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[Zzoram]

So, you're saying I should buy paste? Gotcha.

I'm not familiar with Radeon cards, so I'm not sure which manufacturer with the best in terms of their cards. Does any have recommendations?

Sapphire might be one of the better ATI partners because they offer a lot of non-standard configurations like special coolers and overclocked cards. Asus is also pretty good, and might offer the best overclocking varieties, but at greater cost. Visiontek is pretty good too, and has lifetime warranty.

I wouldn't buy a Palit card, ATI or nVidia.

 

[TheHeretic]

Just use MX-2 thermal compound, its more common and performs as good as anything else.

 

[Mr.City]

I'm also a tad clueless when it comes to ram. I found this on newegg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184

Seems like a steal for a low price. There has to be a catch.

 

[Ophiuchus]

I know I know its about the 3rd one of these I make and i never actually get the PC !!! But this time i have the cash on hand and will be ordering by Friday

Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130179

Graphics card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121253

Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037

Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152102

PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341002

Dvd Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106268

Now the only thing I think I'm missing is a case. If you guys have any recommendations on things i should switch out/ in let me know.

I'm trying to keep the build around 800-850

 

[TheHeretic]

I know I know its about the 3rd one of these I make and i never actually get the PC !!! But this time i have the cash on hand and will be ordering by Friday

Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130179

Graphics card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121253

Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037

Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152102

PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341002

Dvd Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106268

Now the only thing I think I'm missing is a case. If you guys have any recommendations on things i should switch out/ in let me know.

I'm trying to keep the build around 800-850

Can you please not make a habit of doing this? I shouldn't have to click on half a dozen links just to see your PC's specs.

 

[Ophiuchus]

Can you please not make a habit of doing this? I shouldn't have to click on half a dozen links just to see your PC's specs.

I did it so you guys can see the prices I was getting for everything. Was hoping maybe someone knew of a deal somewhere so I can get more bang for my buck. sorry

 

[Zzoram]

I did it so you guys can see the prices I was getting for everything. Was hoping maybe someone knew of a deal somewhere so I can get more bang for my buck. sorry

That's fine, just list the name of the product in the description as well.

 

[Zzoram]

I'm also a tad clueless when it comes to ram. I found this on newegg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184

Seems like a steal for a low price. There has to be a catch.

DDR2 RAM prices have been falling like the price of oil, only it was over a 2 year period, not 2 months.

 

[Mr.City]

I noticed that the e8500 is only ten bucks more than the 8400 on newegg. Is it worth the extra money?

 

[TheHeretic]

I did it so you guys can see the prices I was getting for everything. Was hoping maybe someone knew of a deal somewhere so I can get more bang for my buck. sorry

Thats ok, just put the name of the component in the post as well.

CPU:
E8400

Easy

Your PSU is overboard for a single GPU system, you only need 500 Watts at the most. I would try to upgrade to an Nvidia 260 or an ATi 4870, but if thats all your budget allows for its a fine build.

 

[Zzoram]

Thats ok, just put the name of the component in the post as well.

CPU:
E8400

Easy

Your PSU is overboard for a single GPU system, you only need 500 Watts at the most. I would try to upgrade to an Nvidia 260 or an ATi 4870, but if thats all your budget allows for its a fine build.

The HD4850 is better performance per dollar than those cards, and that particular card comes with World of Warcraft free. It's a great buy.

 

[Hazaro]

I'm also a tad clueless when it comes to ram. I found this on newegg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184

Seems like a steal for a low price. There has to be a catch.

Welcome to American pricing. :lol

 

[TheHeretic]

The HD4850 is better performance per dollar than those cards, and that particular card comes with World of Warcraft free. It's a great buy.

I didn't say it was a bad card, but with his budget and a better suited PSU thats the first place to invest more money.

 

[fatigues_gasolini]

Price?

250 from bestbuy. Around that everywhere else.

 

[itxaka]

So what do you guys think about this one? I'm probably going for it this afternoon.


Case NOX SAPHIRA NEGRA S/F 27,77 €

500W COOLBOX POWERLINE F-500 42,34 €

INTEL CORE2 DUO E8400 3.0 GHZ SK775 1333 MHZ 6MB DUAL CORE 150,06 €

K8/AM2/775 COOLBOX ANTARES 18,13 €

INTEL CORE2 ASUS P5QL-E SK775 DDR2 PCX 96,14 €

KIT 4 GB ( 2X2 GB) DDR2 1066 CORSAIR DHX DOMINATOR 140,34 €

1GB POINTOFVIEW 9800GT PCX HDMI 153,67 €

320 GB SATA2 SAMSUNG 7200 16MB 47,66 €

PIONEER DVD-R/+RW 116D 20X DLX12 NEGRA 28,26 €

TOTAL (€) 704,37 €

 

[Lince]

So what do you guys think about this one? I'm probably going for it this afternoon.


