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[Hazaro]

I just talked with the guy over at where I'm buying my PC, they are missing some of the stuff I wanted, basically:
They're out of the CoolerMaster CM690, they offered me to go with a Silverstone KUBLAI KL02B
They're also out of the Zalman CNPS9700 NT, they offered me the Thermaltake BigTyp 120 VX (they don't have the Thermaltake Ultra 120 Extreme at all, which is why I went with the Zalman in the first place).
Also missing the OCZ GameXstream 600W and offered me PCPOWER&COOLING S61EPS Silencer 610W.

Waiting for my preferred parts can take up to 14 business days,
Are these alternatives good? I'm going to do some light OC'ing as I mentioned earlier, will these do?

Thanks guys.

Case is mostly what looks good to you, I like the 690 because it's roomy and easy to work in, plus has 3 fans and mesh. Airflow usually is fine in any large case.

Big Typhoon... performs ok, but I don't like it. I ran one for a while in my rig. Just really heavy and needs a fan with high pressure. What do they have as alternatives? Zerotherm 120mm is pretty good.

PCP&C 610W is a solid unit.

 

[dude]

Well the silverstone brand is good, and if they dont have the zalman 9700 you can try and get the 9500 version. Im not sure about the pcpower and cooling psu though.

They do have the 9500, what's the difference in performance?

Case is mostly what looks good to you, I like the 690 because it's roomy and easy to work in, plus has 3 fans and mesh. Airflow usually is fine in any large case.

Big Typhoon... performs ok, but I don't like it. I ran one for a while in my rig. Just really heavy and needs a fan with high pressure. What do they have as alternatives? Zerotherm 120mm is pretty good.

PCP&C 610W is a solid unit.

They said they also have the KUBLAI SL3K (which is a little pricer then the 690) and the Themjin TJ04 (which I don't really like), but I really liked how the 690!
They don't really have a lot of selection when it comes to heatsinks, but they have the biggest selection where I live.

I'm having a little trouble getting over these changes, I think I'll wait. Man, I was really hoping for my new PC this week

 

[Danj]

A lot more people are starting to use TVs in place of monitors now that 1080p sets are becoming so cheap. I picked up my 32" 1080p screen for about $900 a few days ago!

Hmm, they're almost that cheap here now, the cheapest 1080p TV I've seen is this Samsung for £509.99 ($978.16).

 

[Hazaro]

They do have the 9500, what's the difference in performance?


They said they also have the KUBLAI SL3K (which is a little pricer then the 690) and the Themjin TJ04 (which I don't really like), but I really liked how the 690!
They don't really have a lot of selection when it comes to heatsinks, but they have the biggest selection where I live.

I'm having a little trouble getting over these changes, I think I'll wait. Man, I was really hoping for my new PC this week

9500 didn't do a great job of keeping cool with my overclocked CPU (E6600), so I would wait.

Who's building it and what are you getting?

 

[dude]

9500 didn't do a great job of keeping cool with my overclocked CPU (E6600), so I would wait.

Who's building it and what are you getting?

I'm building it, these are the specs:

Here are the specs for the PC I want to buy later this week, what do you guys think?

Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q6600 2.4GHZ BOX
ZALMAN CNPS9700 NT
GIGABYTE EP45-DS3R Intel P45
G.SKILL DDR2 4096MB (2GBx2) DUAL CHANNEL 800MHZ CL4
WD 500GB 7200RPM 16MB SATA2
LG GH20N S10 DVDRWX20 SATA BLACK BULK
GIGABYTE RADEON HD4870 512MB DDR5 PCI-E
CoolerMaster CM690 MidTower Case No Psu
OCZ GameXStream 600W SLI-Ready PSU Retail
MICROSOFT WINDOWS VISTA HOME PREMIUM 64BIT ENGLISH OEM

 

[Hazaro]

I'm building it, these are the specs:

Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q6600 2.4GHZ BOX
ZALMAN CNPS9700 NT
GIGABYTE EP45-DS3R Intel P45
G.SKILL DDR2 4096MB (2GBx2) DUAL CHANNEL 800MHZ CL4
WD 500GB 7200RPM 16MB SATA2
LG GH20N S10 DVDRWX20 SATA BLACK BULK
GIGABYTE RADEON HD4870 512MB DDR5 PCI-E
CoolerMaster CM690 MidTower Case No Psu
OCZ GameXStream 600W SLI-Ready PSU Retail
MICROSOFT WINDOWS VISTA HOME PREMIUM 64BIT ENGLISH OEM

I'd personally take a Corsair over the OCZ, 550TX you can get for $90 AR. 520HX will also do you good if you want modular.

Swap the 500GB for a 640GB (WD6400AAKS) for speed, or a 750GB Seagate 7200.11 for storage. Both are $85. Reason being that the 640GB has two 320GB platters and zooms.

I'd go for the 1000 sticks if you can because the 8 multi on your Q6600 is going to hold back your OC. (Assuming you are trying for 3.6 instead of 3.2Ghz)

If you are ordering online Tankguys has the TRUE in stock.

Prices in US, dunno where you are

Oh and if you can find a Samsung SH-203B or SH-203N in stock anywhere, get that. N has lightscribe. Quiet, fast, and very good burners. They have been OOS for the past like 5 months, so GL

*edit: I see you are in Israel... If you get those parts go for it, if not, they are just minor alterations and there's no problem with your build.

Don't forget thermal paste

 

[Kabouter]

Okay, I'm thinking this build:
Intel Core 2 Duo,E8400, Socket 775
OCZ Vendetta 2 CPU Cooler
Asus P5Q SE,Retail
G.Skill F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ,4096MB, 1000MHz, DDR2, PC8000
Sapphire Radeon HD4850 Toxic,512MB, GDDR3, PCI Express x16
Corsair CMPSU-520HXEU, 520 Watt, Retail
Cooler Master CM 690
Samsung Spinpoint F1,7200RPM, SATA II, 32MB, 1000GB
Samsung 22x DVD±RW SATA Writer Bulk Black
Samsung 2493HM,Zwart, 24inch /w pixel warranty
/w keyboard/OS/mouse/assembly/warranty, comes to about €1400

Comments?

 

[JSnake]

Okay, I'm thinking this build:
Intel Core 2 Duo,E8400, Socket 775
OCZ Vendetta 2 CPU Cooler
Asus P5Q SE,Retail
G.Skill F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ,4096MB, 1000MHz, DDR2, PC8000
Sapphire Radeon HD4850 Toxic,512MB, GDDR3, PCI Express x16
Corsair CMPSU-520HXEU, 520 Watt, Retail
Cooler Master CM 690
Samsung Spinpoint F1,7200RPM, SATA II, 32MB, 1000GB
Samsung 22x DVD±RW SATA Writer Bulk Black
Samsung 2493HM,Zwart, 24inch /w pixel warranty
/w keyboard/OS/mouse/assembly/warranty, comes to about €1400

Comments?

Nice. Only thing I'm not sure about is the motherboard but that's because I'm not too knowledgeable about them. Hopefully someone else can say whether or not that's a good one. But everything else looks ace.

Although if you don't mind less storage, I'd go for one of the new 640GB Western Digital drives. They're as fast as Raptors.

 

[RoShamBo]

I built a new pc about a month ago and everything was working fine until i decided to install a sound card last week. Heres the sytem:

asus psqe p45
e6700]
gtx 260
g.skill 1066 ddr2 2gbx2
vista 64
corsair hx620

and the offending soundcard in a creative x-fi titanium pci-e card

A rundown of my problems:
I install the card, everything sound-wise on my comp is working fine except ET:QW crashes around 40-60 min every time. The error message says that the program stopped working, it doesnt give me an option to search for solutions or anything like that.

So i reinstall the card and it still does the same thing, i continue searching for solutions and come and old fix for xp that says there may be irq conflicts and the solution is to uninstall the card all the way and switch to another pcie slot.

This is where my problems really start...

Now the game loads up fine until i get into a map but crashes immediately as soon as i begin playing. Since moving the card only made the problem worse i uninstall and move it back to the old pcie slot. The problem remains the same... it crashes immediately as soon as i start playing. Being unable to find a fix for this problem i decide to uninstall the card agian and just turn on board sound on again.

Unfortunately the problem survives the uninstall of the creative card and now even without the card the game crashes immediately whenever i start to play. I'v also tried reinstalling et_qw.

