Buying A New PC - Help Me Build It... I am getting a new PC. I haven't gotten a new one in about 5 years, and in that time, things have really changed. I was thinking of upgrading just some components in my current Windows 2000 computer, but I can't even put in a new video card because they have moved from AGP slots to the new PCI slots, and my current motherboard doesn't have a proper PCI slot. (Called a PCI-E slot now. ) So here is a list of questions I have about new computers. I am looking at an Intel processor, just because I don't really feel the need to switch to an AMD processor, and Intel has never given me any problems. But how do you tell which ones are faster nowadays? There seem to be two types of processors. They are: Duo Core and Quad Core. I assume this means that the story about them not really able to get processor speeds above 1ghz is true, and so they started designing chips that used two processors instead of one, but stacked them into one big chip. The Quad processors I guess are just 4 chips in one. But the processor I am looking at is called a Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q6600 2.4GHz w/2x4MB cache. I think the 2.4GHz means each processor, which means, times 4, that would be a 9.6GHz processor? (because it is a quad?) And what does the Q6600 mean, or is that just the name of the chip? I am also assuming the cache is kinda like a mini RAM feature that lets the processor hold more information? Should I worry about the Intel Core 2 part, or is that just marketing talk?
Ok, next question: The motherboard I am looking at is a Gigabyte GA73PV-S2H w/Geforce 7100, DualDDR2 800, 7.1 audio. I am assuming the Geforce 7100 is the onboard graphics processor. If I have this already, should I bother getting an additional video card? I remember when it was recommended you get a separate video card if you played games, but are the onboard video cards nowadays good enough where this is no longer necessary? What is the DualDDR 800 mean? I remember DDR having to do with RAM. Does this mean the motherboard has two RAM slots which can only fit DualDDR 800 RAM in? Can I use other RAM instead of Dual DDR800? The 7.1 audio I assume is the onboard sound processor. So now computers have built in separate graphics processors AND sound processors? :flow2: Should I bother getting another crappy sound card, just to avoid the motherboard having to process sound? I am assuming that these are two separate processors on the motherboard, and the Intel Quad Core is handling the main processing. If that is the case, maybe I should not even bother with a video card, or sound card.
Now on to RAM. I see a lot of different RAMs on the site, and most of it seems to mention a few common things. The first is the amount of RAM, such as 2GB or 1GB or 512MB. Seems easy enough. More RAM is usually better right? But then, it gives a few other numbers. Usually, it will say PC2-5300 or PC26400 or PC2-4200. What is this??? Does it mean the higher the number, the better? How do I know what type of RAM will fit into the motherboard? This is followed by the terms DDR2 SDRAM, but sometimes, it will not say SDRAM, but instead Dual Channel Kit. What does this mean? Is this too techy that I really shouldn't worry about it, just shut up and get any RAM that will most likely work? Any answers to the above will be appreciated, and repaid in kind, via reputation points.
It is onboard GFX, if you have a seperate card then get a mobo without it. You're better off as well, on board GFX is never as good as outboard. As for sound, that used to be the same, but since i got my last setup ive been on onboard sound and it has been better than my old SB audigy card. Especialy levels, i dont get one thing ultra loud and one thing ultra quiet anymore As for the RAM, you can use any type of (i guess ) DDR2 thats 800 or slower. You could use one stick or 2 or 3. Dual just means if you have 2 or 4 sticks and they are in the correct slots it will use them as 'dual channel' (write to both at the same time) which is a few percent faster than single channel
imHO you should get a dual channel kit that is 2gb (2x 1gb sticks) and the lowest CAS latency numbers you can get for your money
Just to give you a bit of background: I am going to be primarily using this one for work. I may load the occasional game onto it, but I'll mostly be doing work in Flash and Photoshop. This machine is probably already overkill, as I am thinking of also getting a Sapphire Radeon HD 512MB PCI-E for the video card. Photoshop MIGHT need that, but I highly doubt it's nothing the onboard graphics processor can't handle.
