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Official 2008 "I Need A New PC" Thread
- Thread starter Kosma
- Start date
Spiderjericho
Member
magus said:Building this soon:
PC Case: Antec P182 Performance Series Gun Metal Black
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3R
Processor: Intel E8400
Heatsink: ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler
Memory: G.Skill 2x2gb 2Gx2|GSK F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ
Hard Drive: 500gb Western Digital WD5000AAKS
Video Card: EVGA 512-P3-N841-AR 8800GTS
DVD Burner: Samsung SH-S203B
I picked the P180 when trying to build a rig; however, the power supply (a PC Power and Cooling 750W) would not fit in the bottom bay with the fan. I had to return it and get a Coolermaster 690...
I'm also going to step up my 8800GT to a 9800GTX, even though it's not that huge of a performance boost.
SlaughterX
Banned
Ok fuck the RAM, I am not satisfied with the sound on this computer, so a sound card will probably be my next buy. Does the X-Fi Fatal1ty have problems with Vista?
VictimOfGrief
Banned
OEM was listed @ $189 yesterday. It'll drop more here in the next coming weeks.magus said:
Well, I tried to purchase the e8400 last night but I received an e-mail today stating the e8400 is sold out... Should I wait for e8400 to come back in stock (Want a CPU by May), buy an q6600, or buy something else? I do a lot of gaming on my PC. My budget is $300.
Where are you trying to buy the 8400 at? Newegg appears to have both the retail and oem in stock for $209 and $199 at the moment. Another option would be the Q9300 which should be right around your $300 budget, I would get that before I got the Q6600, unless you can pick up the Q6600 on the cheap somewhere.
bigmakstudios
Banned
posting this on a new page because nobody saw it on the last.
I cancelled my maingear PC and decided to build a decent media/gaming PC in the 600 dollar range using the hard drive and dvd rom from my old PC. I am nervous but I'll feel more satisfied doing this and then waiting until nehalem/etc comes out.
I'll be running mostly 1280 x 1024 resolutions, so I am probably going to get the 9600GT video card.
Bah! E8400 is completely sold out on newegg again.
I'll be running mostly 1280 x 1024 resolutions, so I am probably going to get the 9600GT video card.
Bah! E8400 is completely sold out on newegg again.
Here is what I've come up with for a budget pc so far.
Any advice on a PSU and case? Size doesn't matter on the case.
This will mostly be for HD video watching, gaming at 1280 x 1024 or lower (adventure games, the witcher (video card comes with it. yay!), left 4 dead, spore), and misc things such as photoshop.
The 9800GX2 is BIG. Even with my giant barely able to move case, it took some movements and changes here and there in order to get it in. Makes the 8800GT look tiny in comparison.
But it's a powerful bastard. Boosted my 3d mark score over 5000 on demo version with stock everything. Funny thing is, I'm looking at 9800GX2 OCed scores online and my stock beats them by a couple hundred. I love messing with technology.
But it's a powerful bastard. Boosted my 3d mark score over 5000 on demo version with stock everything. Funny thing is, I'm looking at 9800GX2 OCed scores online and my stock beats them by a couple hundred. I love messing with technology.
BlueSummers
Member
http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Athlon_AM2_SLI_Custom_Build_Configurator/#configurator_top
Buying this PC, my only concern is with SLI. Will I be able to run Crysis? I heard some people having problems with SLI.
Buying this PC, my only concern is with SLI. Will I be able to run Crysis? I heard some people having problems with SLI.
PhlegmMaster
Banned
Any opinions on this build? I'm going to OC it to 3.2Ghz.