It should be noted that my sound has worked fine w/ sound card and w/o thoughout all this, no crashes in anyother sound using program.

Any ideas? Am i just going to have to reformat? Can anyone point me in the direction of somewhere that i can g et help?

 

[elseanio]

Would it be considered an upgrade going from 8GB 667MHz DDR2 (4x2GB) to 4GB 800MHz DDR2 (2x2GB)?

My pc came with the 8GB, but they just seem low quality and pretty much a waste. Would sell them on separately and buy good quality 2GB sticks if it will make a difference for me.

I dunno how good vista scores are to go on, but my system is 5.9 for everything, bar memory being 4.8

 

[NovemberMike]

Would it be considered an upgrade going from 8GB 667MHz DDR2 (4x2GB) to 4GB 800MHz DDR2 (2x2GB)?

My pc came with the 8GB, but they just seem low quality and pretty much a waste. Would sell them on separately and buy good quality 2GB sticks if it will make a difference for me.

I dunno how good vista scores are to go on, but my system is 5.9 for everything, bar memory being 4.8

Are you overclocking? Otherwise the ram is fine.

 

[zoku88]

Uhm, that would pretty much be a big downgrade (unless you were overclocking)

Spoiler

What kind of system comes with 8GB of RAM?

 

[fartblast]

back home, I have a

P4 2.4 @ 3.16
Abit Mobo
1GB RAM
6800 GT

That can still run a lot of games fine. However last time I was home I tried to turn it on and was greeted by a long beeeep sound, I have no idea why. What would cause that on a bootup?

I also have a Dell Inspiron laptop with a 17" display that doesn't even work. it's running to my Samsung SyncMaster monitor because hahah my laptop monitor is busted. One day I came back to my laptop's bottom right screen area busted, not working. So another day the internet wasn't working and I got really mad and punched the shit out of the laptop's display and now it's just a bright black and white thing with shatters all over the place kinda looks like modern art.

 

[elseanio]

Sorry. When I said system, it was actually bought as part of a ram + cpu + motherboard bundle.

I'm pretty happy with how things are running, I just figured I'd never be utilizing 8GB of ram so was thinking of better quality 4GB option. If its not gonna make a difference (or, be worse) then I'll leave as is

 

[Hazaro]

Okay, I'm thinking this build:
Intel Core 2 Duo,E8400, Socket 775
OCZ Vendetta 2 CPU Cooler
Asus P5Q SE,Retail
G.Skill F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ,4096MB, 1000MHz, DDR2, PC8000
Sapphire Radeon HD4850 Toxic,512MB, GDDR3, PCI Express x16
Corsair CMPSU-520HXEU, 520 Watt, Retail
Cooler Master CM 690
Samsung Spinpoint F1,7200RPM, SATA II, 32MB, 1000GB
Samsung 22x DVD±RW SATA Writer Bulk Black
Samsung 2493HM,Zwart, 24inch /w pixel warranty
/w keyboard/OS/mouse/assembly/warranty, comes to about €1400

Comments?

Solid.

Nice. Only thing I'm not sure about is the motherboard but that's because I'm not too knowledgeable about them. Hopefully someone else can say whether or not that's a good one. But everything else looks ace.

Although if you don't mind less storage, I'd go for one of the new 640GB Western Digital drives. They're as fast as Raptors.

P5Q is a nice board, The TB discs actually use 334GB platters and are slighter faster than the 640GB, but both are nice.

I built a new pc about a month ago and everything was working fine until i decided to install a sound card last week. Heres the sytem:

Can't say much except to uninstall the drivers and find the custom drivers that Daniel made. There was a big fuss about it, but I'm pretty sure you can find them somewhere. Might or might not do the trick.
Creative drivers are shit. I had to grab a 5 year old one for my damn card to be able to record sound.

Would it be considered an upgrade going from 8GB 667MHz DDR2 (4x2GB) to 4GB 800MHz DDR2 (2x2GB)?

My pc came with the 8GB, but they just seem low quality and pretty much a waste. Would sell them on separately and buy good quality 2GB sticks if it will make a difference for me.

