in the near future, maybe a year or few months, i plan on getting a new computer. and im wondering how are these parts for a comp, i just customized mine on ibuypower.com as a reference, please tell me what you think, i dont think id get it from ibuypower.com because for me, shipping + tax is 150. -Nzxt Apollo Gaming Tower Case w/420W Power Supply Black )) -Power Supply ( Standard Case Power Supply ) -Processor ( Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6750 (2x 2.66GHz/4MB L2 Cache/1333FSB) ) -Motherboard ( Asus P5KPL-VM Intel G31 Chipset w/6-channels, Gb LAN, S-ATA 3Gb/s, USB 2.0, Single PCI-E MB ) -Video Card ( NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT 512MB w/DVI + TV Out Video ) -250 GB HARD DRIVE Serial-ATA-II, 3Gb, 7200 RPM, 8M Cache -Memory will be 2gb also. im not going to be gamming that much with thing computer. i dont know much about motherboard, but is that a good one? im in unfamiliar with power supplies, so how is the one there? im also debating on AMD Athlon?64 X2 6000+ Dual-Core CPU (or 5600, not sure yet). or the one above (im leaning towards the 2.66ghz, but maybe 3.0ghz).
That motherboard is based on G31 chipset which is little bit older than P35, so I would change your mobo to Abit IP35-E or IP35. Ati HD 2600XT would be better for graphics card, since it has better support for HD-material and also sound comes through HDMI. For hard drive, I would recommend either Samsung T166 or Western Digital, 320gb is the smallest size that I'd consider. I wouldnt take NZXT power supply, coz they've been primarily doing quality cases rather than PSU:s. So Corsair HX520, VX450 or Antec NeoHe 430W would be better. E6750 is better than AMD:s 6000+ in all circumstances.
thanks, ill take note of those changes. any other opinions? my least concern right now is the hard drive though. would the support for HD material allow me to watch HD stuff on my comptuer? is that what your saying? also, would it be a wise move to upgrade the 2gb memory? would 3gb be better?
I would agree with everything in k0j00tti's post. I personally prefer motherboards from Asus or Gigabyte, Abit seem to have had a few issues recently, but other than that his advice is sound.
For 3GB, it depends on which OS you will be running. If you run 32bit vista, then 3Gb is a waste because vista will only use 2. If its 64 bit (which has more problems than the 32bit version, then you can use up to 4GB I believe. 2GB is probably what you should be at for todays games and applications.
thanks alot. whats the difference between the 32 bit vista and the 64bit ? so in your opinion, would the motherboard i posted be ok? or would something newer be better? also, are better motherboards simply for more compatibilities with different parts? what makes a motherboard 'better' if they both can be compatible with the same parts im getting?
Waymon: Just bear in mind Stalker runs FAR better on a PC with 3GB of RAM rather than 2GB. That could be the way of games to come. I highly doubt Vista only supports 2GB, isn't XP Pro supposed to support up to 16GB? Dragnandy:As for 64-bit OSes, they do allow for lots more RAM, but trust me, they're not worth it, for various reasons. As for the motherboards, there's more to it than compatibility, there are things like reliability and performance to consider. There are a lot of motherboards out there with particularly high numbers of Return-to-manufacturer complaints. The Asus one you've posted is a VM board (so MicroATX, which isn't often good) and the G31 chipset, which isn't great. Try for something like a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3.
Well that graphics card has "hardware support" for HD-material, so the GPU is used for processing HD-material instead of processor. Of course you can watch HD-videos with 8600GT but then processing is done by your processor. You can have 3gb memory in 32-bit Vista if you install it like this: 1gb + 1gb + 512mb + 512mb.
That's how my friend who has 3GB in XP does it anyway. Can somebody give me a straight answer as to how much RAM you can have in XP Pro?
and if i get a 32-but vista premium, would it still be ok if i use a 2gb+1gb, or can i only use 1gb+1gb+512mb+512mb? also, is there anything else im missing? like for building a computer?what else is needed? and are cables going to usually come with it when i buy the parts or would i have to buy it separately? can somebody give me a link to the Ati HD 2600XT, i cant find it on newegg.
I wouldnt recommend 1gb+1gb+1gb set for dual channel motherboards, coz it may not work properly. Only way to get 3gb is 1gb+1gb+512mb+512mb. Cables will come along with your motherboard, graphic card and PSU so no worries. Read all the manuals carefully and you cant fail, in case you dont understand something, you can always ask here. Since you are "first-timer", I would buy an bracelet(I dont know the correct english word for this) which is attached to the case to avoid static electricity. Those "bracelets" are sold in local computerstores etc. I would recommend Asus' version of the 2600XT coz it has better cooler, so: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121082 According to the comments, some have had bad luck with these cards, I hope you wont.
because in all fairness Waymon, the 2600 is still just as fast (if not a bit faser) than the 7600s, supports DX10, and most importantly of all, you can still actually buy them!
I just hear that the 2600s are rubbish. Taken from here: http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2151679,00.asp
is the bracelet the anti-shock thing? i have a piece of like plastic paper-like thing that is anti-shock. would that work? if i just like cut it out and strap it on? if not ill just buy one somewhere, do they sell it at somewhere like frys or like does it have to be a computer store also, does the 32-bit vista premium only go up to 3gb? im just wondering. and i was thinking about getting a 2600XT, and on the link it gave it a 8 out of 10. which i think seems fair, not extraordinary though. any other thoughts about the Asus 2600XT? not ATI because i cant find one. and if i do get these parts, do most people get them in like a computer store or mainly off newegg/online stores?