Building new computer - Thoughts on these parts?

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  • Radon3k
    Senior Member
    • Nov 2001
    • 1889

    Building new computer - Thoughts on these parts?

    I'm going to be building a new computer here in the next few weeks and I wanted to get some feedback on the parts that I've chosen. Here's what I have:

    Motherboard:
    DFI INFINITY 975X Socket T (LGA 775) Intel 975X ATX Intel Motherboard - OEM

    CPU:
    Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M sharing L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail

    RAM:
    Kingston HyperX 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

    Video Card:
    HIS Hightech H195CF512-R Radeon X1950 CrossFire Edition 512MB 256-bit GDDR4 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail

    Case:
    Antec Performance I P180 Silver cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

    Power Supply:
    Antec True Power Trio TP3-550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply with Three 12V Rails 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, FCC, TÜV, CE, C-tick, CCC, CB - Retail

    or

    Antec True Power Trio TP3-650 ATX12V 650W Power Supply with Three 12V Rails 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, FCC, TUV, CE, C-tick, CCC, CB - Retail

    Sound Card:
    Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 70SB073A00000 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail

    Speakers:
    Logitech Z-5500 THX Certified 5.1 500-watt Dolby Digital & DTS Hardware Decoding Speaker System

    I have some questions regarding this setup.

    I'm not sure I want to go with this motherboard. I have a DFI LanParty now and I love it, it's a great board. However I read a review on this board that said it was "okay" but not the best out there. What motherboard would you recommend in place of this? Bear in mind that at some point I may want to run CrossFire so it should be capable of supporting that.

    I run a dual monitor setup right now (primary monitor is a Samsung 204B flat screen on DVI and the secondary monitor is a ViewSonic A90f+ 19" Flat CRT on VGA). This only has one DVI and a DMS. I have no clue what DMS is so I'm not sure that this card is the right one. If this is not a good card, what would be a comparable replacement? I want an ATI x1950 with 512MB of RAM. I know that the new R600's are supposed to be out at the end of January or so but I'm not sure what the prices on those are going to be and I'm not really interested in waiting.

    Next is the RAM. I've never used Kingston RAM, is this acceptable RAM? I do plan on running Vista and perhaps upgrading to 4GB of RAM at some point. Any other suggestions there?

    As for the power supply, is 550w enough or should I go with the 650w?

    As for the Sound Card and speakers, I currently have an original Audigy and a 5.1 setup from Creative with at least 2 of the speakers not working, I'm upgrading those simply because it's time.

    Any other suggestions? Thanks for any feedback.
  • Lurk
    Senior Member
    • Feb 2004
    • 550
    • 3.7.x

    #2
    That's a pretty decent system. I'm an nvidia fanboy.. so keep that in mind when you read my post.

    I'm getting that same exact processor, case, and speakers. I may pick up the speakers and case this weekend.

    The motherboard.. I was going to get that same motherboard. At least.. until the eVGA 680i came out.

    RAM.. If you don't mind spending a little extra buck, I'm getting these:

    CORSAIR XMS2 DOMINATOR 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail


    Video card.. $484
    You can get an 8800GTS for $439.99
    eVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail

    Personally, I'm getting the GTX
    BFG Tech BFGR88768GTXE GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail

    As for the power supply, if you're going 8800, you'll need 600W and above, if I'm not mistaken.
    Let the flames begin.

    Comment

    • ManagerJosh
      Senior Member
      • Jun 2002
      • 9922

      #3
      Suggestion: Wait till Vista is out. Especially when it comes to your video card. You want something that is DirectX 10 compatible. That means getting the next gen video cards. None of the videos cards out right now (other than GF8s) are going to be DirectX 10 compatible.
      ManagerJosh, Owner of 4 XenForo Licenses, 1 vBulletin Legacy License, 1 Internet Brands Suite License
      Director, WorldSims.org | Gaming Hosting Administrator, SimGames.net, Urban Online Entertainment

      Comment

      • Radon3k
        Senior Member
        • Nov 2001
        • 1889

        #4
        Originally posted by Lurk
        That's a pretty decent system. I'm an nvidia fanboy.. so keep that in mind when you read my post.