I dunno how good vista scores are to go on, but my system is 5.9 for everything, bar memory being 4.8

First off, your CPU is probably running 333, making your RAM run 667. Even if you got 800 sticks, you'd have to force them to run at 800. If your 667 are CL4 and the 800 sticks are CL5 there is no performance difference. Faster RAM is only useful in benchmarks and in games will only affect fps by about 0.5fps TOPS.

If you are not using 8GB, simply take out 2 sticks and sell them

 

[isamu]

Although if you don't mind less storage, I'd go for one of the new 640GB Western Digital drives. They're as fast as Raptors.

Are you referring to this one?

WESTERN DIGITAL, 640GB WD Caviar® SE16 (WD6400AAKS), SATA 3 Gb/s, 7200-RPM, 16MB cache:

Overview

WD Caviar SE16 drives combine 16 MB cache with 3 Gb/s transfer rate for lightning-fast performance in demanding desktop and workstation applications. Technologically advanced acoustics minimize noise and cool drive operation and enhanced reliability features help protect the drive and the data stored on it.

Key Features

Top performance for Windows Vista - WD Caviar SE16 SATA and EIDE drives are certified for Windows Vista and are top performers on the Windows Vista Experience Index.
16 MB Cache - Bigger cache means faster performance. A massive 16 MB cache combined with advanced acoustic and power-reducing technologies make these ultra-fast drives the perfect solution for the fully loaded PC.
Perpendicular Magnetic Recording (PMR) - The latest generation of WD Caviar SE16 drives employs PMR technology to achieve even greater areal density.
IntelliSeek™ - Calculates optimum seek speeds to lower power consumption, noise and vibration.
SecurePark™ - Parks the recording heads off the disk surface during spin up, spin down and when the drive is off. This ensures the recording head never touches the disk surface resulting in improved long term reliability due to less head wear, and improved non- operational shock tolerance.
StableTrac™ - The motor shaft is secured at both ends to reduce system-induced vibration and stabilize platters for accurate tracking, during read and write operations. (750 GB only)

....but it's still 7200rpm. ???

 

[Mohonky]

Ok so I have a HP m9170a (pre-packaged PC I know but I had to get something on Credit).

I turfed the shitty 8400GS and standard power supply now the specs are now;

Intel C2D 2.2ghz
3gb DDR2
8800GT 512mb (Leadtek Winfast)
Win Vista Premium 32bit

I was running games like Titan Quest Immortal Throne fine all maxed out @ 1280x1024. However I've recently upgraded from a 4:3 CRT monitor a new 16:10 LCD @ 1680x1050 (Samsung 2053BW) and the increase in res has given me a performance hit in all my games, something that always had me hesistent to upgrade the monitor to begin with. I am fine with games running at lower resolutions on a CRT, I don't need stupid high resolution for my PC gaming but now with an LCD and scaling being less than optimal, I'm stuck between putting up with either lower resolution with scaling or higher resolution and taking a frame rate hit.

At 1680x1050 and even 1440x900 Titan Quest seems to have taken a pretty big performance hit, where the game once ran flawlessly smooth it now seems to chug more than I would really like it too. HL2 and the episodes seem to be relatively fine, Crysis just became a joke even on Medium settings and Company of Heroes seems ok for the moment.

Anyone know the best route to take next? I'm not sure exactly what mobo is in this PC and I haven't seen anything anywhere telling me exactly what board it is which I would like to know so I can figure out what I might be able to do with the CPU in the future and how much RAM this board will take.

I am trying to avoid running lower details and texture settings where possible.

Any ideas?

 

[Open Source]

I built a new pc about a month ago and everything was working fine until i decided to install a sound card last week. Heres the sytem:

asus psqe p45
e6700]
gtx 260
g.skill 1066 ddr2 2gbx2
vista 64
corsair hx620

and the offending soundcard in a creative x-fi titanium pci-e card

A rundown of my problems:
I install the card, everything sound-wise on my comp is working fine except ET:QW crashes around 40-60 min every time. The error message says that the program stopped working, it doesnt give me an option to search for solutions or anything like that.

So i reinstall the card and it still does the same thing, i continue searching for solutions and come and old fix for xp that says there may be irq conflicts and the solution is to uninstall the card all the way and switch to another pcie slot.

This is where my problems really start...

