FishProfiles.com Message Forums

Hi everyone,

I'm just about to upgrade my PC from an off-the-shelf, low-end Acer (about 3 years old) to something a little gutsier and since I know there are some real computer geniuses on here I thought I'd run my proposed setup past you to see if anyone can see anything that would potentially cause me issues.

Our current PC is mostly used for a bit of net surfing and office type stuff and some occasional online gaming, but we're kind of limited by our current setup and I'd like to improve that.

I've been getting quotes from a few local PC builders, but at this stage it looks like I will be ordering the parts online and building the machine myself. I have costed the components and think that I can probably build this machine for about AU$1600 + shipping of the components + my own time.

So here are the 'bits' that I'm looking at atm:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-N650SLI-DS4

RAM: Corsair TWIN2x2048-6400C4 2GB Twin2xPC6400 800MHz DDR2 RAM (4GB total)

Hard Drive: Seagate STA II 16MB 320GB

Video Card: Gigabyte GF8600GT PCI-E 512MB DDR2, Silent Pipe II cooling

Power Supply: Open to suggestions here as to what would be best, I was looking at min 550W but if you think more is needed let me know.

Case: iCute PC Case S901-4G-BB Middle Tower Black (with all optional fans - we are in the tropics here!)

DVD Burner: Samsung SH-S230B SATA 20x Dual layer DVD Writer Black

OS: Windows XP with SP2 (I just don't trust Vista yet but want the ability to upgrade some time in the future)

Mouse / Keyboard: Just basic model, don't need anything flash in this regard

Monitor: 19" LCD (standard / widescreen doesn't matter)

Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

G_T



Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

According to this chart at tom's hardware, you may be better off going with a different video card depending on the price. People have been really disappointed with the 8000 series other than the 8800s from what I've read.

I went with the radeon x1950 pro for the bang for buck value.

As for power supplies, Fallout gave me this list: Antec, FSP, OCZ, Enermax, PC Power and Cooling, Silverstone, Sparkle Power, Coolermaster. You may want to go with 600+ watts.

Everything else passes my newbie eye, I'm sure a couple of the pro's will stop in.

---

Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

agreed.... go with the ati x1950. i've always used ati since I can remember and anybody i knew who gamed that had others always ended up switching.

as far as the PSU. also agreed. higher the better as it always gives you that extra power in the future.

as far as vista, i've had it since june and love it. but if your worried about being hacked or viruses or anything. well your about as safe with vista as you would be with any version other version of windows... basicly, if your a high target for attack, their going to get in to your system regardless of what OS your running. if safety is your reasoning, leave MS all together and go with a linux gui os.

and you can always add that extra protection of a 3rd party firewall, such as zone alarm or norton or whatever else is there. a good router with built in firewalls help to some length also.

then again, you always need a decent anti-virus program.

hope it helps. for the monitor, wide or standard is personal choise, best bet for price these days, flat panel of course.


Fish tanks are an expensive addiction

I'm assuming your motherboard supports all of the parts you've picked out? I know that it supports your CPU, so you're good there. You may want to get a better motherboard with a newer chipset (680i is good), though.

I'd definitely try a better graphics card. The only real thing you're gaining by going with an 8600 over a 7900 is DX10 support. I'd vote for either an 8800GTX or GTS. If you can't afford a GTX, go with a GTS and buy another one in a few months when you can afford it and do SLi.

A bigger PSU would be nice and would offer some head room for upgrading. I'd go with 700-800w at least.

I'd personally go with a widescreen monitor, but that's just me o.O

There's a lot more I could say, but it sounds like you've got it pretty well figured figured out.

Have fun

oh yea DX10..... dx10 card is good. just have to remember, you can only get that when running vista. not xp supported.


Fish tanks are an expensive addiction

I heard that a version of DX10 will be or has been released for XP. I'm not sure on that, but that's what I've heard.

I know that DX10 based games will run on XP and still have options for DX10 stuff if you've got the hardware...

from what i've seen lookin around.... there maybe a version of 10 for xp, but it wont have the same capabilities as on vista.

Fish tanks are an expensive addiction

it's not just about the security with vista, it's about compatibility as well. and for whatever reason, vista is *still* not completely compatible with other versions of windows. will microsoft ever fix this? only time will tell but so far they've had almost a year to address it and still nothing....

---

"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

i know a few people who have it. and their only problem is that they dont like that you have to give permission to a majority of things. but we fixed that by shutting it off.

other than that. just a few issues with old programs. myself, only problem i've had is that it cant see shared drives on win2k boxes. there is a patch that it can see xp drives. well the sp1 is coming up soon. that should fix more.

besides.. the one thing that is nice about this, is that if you build it yourself, you can put anything you want on it. if you want 98 you can use it, may not find drivers, but you can use it. myself on my network. i have my main on vista, my backup/server running xp and 3 virtual consoles running XP, 2k and a linux gui all doing different things.

but again.... best thing about DIY, freadom of choice

Fish tanks are an expensive addiction

if you use small business server 2003 vista is only about 50% compatible with no real fix yet that i can see. i'm not disagreeing about the choices you make by DIY, i'm just saying that vista is still "not ready for prime time"

---

"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman