (for example, the Antec Nine Hundred is a good cooling case)
2. Motherboard - some motherboards are known for being overclockable (for example, a good inexpensive one is the GA-P35-DS3L)
3. RAM - 4-4-4-12 timing PC6400 800MHz is usually what most overclockers use. (Crucial Ballistics Tracer is the name that is tossed around the most as they use Micron chips and have a good reputation for OCing)
4. PSU - get something bigger than you need and pick from tier 1 or 2 if you can.
5. CPU Cooler - while you can definitely overclock using the stock cooler that comes with the retail version of the CPU, you will get better cooling and perhaps more overclocking using an aftermarket cooler. The one that wins all the contests for cooling is the thermalright ultra-120 extreme but it is also the most expensive and you have to buy your own fan to go with it such as 1 or 2 scythe s-flex F fans or noctua also makes a very nice fan. also, for smaller cases the thermalright may not fit because it is huge. Many OCers like zalman CPU coolers which are not as good as the thermalright but are more reasonably priced and come with their own fan and usually fit in most cases.
6. CPU - if budget is a concern, the E2180 is a cheap CPU that you can overclock the hell out of. the E8400 is the first of the new penryn 45 nm faster and cooler CPUs that was released 4 days ago. If you are using the rig only for gaming and don't care about games of the future that will use all 4 cores of a quad core processor, go with the E8400. If you are doing video encoding software, most of which can use all 4 cores, or if you want your rig to have 4 cores available for games of the future, go with the Q6600 or wait for the quad core 45nm penryns such as the Q9300 or Q9450 which were delayed from the initial Jan/08 planned launch but should be released soon.

 

[chuckm]

Power Supply;
http://www.buy.com/prod/Corsair-VX-550W-Power-Supply/q/loc/101/205852646.html

 

[snoopy_gep]

Wow thanks for the advice guys, especially HamRadio.

I really got to consider alot of things now when i buy my parts. Your right, although I dont know how to OC, its still something that I might end up doing.

I just want to ask you, what does G0 Stepping mean?
I saw this for the Q6600 and I was wondering what it is and are there models of Q6600 come without this thing/feature(what ever it is)???