Now the game loads up fine until i get into a map but crashes immediately as soon as i begin playing. Since moving the card only made the problem worse i uninstall and move it back to the old pcie slot. The problem remains the same... it crashes immediately as soon as i start playing. Being unable to find a fix for this problem i decide to uninstall the card agian and just turn on board sound on again.

Unfortunately the problem survives the uninstall of the creative card and now even without the card the game crashes immediately whenever i start to play. I'v also tried reinstalling et_qw.

It should be noted that my sound has worked fine w/ sound card and w/o thoughout all this, no crashes in anyother sound using program.

Any ideas? Am i just going to have to reformat? Can anyone point me in the direction of somewhere that i can g et help?

Did you try disabling your mobo's built-in sound card in BIOS after installing the new one?

 

[Open Source]

Ok so I have a HP m9170a (pre-packaged PC I know but I had to get something on Credit).

I turfed the shitty 8400GS and standard power supply now the specs are now;

Intel C2D 2.2ghz
3gb DDR2
8800GT 512mb (Leadtek Winfast)
Win Vista Premium 32bit

I was running games like Titan Quest Immortal Throne fine all maxed out @ 1280x1024. However I've recently upgraded from a 4:3 CRT monitor a new 16:10 LCD @ 1680x1050 (Samsung 2053BW) and the increase in res has given me a performance hit in all my games, something that always had me hesistent to upgrade the monitor to begin with. I am fine with games running at lower resolutions on a CRT, I don't need stupid high resolution for my PC gaming but now with an LCD and scaling being less than optimal, I'm stuck between putting up with either lower resolution with scaling or higher resolution and taking a frame rate hit.

At 1680x1050 and even 1440x900 Titan Quest seems to have taken a pretty big performance hit, where the game once ran flawlessly smooth it now seems to chug more than I would really like it too. HL2 and the episodes seem to be relatively fine, Crysis just became a joke even on Medium settings and Company of Heroes seems ok for the moment.

Anyone know the best route to take next? I'm not sure exactly what mobo is in this PC and I haven't seen anything anywhere telling me exactly what board it is which I would like to know so I can figure out what I might be able to do with the CPU in the future and how much RAM this board will take.

I am trying to avoid running lower details and texture settings where possible.

Any ideas?

What kind of power supply do you have in there? Tried OCing the CPU?

 

[Mohonky]

What kind of power supply do you have in there? Tried OCing the CPU?

Ah on the topic of OC'ing, this is something I am hesitant to try. I'm not bad with PC's and playing with settings but when it comes to something like OC'ing thats something I am not comfortable with doing and trusting myself enough not to blow something up.

 

[Hitmeneer]

Okay, I'm thinking this build:
Intel Core 2 Duo,E8400, Socket 775
OCZ Vendetta 2 CPU Cooler
Asus P5Q SE,Retail
G.Skill F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ,4096MB, 1000MHz, DDR2, PC8000
Sapphire Radeon HD4850 Toxic,512MB, GDDR3, PCI Express x16
Corsair CMPSU-520HXEU, 520 Watt, Retail
Cooler Master CM 690
Samsung Spinpoint F1,7200RPM, SATA II, 32MB, 1000GB
Samsung 22x DVD±RW SATA Writer Bulk Black
Samsung 2493HM,Zwart, 24inch /w pixel warranty
/w keyboard/OS/mouse/assembly/warranty, comes to about €1400

Comments?

Good build, the only thing I would change or rethink is the case. The CM690 is popular, but I rather would go for the Antec Solo or his big brother P182. It has some more sound-absorbing features, is really solid and if I look at your build you probably want a quiet PC (I love my Corsair 520 PSU ).

 

[Kabouter]

Good build, the only thing I would change or rethink is the case. The CM690 is popular, but I rather would go for the Antec Solo or his big brother P182. It has some more sound-absorbing features, is really solid and if I look at your build you probably want a quiet PC (I love my Corsair 520 PSU ).

Mmmh okay.

Also, reading about this Core i7 stuff. Is it worth waiting for? (Due in October apparently)

 

[Danj]

Mmmh okay.

Also, reading about this Core i7 stuff. Is it worth waiting for? (Due in October apparently)

Core i7 (the chip formerly known as Nehalem) will need completely new motherboards and DDR3 ram making it ridiculously expensive. Just stick with Core 2 stuff for now.

