Building A COMP
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I am building a new computer. I am doing it myself, that is to say without the help of a major corporation in business to build a computer for me and than bill me. I have listened to a bunch of sources on what types of components to buy and come to a few conclusions. The choices are staggering, and I love that but it can be overwhelming at the same time.
I have selected a few components so far but for the rest I’m looking for some input from people who have done it in the past or are in the same boat as me. Advice is a nice to have at this point before I start making any mistakes I’ll regret in 6-12 months so comments are welcome.
Settled and purchased already CASE-- POWER SUPPLY-- GRAPHICS CARD--MONITOR--MOUSE
Still thinking about CPU--MOBO
Decided on KEYBOARD--RAM
HERE IS WHAT I HAVE TO DECIDE YET!
CPU I know I'm going DUAL CORE for sure maybe even QUAD CORE. I started looking at the E6400, then I started looking at the 6420, then 6550, then 6750. I was almost ready to buy the E6750. I mean I was pricing it, double researching it but then I saw some stats and comparisons for the Q6600. I thought really what I want to do is get either the E6750 or the Q6600.
Here's what I know, 2 execution cores E6750 1333mhz FSB 2.66ghz processor 4MB L2 cache, it can be overclocked to 3.2-3.9 Ghz on air cooling. The Q6600 has 4 execution cores, 1066 mhz FSB 2.4 ghz speed 8MB L2 cache, can be overclocked to around 3.2-3.4 ghz on air cooling. The E6750 is $204, the Q6600 is $281 so really the value choice becomes $75-80 for 4MB of cache and 2 more execution cores, meaning that it can't be over taxed right now. The FSB on the MOBO I'm looking at getting can be overclocked, the RAM can be overclocked and the CPU itself can be though not to the degree of the E6750. I am a bit wary of the clock speed being significantly below the 3Ghz level because I'm running a single core 2.4 ghz processor right now. No complaints on the speed really but the bandwidth of the processing is below what I need for games today and in the near future. Obviously two cores are better than one and I don't know how much performance boost I'll really see with a quad core which is why I throw the idea out there. Is it better to get a faster dual core, rather than a fast quad with double sized L2 cache for most applications.
I do a fair bit of compression with win wrar and I know that more cores could speed that up, I also play Supreme Commander which wants two cores to play with after 5 minutes of play, I also use Vegas 6.0 to do some video rendering, and dual or quad cores will cut in half or a quarter rendering jobs. But for the most part I just want a really fast and capable processor, I don't do too much rendering but I'd do enough that either a dual or quad would be fine. Maybe it's an opinion question but I'm really looking for input from people with the comparison experience, is the additional L2 cache a necessity?
MOBO
Here I know I want an ASUS MOBO
I'm not sure if I want the
P5K (probably not)
P5K-E/WIFI-AP
P5K-Deluxe WIFI-AP
I know I want a LAN support on the board, not really WIFI, I want sound to be on the board, I want 4 RAM slots, I want some SATA connectors for Harddrives. I also want to be able to overclock the RAM/CPU/Bus, ASUS supposedly has the support for this right with the board bios settings and stuff. (Not an expert but looking to learn) I am having a hard time deciding which of these models is the best for what I need. I don't want to just get the Deluxe but I am confident it has what I need. I'm holding out hope for the P5K-E WIFI-AP. It's about $50 less and might be what I want. I just don't know Help HEHE.
CASE
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021&Tpk=antec%2b900
This thing kicks ass in my opinion. Antec 900 Gaming Case, at $105 from Amazon, I liked the style of this case, it’s got lots of room, a side window, 5 fans including a top 200mm fan, it might even be too much case but I kinda wanted to go overboard on it. It's stylish and that didn't really matter what I wanted was good cooling, good size, and steel rather than aluminum durability. The fact that it got hugely positive ratings by lots of people on both newegg and amazon, finalized my decision. What sucks is I don't have all the components to put into it yet.
Price was excellent, but at retail it was up there around $150. So I got it online. I know what you are thinking, you shouldn't by the case till u get the MOBO, but you can't get the MOBO without the powersupply and most cases are ATX or ATX mini so I just got a big ATX. I'm happy.
