• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Before I hit "Submit order"

D

DataSchmuck

n00b
Joined
Sep 8, 2006
Messages
9
Hi all,

My name is DataSchmuck, and I've been browsing these forums for about a month. I just recieved some birthday money specifically for a new computer upgrade, and I want to make sure I get the right parts.

I've had my current system for a little over two years, and it's starting to show it's age with the newest games coming out. Here's a summary of what I have:

Asus K8V K8T800 DDR-400/SATA/USB/GB-LAN/8X-AGP/ATX
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (Stock speed)
Micron 1GB kit (512MBX2) PC-3200 MM-DR401024DLMI
Visiontek Xtasy ATI X800 Pro (256 MB)
Seagate 160 GB ATA-100, 8 MB Buffer
WD 100 GB ATA-100, 2 MB Buffer
NEC DVD-RW Drive ND 3520 16X8X48
Creative SB Audigy 1 (w/live drive)
Enermax EG365P-VE FC 350W PS
Creative soundworks 5.1 analog speakers

All inside a Fong-Kai FK-320 (I provided a link because you've probably never heard of Fong Kai). Now I know what you're thinking, "Damn, that stuff is ancient!" But believe you me, it was all top of the line when I ordered it.

Now, I've come to the conclusion that I want a Core 2 desktop, mainly for gaming, that will last me another 2 or maybe even 3 years, like my last setup did. I don't get into overclocking, but it would be nice to know that I could if I wanted to. I've decided on going crossfire instead of SLI.
I'm also leaning towards the 975 chipset line of Asus boards, but there are about 6 different variations, and I don't know the right choice, though let it be known I have NO desire for any kind of RAID setup. And as far as graphics cards go, I've decided to wait on spending the big money until DX10 comes out, and am just going with a cheap ATI PCIe X1xx board for the time being (even the cheapest boards are better than mine). Here's my candidates of parts that I've found at newegg (dark red items are what I dropped due to suggestions):

MB ASUS P5W DH DELUXE/WIFI-AP GREEN - Retail - $249

CPU INTEL|C2D E6600 2.4G 775 4M R - Retail - $319

MEM 1Gx2|COR 240P TWIN2X2048-6400C4-->G.SKILL 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 800 F2-6400CL4D - $259

CPU FAN ZALMAN|CNPS9500 AT RTL - Retail - $48

Arctic silver 5 - $6

Couple of Yate Loon 125mm fans - $10

Silverstone power cable kit - $5

PSU SEASONIC|S12-500 RT - Retail - $130

CASE ANTEC|P180 SIL RT - Retail $115

80 gig WD caviar SATA 3g --> Western Digital Raptor WD740ADFD 74GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive
and 500 gig WD caviar SATA 3g for system and storage, respectively - $160 and $180

CREATIVE SOUND CARD X-FI PLATINUM - Retail - $179

Logitech Z-5500 505 Watts 5.1 Speaker - Retail $263

VGA HIS X1600PRO H160PRQ256N R - Retail - I figure the X1600 must be 2X as fast as my old X800, right?... --> BFG Tech Geforce 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 - $113 - (cheap alternative till DX10 cards come out)

Grand total = $2066 (including $77 shipping and $80 in rebates)
($66 over budget - acceptable)

So there it is, I've got them all saved up in my cart, ready to be ordered, but before I do, I thought I should check in with the experts, and make sure it is all compatible with each other, for instance:

Is the motherboard right for me?
Will the memory, CPU, and mobo be compatible with each other?
Will the PSU's ATX cord reach the motherboard's connecter in the Antec P180w without an extender?
Where's the best place to order Yate Loon 120mm fans from? Should I go with the 125X125X25, or the 125X125X38 for this case?
Should I go with the Creative X-Fi? I've always wanted to get away from creative but have been afraid that I'd lose game compatability.


This list isn't gold, it's more of an RC1,
So please, tell me any suggestions/changes I should make.
I cannot wait another couple of months to upgrade. I need to do this within the next few weeks. So I appreciate any help.
 
I think that the X800 Pro is faster then the X1600 Pro. But if you are going to wait till DX10, do not even worry about that, the X1600 Pro will do fine.

