QUICK look at this setup ??

[doctor lo]

Hi everyone,

Im new to this forum but i´ve been reading it and of course tom´s hardware for a while now. Im planing to buy a new PC in the next couple months and even though i plan to do a lot more research on hardware until then, I´ve decided to create a setup, based on what I think I know and what I want.
Im gonna use it everyday, for every kind of applications.. and well, that includes gaming (which is the reason for looking for a bit more performance).

The point of showing this here is so you can take a QUICK LOOK at it, and tell me if I´m completely lost, or going in the wrong direction with any of the components, taking into consideration the use of the computer and that the budget should stay close to the one shown. As I have plenty of time this is gonna change, and as I said im gonna keep reading and asking here and there.. I just want to know if this starting point is good:


(prices in euros and specs in spanish.. but I think there isnt much to understand apart from the figures)

Asus P5Q Pro: http://www.alternate.es/html/builder/proddetail.html?class=mainboard&artno=GPEAE2&source=builder%2FcircleFrame&source2=coList 109 €

Intel® Core 2 Quad Q6600: http://www.alternate.es/html/builder/proddetail.html?class=cpu&artno=HPGI54&source=builder%2FcircleFrame&source2=coList 159 €

GeIL Kit DIMM 4 GB DDR2-800: http://www.alternate.es/html/builder/proddetail.html?class=ram&artno=ICIE8N&source=builder%2FcircleFrame&source2=coList 99 €

Seagate ST3500320AS Barracuda 7200.11 : http://www.alternate.es/html/builder/proddetail.html?class=harddiskSATA&artno=A9BS55&source=builder%2FcircleFrame&source2=coList 57 €

Gainward HD4850 : http://www.alternate.es/html/productDetails.html?artno=JBXWU4 144 €

Creative X-Fi Xtreme Audio : http://www.alternate.es/html/builder/proddetail.html?class=soundcard&artno=KK%23CW5&source=builder%2FcircleFrame&source2=coList 34 €

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That makes 592 €. The rest of the components I would re-use from my old PC initially.



Any comments are welcome, Thanks very much for taking the time to read me !


UPDATES: - Club 3D CGAX-4852DDF (ATI GRAPHICS 4850) goes for Gainward HD4850 (same price)
still not sure about the cpu... Thanks anyway !

 

[WR2]

It's a good list. For gaming and nearly all every day tasks (except audio/video creation & editing) a similar priced C2D E8400 will give you better performance.
Of course the C2Q Q6600 can also be over clocked to narrow the performance gap.

 

[doctor lo]

Thanks WR2 ! No... no audio/video editing planned...

I thought the 4 core and bigger L2 cache would have more potential; Im not into overclocking.. but I kind of understood that the Q6600 was a good choice for overclocking (which I translated into perhaps easy-to-do-moderate-overclocking), if I ever want to try.

But I would take your advice right now anyway

 

[random1283]

Try swapping the GPU for this one
http://www.alternate.es/html/productDetails.html?artno=JBXWU4
Has a better cooler and is a better known brand.
Otherwise pretty good but you might want to get a 45nm quad.

 

[doctor lo]

Thank you random1283 ! The GPU swap according to you would be an easy choice.. it retails for the same price

Is it worth it spending the extra money on the 45nm jump ? instead of spending it somewhere else... cos 50€ + is not such a big problem, it just would mean not spending it in another upgrade (I checked this cpu: http://www.alternate.es/html/productDetails.html?artno=HPHI4D )

 

[doctor lo]

any more comments ?

 

[Wanker79]

Unless you're a real audiophile and you have a pretty good speaker setup, the onboard sound will more than likely be plenty good enough for you. Don't bother with the descrete sound card. Onboard sound has come a long way in the past few years.

Currently, there are very few applications that are coded to take advantage of quad-cores. So generally (especially for games), you'll get better performance from a higher clocked dual-core. Of course it's only a matter of time before more programs are multi-threaded. So the E8400 will give better performance today, and the Q6600 will probably give better performance tomorrow (but nobody really knows when tomorrow will get here).

 

[iluvgillgill]

of course get the 45nm will be better since its less power hungry+easier to overclock+runs cooler.

it would be best to get a quad core compare to dual core since the extra cores thats not being use now can take a advantage of take caring the background service and the dedicated cores can go for gaming. quad core will go mass fairly soon specially gaming when multi-GPU are going from dual to quad so will CPU.

 

[doctor lo]

Unless you're a real audiophile and you have a pretty good speaker setup, the onboard sound will more than likely be plenty good enough for you. Don't bother with the descrete sound card. Onboard sound has come a long way in the past few years.

Currently, there are very few applications that are coded to take advantage of quad-cores. So generally (especially for games), you'll get better performance from a higher clocked dual-core. Of course it's only a matter of time before more programs are multi-threaded. So the E8400 will give better performance today, and the Q6600 will probably give better performance tomorrow (but nobody really knows when tomorrow will get here).

Thanks. Regarding the sound card... I do plan to connect the PC to my stereo system, I listen to music very often and I like to hear it in good quality, plus i had some compatibility issues with my current onboard sound and some peripherals... Well, in short, i was ready to pay that 34€ for a bit of higher quality audio... that is, if that basic creative x-fi is gonna give me higher quality than onboard (I was guessing so).

I´ll plan to use the pc for some years... so I guess from that point I should go for the quad core

of course get the 45nm will be better since its less power hungry+easier to overclock+runs cooler.

it would be best to get a quad core compare to dual core since the extra cores thats not being use now can take a advantage of take caring the background service and the dedicated cores can go for gaming. quad core will go mass fairly soon specially gaming when multi-GPU are going from dual to quad so will CPU.

Yes... Im sure that 45nm is gonna be better... but, its quite much more money. If i go for the cheapest Intel® Core 2 Quad Q8200 I already get half L2 cache, and a bit lower clock (and of course is more expensive, worth it ?). If i go for example for a Intel® Core 2 Quad Q9300, thats getting to the amount of money I would spend on upgrading to a 4870 GPU... wouldnt be that a better idea ?

Thanks to you too.