Which version of Photoshop? CS2 can only take advantage of 2 cores, while CS3 can take advantage of all four in a quad-core processor. If you're using CS2, just get a dual core processor. Also, Photoshop likes cache, so definitely get as much cache on the processor as you can afford; the Pentium Dual-Core (not to be confused with the Pentium D, with is a dual core processor) is a fantastic processor if overclocked, but it's rather skimpy in the cache department; only 1 MB between the cores. Whereas a Core2Duo nowadays has 4 MB between the cores (except the e8X00 series, which have 6, but that's harder to find than a whale in the desert right now). The graphics card there sounds fine. You'll need DDR2 RAM for just about any motherboard these days. Get DDR2-800 aka PC2-6400 (800MHz). Low latency is better, but can be more expensive. Not essential for what it sounds like you're doing. Motherboard: don't bother with one with integrated graphics if you're getting the Radeon. Sound: onboard sound is fine for most things. Only get a sound card if the sound is noisy due to interference from other components.
Oh, and I don't know if you have Microcenters up there, but if you do, buy the processor there rather than from Newegg. 10-$50 cheaper.
Take the big thingy, unwrap it. Screw it into the hollow thingy. Then take the small square thingy, and use the white yucky stuff to stick it onto the big thingy. Don't forget to clamp the thingy down with the thingies. Plug in the flat thingies and click them into place. If they don't fit, turn them upside down. Then stick in the thingy onto which you can screw the viewing thingy. If you have any other thingies to stick in, do so now. Close the hollow thingy, plug in the wiry male thingies in the female thingies and try not to have any Evil Thoughts while doing so. Big Thingy may still fry your thingy.Anyway, each male thingy only fits one particular female type of thingy, as Big Thingy intended. Anyway, when do, flip the thingy on the thingy and pray for sound, not smoke.
No, stick the cylindrical thingy on the square thingy with the white yucky stuff. For the love of Big Thingy, don't get the white yucky stuff on the big thingy. No, turn them backwards. There's also some wiry female thingys that you plug into male thingys. Don't forget those!
Well, I sent my order in. Thanks everyone for the help! This is what I ended up with: 1 x ANTEC - Sonata III Quiet Super Mini Tower w/ EarthWatts 500W, eSATA ( $109.95 ) 1 x Intel - Core™2 Quad Processor Q6600 2.4GHz w/ 2x4MB Cache ( $264.95 ) 1 x Microsoft - Windows XP Home Edition oem ( $99.95 ) 1 x Western Digital - 500GB Caviar SE16 7200rpm SATA II w/ 16MB Cache ( $99.95 ) 1 x Assemble - Assemble Hardware + Load my O/S ( $70.00 ) 1 x Logitech - S-120 2.0 Speaker System ( $9.95 ) 1 x Kingston - HyperX 2GB PC2-6400 Low Latency Dual Channel DDR2 Kit (2 x 1GB, NVIDIA SLI-Ready) ( $79.95 ) 1 x MSI - P7N SLI Platinum w/ DualDDR2 800, 7.1 Audio, Gigabit Lan, 1394, PCI-E 2.0 x16 SLI ( $189.95 ) 1 x XFX - GeForce 8800 GT Zalman 512MB PCI-E Alpha Dog XXX Edition (670MHz) w/ Dual DVI, HDTV-Out ( $229.95 ) 1 x Creative Labs - Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio, OEM ( $54.95 ) 1 x LINKSYS - Wireless-G Business PCI Adapter with RangeBooster ( $74.95 ) The Low Latency Dual Channel RAM, GeForce 8800GT video card, and the MSI mobo were all chosen with the recommendations of this forum, so this is your baby as much as it is mine. *sniff* Total is $1,284.50. With tax, it comes to $1,359.25 Good job!
Unless the Canadian dollar has fallen A LOT and that's in CDN, you're being ripped off for the motherboard and CPU. 164 for the mobo on Newegg, and 199 for the CPU from Microcenter.
Hrmm, I should've mentioned that this is in Canadian dollars. Also remember that I can't get anything from Newegg either, since they don't ship up here.
