Please review my final (hopefully) buying list

Warchief

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1. Processor


Core 2 Duo (775) Intel E8400 3.00GHz 6MB with Scythe Infinity cooler (that's the one I've currently, but I think it will work well with this processor, right?)

2. Motherboard


Asus P5B Premium (P965 2xPCI-E SATA2 DDR2) : http://uk.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=307&l4=0&model=1558&modelmenu=1


3. Memory


DDRAM2 OCZ 4096MB 800MHz Reaper EPP HP XL CL4 (2x2048) : http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/memory/ocz_pc2_6400_reaperx_hpc_enhanced_bandwidth_4gb

4. Power supply


Corsair 750W CMPSU-750TXEU BOX : http://www.corsairmemory.com/products/tx.aspx


In the future I want to buy Radeon 3870X2 (probably - it has a nice price) in order to play in 1600x1200 on highest settings (hopefully).
One more thing : I have an old ATA disk - will it be a huge bottleneck in this system?
 

boonality

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That motherboard has a slow FSB and will not support the E8400 CPU out of the box. You will need another LGA775 CPU to to get it to boot and then flash the BIOS. You should look for a minimum of a P35 chipset over the P965, if not the newer X38 chipset.

As far as your hard drive goes, the interface won't be as much of a bottleneck as the write technology of the older drive itself, which will be a bottleneck.

A couple of motherboard examples

http://uk.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=534&l4=0&model=1637&modelmenu=1


And.. personally I like this one better.

http://uk.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=572&l4=0&model=1873&modelmenu=1
 

Warchief

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So, Asus P5E (X38 2xPCI-E SATA2 DDR2) is the way to go then?

I suppose I should buy better RAM with it as well? 1066 perhaps?

As for the hard disk - what do you propose then? I'm already exceeding my budget to be frank... But if you were to recommend me a fast, not necessarily high capacity, disk what would it be?

Thanks

P.S. One more thing - "Tray" processor means it comes without the cooler right? Anything else? Since I still have Scythe Infinity, I don't need it.
 

boonality

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Some retailers refer to a processor without the cooler as "OEM" and ones with the cooler as "retail". Tray usually is refered to with "suggested" pricing. Terms very from store to store though.

The X38 motherboard is a nice one no doubt, if you are on a budget stick with the P35... it's just as nice... only not as new with technology such as no PCI E x16 2.0. I assure you though that if budget is of concern you will be perfectly happy with the P35 chipset motherboard.

For hard drives, i mean an existing disk will be fine. If your itching for a new one any of the new seagate 7200.11's are highly rated. Just look for "perpendicular write" as a feature of the drive if you want to research other brands.

I recommend DDR2 800 for memory for 3 reasons. First, the 800 is cheaper if you are on a budget. Second, the 1066 is merely overclocked 800 anyway and tends to be finicky and a pain to get working stable in some motherboards. Third, 800 is just as fast in real world application, you won't even notice a difference in speed.
 

Warchief

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X38 it is then. As for the memory - 1066 isn't much more expensive, actually. The difference is minimal. Knowing this, would you still recommend 800? Are OCZ sticks worth buying, by the way?

Disk... SATA II Seagate 500GB 7200 32MB SV35 - it's pretty cheap. How's that? And would the old one be of any use then?

One more thing - If I were to buy a new disk I'd probably have to skip the new power supply (at least for now) - I currently have Hiper HPU-4B580-MU 580W. I've been wondering if it'll be enough, if only for now (I'll surely need a new one for the Radeon 3870X2 right?)

Thanks,


 

boonality

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On the memory, I would only go with 1066 if you plan to overclock your processor, and even then there will always be stability problems with it. I still recommend 800 from a personal standpoint.

I have never owned OCZ, but I can tell you that I have never gotten a bad stick of memory from corsair or kingston before.

That drive sounds like a nice one, the old drive will be great for MP3's, pictures... etc. And you can still keep the old drive and not buy a new one, it's not a large difference by any means.

I have never heard of Hiper for a power supply maker. Based on that I know that it either doesn't make the list or has not been tested and rated but it isn't a power supply that I would recommend someone to buy. Look for a good tier 1 or 2 power supply if you want to replace it.


With all of that being said. what is the price difference between the X38 chipset motherboard and the P35 chipset motherboard? If the difference is small then definately stay with the X38 but if it's a pretty large difference, I still recommend the P35 chipset, it is still quite nice....though not the newest.

One last thing to consider, if you plan to crossfire a pair of 3870X2's in the future your going to need the X38 motherboard anyway, if you do not plan to crossfire a pair of them, the P35 motherboard will still be a good choice.

Also to throw another one out there, the 4xxx series ATI cards will be released in a few weeks.
 

Warchief

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On the memory, I would only go with 1066 if you plan to overclock your processor, and even then there will always be stability problems with it. I still recommend 800 from a personal standpoint.