I would also ask why you are getting the 80 GB hd, typically the larger drives would be faster cuz they have a denser platter. Maybe you would be open to giving a Raptor a shot, they can be had for a decent price now.
 
The x800pro is faster than the x1600 series. Though, for not much more, the 7600gt will outperform the x1600.
cooter said:
I would also ask why you are getting the 80 GB hd, typically the larger drives would be faster cuz they have a denser platter. Maybe you would be open to giving a Raptor a shot, they can be had for a decent price now.
Click to expand...
Raptors are by no means decently priced right now. I only have one cuz i got hooked up for christmas, lol. A raid0 array is cheaper and provides more space while performing up to par with a raptor. If you want a fast drive, go for the Seagate 7200.10 320gb sata3g 16mb cache. I have one, and its damn fast. Its transfer rate is about 17% slower than my raptor, its access time is about 36% slower, its burstable rate is 41% faster (raptor is only sata1.5g), and it has more than double the space... all for less than half of the price.

Corsaid is overpriced, but good. I'd go with g.skill hz sticks, though. Here's some alternatives:
value: http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2797&p=17
performance: http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2797&p=15

You might need a main connector extension for the PSU... I'm not sure if it will reach. The motherboard is great, but also overpriced. Any of the 975x chipset boards will overclock well, but not as high as the one you chose (small margin here, so if you wanna save on the mobo, go for it). If you only plan on goin up to around 3.2ghz, then any of the cheaper 975x boards will do. I'd suggest using the stock intel hsf for now (it can oc up to 3.0-3.2ghz), and buying a 3rd party one later when you actually do OC.
 
OP said:
VGA HIS X1600PRO H160PRQ256N R - Retail - $93 - (cheap alternative till DX10 cards come out)
I figure the X1600 must be 2X as fast as my old X800, right?...
Click to expand...

NO-N-NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONNONONONONONONONOONONO

X800 shit kicks X1600

my 6600GT owns the X1600
 
MrWizard6600 said:
NO-N-NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONNONONONONONONONOONONO

X800 shit kicks X1600

my 6600GT owns the X1600
Click to expand...
He's upgrading to a PCI-E motherboard. His x800pro is AGP. Go with this instead of the x1600pro:
$145 - BFG Tech BFGR76256GTOCE Geforce 7600GT 256MB (w/ $30MIR) $115AR
 
If you're in the $100-125 price range, go for the 7600gt or the x850xt. The x1600 is very slow.
 
enginurd said:
He's upgrading to a PCI-E motherboard. His x800pro is AGP. Go with this instead of the x1600pro:
$145 - BFG Tech BFGR76256GTOCE Geforce 7600GT 256MB (w/ $30MIR) $115AR
Click to expand...

i know, but if hes expecting to play with more then, or even the same performance as an X800 with an X1600, hes gonna be soarly dissapointed.

but yeah a 7600GT would be good, Cept 975X supports Crossfire, so for futureproof-ness it would be best to get an ATI card.
edit numero uno: if your buying a DX 10 card as soon as it comes out, get w/e card you want, cuz youll be ditching it. but if thats the case, then get a 7600GT, bitchen performance/price.

heres the thing, ATI botched the X1600 architecture, imo. it has the whole 3X shaders to TMUs, thats ok when you have 10k pixels/sec (X1900XT -- no im not a super nerd math genious, its 16TMUS x 625MHz =10,000 Mpixels/s) of texture horesepower, but not when you only have 2k (x1600 @ 500Mhz).

if you can spring for it, i highly recomend an X1800GTO. locked pipes, but quite, and with some new drivers, promises more performance then 7600GT. (i mean really, the X1800GT0 has way more power on paper, but the 7600GT outperforms, i think this is due to drivers).

id say ATI really hit a jackpot on letting 975X support crossfire, because it puts people like the OP in an extreme disposition to go with an ATI solution. even if you never go crossfire, its good to still have the option open, because some day your gonna have your X1800GTO, and see at futureshop an X1800 CF master on clearnace sale for $99!! you buy it and you have 2X the performance. then your all like :D :D
 
Whoa, thanks for warning me about the x1600!

The x1800 gto is a little more than I want to spend right now, looks like I will go with the bfg tech 7600gt.

As far as hard drives go, I'm looking for a drive that will just hold the windows installation, program files, settings and stuff, so I was looking for something small and fast. The bigger drive would be my storage/games/virtual mem drive, so something really big, yet also fast.

And for motherboards, isn't the p5w DH deluxe the cheapest asus 975 board?

I'll look into the memory suggestion later when I get off work in a few hours.

Thanks for your info, keep it coming!
 
The wd800jd is fine if all you want is a decent system drive. If you want a faster one, like most people on these forums, the seagate is your best bet.

Yes, that is the cheapest asus, but you don't have to go with asus. Like I said, the other 975x boards are good, and the asus only beats them out by a small margin. The MSI 975x platinum, for instance, is much cheaper and can OC well, should you decide to OC. Check out this link: http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2797&p=12 ... read through from the beginning if you want, it has pretty much all the info you need (including memory info, etc), hehe.
 
I would go with the new 74GB Raptor for your main HD if you want fast.
 
Boyo said:
I would go with the new 74GB Raptor for your main HD if you want fast.
Click to expand...

I agree. It's a great drive and you won't be disappointed.
 
why crossfire?

SLI is much more mature and overall better

i think i would prefer ATI for single card solutions, but for multi GPU setups, SLI is the way to go
 
techie81 said:
I agree. It's a great drive and you won't be disappointed.
Click to expand...
I would be, considering its price. Too expensive for what a raid0 array could do for less cost and double the space.
 
Okay, here's the changes I've made:

VGA HIS X1600PRO H160PRQ256N R - Retail --> BFG Tech Geforce 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 - $113

80 gig WD caviar SATA 3g --> Western Digital Raptor WD740ADFD 74GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - $160

MEM 1Gx2|COR 240P TWIN2X2048-6400C4-->G.SKILL 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 800 F2-6400CL4D - $259

Silverstone power cable kit - $5

I'm still leaning towards the Asus board, just from all the reviews I've read and the general attitude here is if I'm going conroe, I should be going with Asus. and it's pretty.

And here's my Video card outlook:

Now - Cheap fast card
3 or 4 months? - crazy expensive uber 1337 DX10 card when they come out
a year? - go crossfire when the crazy expensive card's price comes down and double my GPU.

I've also been reading a lot in the computer audio section of the forums, and it seems a lot of people are very pleased with the X-fi and logitech z5500 speaker combo.

I'm still open to suggestions, but the excitement of this new system is starting to get to me and I'm getting an itchy trigger finger. Satus: RC2
 
I'd go with the seagate instead of the raptor, as I suggested earlier.
enginurd said:
Raptors are by no means decently priced right now. I only have one cuz i got hooked up for christmas, lol. A raid0 array is cheaper and provides more space while performing up to par with a raptor. If you want a single fast drive without the extra price premium, go for the Seagate 7200.10 320gb sata3g 16mb cache. I have one, and its damn fast. Its transfer rate is about 17% slower than my raptor, its access time is about 36% slower, its burstable rate is 41% faster (raptor is only sata1.5g), and it has more than double the space... all for less than half of the price.
Click to expand...
Seriously, the 17% and 36% HDTune margins aren't very noticeable. The seagate is definately better when it comes to cost/performance.
 
TheWD5000KS is nicely priced. The seagate 7200.10 500gb is a bit overpriced.
 
enginurd said:
I would be, considering its price. Too expensive for what a raid0 array could do for less cost and double the space.
Click to expand...

I like the Raptor and feel that it was worth every penny. To each his own. ;)
 
Okay so I'm between these two setups:

1 74GB WD raptor and 1 500 GB WD caviar
or
2 Seagate 320GB barracudas.

I am NOT going to use any kind of RAID setup.
 
So pick one and start havin some fun. If you really want a raptor, then go for it. They're expensive because they have no single drive competition. Their prices have dropped slightly because people are using RAID0 instead of a single raptor, so now the price is a bit more attractive, but still overpriced, hehe. Go with the WD setup, its more diverse. Who knows, what if these perpendicular drives like to die on its 2nd yr... you'll be stuck with two of them :p does that help?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top