Case NOX SAPHIRA NEGRA S/F 27,77 €

500W COOLBOX POWERLINE F-500 42,34 €

INTEL CORE2 DUO E8400 3.0 GHZ SK775 1333 MHZ 6MB DUAL CORE 150,06 €

K8/AM2/775 COOLBOX ANTARES 18,13 €

INTEL CORE2 ASUS P5QL-E SK775 DDR2 PCX 96,14 €

KIT 4 GB ( 2X2 GB) DDR2 1066 CORSAIR DHX DOMINATOR 140,34 €

1GB POINTOFVIEW 9800GT PCX HDMI 153,67 €

320 GB SATA2 SAMSUNG 7200 16MB 47,66 €

PIONEER DVD-R/+RW 116D 20X DLX12 NEGRA 28,26 €

TOTAL (€) 704,37 €

nice, but if you don't plan to game at ridiculously high resolutions you should find a 9800GTX+ for around 10 € more and get better performance, others will argue and recommend a 4850 instead, nice rig anyway. I'm playing all my PC games on my HDTV at 1360x768 60 fps locked with the 360 pad, with the exception of Crysis and Far Cry 2 (30fps locked) with a stock Q6600 / 9800GTX+

 

[itxaka]

nice, but if you don't plan to game at ridiculously high resolutions you should find a 9800GTX+ for around 10 € more and get better performance, others will argue and recommend a 4850 instead, nice rig anyway. I'm playing all my PC games on my HDTV at 1360x768 60 fps locked with the 360 pad, with the exception of Crysis and Far Cry 2 (30fps locked) with a stock Q6600 / 9800GTX+

Yeah I choose that one thinking it was a gtx+ But after a quick look around it seems that is not.

It seems that the only gtx+ available is 512MB POINTOFVIEW 9800GTX+ PCX SLI 194€ that bumps the total to 768€

Will the improvement be much better even with 512Mb instead of 1Gb on the card?

oh, also bumbe the HDD to 500Gb for 6€ more

 

[chespace]

So the latest in my overclocking adventures: I lowered my vcore yesterday from 1.31 to 1.30 in the bios (CPU-Z reads 1.28 on load) and ran prime95 overnight.

STABLE! And I'm now peaking at 65 degrees -- a difference of 4 degrees when I was running 1.31 vcore. Now I'm basically OC'ed from 2.8GHz to 3.6GHz and running at a pretty cool temperature.

Really pleased with the performance of this Q9550 and Asus P5Q Pro combo. You can overclock the shit out of this CPU and it takes it like a champ. The P5Q mobo also makes it a breeze.

I also think the Arctic Cooler 7 heatsink-fan was a great 20 dollar investment. I used a dab of Arctic Silver 5 and everything has been just smooth since my build a few weeks ago (with the exception of the um... GPU )

Woot!

 

[Mr.City]

E8400 Core 2 Duo
4GB RAM (2x2GB)
500gb 7200rpm SATA Seagate HDD
Asus P5Q Pro or Gigabyte EP45-DS3R
20x DVD-RW Pioneer
Antec 300 Case
Corsair 520W PSU
HD4870 1GB
.

Decided to go with Zzoram's setup here. The total cost with a new OS included ( my prebuilts in the past didn't include a vista disk) is around $1060. Combined with $75 worth of rebates, it's looking pretty good.

Edit: I've read that the 4870 likes to run hot. I'm worried that I may need a stronger CPU fan.

 

[otake]

So the latest in my overclocking adventures: I lowered my vcore yesterday from 1.31 to 1.30 in the bios (CPU-Z reads 1.28 on load) and ran prime95 overnight.

STABLE! And I'm now peaking at 65 degrees -- a difference of 4 degrees when I was running 1.31 vcore. Now I'm basically OC'ed from 2.8GHz to 3.6GHz and running at a pretty cool temperature.

Really pleased with the performance of this Q9550 and Asus P5Q Pro combo. You can overclock the shit out of this CPU and it takes it like a champ. The P5Q mobo also makes it a breeze.

I also think the Arctic Cooler 7 heatsink-fan was a great 20 dollar investment. I used a dab of Arctic Silver 5 and everything has been just smooth since my build a few weeks ago (with the exception of the um... GPU )

Woot!

I'm very very jealous. My POS intel dx48bt2 is shit for overclocking. I can only get 2.8 ghz out of my 2.3 ghx e6550. I hate my motherboard. It was an expensive POS too, $200.00+.

