2 questions

I

imacster

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Dec 7, 2007
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I have been using my apple computer for quite some time and I am ready to get away from the os x and finally get something that is upgradable and to my liking. So I decided to build one but i got 2 questions.

1. What graphics card would be good for just general use but when i want to play a few games i could play some simple games. Hint: I dont want a 500.00 graphic card. Right now If i could get away with a lower end gfx card thats good. I plan on upgrading in the future.

2. should i go with ddr2 or ddr3 right now? And if ddr2 which ddr2 should i get ddr2 800 or ddr2 1200. Noticed that on newegg they dont have a wide selection of the ddr 1200 ram.
 
gfx card: 8600 from nvida should get ya on the card.
 
1) Which games and at what resolution/settings? Also, what's your budget for the vidcard?

2) DDR2. What do you need DDR2-1200 RAM for?!?!? You most likely don't even need DDR2-1200 RAM. What CPU did you choose?

Please list the parts you plan on buying so we could advise you better.



Here are more general questions that I like to ask everyone who's building a system...

Please answer the following questions with as much detail/specifics as possible, as it will help us help you:

1) What's your budget and what is included in that budget (tax/shipping, keyboard, monitor, OS, etc; if you're not in the US, please specify country)?

2) What will you be doing with this system besides gaming (eg: video editing, photochopping, media ripping/encoding, watching hd videos, CAD, etc)?

3) If you are gaming, what games will you be playing and at what resolution/settings (eg: cs:s @ 1680x1050 w/ no AA/AF)?

4) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to get?

5) What old parts do you plan on re-using, if any?

6) What features do you need/want in a motherboard and briefly, why do you need/want them? (3 pci slots, raid, firewire, µATX, etc)

7) How long do you plan on keeping this system and/or how often do you upgrade?

8) Do you plan on OC'ing?

9) If you haven't already, please look through the other build lists in GenHard and come up with a rough draft list of parts that we can nitpick. ;)
 
1) What's your budget and what is included in that budget: 1700: Thats just for the tower,os and monitors.

2) Very little gaming, Mostly Designing, Listening to music, watching movies and web surfing

3) 1680x1050, Fsx and 18 wheels of steel for games.

4) I have 2 Westinghouse LCM-22w2 which both will be hooked to the computer but one i will also be using for my 360 and for tv.

5) What old parts do you plan on re-using, if any? NONE

6) What features do you need/want in a motherboard and briefly, why do you need/want them? 2 16x pci slots for two cards

7) How long do you plan on keeping this system and/or how often do you upgrade? 2 years and upgrade every 3 months or so.

8) Do you plan on OC'ing? Only the processor and Ram.


List of Parts:
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz ~ 274.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017

Motherboard: ASUS P5E LGA 775 Intel X38 ~ 229.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131219

Case: NZXT LEXA BlackLine Black Steel - 89.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146038

Burner: Sony NEC Optiarc 20X DVD±R DVD Burner - 28.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118002

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200 RPM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136075

Gfx Card: EVGAGeForce 8800GTS 320MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130082

PowerSupply: Thermaltake 750W Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153036

Memory: OCZ Gold 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227199

Note: The ram i stated is the ram i wanted but im not sure if my motheboard could take ddr2 800. But im sure it can.

Monitors: Westinghouse LCM-22w2 Black-Silver 22" 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor with multiple A/V inputs
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824255003

Total Price: 1800+shipping.
 
You don't need two video cards to run two monitors. Any midrange/high end card can run both monitors off of the same vidcard. Since you chose an X38 board and an NVIDIA graphics card, I'm assuming you don't plan on going Crossfire. Since you don't need Crossfire, you don't need the X38 based motherboard. There are a number of P35 boards that can accommodate two vidcards should you plan on running 4 monitors (Asus P5K-E, Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3P and DS4, and the crowd favorite, Abit IP35 Pro).

Drop down to a P35 board and go with an 8800GT 256MB/512MB or HD3850/HD3870 instead. The 8800GTS 320MB is old and is outperformed by the aforementioned cards.

750W is a bit overkill for your system. Since you only need a single vidcard, go with the Corsair 520W. If you want more headroom, check out the 620W. However, newegg is overpriced for those PSUs, so check zipzoomfly.com, buy.com, and clubit.com instead.

While you're at clubit.com, pickup the Q6600 G0 stepping from them, since its guaranteed. The G0 stepping requires less voltage and therefore runs cooler. This is a good thing since you plan on OC'ing.

The OCZ RAM you chose is fine.

Since you plan on OC'ing, go for one of these HSFs:
$35 - Scythe SCNJ-1100P Ninja Plus Rev.B CPU HSF (optional $7 Thermalright LGA775 Bolt-Thru-Kit; recommended if using w/ quadcore)
$45 - Tuniq Tower 120 CPU HSF
$46 - Thermalright Ultima 90 CPU HS + FBA09A12M - Z ($3)
$55 - Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme CPU HS + Scythe S-Flex Fan SFF21E ($15)
 
I dont plan on having two video cards. And I like what i have so far. I just want to know if the motherboard i selected will take ddr2 800
 
Yes, DDR2-800 will work fine in the P5E. You don't need to spend that much on a motherboard, but its your money, do with it what you want. As for the other parts, I've already told you about better choices, so again, its your money and your choice. I'm just letting you know how to get the most performance for your money.
 
Thanks, Btw Im going to check on the processor,heatsink and the graphics card before making the final purchase.
 
I recommend taking Enginurd's advice about everything.

The only pros about the X38 chipset is that it has A) PCI-E 2.0 support which is pretty much useless since there aren't any cards out today that can fully saturate the AGP bus let alone PCI-E 1.1, B) Native Crossfire support which you don't need and C) better support for DDR3 RAM, which right now is horribly expensive.

Any of the mobos Enginurd listed are great choices for you. Though here's a bit more:
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L Intel P35 Motherboard - $86
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R Intel P35 Motherboard - $127
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3P Intel P35 Motherboard - $150
Abit IP35 Pro Intel P35 Motherboard - $168
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4 Intel P35 Motherboard - $175

Just to help you out: If you don't need RAID, more than 4 SATA ports or legacy ports, then the DS3L is a good choice. If you want 8 SATA ports, RAID, and legacy ports and high overclocks, than the DS3R is a good choice. If you want the DS3R but need Firewire, then go for the DS3P. If you want something that can overclock pretty damn high, than the IP35 Pro.
 
You will come to realize that there are good boards other than Asus. Like they said there really is no need to spend all that money on the motherboard when you aren't using any of the extra features, but like they said... it's your money.
 
imacster said:
Thanks but I only use asus on my motherboards.
Click to expand...

Your loss. At least you're sticking with a top tier company. Gigabyte and MSI are the other top tier companies. They make good boards, too... as do Abit and many other manufacturers. Asus tends to be overpriced for no reason other than the brand name. I don't like spending my money on simply a brand name. Brand loyalty doesnt help the consumer... it only helps the brand. You seem a bit naive, but thats ok. Its fun learning things the hard way. ;)
 
I have had many a good board from many manufactures.

Only board that went bad on me it was my fault. I baked the proc and it hurt the mobo.

You can save a bunch of money just getting the board with the features you need and not the one with a shiny logo.
 
Well I like asus because I like the brand. And for the fact that I get discounts on asus.
 
Yea you shuld go with a 8800 gt or 8800 gts 512 if you were planning to buy a gts 320.
 
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