 

[Hazaro]

Core i7 (the chip formerly known as Nehalem) will need completely new motherboards and DDR3 ram making it ridiculously expensive. Just stick with Core 2 stuff for now.

Right, screw Nehalem :lol

Never though I'd not be wanting new chips.

@isamu

It spins slower, but the bits are crammed closer together.

The 1000GB is actually faster than the 640GB, so either way it's all good. Both are very fast drives.

 

[zoku88]

I'll be getting Nehalem (I'm not using i7) at the end of winter ^^ I love how quickly prices change in the PC market.

 

[Hazaro]

I'll be getting Nehalem (I'm not using i7) at the end of winter ^^ I love how quickly prices change in the PC market.

I hope you like buying 3 sticks of DDR3:lol

But really, I'll be waiting on OC numbers and game performance.

Otherwise no reason to upgrade.

 

[dLMN8R]

Can someone help me out here? I remember reading a couple months about about a motherboard manufacturer that includes a really nice BIOS interface. Instead of the standard blue interface that so many mobo manufacturers have used and that we all know, this was a complete replacement that seemed much more feature-full and easy to use.

I believe it was a Gigabyte motherboard, but can anyone specify further?

 

[~Kinggi~]

The wait for the 4870x2 is getting annoying. I want to buy my new pc NOW damnit.

 

[zoku88]

I hope you like buying 3 sticks of DDR3:lol

But really, I'll be waiting on OC numbers and game performance.

Otherwise no reason to upgrade.

?

Are you aware of how fast DDR3 prices are dropping? That and the fact that the production of DDR3 RAM would increase as a result of OEMs selling pcs with Nehalem, which would no doubt drop DDR3 prices.

Spoiler

Why would I buy 3 sticks?

 

[Cheeto]

Can someone help me out here? I remember reading a couple months about about a motherboard manufacturer that includes a really nice BIOS interface. Instead of the standard blue interface that so many mobo manufacturers have used and that we all know, this was a complete replacement that seemed much more feature-full and easy to use.

I believe it was a Gigabyte motherboard, but can anyone specify further?

I'm not sure, but I thought this was cool...
http://www.ncix.com/go-ASUS-P5Q-P45

 

[~Kinggi~]

Question for you guys. Which would be faster for a system. 1 300gb velociraptor, or 2 7200rpm in raid-0.

 

[RoShamBo]

"Did you try disabling your mobo's built-in sound card in BIOS after installing the new one?"




yeah i disabled the on board sound first thing.

I actually fixed the problem and got my onboard sound working again, I had to flash the latest bios for my mother board.

Now im trying to decide whether I should tempt fate and try to install the sound card again... lol

 

[JdFoX187]

I'm getting paid tomorrow, so I'm finally going to build a new computer. Been thinking about it for two years now. Here's what I have earmarked on the 'Egg and wanted to make sure everything was compatible and decent:

• Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137 COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

• HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148140 Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s

• Graphics: 2x for SLI http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143149 BFG Tech BFGE98512GTXPOCE GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

• PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006 CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply

• Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188015

• CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115043 Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 Yorkfield 2.5GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor

• Disc Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136144

• RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...IGNEFL080708-_-DesktopMemory-_-L0E-_-20145184 CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800

 

[Hazaro]

?

Are you aware of how fast DDR3 prices are dropping? That and the fact that the production of DDR3 RAM would increase as a result of OEMs selling pcs with Nehalem, which would no doubt drop DDR3 prices.

Spoiler

Why would I buy 3 sticks?

Motherboards are tri-channel.

I can't justify DDR3 since no chip needs the FSB it offers, and it performs the same as DDR2 to every normal person.

Plus It's hard to beat 4GB of DDR2 for $60.

I'm getting paid tomorrow, so I'm finally going to build a new computer. Been thinking about it for two years now. Here's what I have earmarked on the 'Egg and wanted to make sure everything was compatible and decent:

• Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137 COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

• HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148140 Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s

• Graphics: 2x for SLI http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143149 BFG Tech BFGE98512GTXPOCE GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

• PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006 CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply

• Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188015

• CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115043 Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 Yorkfield 2.5GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor

• Disc Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136144

• RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...IGNEFL080708-_-DesktopMemory-_-L0E-_-20145184 CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800

Doubled space, faster drive for $15 more: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218

Also you can get the 750GB Seagate for $85 if you don't want a WD.