 

[Big Takeover]

So the latest in my overclocking adventures: I lowered my vcore yesterday from 1.31 to 1.30 in the bios (CPU-Z reads 1.28 on load) and ran prime95 overnight.

STABLE! And I'm now peaking at 65 degrees -- a difference of 4 degrees when I was running 1.31 vcore. Now I'm basically OC'ed from 2.8GHz to 3.6GHz and running at a pretty cool temperature.

Really pleased with the performance of this Q9550 and Asus P5Q Pro combo. You can overclock the shit out of this CPU and it takes it like a champ. The P5Q mobo also makes it a breeze.

I also think the Arctic Cooler 7 heatsink-fan was a great 20 dollar investment. I used a dab of Arctic Silver 5 and everything has been just smooth since my build a few weeks ago (with the exception of the um... GPU )

Woot!

Glad to see you all settled in, Che.

3.6 is a nice number for set-and-forget daily usage. Your box is now a bona fide screamer. No doubt about it.

 

[DarthWoo]

My desktop theme reset again overnight, although it retained the background image I put in (hadn't had one the previous times it reverted), and the sounds also reverted to default. Nobody else has had this problem?

 

[lachesis]

My desktop theme reset again overnight, although it retained the background image I put in (hadn't had one the previous times it reverted), and the sounds also reverted to default. Nobody else has had this problem?

It's 2nd time you've put up the same problem, eh? I was curios myself, so I wanted to do some search, but forgot about it. Anyhow all I coudl find was to restore to a previous known working restore point.... and while at it, perhaps runs some malware/virus/spyware test...? Perhaps if you contact MS, they might have a better answer/solution for you.

 

[Zzoram]

Decided to go with Zzoram's setup here. The total cost with a new OS included ( my prebuilts in the past didn't include a vista disk) is around $1060. Combined with $75 worth of rebates, it's looking pretty good.

Edit: I've read that the 4870 likes to run hot. I'm worried that I may need a stronger CPU fan.

Default fan speed on the 4800 series is 10% and silent, that's why.

The Catalyst 8.10 drivers allow fan control in the utility, just set it to 35% and you'll run cool, without too much noise. 40% and up is when it starts to get really loud.

 

[Big Takeover]

My desktop theme reset again overnight, although it retained the background image I put in (hadn't had one the previous times it reverted), and the sounds also reverted to default. Nobody else has had this problem?

I looked into it a little bit, but couldn't come up with anything.

I've found other people with the same issue, but never found a "I fixed it!" post. Dead mobo battery, corrupt profile, zone alarm, virus, registry hacks - You've probably seen the same suggested culprits I have. None of them seem definitive.

 

[DarthWoo]

It's 2nd time you've put up the same problem, eh? I was curios myself, so I wanted to do some search, but forgot about it. Anyhow all I coudl find was to restore to a previous known working restore point.... and while at it, perhaps runs some malware/virus/spyware test...? Perhaps if you contact MS, they might have a better answer/solution for you.

Well, it seems to do this every few restarts actually. It affects performance of the PC in no way, but it's just annoying to have to restore my preferred settings each time.

 

[Mr.City]

So the latest in my overclocking adventures: I lowered my vcore yesterday from 1.31 to 1.30 in the bios (CPU-Z reads 1.28 on load) and ran prime95 overnight.

STABLE! And I'm now peaking at 65 degrees -- a difference of 4 degrees when I was running 1.31 vcore. Now I'm basically OC'ed from 2.8GHz to 3.6GHz and running at a pretty cool temperature.

Really pleased with the performance of this Q9550 and Asus P5Q Pro combo. You can overclock the shit out of this CPU and it takes it like a champ. The P5Q mobo also makes it a breeze.

I also think the Arctic Cooler 7 heatsink-fan was a great 20 dollar investment. I used a dab of Arctic Silver 5 and everything has been just smooth since my build a few weeks ago (with the exception of the um... GPU )

Woot!

Mind listing your setup? Your rig sounds like a monster.

 

[Zzoram]

Mind listing your setup? Your rig sounds like a monster.

He's got:

Q9550
Asus P5Q Pro
8gb DDR2 (excessive)
HD4870x2
Corsair 750W
24" 1920x1200 LCD

 

[Davidion]

He's got:

Q9550
Asus P5Q Pro
8gb DDR2 (excessive)
HD4870x2
Corsair 750W
24" 1920x1200 LCD

Jeebus, that's about as optimum as you'd want right about now...unless you're going to go down the SLI/xfire/giant monitor route.

 

[Mr.City]

Default fan speed on the 4800 series is 10% and silent, that's why.

