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Build Help

S

Stupid_Newbie

Gawd
Joined
Dec 4, 2005
Messages
671
Hey guys, I have been out of the loop for a while now. I havent been keeping up on my hardware at all. And my current rig is on its way out. So its time for a new one. Its about 8 years old.
Asus P4C800DLX
P4 3.0C
1024MB OCZ Plat DDR400 2-2-2-5
ATI X850Pro (flashed to XTPE)
80/250GB WD Cavier ATA100 7200RPM HDDs
Cheap Case
Audigy 2 PCI
Lite-on CDRW

I also have an HP HDX18 1180CA Laptop I mainly use now

Here is the 10 Questions to start:
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Mild Gaming, Web Browsing, Invoicing
2) What's your budget? Id like to keep it at $2k Taxes/Shipping in with monitor
3) Where do you live? Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada T8W2V3
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? Case, CPU, Motherboard, CPU Cooler, HDD (maybe 2), Blu-ray Drive (reader is fine), GPU, RAM, PSU, monitor, keyboard, mouse.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? I do have an Audigy X-FI 64MB PCI, new in box with face plate. I bought on sale for $99 when they were going for $350. Not sure if onboard is better now, or how it works with the new CPU/GPU. I can reuse MX500 Mouse if needed, and old keyboard if needed
6) Will you be overclocking? I wouldnt mind playing with it
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have? Currently Dell 19" Monitor, 1280x1024
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Was going to order right away, but was thinking of going 1155, so that pushes it back to march/april . No need for it tomorrow or anything.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? Nothing, but was wanting to futureproof a bit, so SLI and Sata6
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? I think I have a win 7 Home Premium key left, if not I can buy a new copy, dont include that in price.

With that out of the way here is what I was wanting/thinking.

I want a fairly silent PC, that will game pretty well, but I dont need everything maxed. Im looking for a case (made a case thread in proper forum), without a window, and is clean looking. Here is the setup I was looking at:

- NZXT Phatom in white
- Enermax 800W PSU (i have had good luck with enermax, seem very high quality, though they are a bit pricy)
- Asus P8P67 Pro
- SB 2600+, might go 2500+ and OC a bit, Not sure if the added Cache even makes a real world diff.
- Maybe Spire Thermax Eclipse II, or Noctura D14 (to keep it cool and queit)
- 8GB (2x4GB) G. Skill DDR2133 (mobo supports it, figured it help with OC)
- WD Cavier 1TB 7200RPM Sata 6.0 (might go 2 smaller)
- Audigy X-Fi 64MB PCI (since I have it)
- Lite-on Blu-ray Reader with DVDRW. (again I have had good luck with them. My CDRW has lasted since 2000 with heavy useage, and I have went through 2 diff DVDRWs)
- EVGA GTX 570
- Logitech Performance Mouse (new one that will work on glass), and a G510 Keyboard
- Can resuse my monitor for now, but was planning on going with a decent 23" for gaming. 1080P minimum for blu-rays

Pretty Much I want a solid performer, that will last me a long time, and has a good performance vs price point on each item. The CPU cooler is to put a quieter fan on it, and keep it as quiet as possible.

So thanks in advance guys, I appreciate it.
 
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Stupid_Newbie said:
Hey guys, I have been out of the loop for a while now. I havent been keeping up on my hardware at all. And my current rig is on its way out. So its time for a new one. Its about 8 years old.
Asus P4C800DLX
P4 3.0C
1024MB OCZ Plat DDR400 2-2-2-5
ATI X850Pro (flashed to XTPE)
80/250GB WD Cavier ATA100 7200RPM HDDs
Cheap Case
Audigy 2 PCI
Lite-on CDRW

I also have an HP HDX18 1180CA Laptop I mainly use now

Here is the 10 Questions to start:
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Mild Gaming, Web Browsing, Invoicing
2) What's your budget? Id like to keep it at $2k Taxes/Shipping in with monitor[/B
]3) Where do you live? Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada T8W2V3
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? Case, CPU, Motherboard, CPU Cooler, HDD (maybe 2), Blu-ray Drive (reader is fine), GPU, RAM, PSU, monitor, keyboard, mouse.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? I do have an Audigy X-FI 64MB PCI, new in box with face plate. I bought on sale for $99 when they were going for $350. Not sure if onboard is better now, or how it works with the new CPU/GPU. I can reuse MX500 Mouse if needed, and old keyboard if needed
6) Will you be overclocking? I wouldnt mind playing with it
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have? Currently Dell 19" Monitor, 1280x1024
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Was going to order right away, but was thinking of going 1155, so that pushes it back to march/april . No need for it tomorrow or anything.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? Nothing, but was wanting to futureproof a bit, so SLI and Sata6
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? I think I have a win 7 Home Premium key left, if not I can buy a new copy, dont include that in price.

With that out of the way here is what I was wanting/thinking.