        I'm getting that same exact processor, case, and speakers. I may pick up the speakers and case this weekend.

        The motherboard.. I was going to get that same motherboard. At least.. until the eVGA 680i came out.

        RAM.. If you don't mind spending a little extra buck, I'm getting these:

        CORSAIR XMS2 DOMINATOR 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail


        Video card.. $484
        You can get an 8800GTS for $439.99
        eVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail

        Personally, I'm getting the GTX
        BFG Tech BFGR88768GTXE GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail

        As for the power supply, if you're going 8800, you'll need 600W and above, if I'm not mistaken.
        The RAM isn't that much more, perhaps I'll go with that. I have Corsair now (not XMS though) and it's been just fine.

        The last "nVidia" card that I had was a Voodoo 5 5500 AGP back when it was 3dfx. Then they were bought out by nVidia, so that's as close as I've come. I've had ATI ever since then and never looked back. I've been protesting nVidia mostly because they didn't support the Voodoo cards like I thought they would. Maybe I'll go with the 8800 solely because I don't want to wait for ATI's DirectX 10 card to come out. What is the difference between GTS and GTX cards from nVidia?

        Also, that looks like a good motherboard and all but I'm not sure about the price on it. That's quite an expensive motherboard. Are there any alternatives to that one?

        Originally posted by ManagerJosh
        Suggestion: Wait till Vista is out. Especially when it comes to your video card. You want something that is DirectX 10 compatible. That means getting the next gen video cards. None of the videos cards out right now (other than GF8s) are going to be DirectX 10 compatible.
        As I've said before, I'm not really interested in waiting. However I may be willing to give the new GeForce cards a try since they are already DirectX 10. Vista is in the RTM stage so unless I misunderstood something, it's going to be releaed in the state that it's in.

        Comment

        • ManagerJosh
          Senior Member
          • Jun 2002
          • 9922

          #5
          You have about a lil more than a month to wait, and within that time period, more graphics hardware for Vista will be floating around, and will drive down prices.

          Might as well wait that one month; if you can't wait as I know you've stated, avoid putting in a ton of money in a full blown graphics card and find a cheap interim solution in the meanwhile to hold you down while the DX10 cards come out.
          ManagerJosh, Owner of 4 XenForo Licenses, 1 vBulletin Legacy License, 1 Internet Brands Suite License
          Director, WorldSims.org | Gaming Hosting Administrator, SimGames.net, Urban Online Entertainment

          Comment

          • Lurk
            Senior Member
            • Feb 2004
            • 550
            • 3.7.x

            #6
            As far as a I know with the GTX and the GTS, the GTX is pretty much the same in technology, but performs better. It has 128 pipelines vs 96 pipelines in the GTS. 768MB vs 512MB VRAM. 320-bit mem interface vs 384. Core clock - 500 vs 575mhz



            Yeah.. that motherboard is a bit.. ouch on the price.
            Let the flames begin.

            Comment

            • Radon3k
              Senior Member
              • Nov 2001
              • 1889

              #7
              Originally posted by ManagerJosh
              You have about a lil more than a month to wait, and within that time period, more graphics hardware for Vista will be floating around, and will drive down prices.

              Might as well wait that one month; if you can't wait as I know you've stated, avoid putting in a ton of money in a full blown graphics card and find a cheap interim solution in the meanwhile to hold you down while the DX10 cards come out.
              I currently have an ATI Radeon x800XL so if I had to wait, I could. But why wait when there is a solution that is already out? I doubt the prices on the new ATI cards are going to be much lower than what nVidia currently has and as far as the current nVidia cards go, I doubt that they'll drop too much in price themselves.

              Comment

              • ManagerJosh
                Senior Member
                • Jun 2002
                • 9922

                #8
                Originally posted by Radon3k
                I currently have an ATI Radeon x800XL so if I had to wait, I could. But why wait when there is a solution that is already out? I doubt the prices on the new ATI cards are going to be much lower than what nVidia currently has and as far as the current nVidia cards go, I doubt that they'll drop too much in price themselves.
                Why wait? Because none of the current cards support DirectX 10 except GeForce 8 . Unless you decide to pour money into that directly, I don't see any reason to put money down into already declared obselete graphics
                ManagerJosh, Owner of 4 XenForo Licenses, 1 vBulletin Legacy License, 1 Internet Brands Suite License
                Director, WorldSims.org | Gaming Hosting Administrator, SimGames.net, Urban Online Entertainment

                Comment

                • JakeS
                  Senior Member
                  • Jul 2005
                  • 1975

                  #9
                  Intel? I'm not a fan of Intel due to had a lot of problems with there CPU's, I'd personally go with AMD they tend to last longer.

                  Comment

                  • MRGTB
                    Senior Member
                    • May 2005
                    • 5454

                    #10
                    I agree, I'd wait till Vista comes out now and buy the hardware to work with it that is Vista certified. or at least you know the manufacturer are planning to release Vista drivers for it.

                    I like your choice of the Kingston memory. I have Corsair memory here, but I've heard good things about that particular type of Kingston memory you picked to buy.

                    Word of warning if your planning to install two graphics cards as SLi. Be aware that most motherboards once you install two SLi cards finish up with some PCI slots blocked because of the two cards inserted. If you can go with a single graphics card that has about 500mb memory, do that instead and avoid SLi if your planning to utilize most of the PCI slots on the motherboard you buy. SLi setups are good and all the rage, but they finish up blocking access to some slots on your motherboard, usually the PCI slots that are located between the two cards you insert.
                    Last edited by MRGTB; Thu 14 Dec '06, 1:29am.

                    Comment

                    • Shining Arcanine
                      Senior Member
                      • Feb 2003
                      • 2482
                      • 3.0.3

                      #11
                      Your DFI motherboard choice is pretty good, but the most popular board is currently the Asus P5B Deluxe.

                      As far as your PC's memory is concerned, get Corsair's dominator memory:

                      Buy CORSAIR XMS2 DOMINATOR 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400C4D with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!


                      It is much better than Kingston's memory and it costs less than Kingston's memory after the mail-in rebate.

                      As for your power supply unit, 550 watts is overkill and you should never need more than 300 watts (keep in mind that PSUs are rated for DC power output and not AC power input).

                      Edit: By the way, get a DirectX 10 compatible card. The eVGA one that Lurk recommended is an excellent choice, and with it, you will not need to use SLI.
                      Last edited by Shining Arcanine; Thu 14 Dec '06, 5:51am. Reason: Grammatically Correction (added an article)

                      Comment

                      • MRGTB
                        Senior Member
                        • May 2005
                        • 5454

                        #12
                        I disagree about the PSU. Do yourself a favour and get a bigger PSU than you need so you have the power there for extra fans you might fit or hardware later on that requires extra power from the PSU.

                        Also, I use Extreme XMS Corsair memory, and I've heard that the Kingston memory he has choosen is very highly rated!

                        If you want to look at the different types of Corsair memory on offer. Click this link below:

                        Last edited by MRGTB; Thu 14 Dec '06, 6:09am.

                        Comment

                        • Shining Arcanine
                          Senior Member
                          • Feb 2003
                          • 2482
                          • 3.0.3

                          #13
                          We bring you the best power supply for gaming, no matter the size of your PC case or the power demands of your GPU.


                          Even the most power hungry components today do not use more than 300 watts of DC power. There is no need for more than a name brand 300 watt PSU in anything but the most exotic enthusiast PCs or most powerful servers. The myth that people need more than 300 watts of DC power was created by the fact that people typically measure AC power draw and/or use shoddy generic PSUs that are rated to output far more than they actually can. This combined with horrible efficiency, even from name brand PSU manufacturers (try 70%) and even worse efficiency from manufacturers that were perceived to be name brand (e.g. a Thermaltake PSU I had was about 50% efficient) created the illusion that people needed larger and larger PSUs, even though the actual DC power draw of most computers never exceeded 200 watts.