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 Quad Core Processor LGA775 2.66GHZ Yorkfield 1333FSB 12MB OEM No HSF
$351.52
XFX GeForce 8800GTS 650MHZ 512MB 1.94GHZ DDR3 PCI-E Dual DVI-I HDCP HDTV Out Retail Video Card
$321.36
Abit IP35 Pro ATX LGA775 P35 DDR2 2PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 3PCI SATA2 RAID Sound GBLAN 1394 Motherboard
$189.30
OCZ Platinum XTC PC2-6400 4GB 2X2GB DDR2-800 CL5-4-4-15 DDR2 240PIN Dual Channel Memory Kit
$115.50
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB SATA2 8.5MS 7200RPM 16MB Cache Hard Drive 5YR Mfr Warranty
$57.88
Pioneer DVR-115DBK DVD+RW 20X8X16 DVD-RW 20X6X16 DL 12X Black OEM IDE DVD Burner No Software
$30.24
Antec P182 Atx Black Mid Tower Case 4X5.25 1X3.5 6X3.5INT No Ps Front Usb Audio Firewire
$125.08
Corsair CMPSU-620HX 620W ATX Triple 12V 50A 24PIN ATX Modular Power Supply 120MM Fan 2X PCI-E
$151.20
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro LGA775 2500RPM 45CFM
18.38
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition 64BIT DVD OEM
$109.01
Total: $1,469.47
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 Quad Core Processor LGA775 2.66GHZ Yorkfield 1333FSB 12MB OEM No HSF
$351.52
XFX GeForce 8800GTS 650MHZ 512MB 1.94GHZ DDR3 PCI-E Dual DVI-I HDCP HDTV Out Retail Video Card
$321.36
Abit IP35 Pro ATX LGA775 P35 DDR2 2PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 3PCI SATA2 RAID Sound GBLAN 1394 Motherboard
$189.30
OCZ Platinum XTC PC2-6400 4GB 2X2GB DDR2-800 CL5-4-4-15 DDR2 240PIN Dual Channel Memory Kit
$115.50
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB SATA2 8.5MS 7200RPM 16MB Cache Hard Drive 5YR Mfr Warranty
$57.88
Pioneer DVR-115DBK DVD+RW 20X8X16 DVD-RW 20X6X16 DL 12X Black OEM IDE DVD Burner No Software
$30.24
Antec P182 Atx Black Mid Tower Case 4X5.25 1X3.5 6X3.5INT No Ps Front Usb Audio Firewire
$125.08
Corsair CMPSU-620HX 620W ATX Triple 12V 50A 24PIN ATX Modular Power Supply 120MM Fan 2X PCI-E
$151.20
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro LGA775 2500RPM 45CFM
18.38
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition 64BIT DVD OEM
$109.01
Total: $1,469.47
I have a very general question.
One of my co workers just bought 2 sticks of 1GB ram and a new video card off newegg. His mobo has 2 RAM slots. He bought Corsair RAM but when he puts them both in, the PC won't even load. If he only uses one or uses 1 of the 1GB sticks and the 512MB stick he already had in, it loads and runs fine.
He is supposed to get back to me as to exactly what RAM he got and what mobo he has, but he says it's an Intel board and he has a Pentium 4 on it. Anyone got any guesstimates as to what the problem could be?
Would installing both sticks try to activate dual channel memory? He says there is no option in his BIOS to switch to dual channel. This was my best guess with the little information I had since putting matched sticks caused an error but 1 stick or 2 different sticks worked fine.
One of my co workers just bought 2 sticks of 1GB ram and a new video card off newegg. His mobo has 2 RAM slots. He bought Corsair RAM but when he puts them both in, the PC won't even load. If he only uses one or uses 1 of the 1GB sticks and the 512MB stick he already had in, it loads and runs fine.
He is supposed to get back to me as to exactly what RAM he got and what mobo he has, but he says it's an Intel board and he has a Pentium 4 on it. Anyone got any guesstimates as to what the problem could be?
Would installing both sticks try to activate dual channel memory? He says there is no option in his BIOS to switch to dual channel. This was my best guess with the little information I had since putting matched sticks caused an error but 1 stick or 2 different sticks worked fine.
PhlegmMaster said:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 Quad Core Processor LGA775 2.66GHZ Yorkfield 1333FSB 12MB OEM No HSF
$351.52
Get a cheaper processor and OC it. I don't believe the 9450 Oc's all that well.
Also, massive Intel price drops on the way.
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1293372
XFX GeForce 8800GTS 650MHZ 512MB 1.94GHZ DDR3 PCI-E Dual DVI-I HDCP HDTV Out Retail Video Card
$321.36
You can get it for much cheaper. Or, how about the *very slightly* less powerful 8800 GT for HALF the price?
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10007125&prodlist=celebros
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10007125&prodlist=celebros
Abit IP35 Pro ATX LGA775 P35 DDR2 2PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 3PCI SATA2 RAID Sound GBLAN 1394 Motherboard
$189.30
You can get this cheaper, like here for instance
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813127030
OCZ Platinum XTC PC2-6400 4GB 2X2GB DDR2-800 CL5-4-4-15 DDR2 240PIN Dual Channel Memory Kit
$115.50
I believe this ram is a little better for you.
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10008035&ps=homain1
or hell, look at the prices on these bad boys.
http://shop3.outpost.com/product/5475029
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB SATA2 8.5MS 7200RPM 16MB Cache Hard Drive 5YR Mfr Warranty
$57.88
Looks fine.
Pioneer DVR-115DBK DVD+RW 20X8X16 DVD-RW 20X6X16 DL 12X Black OEM IDE DVD Burner No Software
$30.24
Antec P182 Atx Black Mid Tower Case 4X5.25 1X3.5 6X3.5INT No Ps Front Usb Audio Firewire
$125.08
This case is regularly on sale for under $90. Keep your eyes peeled.
Corsair CMPSU-620HX 620W ATX Triple 12V 50A 24PIN ATX Modular Power Supply 120MM Fan 2X PCI-E
$151.20
How about a beefier supply for less money? http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0273362
Unless you're going SLI, your PSU is really kinda overkill. a 550w should be more than enough.
You can try this one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153042
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro LGA775 2500RPM 45CFM
18.38
Looks fine
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition 64BIT DVD OEM
$109.01
Looks fine
Looks like if you do a little trimming, you can cut the price tag to down to practically under $1k.
Currently I got a 15' Inch Laptop that weights about 2,7 Kilo.
It has a 2,6 Core 2 Duo(Penryn) and 4 GB Ram. It has an dedicated Geforce 8600 GT 512 DDR2 MB Ram graphics card.
However, my problem is that this laptop, honestly is to heavy and cumbersome to carry around all the time. It's a powerful machine, and it handles Crysis decently at low/medium-ish.
I need something smaller with a great keyboard, but which could also be able to play lighter PC games on the side - WoW, Guild Wars, Warcraft 3, Mythos, CS,... Some of these older games.
But when I begin going to school, I need to edit movies, photoshop and use word alot.. need to write alot of essays and stuff. and of course web browsing. I need a laptop that I can just put in my back at any time. decent battery life would also be prefered.
So to sum it up, I need a laptop with:
Light gaming, portability(to have it on the go), web browsing, lots of typing and some video and photo editing!
Anyone have any suggestions?
Some of my current candidates:
A Macbook. Could give this chopper a nice 320 GB Hard Drive, and use Boot camp for games. its a 13' inch laptop, and its about 2,2 so its a bit smaller, but the sacrifice is no graphics card. but they keyboard should be amazing.
Could also go for the Macbook Air, but from what I hear, it will overheat just from browsing on youtube for 10 minutes.. Im not even sure if it can play WoW.
Or an ASUS EEE... I think this one might just be to weak. I have money to burn! What attracts me is not the price but the size. but maybe the keyboard is just to small to comfortly type on for long session!?
It has a 2,6 Core 2 Duo(Penryn) and 4 GB Ram. It has an dedicated Geforce 8600 GT 512 DDR2 MB Ram graphics card.
However, my problem is that this laptop, honestly is to heavy and cumbersome to carry around all the time. It's a powerful machine, and it handles Crysis decently at low/medium-ish.
I need something smaller with a great keyboard, but which could also be able to play lighter PC games on the side - WoW, Guild Wars, Warcraft 3, Mythos, CS,... Some of these older games.
But when I begin going to school, I need to edit movies, photoshop and use word alot.. need to write alot of essays and stuff. and of course web browsing. I need a laptop that I can just put in my back at any time. decent battery life would also be prefered.
So to sum it up, I need a laptop with:
Light gaming, portability(to have it on the go), web browsing, lots of typing and some video and photo editing!
Anyone have any suggestions?
Some of my current candidates:
A Macbook. Could give this chopper a nice 320 GB Hard Drive, and use Boot camp for games. its a 13' inch laptop, and its about 2,2 so its a bit smaller, but the sacrifice is no graphics card. but they keyboard should be amazing.
Could also go for the Macbook Air, but from what I hear, it will overheat just from browsing on youtube for 10 minutes.. Im not even sure if it can play WoW.
Or an ASUS EEE... I think this one might just be to weak. I have money to burn! What attracts me is not the price but the size. but maybe the keyboard is just to small to comfortly type on for long session!?
bigmakstudios
Banned
I can't at the moment, since this computer isn't really plugged in or connected to the internet. It's really just a standard configuration though, as far as I know. This is the information I got from entering its serial number at dell.com:
It seems like it has a 2.8 GHZ Pentium 4 processor. Other than that, I guess it's 333 MHZ DDR with 256 MB of RAM.
For Canadian GAFfers, Dell is having a deal with the Vostro 400. Essentially, a E8200 2GB Ram that can be upgraded to a 8800GT 512MB for $729 total.
http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=573494
http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=573494
VictimOfGrief
Banned
For those interested in my PC setup :
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard Rev 2.0
OCZ StealthXStream OCZ600SXS ATX12V / EPS12V 600W Power Supply
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor
XFX PVT94PYDDU GeForce 9600GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
A-DATA 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit
ASUS Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model DVD-E616A3T OEM
SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S203B
ZALMAN 9500A 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler
Microsoft Comfort Curve Black USB Wired Ergonomics Keyboard 2000
Hardware I already have :
LG 19" Widescreen Digital Monitor
Western Digital 74GB Raptor
Western Digital 250GB
Lian-Li PC-60 Case
All for under $800 bucks. Should arrive on Wednesday.