POWERSUPPLY
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HJ9CEO/105-6777259-6648464
OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI ATX12V 700W
I know what you are thinking here too. 700 watts, what do you live in a power plant? Nope, not even near one, in fact my electricity bill is pretty high considering the area I live in, Midwest, however, I have learned you need good rail voltage. This one also has 3 connectors for power instead of just two, so I guess that's good. Honestly I have no idea about power supplies I just know that I got a Dell a few years back and wanted to upgrade my Graphics Card, and in doing so I also had to upgrade my power supply because I only had a 250 watt PS inside and I upgraded to a 400 watt PS. I figure I'm going to end up adding a total of 3 or 4 hard drives because I have 4 SATA ports on my MOBO and hardrives come down in price over time. I don't want to put strain on my PS because I'm upgrading my hard drive space. Also I wasn't sure what CPU I was going to get, and am still debating. Plus though the 8600GT is SLI compatible I didn't think I was ever going to go SLI with it, but in the future I might rather than get a 8800GTX, or I might get the 8800GTX in SLI (OMG SOMEBODY STOP ME!) If the price comes down. I figured I only would need around 500-550 watts and 600 was a good margin so I looked at a few of the PS available and just got a 700 for the hell of it. LOL.
GRAPHICS CARD
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814122024
LEAD TEK Geforce 8600 GT PCI-E 256 MB 128 bit DDR3 card SLI Support
I bought this because of the price, A shade over $100, DX 10 compliancy, and I wanted an 8 series card. It’s also pretty fast and comparable with the top of the line 6 series and above average 7 series cards. The 8800 GTS and 8800 GTX were both about $200-$400 more dollars but being top of the line cards their price is likely to drop significantly in the next six months but the 8600 will only drop maybe $10-15 maybe $25. I can live with that, resell it and get a GTX in a few months, which is what I really wanted. I just couldn’t do the $500 price tag.
MONITOR
http://www.cmicomputer.com/cgi/quikstore.cgi?product=monpw19ktcf&detail=yes
monpw19ktcf: 19" KTC Flat Screen Monitor 1600x1200 .25
I don't even really know why I bought this monitor and I hope I don't kick myself in the ass for it, I needed something that would draw 1600x1200 because I want to run my games and programs in that size, I also want my desktop resolution to be that way as well. It's just easier to edit things, to work on more than one program at a time, It was only $149 so I'm hoping it's going to work out. I didn't want to go with a dual monitor solution quite yet but I might in the future. I really wanted to get a large LCD flat panel but I couldn't find one that I knew for sure would draw in 1600x1200 for less than $400. I know I probably will need to get something else in the future, maybe even the near term but I was going to try this one on my current rig and see what 1600x1200 is like, and maybe even keep it for the older system I have or relegate it later when I get my a large flat panel say 22-25" Whatever will draw 1600x1200 that's what I need.
RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820145043
CORSAIR Dominator 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
I checked with Crucial and Corsair for RAM compatibilities with the Deluxe model, I can get PC2 DDR2 5300, 6400, 8500. Each of those numbers stands for the data rate in GB/sec theoretical. So for the 5300 5.3 GB/sec max, or 8.5 for the 8500. Another thing that matters is the latency settings and you want those to be low, for 5300, 6400, 8500 I found some that are 3-3-3-9, 4-4-4-12 5-5-5-15...
I don't need LED's or flashy shit though a nice heat sink or dissipation system would probably be good.
I don't even know if I plan to OC this stuff but I want it to be ready. I think I've settled on the 8500 but I'm open to some good 6400 stuff. I know I'll be getting the 2 GB level and holding there until I see a reason to get another stick of 1 GB, if I decide to upgrade to 4 GB I'll just get another two sticks of 1GB, So I'm golden buying 2 x 1GB sticks. With a $40 mail in rebate it's really under $200 for the RAM.
KEYBOARD, Haven't gotten it yet... Something from Best Buy, maybe cordless probably USB cord, something cheap $15-20 whatever. I like stock keyboards, I'm not picky here.
MOUSE
I got myself a nice 4 button USB mouse, a best buy brand (made in China) Dynex, cheap and looked ergonomic, I kinda like it. For $15 I like it more than the microsoft or logitech mice that were available.