164 for the mobo, I can't do anything about, since I am up here, plus shipping would probably even that sucker out. 199 for the CPU is a killer deal though! Congrats for finding that, because this place that I ordered from usually has very good prices, and I was even able to buy my 24" monitor for cheaper there than at Newegg. The place I am getting my PC from is: http://www.memoryexpress.com/
Bah, Microcenter is out of stock of their 6600. It's advertised right on their front page too! Oh well. It looks like Microcenter is kinda like the Memory Express up here. They have a lot more stores than ME though. I can see ME eventually getting bought by MC if they ever want to move to Canada. ME just started expanding out of Calgary and into Winnipeg.
Yeah, MC only seems to have them in-store. The one by me has 75 in stock as of yesterday. Heading there again today to return the power supply I bought yesterday; turns out it doesn't have an 8-pin CPU connector, and newegg has one for $25 cheaper. Memory Express looks interesting. Seems they actually reasonably price the 8800 GTS's, something Amazon, Newegg, and Microcenter have all yet to do. Too bad they're Canada-only.
Just noticed, it probably won't make a difference, but the EarthWatts PSU you bought is the one I'm returning for lack of an EPS12V connector. Probably not an issue since you're probably not overclocking though.
Hrmph, I put my order in, and they wanted a deposit. So I had to drive all the way down there, halfway across the city, just to put a deposit down. They say it will be ready in 2-3 business days, which means I should have it by Friday. It's my 1st computer in 5 years. I will probably slowly transfer my stuff to the new one, get familiar with the new graphics programs like Flash MX3 and Dreamweaver MX3, then eventually turn it into my main computer. I still really like this Windows 2000 one. It's very stable, and I have so much stuff on it. Plus, it just seems faster than my sister's duo core and my dad's 1 yr old computer. But I guess I should switch to Windows XP and get into the modern world. I don't want to make the switch to Vista yet, because a lot of people are having problems with it. Plus, Win2000 doesn't detect more than a certain amount of RAM, right? Getting a brand new computer is exciting, but it is also a lot of mind numbingly painful work. You have to worry about installing printers, scanners, camera software, camcorder software, sound and video card drivers, monitor drivers, configure routers, reinstall your favorite games, and troubleshoot for the next month as to why something isn't working. It's a huge huge pain in the ass.
XP should take care of most of your work for you regarding printers and other software. I love XP and still use my, legal I might add, Corporate Licensed XP Professional SP2 (now with SP3) copy. J.
Dude, you could've gotten a dell with a 20inch monitor for 200 less. That's like a $400 difference (us or canadian). Don't see an optical drive in your list, this one doesn't have the wireless PCI or discrete sound card (what's up with that?) but that's not that much. The mainboard is proprietary low end stuff, but you've stated you're not going to OC the thing. Starting Price $1,469 Instant Savings $450 Subtotal $1,019 (free shipping dunno about Canada) My System Details Intel® Core™2 Quad Proc Q6600 (2.40GHz,8MB L2Cache,1066FSB) Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition No Pre-installed Productivity Software Dell 20 inch Widescreen E207WFP Analog Flat Panel Display 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz - 2DIMMs Single Drive: 16X (DVD+/-RW) Burner Drive 500GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™ 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800 GT No Floppy Drive No Modem Option Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio edit: keep forgetting about Canadian VAT (whatever it's called). But still that's like what 15%? Similar system from their canadian portal: (it has 3gbram) Intel® Core™2 Quad Q6600 (2.40GHz,8MB L2Cache,1066FSB) edit OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® XP Professional edit MEMORY 3GB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHZ - 2X1GB+2X512MB edit HARD DRIVE 500GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™ edit SOUND CARD Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio edit VIDEO CARD 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800 GT edit OPTICAL DRIVE Single Drive: 16X (DVD+/-RW) Burner Drive edit MONITOR Dell 19 inch Widescreen E198WFP Analog Flat Panel Monitor edit Sub-total $1,129.00 Shipping $0.00 PST $0.00 GST $57.55 HST $0.00 Environmental Disposal Fee $22.00 More Info Total Price 1 $1,208.55