I want a fairly silent PC, that will game pretty well, but I dont need everything maxed. Im looking for a case (made a case thread in proper forum), without a window, and is clean looking. Here is the setup I was looking at:

- NZXT Phatom in white
- Enermax 800W PSU (i have had good luck with enermax, seem very high quality, though they are a bit pricy)
- Asus P8P67 Pro
- SB 2600+, might go 2500+ and OC a bit, Not sure if the added Cache even makes a real world diff.
- Maybe Spire Thermax Eclipse II, or Noctura D14 (to keep it cool and queit)
- 8GB (2x4GB) G. Skill DDR2133 (mobo supports it, figured it help with OC)
- WD Cavier 1TB 7200RPM Sata 6.0 (might go 2 smaller)
- Audigy X-Fi 64MB PCI (since I have it)
- Lite-on Blu-ray Reader with DVDRW. (again I have had good luck with them. My CDRW has lasted since 2000 with heavy useage, and I have went through 2 diff DVDRWs)
- EVGA GTX 570
- Logitech Performance Mouse (new one that will work on glass), and a G510 Keyboard
- Can resuse my monitor for now, but was planning on going with a decent 23" for gaming. 1080P minimum for blu-rays

Pretty Much I want a solid performer, that will last me a long time, and has a good performance vs price point on each item. The CPU cooler is to put a quieter fan on it, and keep it as quiet as possible.

So thanks in advance guys, I appreciate it.
Click to expand...


There are a couple of overpriced items and one significant problem with that build:

1) Most SB platforms do not need DDR3-2133 memory at all. In fact, using such fast memory may increase the likelihood of serious stability problems because current LGA 1155 CPUs officially support only up to DDR3-1333 memory, and the likelihood of serious stability issues increases greatly the higher the RAM:BCLK multiplier reaches.

2) The WD Caviar Black 1TB WD1002FAEX is no faster (sequential speed-wise) than a 1TB Samsung F3 hard drive. But the WD1002FAEX costs $20 to $30 CAD more than the F3. That makes the Black not so good of a value.

3) I cannot recommend running any Sound Blaster PCI cards on that P67 platform at all because that chipset does not natively support PCI. Instead, the PCI slots are run off of a PCI-Express to PCI bridge converter chip. Unfortunately, while the bridge chip adds a few PCI slots, the maximum practical throughput of such a slot is only about half that of the PCI slot in older motherboards with older chipsets! (Sad but true.) The lower maximum throughput can seriously mess up the latency on the PCI slots, causing the PCI sound card to not function properly (or you will get popping noises and/or sounds that get stuck in a loop). Sound Blaster PCI cards are extremely sensitive to even extremely tiny differences in latency and bandwidth. Therefore, if you must use a discrete sound card in that new LGA 1155 system, it should be a PCI-e card, not a PCI card.
 
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Ah I was under the impression that it took 1600. And if I ran higher rated ram, I could either increase the ratio, or tighten the timings while slowing the clock speed, I could easily lower that down.

The HD, I guess I wanted to have someting in the right price range, and with the newest tech. So I just searched Sata6.0 drives. Which Samsung doesnt have, but rather a Sata3.0. So that can be swapped out. But I notice the WD Cavier Blue is even cheaper then the Samsung. Not by much. Are the samsungs pretty quiet, and reliable drives?

The Sound Card was just something I had sitting in the box. Dont matter at this point. Im not an audiophile
 
Stupid_Newbie said:
The HD, I guess I wanted to have someting in the right price range, and with the newest tech. So I just searched Sata6.0 drives. Which Samsung doesnt have, but rather a Sata3.0. So that can be swapped out. But I notice the WD Cavier Blue is even cheaper then the Samsung. Not by much. Are the samsungs pretty quiet, and reliable drives?
Click to expand...

The Samsungs are pretty reliable and quiet.

And the reason as to why the Black 6.0 Gbps costs a bit too much for their capacity and performance is the fact that no mechanical hard drive comes anywhere close to saturating even the 3.0 Gbps interface (maximum sequential speed wise), let alone 6.0 Gbps. In fact, the maximum sequential transfer speed of the fastest mechanical hard drives barely surpass 150 MB/s (or 1.5 Gbps).
 
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Stupid_Newbie said:
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Mild Gaming, Web Browsing, Invoicing

- EVGA GTX 570
Click to expand...

The GTX 570 is overkill for "mild gaming"

A GTX 460 or Radeon 6850 will suit you just fine and save $100.

Enermax would be one of my last choices; they're too overpriced.
Is the 800w Enermax really at $200?! That's crazy!

n.c.i.x.com/products/?sku=55639&vpn=EMG800EWT&manufacture=ENERMAX
800W is way overkill; even with Sandy Bridge and a GTX 570, you'll only need a ~600w. 700w for sli (not sli 580's)

650w Corsair HX for $120
n.c.i.x.com/products/?sku=42532&vpn=CMPSU%2D650HX&manufacture=Corsair

Antec Truepower New 650w for $50 after $30 MIR.
n.c.i.x.com/products/?sku=36263&vpn=TP%2D650&manufacture=Antec&promoid=1283
Is that a real price? crazy good deal.