All for now comments and suggestions welcome! Thanks
I have selected a few components so far but for the rest I’m looking for some input from people who have done it in the past or are in the same boat as me. Advice is a nice to have at this point before I start making any mistakes I’ll regret in 6-12 months so comments are welcome.
Settled and purchased already CASE-- POWER SUPPLY-- GRAPHICS CARD--MONITOR--MOUSE
Still thinking about CPU--MOBO
Decided on KEYBOARD--RAM
HERE IS WHAT I HAVE TO DECIDE YET!
CPU I know I'm going DUAL CORE for sure maybe even QUAD CORE. I started looking at the E6400, then I started looking at the 6420, then 6550, then 6750. I was almost ready to buy the E6750. I mean I was pricing it, double researching it but then I saw some stats and comparisons for the Q6600. I thought really what I want to do is get either the E6750 or the Q6600.
Here's what I know, 2 execution cores E6750 1333mhz FSB 2.66ghz processor 4MB L2 cache, it can be overclocked to 3.2-3.9 Ghz on air cooling. The Q6600 has 4 execution cores, 1066 mhz FSB 2.4 ghz speed 8MB L2 cache, can be overclocked to around 3.2-3.4 ghz on air cooling. The E6750 is $204, the Q6600 is $281 so really the value choice becomes $75-80 for 4MB of cache and 2 more execution cores, meaning that it can't be over taxed right now. The FSB on the MOBO I'm looking at getting can be overclocked, the RAM can be overclocked and the CPU itself can be though not to the degree of the E6750. I am a bit wary of the clock speed being significantly below the 3Ghz level because I'm running a single core 2.4 ghz processor right now. No complaints on the speed really but the bandwidth of the processing is below what I need for games today and in the near future. Obviously two cores are better than one and I don't know how much performance boost I'll really see with a quad core which is why I throw the idea out there. Is it better to get a faster dual core, rather than a fast quad with double sized L2 cache for most applications.
I do a fair bit of compression with win wrar and I know that more cores could speed that up, I also play Supreme Commander which wants two cores to play with after 5 minutes of play, I also use Vegas 6.0 to do some video rendering, and dual or quad cores will cut in half or a quarter rendering jobs. But for the most part I just want a really fast and capable processor, I don't do too much rendering but I'd do enough that either a dual or quad would be fine. Maybe it's an opinion question but I'm really looking for input from people with the comparison experience, is the additional L2 cache a necessity?
MOBO
Here I know I want an ASUS MOBO
I'm not sure if I want the
P5K (probably not)
P5K-E/WIFI-AP
P5K-Deluxe WIFI-AP
I know I want a LAN support on the board, not really WIFI, I want sound to be on the board, I want 4 RAM slots, I want some SATA connectors for Harddrives. I also want to be able to overclock the RAM/CPU/Bus, ASUS supposedly has the support for this right with the board bios settings and stuff. (Not an expert but looking to learn) I am having a hard time deciding which of these models is the best for what I need. I don't want to just get the Deluxe but I am confident it has what I need. I'm holding out hope for the P5K-E WIFI-AP. It's about $50 less and might be what I want. I just don't know Help HEHE.
CASE
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021&Tpk=antec%2b900
This thing kicks ass in my opinion. Antec 900 Gaming Case, at $105 from Amazon, I liked the style of this case, it’s got lots of room, a side window, 5 fans including a top 200mm fan, it might even be too much case but I kinda wanted to go overboard on it. It's stylish and that didn't really matter what I wanted was good cooling, good size, and steel rather than aluminum durability. The fact that it got hugely positive ratings by lots of people on both newegg and amazon, finalized my decision. What sucks is I don't have all the components to put into it yet.