The Catalyst 8.10 drivers allow fan control in the utility, just set it to 35% and you'll run cool, without too much noise. 40% and up is when it starts to get really loud.

Cool. I can't wait to start building this thing. I can't wait to order the pieces.

 

[Zzoram]

I also recommend the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro that Che picked up. It's one of the easiest to find, and best cheap HSF for your CPU if you plan to overclock.

 

[Mr.City]

He's got:

Q9550
Asus P5Q Pro
8gb DDR2 (excessive)
HD4870x2
Corsair 750W
24" 1920x1200 LCD

No optical drive?

On another note. I've been wondering if I should order a tube of thermal paste with my parts. I know it comes with some on the heat sink, but should I have some more just in case?

 

[Zzoram]

No optical drive?

On another note. I've been wondering if I should order a tube of thermal paste with my parts. I know it comes with some on the heat sink, but should I have some more just in case?

Ya he's got one, but I figured they are so generic and cheap it's pointless to recommend any particular model.

You can just order the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro and stick that on, it's got preapplied paste, but you can buy some MX-2 or Arctic Creamique (both have no metal, so no conductivity risk, Arctic Silver 5 has a slight risk) incase you somehow botch putting the HSF on (I did once) since you need to remove all the paste and reapply if you botch it.

Note, preapplied paste comes on the HSF, but when you remove all the paste from the CPU/HSF after removing a HSF, you apply the new paste onto the CPU (careful, most people put too much, there's instructions on the Arctic Silver website you can use for any paste).

 

[chespace]

Mind listing your setup? Your rig sounds like a monster.

I would say my machine is high-mid-range in terms of spec. You can certainly go higher (i.e., pay more too) in terms of CPU, RAM, mobo, and PSU. But for $1900 bucks, I'm very happy with what I got and the performance I'm getting with games like Crysis and Far Cry 2. 30+ fps with DX10 maxed out everything at 1920x1200 in Crysis and 60+ fps in Far Cry 2 if I don't turn on v-sync.

Case: Antec 1200 (I love this thing -- creates a wind tunnel and really keeps everything cool)

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 2.8GHz Yorkfield (overclocked to 3.6GHz)

Heatsink-Fan: Arctic Cooler 7 w/ Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste

Motherboard: Asus P5Q Pro (good for OC n00bs like me)

RAM: G.Skill 8GB DDR2 800MHz (2 x 4 and not excessive!)

GPU: Powercolor Radeon HD 4870 X2 (the beast)

PSU: Corsair TX750W (very nice quality and more than enough juice for my system)

HDD: 2 x Seagate 320GB SATA

MISC: Sceptre 24" monitor 1920x1200 @ 60Hz (yup, generic but looks great and was cheap), Samsung DVD+RW, Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse.

Probably left out a thing or two but I bought all of the above from Newegg in one order and 3-day shipping only came out to be 19 bucks. So awesome.

Good luck with your build.

 

[bee]

end of next month apparently, to combat the gtx270/290 refresh i expect

 

[careful]

No optical drive?

On another note. I've been wondering if I should order a tube of thermal paste with my parts. I know it comes with some on the heat sink, but should I have some more just in case?

I recommend this Asus model:
DRW-2014L1T
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135156

I had a Samsung SH-S223F that I had to RMA because it was making this weird noise, but this Asus drive is the most quiet I've ever had (although a bit more expensive).

 

[SapientWolf]

How well do games scale over dual GPUs these days? A lot of benches show almost no improvement but that could be because of dated drivers (or dated game engines).

 

[Chiggs]

end of next month apparently, to combat the gtx270/290 refresh i expect

Back from the dead! Woo-hoo!

 

[Mr.City]

I also recommend the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro that Che picked up. It's one of the easiest to find, and best cheap HSF for your CPU if you plan to overclock.

I've been reading some reviews about those. Many are saying it's a bitch to install. I think I'll still get one, but I'm a little troubled. One reviewer on newegg mentioned that he cut his hands a couple times installing it. Sound reasonable or is this guy just a klutz?

 

[Chiggs]

How well do games scale over dual GPUs these days? A lot of benches show almost no improvement but that could be because of dated drivers (or dated game engines).

Pretty well. I just recently picked up a 9800GX2 for cheap and have been floored with the performance; although, if I'm to be fair, there are a few games where the results are disasterous.

 

[Hazaro]

I've been reading some reviews about those. Many are saying it's a bitch to install. I think I'll still get one, but I'm a little troubled. One reviewer on newegg mentioned that he cut his hands a couple times installing it. Sound reasonable or is this guy just a klutz?