I'd buy the Antec TP new 650 in a heartbeat if I didn't already have 2 spares!
 
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Well for mild gaming, I just wont have hours and hours of time logged. I plan to play the new ES5 this fall, and a few other titles that come my way.

And figured a 570 for its price point was good futureproofing. As I can run that for a few years, and if needed throw a 2nd in for SLI

The PSU, i guess i was looking at the 80+ Golds. So they were all 200. Even corsair 750W
 
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Are you planning on raiding 2 drives if you do go with more than 1? I notice no ssd in there. For any build with a budget of over 1k, its really not hard to fit a nice ssd in the build which makes for a nice boot drive. Especially since we have been seeing some pretty decent ssd deals lately. I also would not go with anything over 1600mhz for your memory.
 
I wasnt planning on raiding. I just back my stuff up, and use a 2nd drive as a place to dump all the wifes photos etc, so when I format, I dont have to worry about having her lose her mind.

Im just wondering what the real performance for money of SSD is worth? I generally dont shut my machine off, and I can handle standard reboot times.
 
Updated Build from NC IX
-Lite-On Blu-ray Rom, DVDRW - 79.99
-NZXT Phantom Case in white - 159.99
-Spire Thermax Eclispe II - 59.99 (for $50 more I could do H70 for more quiet?)
-Corsair Vengence 8GB 2x4GB, DDR3-1866 - 110.98 (currently cheaper then 1600) CL9 (from what I have been seeing tonight in benchmarks is 1333 CL7, or 1600 CL9 is the same performance.
-WD Cavier Blue 1TB HD - 66.63
-Win7 HP OEM (not sure if I have a 2nd key or not so adding it now) - 123.98
-Corsair HX750W - 154.99 (incase I sli)
-I7 2600k - 329.99
-EVGA GTX570 - 369.99

So right now with no Mobo (they pulled them like every other site) im at $1450 no taxes. The mobo would be about $250 maybe, so that puts me at $1700. That will put me just over 2k as is with monitor and shipping.

But at this point, Im looking realistically April or June before Mobos are available easily. Wondering if waiting for LGA2011 would be worth it. As currently the only game im waiting for on PC is ES5. The next game ill buy should be Dark Souls PS3.

Any input?
 
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I saw that there are compatability issues. I suppose if I had to I could go Asus 5 series to match the mobo id like to get. Im sure there would be no issue there. Though Ill get a confirmation from the camp I buy my mobo from, on a specific videocard before purchase
 
Take J Macker's advice on teh GPU and the PSU. If you don't plan on doing SLI/CF to begin with, and only plan on doing a little bit of gaming, I would just take that out of the equation all together. If you were going to SLI/CF you would know it.

I think a 2500k would be a sufficient CPU when they get put back on the shelves, that will also save you some dollars. A lot of modern GPUs are going eat right through games @ 1280x1024, so just get a really good value card, like above posters said a 6850 or something.

EDIT: Then with the saved money between the CPU and GPU, I would honestly recommend getting a SSD as a system drive. VROOM VROOM.
 
Yeah, i will SLI but not for a year or so. Id like to get a new monitor, it just looks better for the accountant if I split some of the costs up. I do plan on getting a 23" monitor, id prob run about 1920x1080. So as games start to slow the system a bit, before a card becomes legacy, i thinkt he SLI would be a good upgrade, when the 2nd card will only cost $100 etc. Most likely when the next gen comes out.

Yeah, im looking maybe april before I can build at the earliest, just due to availability of the SB

What about stepping down to a 560? Also can you recommend a quiet cool running card in 460/470/560/570? I was going eVGA for the external exhaust, and lifetime warrenty
 
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Im not sure that a 560 is enough card. Which is sad to say, but when I go to 1920x1080 monitor, ill have to turn down to make games playable. Well newer games, like metro (which id like to try after i finally get to finish FO3)
 
At this point, I would probably avoid a 560. Most of the prices I have seen for them are kind of high when compared to a 6870 or so. I wouldn't say that 1920x1080 is going to bog down a card, and for not much more than the price of the 570 you could have two 6870s. I think I would still look into getting an ssd for a boot drive as it will make the OS reallly snappy, and depending on the size you find, possibly some room for games as well. I think I would hold off on deciding the video card situation until it gets to be closer to the new SB boards hitting the shelves. As we all know, anything can happen between now and then as most of the cards will have a decent amount of time under their belts by the beginning of april.
 
A 560 is more than enough card. I play all my games at high/near max on a 4870 512MB at that resolution.
 
Yeah, i just think if a card plays near max now at 1920x1080, then thats good. as long as it can handle it now. Ill look into an SSD, what do you recommend. Im gonna keep an eye on sales, etc and buy stuff as it comes. No point in wasting money on things that wont drop in price naturally (such as standard HDD).
 
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