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Sorry another "what do I buy" thread

D

Dende

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 23, 2004
Messages
396
I'm VERY sorry about posting this stuff but I have been out of the computer building game for a VERY long time and I'm totaly out of the loop. I want to build a new system because my old system won't run Vista and with XP support going away I have to look at upgrading. I want to re-use my 8800gts 512 but everything else has to be new. I have looked at the systems that Kyle uses for benchmarking and testing but I can't afford an extreem cpu lol

I would like to go quad I think but don't know the first thing about intel hardware. I need to know of a kick ass gaming system BUT also want to be able to encode dvd's and anime.

Also Raid 5 would be AWSOME LMAO but not required.

If you guys could help me out that would be awsome I don't trust anyone else on the internet. The [H] has ALWAYS set me up in the past and I take your advice to heart so let the games begin!!!
 
Buying threads no matter how common are a good thing. It’s what makes this all possible.

First, you need set a budget and performance expectations. You mentioned video encoding. A Penryn CPU would be a good choice because of the new SSE4 instructions. A lot of encoding apps support SSE4 now and when supported in an app, it’s the biggest performance leap over the previous version. A midrange pick here would be a Q9450. These CPU’s are just getting out in decent numbers about now.

You have one 8800 GTS but do you plan to get another? Normally those sticking with one GPU tend to go with Intel based motherboards because of the perceived stability over nVidia chipsets. Not only that, now point in paying for SLI and not using. There are tons of excellent P35 based mother boards that support Penryn’s. You could go the X35 or X48 routes, but the sweet spot is still the P35. Plus DDR2 RAM is almost free these days, so sticking with that is probably a good cost decision even though DDR2 is in its last days.

I won’t even go into PSU’s and cases. As a stated earlier, get you budget together. Then browse around sites like NewEgg.Com and ZipZoomFly.Com, especially NewEgg. Not recommending that you buy from there, but the user reviews on NewEgg can give you a general sense most of the time about quality of a product.

Once you get a list of components, post it back here and get some feedback. I just did that with my sig rig I built two weeks ago. You’ll tend to get a fair amount of feedback. Sometimes it can get a little nitpicky but that’s what critiquing is all about.

Good luck and have fun. Putting together a powerful rig is always cool!
 
heatlesssun said:
Buying threads no matter how common are a good thing. It’s what makes this all possible.
Good luck and have fun. Putting together a powerful rig is always cool!
Click to expand...

Nice post heatlesssun :D and I agree with you 100%. I have always admired the supreme patients that knowlegable computer gurus have answering what appears to be the same old tired questions about cpus, mobos, RAM, etc. over and over again ;), in fact I still don't understand all I know about the SSE4 instructions :rolleyes:, but thanks to people like you I'm headed in that direction :)

 
I think one of the key questions here is what is the percentage breakdown between gaming and encoding?
I think a $180-$200 Q6600 (65nm quad core at 2.4ghz stock) with 4gig of ddr2 800 would suit you fine. It would provide quad for encoding and can easily be overclocked into the 3ghz range for gaming.

If you don't intend to overclock and encoding is only a small part of what you'll do, get an E8400 (45nm dual core, at 3ghz stock) also at $200.

I'm going to disagree with the other poster, I feel the Q9450 is just too expensive for the performance you get vs. simply getting one of the two other processors I've listed.

Get a Gigabyte P35-DS3L motherboard. $90, The budget/midline board of choice other than the abit IP-35 boards.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017 Q6600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037 E8400
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059 P35-DS3L
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139001 Corsair 520watt PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184 4gig of DDR2 800 ram
 
I'm going to be doing about 80% gaming 15% encoding 5% downloading anime HAHA :p. Also I was thinking about SLI but realy I don't see the need for it anymore my MAX res will be 1680/1050.

I'm looking at these two CPU's at this point:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115036
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115043
The Q9450 is a deactivated item at newegg :(

I'm can put some money into this system so I would like to go a bit bigger then needed just so It can live for a few month longer hehe.

My last system has lasted me 2 years now so I would like this one to do the same if I can get away with it :p

Sorry for the edit I forgot to ask a stupid question LMAO how do I tell if the CPU is a Penryn???
 
Dende said:
I'm going to be doing about 80% gaming 15% encoding 5% downloading anime HAHA :p. Also I was thinking about SLI but realy I don't see the need for it anymore my MAX res will be 1680/1050.

I'm looking at these two CPU's at this point:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115036
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115043
The Q9450 is a deactivated item at newegg :(

I'm can put some money into this system so I would like to go a bit bigger then needed just so It can live for a few month longer hehe.

My last system has lasted me 2 years now so I would like this one to do the same if I can get away with it :p

Sorry for the edit I forgot to ask a stupid question LMAO how do I tell if the CPU is a Penryn???
Click to expand...

the 8 series duals and the 9series quads are the new 45nm stuff, you're good.
Buying an e8500 instead of an e8400 is just throwing away $80 however.
If you want it to last, get a quad. Be aware tho, that the Q9300, while a good processor has a lower multiplier than the older Q6600, which leads to a lower overclock. You might get 3ghz out of it however. (and truth be told a 3ghz quad isn't a pushover, regardless of what you might hear around these forums)

If you want a system to last, I would definitely buy the quad over the dual. I was looking at the Q9300 myself, as I dont have much interest in overclocking for my own needs.
 
So all the 45nm is the Penryn?? Man I have to be honest with you guys I am SOOO out of touch with hardware now its pethetic realy. I have no idea what I'm doing now lol. I want to go with the 45nm tech BUT this is what I am thinking.
I am leaning towards the duel core and not the quad core because of the fact I am going to be doing more gaming then anything else. Now PLEASE correct me if I am wrong on any of this, at this point I'm a TOTAL n00b, BUT can't you upgrade using the same system board and other hardware to a quad core like 6 months from now?? I don't like the fact the multiplier is soo low on the Q9300 with me being so far out of touch with hardware I would have a hard time getting that overclocked at all I think.
Does the Q9450 have a diferent multiplier then the 93?? Is it eaiser to overclock???
 