                          I suggest you read the article at SPCR, which will explain things in greater detail.

                          Comment

                          • MRGTB
                            Senior Member
                            • May 2005
                            • 5454

                            #14
                            Well I have a 600Watt SilverStone PSU here. I run 4 Hardrives, 4 CD drives, two SLi cards, 7 fans, 1 Floppy, and a few other bits of hardware and I can tell you I'm pretty near my PSU limit for power being used. It all depends on what he has installed and the power required by all his hardware. Even an external USB item require power from the PSU like a printer or joystick if it draws the power via the USB connection lead.

                            Personally, I would not touch a 300watt unit. And would buy no smaller than a 600watt unit, so he has plenty power for upgrading his hardware in the future.

                            In fact the reason why I got a 600watt unit is because the Alienware 400watt unit I had before could not cope and was shutting my PC down. Took me a week to pintpoint the problem. So even I've had a situation were I had a good Alienware 400watt PSU just couldn't cope due to lack of power output. So it's not a myth.
                            Last edited by MRGTB; Thu 14 Dec '06, 7:17am.

                            Comment

                            • Shining Arcanine
                              Senior Member
                              • Feb 2003
                              • 2482
                              • 3.0.3

                              #15
                              Originally posted by MRGTB
                              Well I have a 600Watt SilverStone PSU here. I run 4 Hardrives, 4 CD drives, two SLi cards, 7 fans, 1 Floppy, and a few other bits of hardware and I can tell you I'm pretty near my PSU limit for power being used. It all depends on what he has installed and the power required by all his hardware. Even an external USB item require power from the PSU like a printer or joystick if it draws the power via the USB connection lead.

                              Personally, I would not touch a 300watt unit. And would buy no smaller than a 600watt unit, so he has plenty power for upgrading his hardware in the future.

                              In fact the reason why I got a 600watt unit is because the Alienware 400watt unit I had before could not cope and was shutting my PC down. Took me a week to pintpoint the problem. So even I've had a situation were I had a good Alienware 400watt PSU just couldn't cope due to lack of power output. So it's not a myth.
                              You have not properly measured the power output of your PSU's rails to tell how much power your system is drawing on each rail. The reason that your 400 watt Alienware PSU could not cope with the load is not because it was not rated to provide enough power in watts but because one of its rails was overloaded (if your 5 volt rail is rated for 18 amps and you are drawing 20 amps, your system will have problems, despite your system drawing less than what your PSU is rated to provide). Given that you have so many disk drives, I would expect that your PSU's 5 volt rail has an abnormally high load; OEM manufacturers like to cut corners on PSUs by giving people the lowest rated PSU that will power their system, so the 5 volt rail would be one of the things that would lowered. I would need more detailed specifications of your system to give an exact number as to what your system's peak load would be but it is safe to say that your system does not use more than 300 watts of DC power at peak loads; it is entirely possible to run it off a 300 watt PSU, just as long as its 5 volt rail is rated for at least 20 amps (although I would have to check if your graphics cards place a load on the 12 volt rail or the 5 volt rail).

                              So as I said, the notion that people need 600 watt PSUs is a myth; if people would use energy efficient name brand PSUs that can provide an adequate amount of amperes per rail, very few people would need more than a 300 watt PSU (PSUs are not a one size fits all, even if a system draws less than 300 watts). Unfortunately people are not very good at researching their system's power requirements, so very often they use a PSU that can provide more than enough power in total watts, but not enough power in amperes at a particular voltage, leading them to think that their systems are drawing too much power for their PSU to handle (which they are, but not in terms of a PSU's wattage rating) and their ignorance of the efficiency of a AC-DC conversion further cements this idea when they its output in DC Power.take a watt-o-meter and measure their PSU's AC power input instead of their PSU's DC power output.
                              Last edited by Shining Arcanine; Thu 14 Dec '06, 12:38pm.

                              Comment

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