Building a new PC

[avinash4]

Hey everyone! Last week my power supply "exploded" and killed almost every component in my 4-year old PC. I need to put together something new, so I've decided to post here for some advice.

Currently, I have an old but decent video card, the Radeon x1650 Pro, a new Acer LCD monitor and a 250GB Seagate SATA2 HD. So I just need the other components. I am not a heavy gamer, I rarely play the latest and greatest games, and regardless, I know my x1650Pro would probably be a bigtime bottleneck. I do a lot of video editing, encoding and photoshop work, so I believe I'd need a pretty strong processor. My budget is fairly low, because I wasn't expecting to replace the computer at this time, but the circumstances have forced me to.


Here's what I already have:
Video Card: ATI x1650Pro 512MB
HD: 250GB SATA2 Seagate HD
Monitor: 22in Acer x223w LCD

Here's what I have in mind:
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz - $189
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3L - $99
Case/PSU: Antec Sonata III w/ 500W PSU - $109
RAM: Kingston 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) KVR667D2N5K2/2G - $34
DVD Drive: LG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner GH20NS15 - $30

Total: $461

I'd like to keep the price below $500 or max $550.

Do you all have any suggestions as to how I can optimize this build. My biggest concern was the processor. It's a fast processor, but people have suggested that I go with the Intel Q6600 for the same price, since it's quad core. I notice that the Q6600 is old architecture, is that a bad thing? Are there any better quad core processors that you'd recommend? Is Intel going to have a price drop anytime soon?

Also, I'd like this build to last me about three years, maybe I will upgrade the video card at some point down the line, when I have some more money. Your input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[auscanzukus]

Switch the cpu out with Q6600 and you have a well balanced build, unlike some that has an overpriced psu/mobo and a lackluster gpu/cpu. A quad will benefit you in multimedia de/en-coding and image manipulation.

Yes, Q6600 is 65nm (old) whereas Yorkfield/Wolfdale are 45nm (new), but Q6600 has the higher multiplier & stock speed than the Q9300. It IS the best bang. You can pick up a Q9450 for $100 more, but it's not $100 faster. That would be 50%.

FYI, Intel is going to phase out most of the 65nm cpus by Q1 '09. Q6600 is the exception cuz it's selling like hot cakes.

 

[Zenthar]

Just making sure, but your x1650Pro is PCI-E or AGP?

Q6600 is older architecture, but very far from being obsolete. Since you do multimedia work, I think the Q6600 would be a great choice.

As for the Case/PSU combo, I'm just not sure about the PSU on the long run, 500W isn't that much these days. You wouln't want to have to change that PSU if you decide to upgrade the video card. However the PSU that comes with the Sonata is an EarthWatt which is a very good one so it could very well be enough. If you want to go on the safe side, try to find a 550W+ 80Plus PSU.

 

[avinash4]

Thanks for the advice so far. It seems like the Q6600 is the best bet. My biggest fear is having an obsolete processor within a year. I've read good reviews about the earthwatt PSU, but your points are valid. Does anyone recommend some other processor, like maybe a AMD Phenom, or some better RAM? Are there any solid PSU's that are a good bang for the buck, or PSU+Case combos?

 

[ahslan]

the phenom's are pretty good too but if you are OCing, you are definitely gonna want to pick up an intel setup...if running vista, you're definitely gonna want 4gb of ram...and for a psu, antec is a pretty solid brand...at newegg, they have an antec 500w modular psu for like $60, which is an absolute steal

 

[auscanzukus]

The only thing that Phenom is good at is memory test benchmarks. They win every time. However, you buy a cpu to do memory benchmarks or actually use it?

Stick to the Sonata.

 

[legato89]

If you don't mind me asking, how did your power supply "explode"? Was it a power surge?

 

[avinash4]

Yeah, the Phenoms are nothing special, I will definitely be going with Intel for this build.

There were signs that my PSU was dying, for example, a high pitch sound that lasted for weeks. The day that I decided to power up the computer one last time before swapping out the PSU, there was a hollow "bang" and a thin stream of smoke came out of the back of the PSU. I replaced the PSU, and to my dismay, nothing worked. I popped my various components into my friend's PC and the only component that was functional was my video card.

 

[ahslan]

that really effing sucks....

 

[megamanx00]

Yeah that high pitched wine usually means it's time to get a new PSU ASAP . As for the Q6600 if you use applications that benefit from 4 cores then they will run faster on the Q6600, but if they are only optimized for two cores, or poorly optimized for more than two, then the E8400 will be faster. Generally multimedia applications such as video editing are likely candidates to make good use of those extra cores, but it just depends. Anyway a Phenom isn't a bad way to go right now considering you can get a 9550 for $139.99 and a good AMD 770 board for around $85.

Either way I recommend going with 4GB of DDR2 800 RAM. Since you want to do a lot of video and photo editing you will really benefit from the Extra RAM. It will also help when it's time to go to a 64-bit OS since the next version of Photoshop is probably going to be 64-bit only, probably as an excuse to hog even more RAM

 

[avinash4]

Hey everyone, I've finally decided that it's time to place an order. Thanks for all your insight so far. I just wanted you all to have a look for any last minute recommendations/changes. I'd especially like some comments about the RAM. Should I go for OCZ or is this fine. Please see the image.

Quote: http://i35.tinypic.com/27y39fm.jpg

 

[avinash4]

Also, will I need to buy Vista or a 64bit OS to make use of the full potential of my processor, or will Windows XP Pro SP3 be okay?

 

[Zenthar]

If you want a 64 bit OS, I think Vista is the way to go.

 

[megamanx00]

You don't need a 64-bit OS now, but your better of going ahead and getting it since you will need it in the future, especially when you want to add more RAM ^_^

 

[avinash4]

I've heard that windows xp 32bit doesnt actually utilize 4gb of ram, is this true?

 

[Zenthar]

True, even for Vista 32 bits; 32 bits addressing is limited to about 3.5GB, very close, but not 4GB. However, the computer is supposed to work flawlessly even if it has more memory than the OS can "see".

 

[avinash4]

Oh, so applications can still make use of the 4gb, regardless of whether the OS can "see" it?

 

[Zenthar]

Unfortunately no since applications access memory through the OS. I only meant that the OS will not act weird because of "too much memory".

 

[avinash4]

So any 32bit OS would be limited in the RAM, even Vista?

 

[Zenthar]

Exactly, any 32 bits OS, Vista, WinXP, Linux, ...