That's a pretty sweet looking rig. Luckily I just went through this exercise, so here are my thoughts taking into consideration making it slightly upgradeable. I would get a power supply somewhere in the 650-700w range. You'll never bog down and it's only a few bucks more. Antec is the Cadillac of power supplies. I got a WinHec from Newegg and it is great. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817339003 A Q6600 processor is great. I've got my overclocked to 3.1ghz and it still isn't sweating. Is the memory CAS speed 4-4-4-12? I've used HyperX in my last builds and a couple of them burned out. Not that they make bad memory, that's just my experience. I went with Crucial this time and it overclocks very well. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146565 I've never used an MSI motherboard, so I'm not sure how they are. I've always gone with Asus. Any particular reason you chose this? I went with a Asus P5KC and it cost a lot less. It also has a couple more USB ports and it can handle DDR3 memory (two slots) as well as DDR2 (four slots). When DDR3 grows up a little, it will smoke DDR2. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131188 Do you really need a the Sound Blaster? Your motherboard comes with surround built in. You cannot beat a 8800GT card right now for the price. Not even close. Here's the one I went with. I've owned several MSI cards and they've always been top notch. This one comes factory overclocked and I've got it turned up a little more beyond that. It's also got a great Zalmann licensed cooling fan. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127329 And you forgot one very important piece of equipment, the CPU cooler. I did a ton of research on these and the best I've found was this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103031 Ultra quiet, easy to attach and does a fantastic job on CPU heat. My CPU never gets above 35 degrees celsius. And finally, here is my badass case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146018 Got three probes for heat and looks cool as hell. Super quiet again.
Just finished buying components for my PC. Motherboard: Abit IP35 Pro http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813127030 $135 AR Graphics Card: PNY GF 8800GT http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133205 $159 AR Memory: Super Talent 2x 1GB PC2-6400 (DDR2 800) RAM with 4-4-3-8 timings http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820609026 $29 AR Hard Drive: One that I bought a while ago, and didn't have room for previously. Might be 320 GB, Maxtor, SATA, 7200 RPM 8MB cache. Also if I sell the pieces of my current computer, I might pull the HD's first and put them in the new box. $57, IIRC PSU: Rosewill 550W PSU with EPS12V connector http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182010 $55 Case: Antec P180 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129154 $80 AR Optical Drive: Samsung 20x DVD burner with LightScribe, DVDR DL, and DVD-RAM support - picked this one for the free shipping. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151154 $30 CPU: Currently, the Pentium Dual-Core E2160, which will be overclocked to 3.0 GHz. Later, when my Intel employee discount recharges, a Core 2 Duo E8400 most likely. Comes with a sufficient CPU cooler. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116036 $60 Monitor: Ancient beige 19" Dell CRT. 1600x1200 at 75Hz. $20 Keyboard: Apple Extended Keyboard + iMate. Mouse: Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer no idea how much they cost; had them for years. Subtotal net: $625 Shipping: +$19 Tax: +$20 Gift cards: -$50 Total net out of pocket: $614 Total net out of pocket excluding the HD and monitor (since they weren't bought particularly for this build): $532 Estimated arrival date for the last of the components: Monday
Why? I love all the screen real estate. Makes Visual Studio actually usable. The refresh rate is fast enough so it doesn't flicker. As for a case, I think the only way to do better than the Antec P One series is to find a board with a removable motherboard tray. Sadly they are rare and usually expensive.
Well, I was actually thinking of doing mutliple-booting. Does anyone know the feasibility of triple-booting XP, Vista (for DX10 games only), and Linux? The hard drive in my current box has XP and Linux on it currently, and I may have a legit way to get Vista for free.
I've become spoiled... my 1680x1050 is OK (only because it's wide) but I really want to move to a 24" with 1920x1200 (or 1920x1080). I can't stand the monitor I have at work (19" 1280x1024). I used to use cheap monitors and spend more cash on other components, but recently I've started to view my monitor as my most important component.