I have never owned OCZ, but I can tell you that I have never gotten a bad stick of memory from corsair or kingston before.

I think I might overclock it, if not right away. I'll probably wait with the overclocking until I'll really need it.

That drive sounds like a nice one, the old drive will be great for MP3's, pictures... etc. And you can still keep the old drive and not buy a new one, it's not a large difference by any means.

I was more concerned with speed, actually. I still find that my 160 GB is more than adequate, to be honest.

I have never heard of Hiper for a power supply maker. Based on that I know that it either doesn't make the list or has not been tested and rated but it isn't a power supply that I would recommend someone to buy. Look for a good tier 1 or 2 power supply if you want to replace it.

It's the one I've got now and I was wondering if it'll suffice (for now at least).


With all of that being said. what is the price difference between the X38 chipset motherboard and the P35 chipset motherboard? If the difference is small then definately stay with the X38 but if it's a pretty large difference, I still recommend the P35 chipset, it is still quite nice....though not the newest.

That Asus X38 costs about 60 $ more.

One last thing to consider, if you plan to crossfire a pair of 3870X2's in the future your going to need the X38 motherboard anyway, if you do not plan to crossfire a pair of them, the P35 motherboard will still be a good choice.

Also to throw another one out there, the 4xxx series ATI cards will be released in a few weeks.

Is it even possible to crossfire that monster? :)

I'll be purchasing the graphics card in july, I think.
 

boonality

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Someone who owns an X38 motherboard needs to get in here and comment on the memory. I have a P35 motherboard and am limited to 800 RAM.

From a speed standpoint on the hard drive. The new drive will be noticable, but not so much faster that you say wow or anything.

As far as the power supply goes. Well I have a personal story to tell, in addition to many others here. Cheap quality power supplies do not have the protection and voltage stability of better quality units. All power supplies (even high quality ones) eventually go bad... the difference is that a high quality power supply will not destroy computer components when it does go, a lower quality unit will.

It's your gamble to make but I would recommend investing in a good quality power supply before getting an upgraded hard drive.

Is that in USD by chance? I noticed you are in EU. Well it's a tough choice on the motherboard, I chose a P35 because I did not need the features offered on the newer X38's. But you can't go wrong with either from a quality standpoint, so now it's a matter of personal preference.

As far as the graphics card goes, that technology changes too fast to lock yourself in on a card now, I would begin my hunt again a couple of weeks before you plan to purchase and see what's happening in the world of graphics cards then.

 

Warchief

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And will the faster hard drive be of any help in the games? I've little use for storage space, to be honest.

Power supply...I guess you're right - Corsair 750W CMPSU-750TXEU ( http://www.corsairmemory.com/products/tx.aspx ) is good enough?

And yeah, that's in USD and I'm from EU.

Graphics - It doesn't have to be ATI - it can as easily be Nvidia. Since I won't be able to afford it now, I'll have to wait until july and then make the decision.
 

boonality

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The faster hard drive will only help load times in games, not actual in game performance such as framerates.

That power supply is an excellent choice, by far one of the best.

Ahh, I was thinking that you converted the currency for me. For $60 USD I would say go for it, you will use this computer most likely every single day for at least something, for several years.

I gotta admit, I have never held loyalty to any brand of graphics maker and have owned nothing but ATI cards in the past based purely on performance in my price range at the time of purchase. This go around though the 8800GTS (G92) was king of the hill in my price range so I now own my first nVidia card. With the 4xxx series ATI cards coming out, hopefully a 3870X2 will drop by $100 in price! Here's hoping.
 

Warchief

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So I guess I can skip buying the disk for now.

I used to buy ATI and AMD products solely. Buying that AMD two years ago was a mistake (socket 939) so I'm trying Intel now. As for ATI - they seem to be in a decline. A shame.
Speaking of which - I might get GF8800 if 3870X2 won't drop in price significantly by july.

And by the way - I've got both Kingston and Corsair sticks in the past - and funnily enough, I had problems with both :)
 

Warchief

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I'll have to make a choice about the graphics card now, because I'll have to pick SLI or Crossifire. So, which is better? 3870X2 or 8800GTX ?
 

boonality

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Well the 8800GTX is a better choice there, but there are alot of factors. For example for about the same price as the 8800GTX you can get a pair of 8800GT's in SLI. In addition an 8800GT is only a smidge slower than the GTX.

What you must decide before you pick a gfx card though is what motherboad your going to go with and whether or not you are going X-fire or SLI. Personally I think X-fire and SLI are both a waste of time. A single 8800GTX will do you fine, or even an 8800GTS
 

Warchief

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One more thing : Is Asus the best choice? I've read quite a bit about its supposed unreliability.
That was my first choice, but I'd gladly pick a better one, provided there's such :)