----

160Mhz more for $5, extra multi will come in handy for overclocking.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115131

----

I would advise against SLi, it's only needed if you are running 1920x1200, for 1680x1050 you don't need it.

If you wanted to drop that much on power, get a 9800GX2 for $300
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130338

Along with a good Intel board.

Other wise you are good.

 

[SRG01]

?

Are you aware of how fast DDR3 prices are dropping? That and the fact that the production of DDR3 RAM would increase as a result of OEMs selling pcs with Nehalem, which would no doubt drop DDR3 prices.

Spoiler

Why would I buy 3 sticks?

There's no way they'll get rid of all the DDR2 and pre-Nehalem chips in the channel immediately or within a 6-month time frame. Consumer demand for previous tech will stay strong considering the price disparity between that generation and the next one.

Suffice it to say that Intel is making the same mistake AMD did by incorporating an internal memory controller. It may look good on paper technologically (ie. power consumption), but there are some real life factors that come into play.

 

[zoku88]

There's no way they'll get rid of all the DDR2 and pre-Nehalem chips in the channel immediately or within a 6-month time frame. Consumer demand for previous tech will stay strong considering the price disparity between that generation and the next one.

Suffice it to say that Intel is making the same mistake AMD did by incorporating an internal memory controller. It may look good on paper technologically (ie. power consumption), but there are some real life factors that come into play.

Well, that's not exactly what I meant. I'm talking about purely OEMs. I mean, they WILL start selling Nehalem chips, which will in turn means selling more DDR3 modules (altho, less modules per purchase than DDR2 because of price, maybe.) I'm not saying DDR3 will go down to DDR2 prices, I'm just saying that they will go down in price faster than what they have been.

Sure, previous gen tech will still sell well (consumers love cheap PCs,) but I would wager (maybe incorrectly) that the difference between the cost of a core 2 duo quad core pc and a Nehalem desktop would be smaller initially buying from the OEMs than it is for us.

I mean, look at how much a 2 GB module of DDR3 cost a year ago compared to now.

 

[Danj]

Looks like there's further bad Nvidia news on the horizon:

If you haven't been following the story, the short version, up till now, is that all G84 and G86 chips are bad. Nvidia is blaming everyone under the sun, but denying they have any hand in the failures.

[...]

A little digging revealed what this, and more, is all about, and it's far uglier than just the 'notebook' version. It seems that four board partners are seeing G92 and G94 chips going bad in the field at high rates. If you know what failures look like statistically, they follow a Poisson distribution, aka a bell curve. The failures start out small, and ramp up quickly - very quickly. If you know what you are looking for, you can catch the signs early on. From the sound of the backchannel grumblings, the failures have been flagged already, and NV isn't playing nice with their partners.

Why wouldn't they? Well, the G92 chip is used in the 8800GT, 8800GTS, 8800GS, several mobile flavours of 8800, most of the 9800 suffixes, and a few 9600 variants just to confuse buyers. The G94 is basically only the 9600GT. Basically we are told all G92 and G94 variants are susceptible to the same problem - basically they are all defective. Any guesses as to how much this is going to cost?

 

[Spy]

ATTENTION EVERYONE!

The 4870X2 is now available on Newegg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...9+106792627+1067940679&name=Radeon+HD+4870+X2

 

[SRG01]

Well, that's not exactly what I meant. I'm talking about purely OEMs. I mean, they WILL start selling Nehalem chips, which will in turn means selling more DDR3 modules (altho, less modules per purchase than DDR2 because of price, maybe.) I'm not saying DDR3 will go down to DDR2 prices, I'm just saying that they will go down in price faster than what they have been.

Sure, previous gen tech will still sell well (consumers love cheap PCs,) but I would wager (maybe incorrectly) that the difference between the cost of a core 2 duo quad core pc and a Nehalem desktop would be smaller initially buying from the OEMs than it is for us.

I mean, look at how much a 2 GB module of DDR3 cost a year ago compared to now.