Price was excellent, but at retail it was up there around $150. So I got it online. I know what you are thinking, you shouldn't by the case till u get the MOBO, but you can't get the MOBO without the powersupply and most cases are ATX or ATX mini so I just got a big ATX. I'm happy.POWERSUPPLY
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HJ9CEO/105-6777259-6648464
OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI ATX12V 700W
I know what you are thinking here too. 700 watts, what do you live in a power plant? Nope, not even near one, in fact my electricity bill is pretty high considering the area I live in, Midwest, however, I have learned you need good rail voltage. This one also has 3 connectors for power instead of just two, so I guess that's good. Honestly I have no idea about power supplies I just know that I got a Dell a few years back and wanted to upgrade my Graphics Card, and in doing so I also had to upgrade my power supply because I only had a 250 watt PS inside and I upgraded to a 400 watt PS. I figure I'm going to end up adding a total of 3 or 4 hard drives because I have 4 SATA ports on my MOBO and hardrives come down in price over time. I don't want to put strain on my PS because I'm upgrading my hard drive space. Also I wasn't sure what CPU I was going to get, and am still debating. Plus though the 8600GT is SLI compatible I didn't think I was ever going to go SLI with it, but in the future I might rather than get a 8800GTX, or I might get the 8800GTX in SLI (OMG SOMEBODY STOP ME!) If the price comes down. I figured I only would need around 500-550 watts and 600 was a good margin so I looked at a few of the PS available and just got a 700 for the hell of it. LOL.
GRAPHICS CARD
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814122024
LEAD TEK Geforce 8600 GT PCI-E 256 MB 128 bit DDR3 card SLI Support
I bought this because of the price, A shade over $100, DX 10 compliancy, and I wanted an 8 series card. It’s also pretty fast and comparable with the top of the line 6 series and above average 7 series cards. The 8800 GTS and 8800 GTX were both about $200-$400 more dollars but being top of the line cards their price is likely to drop significantly in the next six months but the 8600 will only drop maybe $10-15 maybe $25. I can live with that, resell it and get a GTX in a few months, which is what I really wanted. I just couldn’t do the $500 price tag.
MONITOR
http://www.cmicomputer.com/cgi/quikstore.cgi?product=monpw19ktcf&detail=yes
monpw19ktcf: 19" KTC Flat Screen Monitor 1600x1200 .25
I don't even really know why I bought this monitor and I hope I don't kick myself in the ass for it, I needed something that would draw 1600x1200 because I want to run my games and programs in that size, I also want my desktop resolution to be that way as well. It's just easier to edit things, to work on more than one program at a time, It was only $149 so I'm hoping it's going to work out. I didn't want to go with a dual monitor solution quite yet but I might in the future. I really wanted to get a large LCD flat panel but I couldn't find one that I knew for sure would draw in 1600x1200 for less than $400. I know I probably will need to get something else in the future, maybe even the near term but I was going to try this one on my current rig and see what 1600x1200 is like, and maybe even keep it for the older system I have or relegate it later when I get my a large flat panel say 22-25" Whatever will draw 1600x1200 that's what I need.
RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820145043
CORSAIR Dominator 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
I checked with Crucial and Corsair for RAM compatibilities with the Deluxe model, I can get PC2 DDR2 5300, 6400, 8500. Each of those numbers stands for the data rate in GB/sec theoretical. So for the 5300 5.3 GB/sec max, or 8.5 for the 8500. Another thing that matters is the latency settings and you want those to be low, for 5300, 6400, 8500 I found some that are 3-3-3-9, 4-4-4-12 5-5-5-15...
I don't need LED's or flashy shit though a nice heat sink or dissipation system would probably be good.
I don't even know if I plan to OC this stuff but I want it to be ready. I think I've settled on the 8500 but I'm open to some good 6400 stuff. I know I'll be getting the 2 GB level and holding there until I see a reason to get another stick of 1 GB, if I decide to upgrade to 4 GB I'll just get another two sticks of 1GB, So I'm golden buying 2 x 1GB sticks. With a $40 mail in rebate it's really under $200 for the RAM.
KEYBOARD, Haven't gotten it yet... Something from Best Buy, maybe cordless probably USB cord, something cheap $15-20 whatever. I like stock keyboards, I'm not picky here.
MOUSE
I got myself a nice 4 button USB mouse, a best buy brand (made in China) Dynex, cheap and looked ergonomic, I kinda like it. For $15 I like it more than the microsoft or logitech mice that were available.
All for now comments and suggestions welcome! Thanks
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