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Tell me if I picked good!
Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 12:26 pm
by Tailhook
Alright. I am building a new custom cause this one has been giving me problems lately. I will be selling the parts I want to give to my dad for $600+ (cmon, I spent 2+ grand on this thing). I am building both my computer and my dads computer and right now I am just selecting parts. I will be giving my dad my motherboard, processor, going to buy him a new case, video card, and maybe power supply. I am going to keep my HD, case and fans, floppy, dvd, and cd drives and maybe the power supply...I am still debating about getting a 450 or 500W.
Tell me what you think about the following stuff I picked.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131025
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115003
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145034
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814195035
Total cost so far is $1,014+shipping
Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 3:28 pm
by Burner
MoBo, Processor and Ram selections look good. You may want to upgrade your ram to the Corsair Dominator series or get some OCZ or G'Skill ram instead. However your Corsair memory is still good stuff.
I don't know anything about the video card you have there but I do know that with the new 8000 series nVidia cards out the 7900 series of cards are going for cheap and you can usually get a lesser card then flash the bios from the 7900GTX and have an instant stable overclock.
How powerful is your powersupply and are you planning on running any peripherals- printers, cradles, USB hubs, etc. Are you planning to upgrade the system in the future. If you said yes to either then I'd spring for at least a 500W powersupply. If you eventually want to upgrade to one of the next gen vid cards- 8800GTX or R600 they're going to need a beefy power supply to feed them and the newer power supplies come with 12V rails to plug right into your new next gen vid card.
You planning to overclock at all? I highly recommend it with the Core2 chips, Intel themselves are "overclocking" their next Core2 chipset release in a month or so. Basically they're taking the same chips they're selling now but presetting them with a 1333FSB instead of a 1066FSB. But in reality any user with a decent heat sink can Overclock to at least 1333FSB with out compromising chip life or system stability. If you want a good heat sink I have been having good results with my Zalman 9700, but if your case is small (mini-tower) then I'd recommend the smaller 9500. Here they are:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835118223
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835118019
Be sure to post up some pics when she's all together.
Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 3:44 pm
by Tailhook
thanks Burner!
Burner wrote:If you want a good heat sink I have been having good results with my Zalman 9700, but if your case is small (mini-tower) then I'd recommend the smaller 9500.
What would 8 inches in width be best for? 9500 or 9700? Even though I am not really worried about changing heatsinks yet cause I heard the standard one is pretty good with that processor.
Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 3:53 pm
by Burner
You can still get away with a decent overclock with the stock heatsink but when you break it down the cost to performance ratio is almost too good to pass up. You buy a $50 heat sink and in return get better performance than a processor costing $1000. The E6600 costs $316 + Zalman $50 = $366 and you'll get the performance of the X6800 which is $970.
PS- the Zalman dimensions can be found in the newegg links b/f you order anything be sure it fits. Oh and this is probably common sense but if you've never OCed a proc b/f be sure to read all the guides you can dig up. The P5W is still a very popular board so you shouldn't have any trouble finding a guide.
Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 4:02 pm
by Tailhook
I guess I will add the 9700 to my list, considering the 9500 isnt compatible with LGA 775's, only 478, 754, 778, 939 and 940
Edit: never mind...i dont know which to choose because there is an error on the first page but it says 775 in the specs...
Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 4:28 pm
by Burner
Viper101 wrote:I guess I will add the 9700 to my list, considering the 9500 isnt compatible with LGA 775's, only 478, 754, 778, 939 and 940
Edit: never mind...i dont know which to choose because there is an error on the first page but it says 775 in the specs...
Either will work with the P5W mobo and LGA 775 I am 100% sure of that. Its just case space that you have to keep an eye on, the 9700 is about the size of an old 45RPM record. (Ok that reference was probably b/f your time, ummmm its about the size of a small dinner plate.)
Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 4:28 pm
by Tailhook
Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 4:39 pm
by Burner
Was going to leave it at a hint about the 7900s and let you find out for yourself. Always always always look at the benchmarks.
7900GT ($20 more than your 1650pro but I think the numbers justify the extra money):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814150218
The Comparison to the 1650Pro:
http://www.hothardware.com/viewarticle. ... =861&cid=2
Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 4:48 pm
by Tailhook
Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 4:55 pm
by Burner
Just be sure to do your research, Google a model number and the word 'benchmark' and you'll have everything you need to know.
And just to clarify that benchmark was between the 256MB x1650pro and the 256MB 7900GT whereas the x1650pro you had from NewEgg was the 512Mb version but I wanted to show the difference in the chipsets not memory. In any case the 7950GT looks like a good buy, but like I said always always always do your research.
Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2007 2:10 pm
by Rotorblade
I agree with all of Burners suggestions, well done!
The Core 2 Duo chip is easily overclockable to a 1333mhz front side bus. I currently run my Core 2 duo at 2.8Ghz with 1604mhz front side bus without any issues. 3.64ghz is attainable with my chip but i am only running on air cooling and would rather not push it that hard. At 2.8Ghz with 1604mhz FSB this Core 2 Duo is running as fast as a 5160 series Intel Xeon if not better.
Just to add my two cents I would like suggest a few websites for research,
www.Tomshardware.com (Tom has a doctorate) and
www.Sharkyextreme.com . and if you are looking for a excellent economy video card I would recommend the 7600GS because of the performance, price 109$, 2 dvi's, tv-out, and the passive cooling which equals quiet.
7600GS on Newegg.com
3 articles that I think are great for people who are thinking about overclocking and or building an economical gaming rig.
From Tomshardware.com
Overclocking Guide part 1: Risks, Choices and benefits
Tomshardware.com Overclocking Guide part 2: Suggested Components and Settings
Cheap Thrills: Core 2 Duo E6400 Overclocked to 3.33Ghz
Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2007 2:34 pm
by Rotorblade
You could shave almost a hundred dollars off your purchase if you went with a 965 chipset Asus board.
The 7600 series card seems to compete very well with the X1650 pro at almost half the cost. The review Burner posted shows this:
http://www.hothardware.com/viewarticle. ... =861&cid=2
That is another $100 in your pocket.
Of course everyone wants bigger and better but the e6400 is another way to save money and the performance difference between the e6400 and the higher chips is minimal and hardly worth the price difference especially when you take into consideration how little effort is needed to overclock it to beat the other Core 2 chips. That is almost another 100$ difference between the two chips on Newegg.com. Another 100$ saved possibly. Ask Racer, he has a E6400 and is super happy with it.
The ram is awesome! If you are overclocking I recommend the Corsair memory cooler for 20$, it's quiet and effective.
you can save almost $300 and be very close to where you want to be for performance wise. With that extra money you could get some nice quiet fans or other accessories or parts that you need. Why buy one big part if you aren't going to go all the way with all the parts? Those are my recommendations on the parts, good luck!
Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2007 3:01 pm
by Tailhook
thanks rotor!
I am looking at the 7900's though
There are SOO many different kinds of the 7900GT's and GS's I dont know which to pick!
and this is the motherboard I am getting
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131025
its a 975X, not a 965
Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2007 5:13 pm
by Rotorblade
If i I was going to get a 7900 it would be the GS and I would research if it could perform better with a better cooler on it. I put a new cooler on my X1900XTX for $20. I don't overclock it but its a lot more quiet than it was before, now I can't hear the vga fan at all. However the Nvidia cards are a lot more quiet stock than the ATI 1900 series but look at the reviews and see what users have done to their cards.