I wonder what kind of discounts Intel is willing to give out to OEMs to push Nehalem. It could be a massive push like with Penryn...

 

[Spy]

I just realized the E8600 is now up for sale too!

 

[aznpxdd]

ATTENTION EVERYONE!

The 4870X2 is now available on Newegg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...9+106792627+1067940679&name=Radeon+HD+4870+X2

Drools.

 

[Hazaro]

Looks like there's further bad Nvidia news on the horizon:

>theinquirer

I'll wait. Plus that's what warranties are for, luckily eVGA, BFG, and XFX, the main sellers of Nvidia cards, all have outstanding support.

 

[zoku88]

I wonder what kind of discounts Intel is willing to give out to OEMs to push Nehalem. It could be a massive push like with Penryn...

It's not like Intel isn't used to giving out massive discounts... though, for different reasons >.>

 

[VictimOfGrief]

>theinquirer

I'll wait. Plus that's what warranties are for, luckily eVGA, BFG, and XFX, the main sellers of Nvidia cards, all have outstanding support.

Uhh... no. XFX doesn't deserve to stand in the same league as eVGA or BFG after the craptastical mess I just went through with my.... *Gasp!!* bad 9600GT card.

 

[Diablos]

Looks like there's further bad Nvidia news on the horizon:

Holy shit!

 

[Badabing]

I should post a pic of my CM690. I'm real proud of it

 

[Valtor]

Hi GAF,

I want to build a new PC, but I am quite uncertain about two things.

Firstly :

I'm on a budget. What CPU should I get? On newegg :

5000+ : 66$
5200+ : 77$
5400+ : 87$
5600+ : 103$

what's the best price point? is there a level that I need to be above of ? Also, still on newegg, there are other CPUs with reduced wattage(4450b, 4850e, ...) . What's the performance on those CPUs?

Secondly :

So PSUs are important. But I want to save money. I'll be buying a 4850, but want to get a second one down the road. Is this PSU good enough? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182017

Thanks for the help!

P.S. : FYI this is the rest of the stuff I want to buy :

90$ HTPC case (found on newegg)
100$ motherboard that supports crossfire (found on newegg)
cheapest RAM I can find (probably 1 or 2 corsair 2GB 667Mhz for 30$ or 60$)
already owned dvd drive
already owned hard drive

Is there anything I do that's a big mistake?

 

[JSnake]

Hi GAF,

I want to build a new PC, but I am quite uncertain about two things.

Firstly :

I'm on a budget. What CPU should I get? On newegg :

5000+ : 66$
5200+ : 77$
5400+ : 87$
5600+ : 103$

what's the best price point? is there a level that I need to be above of ? Also, still on newegg, there are other CPUs with reduced wattage(4450b, 4850e, ...) . What's the performance on those CPUs?

Secondly :

So PSUs are important. But I want to save money. I'll be buying a 4850, but want to get a second one down the road. Is this PSU good enough? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182017

Thanks for the help!

P.S. : FYI this is the rest of the stuff I want to buy :

90$ HTPC case (found on newegg)
100$ motherboard that supports crossfire (found on newegg)
cheapest RAM I can find (probably 1 or 2 corsair 2GB 667Mhz for 30$ or 60$)
already owned dvd drive
already owned hard drive

Is there anything I do that's a big mistake?

Don't buy an AMD CPU. I know, back in the day they were the king. But that's Intel's spot now. I'd shoot for the Core 2 Duo E8400. Really fast and quite cheap.

Your PSU looks fine.

 

[NovemberMike]

Don't buy an AMD CPU. I know, back in the day they were the king. But that's Intel's spot now. I'd shoot for the Core 2 Duo E8400. Really fast and quite cheap.

Your PSU looks fine.

AMD for budget is great.

Anyway, the computer I am on right now has a 4200+ and an 8800gt, and it plays pretty much anything you throw at it great. I personally think that the 5000+ would be plenty for a budget system.

Intel owns the performance market, but AMD is tough to beat for $65.

 

[Ravenn17]

Wtf. Vista has been crashing on me recently, so I went online to check and see if I had the latest drivers for everything. I get to the Gigabyte website, download the new chipset driver, and everything goes smoothly. Next, I try the LAN driver, and my antivirus software says its a trojan virus.

What?