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hondo420

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Feb 10, 2008
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Looking to upgrade my dads pc for him hes jumping from amd to intel.

The Chip he likes is the Q6600

Besides that he wants to keep MB/Ram/Video/CPU/ and wants to get windows vista 64bit.
Right now we came up with this for $1076 shipped.

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017

GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059

G.SKILL 4GB(4 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Quad Channel Kit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231136

VisionTek 900209 Radeon HD 3870 X2 1GB (512MB x 2) 512-bit (256-bit x 2) GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814129103

Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Home Premium for System Builders Single Pack DVD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116204


 
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Kamrooz

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everything looks fantastic except the memory, nab this instead.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122

Micron D9HNL Ic's. This also allows you to upgrade to 8 gb in the future if you want, and since you're running a 64 bit os. makes it a better buy. I have it in this rig I'm on right now (not my rig, a family friends that I put together). The first set was faulty, second set rma'ed was great. I can run them at 1:1 (667) with this q6600 G0 oc'ed to 3ghz. I overvolted to 2.1, running them at 3-3-3-8 timings. Great modules ^_^.

Everything is indeed perfect, but really no point in nabbing four of those 1gb modules, they even run at the same timings at these, may as well nab the 2x2 instead.
 
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Kamrooz

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Tier 3 psu, for budget based it's good, although there is better.

regarding the graphics card...NO!..the 8800 GTX is a waste of money now-a-days =P. The new midrage offers the performance of high end cards for a fraction of the cost, we are in the era of multi gpu setups. Nvidia and ATI have both released mid range cards that offer nearly identical performance for a fraction of the cost. Get this instead.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150273

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130318

They both have lifetime warranties and special programs, with EVGA you get the step up program, you have 3 months to trade the card in if you want something better, you just have to pay the difference.

With XFx, the double life time warranty, if you sell the card, the new owner gets the lifetime warranty as well, makes it easy to sell high end cards on ebay and get most the value back to invest in another card.

Personally I like XFX MUCH more than EVGa. But both offer great programs. For the price of a single 8800 GTX, you can nab two 8800 GT's, SLI them, and have performance leaps and bounsd over a single 8800 GTX at the same or even lower cost. But if you want to go the dual card route via Nvidia, you'll have to nab a Nvidia based chipset board, and a stronger powers supply. If you like this idea of having 2 8800 GT's, go that route with the nvidia based board, 2x EVGA or XFX 8800 Gt's, but you'll need a new power supply, this one would be recommended.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703009

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341011

you don't have to go SLI, this is just a option to get much more performance for the same price as a 8800 GTX. The 8800 GT is almost identical in performance, talking about a few frames here and there, no one that has experience with pc gaming/cards would buy a 8800 GTX now-a-days.
 
aevm

aevm

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May 18, 2007
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Agreed, but I'd pick a dual-slot 8800GT or an 8800GTS G92.

Before we make the OP buy a new $150 PSU and add another $100 to the cost of the motherboard, maybe we should figure out if he needs SLI (or Crossfire) at all. hondo420, does your Dad have a 24" (or bigger) monitor? Does he play games like Crysis or Oblivion? If he's anything like my Dad (Simcity on a 20" monitor) even a single 8800GT is major overkill.


 
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Kamrooz

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Indeed, I was just suggesting it if he needs the power and craves it (don't we all? ^_^). But it's up to him, a single card solution is more than adequate though, unless you are talking about High res/AA/Af/Eyecandy crysis, than you'd have to end up waiting a year or two =P.

Honestly though, I'm dying to see the crossfirex drivers for dual 3870 x2's..I wonder what it will be like ^_^.
 
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hondo420

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He is a EQ2 player on a 19WS lcd he is firm on budget seeing as im kicking in the 76$ he has exactly 1000$ so we went with the setup i posted along with the ram kamrooz posted.

The videocard setup that i linked will be ok with the PSU he has? i sure hope so lol.
 
aevm

aevm

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May 18, 2007
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OK, let's stick with a single video card then.

No, that Fortron PSU can't handle a 3870X2, not with any decent margin of safety anyway. (12V @ 15A + 16A, combined less than 30A; the 3870X2 needs at least 30A). Also, that PSU is no longer sold at newegg, it says "deactivated". I'd get one of these:

Corsair 550VX, $68, 41A on a single rail
http://www.buy.com/retail/searchresults.asp?querytype=home&qu=550vx&qxt=home&display=col&dclksa=1

OCZ StealthXStream OCZ600SXS ATX12V / EPS12V 600W, $73 after rebate, 4 rails of 18A each
http://www.buy.com/prod/ocz-stealthxstream-600w-power-supply/q/loc/101/204665531.html
 
K

Kamrooz

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Ack, completely forgot you were running for a 3870x2! O_O..you should of posted that PSU earlier in the opening thread...lol....The GPU you had in mind completely slipped my mind when I looked at the psu, When you said 8800 GTX, I thought single card =P.

Yea, you'll want something better in terms of the PSU than the forton. If it did end up working thought, you'd be pretty much on the limit or above it (and unstable) at load...If you plan to OC, makes it a obvious problem =P.

That VX is a good choice, also a great price ^_^.
 
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hondo420

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Is there any danger to my componets trying to use that psu? if not id rather give it ago i myself cant offord to kick in anymore an we topped out on the budgent and its already been orderd:(

if it fails ill be forced to use my Creditcard last resort but if there any chance of endagering my componets wich i dont think there is im pretty sure it will just freez or not post at all.
 
aevm

aevm

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Your current PSU has plenty of power for the HD 3870X2 in idle mode, but not quite enough for it under load. I'm guessing that your Dad will be able to write e-mails and surf the Web just fine. When he tries to play games, he will probably get crashes or black screens.

Try this: get this RAM for $40 instead of the one you picked originally for $120.

Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146565

That should make up for the cost of the 550VX. Add 2 more GB later, when you have saved more, because EQ2 really likes lots of RAM.
 
aevm

aevm

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The OCZ GameXStream 700W is a good PSU and cheap at $95. That's the only one under $100 I'd buy from that list. It has the added advantage that it's small compared to others PSUs at that wattage, so it can even fit in some of those boxes made by HP/Gateway/etc.

There are two others I like there, but they cost more than $100 - the Toughpower 850W and especially the PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750W.
 
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