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard Rev 2.0
OCZ StealthXStream OCZ600SXS ATX12V / EPS12V 600W Power Supply
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor
XFX PVT94PYDDU GeForce 9600GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
A-DATA 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit
ASUS Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model DVD-E616A3T OEM
SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S203B
ZALMAN 9500A 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler
Microsoft Comfort Curve Black USB Wired Ergonomics Keyboard 2000
Hardware I already have :
LG 19" Widescreen Digital Monitor
Western Digital 74GB Raptor
Western Digital 250GB
Lian-Li PC-60 Case
All for under $800 bucks. Should arrive on Wednesday.
VictimOfGrief said:For those interested in my PC setup :
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard Rev 2.0
OCZ StealthXStream OCZ600SXS ATX12V / EPS12V 600W Power Supply
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor
XFX PVT94PYDDU GeForce 9600GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
A-DATA 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit
ASUS Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model DVD-E616A3T OEM
SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S203B
ZALMAN 9500A 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler
Microsoft Comfort Curve Black USB Wired Ergonomics Keyboard 2000
Hardware I already have :
LG 19" Widescreen Digital Monitor
Western Digital 74GB Raptor
Western Digital 250GB
Lian-Li PC-60 Case
All for under $800 bucks. Should arrive on Wednesday.
Did you really need the P35 motherboard? I was under the impression that they were still quite pricey...
Kadey said:The 9800GX2 is BIG. Even with my giant barely able to move case, it took some movements and changes here and there in order to get it in. Makes the 8800GT look tiny in comparison.
But it's a powerful bastard. Boosted my 3d mark score over 5000 on demo version with stock everything. Funny thing is, I'm looking at 9800GX2 OCed scores online and my stock beats them by a couple hundred. I love messing with technology.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a319/kade215/GPUs.jpg[/IMG
[IMG]http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a319/kade215/PC.jpg[/IMG[/QUOTE]
Holy fuck at the size of that monster, btw, what case is that?
I have had the same for almost ten years:
[IMG]http://www.mynetworkplace.net/images/Antec%20Sever%20Case.jpg
And I'm looking for a new one that can make things easier and keep things cooler.
VictimOfGrief
Banned
SRG--- You're probably thinking the X38/X48 board series. Those are $250+ and there's no way in HELL i would pay that much for a system board. The P35 is a great series though and pretty cheap now.SRG01 said:
Okay guys, if I'm not going to be running at super high resolutions (ie. 1440x900 would be my max), would I run to any CPU bottlenecks if I'm using a midrange processor? Going AMD with the BE-2400 or BE2450s with a 8800GT seems like a good bet, but I'm not sure if I'm going to hit a hard limit somewhere...
CrookedRain
Member
I'm betting it has to do with voltage for the RAM because a lot of RAM actually uses more than the standard voltage. Check what the recommended voltage is on the RAM he bought. You might have to add more voltage to the RAM in your bios settings. It would make sense as to why it will boot with only one stick since it only has to power up one stick. Either that or one stick is just faulty. Did you test each stick individually?Andokuky said:
VictimOfGrief
Banned
Mr. Hyde,Mr. Hyde said:
Check the board manufactures website. I know that Gigabyte p35 boards support the Yorkfield chipset however it varies by vendor.
Also, overclocking the Q9x series seems to be somewhat tricky as you need really good RAM, good mobo with good voltage tweaks and a lot of patience. Reading some reviews of the Q9x series kept me clear of it as the Q6600 for general purposes was just as fast if not faster when OC'ed.
I actually don't plan on OC'ing mine so stock is fine, however with the Zalman cooling I'm getting, it will be nice and cool.
FINALLY!
I ordered my new PC. I get it all tomorrow:
Antec P182 Gun Metal Black
OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 2GB (2 x 1GB)
ASRock Penryn1600SLI-110dB LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
OCZ StealthXStream OCZ600SXS ATX12V / EPS12V 600W Power Supply
ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor
and lastly...
2 of these:
ZOTAC ZT-88TES3P-FCP GeForce 8800GT 512MB - Single Slot SLI
Cant freakin wait
I ordered my new PC. I get it all tomorrow:
Antec P182 Gun Metal Black
OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 2GB (2 x 1GB)
ASRock Penryn1600SLI-110dB LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
OCZ StealthXStream OCZ600SXS ATX12V / EPS12V 600W Power Supply
ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor
and lastly...
2 of these:
ZOTAC ZT-88TES3P-FCP GeForce 8800GT 512MB - Single Slot SLI
Cant freakin wait
The Chef said:
I just used that case (and the Q6600 incidentally). I'm a huge fan of it, but the door is a tad fragile. It was open and my girlfriends cat knocked up against it fairly lightly and broke the bottom prong off (thus rendering the door unusable). I don't particularly care as i found the door annoying, but just a heads up.
Also, what are you planning on overclocking the CPU to? I've never done it before and was thinking about it, but my build runs Crysis great so I figured there was no need yet.