Don't worry about it. The Rosewill coolers are fine as well, they all just complain about the push-pin installation method.

Cuts are reasonable only if you are installing a Zalman heatsink.

 

[Labombadog]

My friend bought the Xigmate (sp) hsf for his PC, and that shit was so damn hard to install. (I built it for him) One note is, if its hard to install then dont fucking bother with it. Spend the money to not go through the hassle, because if its hard to install then more likely you will have problems with the cooling. Go for the Tuniq Tower 120..great HSF.

 

[chespace]

The Arctic Cooler 7 isn't hard to install, and if you're not a complete idiot, you won't cut your hands. Problem for me is that I installed it backwards so I had to take it off and turn it around, which meant I had to go get a tube of Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste.

So check this out: I was just surfing around and found out that most folks (including Cyberpower.com) who OC their Q9550 with the P5Q Pro mobo actually have their vcore down in the 1.25 V level even at frequencies up to 3.6.

WTF. Time to downgrade that vcore and test for peak temperatures. That will give me a better reading of just how good this Arctic Cooler 7 is.

 

[Mr.City]

With my max res at 1366 by 768, I'm wondering if getting a 4870 might be overkill.

 

[chespace]

With my max res at 1366 by 768, I'm wondering if getting a 4870 might be overkill.

I doubt it. A 4870, IMO, is pretty much a requirement for any serious PC gamer nowadays and most of time, you won't be able to max out the settings at a loveable framerate.

 

[zoku88]

I don't agree for the most part. A 4850 would be fine for most games at that relatively low resolution...

 

[SapientWolf]

With my max res at 1366 by 768, I'm wondering if getting a 4870 might be overkill.

It really depends on your processor, since your GPU won't be getting much of a workout. I game at 1360x768 on a lowly 3850 AGP / x2 4200+ and I don't really notice any framerate hits from AA or maxing out the graphical settings. I put a 4850 in another 4200+ PC for funsies and didn't notice much of an improvement over the AGP PC. That alone should tell you how CPU limited you are at that res.

 

[Mr.City]

I plan on having a e8400 in my machine.

 

[Swat]

I would say my machine is high-mid-range in terms of spec. You can certainly go higher (i.e., pay more too) in terms of CPU, RAM, mobo, and PSU. But for $1900 bucks, I'm very happy with what I got and the performance I'm getting with games like Crysis and Far Cry 2. 30+ fps with DX10 maxed out everything at 1920x1200 in Crysis and 60+ fps in Far Cry 2 if I don't turn on v-sync.

Case: Antec 1200 (I love this thing -- creates a wind tunnel and really keeps everything cool)

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 2.8GHz Yorkfield (overclocked to 3.6GHz)

Heatsink-Fan: Arctic Cooler 7 w/ Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste

Motherboard: Asus P5Q Pro (good for OC n00bs like me)

RAM: G.Skill 8GB DDR2 800MHz (2 x 4 and not excessive!)

GPU: Powercolor Radeon HD 4870 X2 (the beast)

PSU: Corsair TX750W (very nice quality and more than enough juice for my system)

HDD: 2 x Seagate 320GB SATA

MISC: Sceptre 24" monitor 1920x1200 @ 60Hz (yup, generic but looks great and was cheap), Samsung DVD+RW, Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse.

Probably left out a thing or two but I bought all of the above from Newegg in one order and 3-day shipping only came out to be 19 bucks. So awesome.

Good luck with your build.

Nice stuff Che, it sounds very similar to the system I put together. It's a beast, I'm pretty confident I'll be able to chew up most of the stuff in the next 1-2 years before a card swap. Far Cry 2 and Crysis are just boner-popping orgasmic with these setups.

I always go for the 3 year upgrade cycle (complete system) so I was well overdue. Coming from a 7950GTX.

Case: Thermaltake HAF 932 (So many fans, insane cooling, good price)

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400

Motherboard: Asus P5Q Pro

RAM: G.Skill 4GB DDR2 1033MHz

GPU: Gigabyte Radeon HD 4870 X2

PSU: PC Power and Cooling 750w

HDD: Western Digital Velociraptor 150GB

MISC: Dell 2408 24"

 

[GashPrex]

got a new PC(actually new PC parts) coming tomorrow that's going to be hooked up to my 42" LCD - turning the old one with a x1800 and a x2 4400 into a media server/office computer

GTX 260 on ebay - $200
EVGA SLI 780 - $184
E8400 - $164
G.Skill 4GB PC2 8000 - $67
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 300GB - $69
XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 - $36

= $720 (+ rebates and some various discounts)

excited to overclock the e8400 to close to 4ghz with the xigmatek 1283