Mods let me know if I need to move this or create a new thread because of anything I add I don't want to make anyone mad at me :) I was looking through newegg and I found this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131219
I like it HEHE what do you guys think??

Ok I'm confused now the system board says DDR1200 in the specs but I can't find any on Newegg with that am I missing something??

Does anyone have any suggestions??

Will http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166 go with that systemboard??
 
I'm in a similar position as you, though I just upgraded from an A64 X2 4400+ (that chip was great to me), 2 GB DDR, and an Abit AN8-32x SLI to an Intel Q6600 (first Intel chip since a Pentium 200 MHz), Asus Striker 2 Formula, and 4GB DDR2-800.I've not built the rig yet, the pieces are coming in the mail, so I can't offer you too much advice. However, be sure to let us know once you've made your decision on what to build. :D
 
DJ Lushious said:
I'm in a similar position as you, though I just upgraded from an A64 X2 4400+ (that chip was great to me), 2 GB DDR, and an Abit AN8-32x SLI to an Intel Q6600 (first Intel chip since a Pentium 200 MHz), Asus Striker 2 Formula, and 4GB DDR2-800.I've not built the rig yet, the pieces are coming in the mail, so I can't offer you too much advice. However, be sure to let us know once you've made your decision on what to build. :D
Click to expand...

DUDE your old system is almost IDENTICAL to my old system HAHA great minds think alike :p
 
This is what I am looking at so far you guys let me know if I am on the right track :)

For the CPU I chose a dual core because I plan on upgrading once the quad cores get past 3ghz stock. I have plans to reuse this cpu in my daughters system so it won't go to waste.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037

Here is the system board I am looking at I picked it because I love ASUS and I want raid 5 I am going to put 3 storage hard drives in it and run it in raid 5 for all my anime I have. I'll also have 2 drives for my OS raid 0 the six SATA connectors are AWSOME.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131219

Here is the memory I picked I don't have a reason to pick it other then newegg reviews and it was rated VERY hi If anyone has any feedback on this let me know.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166

All together its $570 I need to get the hard drives, case, and power supply but thats easy enough :)

I'll be putting my 8800gts g92 in it so hopefully it'll play WoW with out any problems......... Yea YA THINK!!!!
 
Dende said:
This is what I am looking at so far you guys let me know if I am on the right track :)

For the CPU I chose a dual core because I plan on upgrading once the quad cores get past 3ghz stock. I have plans to reuse this cpu in my daughters system so it won't go to waste.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037

Here is the system board I am looking at I picked it because I love ASUS and I want raid 5 I am going to put 3 storage hard drives in it and run it in raid 5 for all my anime I have. I'll also have 2 drives for my OS raid 0 the six SATA connectors are AWSOME.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131219

Here is the memory I picked I don't have a reason to pick it other then newegg reviews and it was rated VERY hi If anyone has any feedback on this let me know.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166

All together its $570 I need to get the hard drives, case, and power supply but thats easy enough :)

I'll be putting my 8800gts g92 in it so hopefully it'll play WoW with out any problems......... Yea YA THINK!!!!
Click to expand...

Perfect picks
e8400 - check! should be perfect for a nice 4Ghz overclock
asus x38 mobo - check! (though you could get away with the Asus P5K-E for cheaper)
g.skill ddr2 1066 - check! g.skill good price / performance I've had nothing but good experiences with them

Now for the heatsink... ThermalRight Ultra 120 Extreme!
 
chrisf6969 said:
Perfect picks
e8400 - check! should be perfect for a nice 4Ghz overclock
asus x38 mobo - check! (though you could get away with the Asus P5K-E for cheaper)
g.skill ddr2 1066 - check! g.skill good price / performance I've had nothing but good experiences with them

Now for the heatsink... ThermalRight Ultra 120 Extreme!
Click to expand...

OHHH CRAP I FORGOT THE HEATSINK!!!!! I'm such a n00b ROFLMAO!!!
 
Dende said:
OHHH CRAP I FORGOT THE HEATSINK!!!!! I'm such a n00b ROFLMAO!!!
Click to expand...

I know what you were thinking.... "its a retail cpu, it comes with a heatsink"

You might get 3.6Ghz on the stock heatsink, but its going to run kind of warm b/c the stock heatsinks for the e8400's are kind of crappy. (small aluminum)

Get a nice HSF, like a TRUE 120 (Thermal Right Ultra 120 Extreme), Tuniq Tower, or maybe Scythe Ninja and you should be able to do 4Ghz+.

Nod goes to the TRUE which has proven to be THE best, but the other 2 I listed are also very nice.
 
Don't get a TRUE, get the new Xigamatek HDT-S1283, cheaper and almost the same cooling as lapped TRUE. TRUE's are notorious for their bad finishs on the heatsinks, and if you don't feel like lapping it, just get the S1283. Plus the new HDT tech is the latest evolution in technology.

Works great with just the push pin connectors, or you can get the TR bolt thru kit if you're really worried about it. But at 600g, it isn't needed.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003&Tpk=HDT-S1283
 
Ok I added the HTD-s1283 (because it was the only one out of the other suggestions in stock) Now my total is $602.95 All I need now is a HUGE ASS case to keep it all in. I am going to go to some local stores because I want to feel the cases (want to know if its cheap thin metal or the good stuff). I need a big case because I am going to have a total of 6 hard drives and two dvd drives in it. I do need to find a good power supply I was thinking something between 500 and 750 watts. Any suggestions??
 
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