The (new) Official PC building thread!

LOL, that reminds me, there a local computer store , that has an add for a computer with a x1950xt card, but according to them you can get a free upgrade to a intel x3000 intel graphics media accelerator , so just for fun I called them and asked how can you consider that an upgrade? So the sales guy said"what are you using the computer for" and I told him gaming, He tried to tell me it'll work much better than the x1950xt card will for gaming(took me a couple to stop laughing at him). I told him you should really change the add to read "a free downgrade to a x3000", because you a ripping people off.
It's really kinda sad people go to these places, lay down their hard earned cash and get ripped off without even knowing it.

 

That's disgusting. I'm appalled.

 

ok so i have composed 500-600$ pc for my friend. these are the specifications. any good suggestions or deals will be helpful thanks.

case
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=270413
cpu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116052
mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128061
harddisk
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136062
psu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817182021
ram
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145034
graphics card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130062

 

@dreamer2
This is a computer I specked in another thread...a couple of days ago...I think the prices are still accurate...

Antec Sonata III Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply - Retail
Item #: N82E16811129024
$149.95-$20.00 Instant=$129.99 with $30.00 Mail-in Rebate $99.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811129024

GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813128059
$109.99-$10.00 Instant $99.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813128059

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX - Retail
Item #: N82E16820145177
Free 3 Business Day Shipping
$120.00-$10.00 Instant $110.00 $40.00 Mail-in Rebate $70.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820145177

COOLER MASTER RR-CCH-L9U1-GP 92mm Hyper TX2 CPU Cooler - Retail
Item #: N82E16835103031
$29.99-$20.00 Mail-in Rebate $9.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16835103031

Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6750 - Retail
Item #: N82E16819115029
$214.98-$19.99 Combo $194.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819115029

Sword of the New World: GAME - OEM
Item #: N82E16800992029
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
FREE with CPU

SAPPHIRE 100189 Radeon X1900GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 CrossFire Supported Video Card - OEM
Item #: N82E16814102705
$89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814102705

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Item #: N82E16822148262
$69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822148262

$704.90 Sub Total
$28.78 Shipping
$733.68 TOTAL
$90 in Rebates
$643.68 TOTAL after Rebates

 

I'm a little disappointed. I just bought and installed a creative sound blaster audigy SE sound card. well to make a long story short, the sound improvement compared to the onboard audio of my asus P5W DH Deluxe mobo is very little if any. I tried to tell ppl this mobo has the best onboard sound I've ever heard as far as onboard sound goes but yet they all said a sound card will blow away any onboard sound. well I beg to differ in this case.

I agree that the onboard sound on most mobo's suck and a sound card is the way to go but if you have an asus P5W DH Deluxe mobo or similiar, don't waste your money on a sound card unless your into extreme gaming.

 

To be quite honest, most onboard sound is very good. I mainly got PCI sound cards like that one as a 'just in case', it is a basic card after all. Sound quality these days is far more down to the speakers than the sound card. 'gaming sound cards' are a farce. They're great for music editing because of the higher bandwidth, but for gaming there's no need to have anything special.

 

thats my final selection. i think it will be good for my friend

case
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=141760
cpu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116052
mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813128059
hdd
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822148262
psu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817182021
ram
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145034
gpu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130062

 

That's a good parts selection apart from the Power supply. I'm not a fan of Rosewill PSUs, they've been a bit iffy in the past.
You should never skimp on a power supply, no matter what your budget.
Get something like this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153052

 

sammorris..What's the if,and,& buts with PSU..Way back when I was in construction,amps was the important factor on Electrical equipment.Low ampers would overheat equipment,and cause burnouts.I've noticed that wattage seems to be the important factor with most mentioned PSUs here.Is wattage more important then amps ?

 

Ok i got a question about dual/quad core processors.

I have an E6550 Intel C2D. It's clocked at 2.33GHz. But what i want to know, is if each core is clocked at 2.33Ghz or each core is clocked at about 1655MHz (or what ever is 2.33 divided by two)

 

each core is clocked at 2.33ghz

 

4.66GHz!? AWESOME!

Thanks.

 

no, it's not 4.66ghz. the clock speed is still 2.33ghz only you have two cores, each one at 2.33ghz. the clock speed remains the same. the clock speed isn't doubled. same as having two 2.33ghz cpu's. same clock speed only you can perform twice the tasks. it won't necessarily be twice as fast.

 

rick, Volts x amps = watts, as I'm sure you know. Since volts must ALWAYS be the same for PCs, else they won't work right, or they'll get fried, you're talking about the same thing.
The maximum wattage of the unit isn't really worth much these days, it comes down to what wattage can be produced on the 12V rail (so you're looking at an amps figure for that) and what brand the unit is. Cheap PSUs do more than just overheat, they can cause fires, and all sorts of other disasters.

OmriSama: Dual cores do not equal double the clock speed, they merely allow you to run two things at once at the same speed. Just because each core is clocked at 2.33Ghz, that still means if you run most programs, they'll run like you have a 2.33Ghz single core. If a program's dual core compatible, then technically it will run faster (although not quite 4.66Ghz fast) but very few programs are.

 

sammorris..OK Thanks for the insight

 

No problem. In this order:

1. Brand
2. Amps rating on 12V rails
3. Total wattage

A 500W cheap power supply isn't good for running any more than a P4 with integrated graphics. A 500W quality power supply can run almost anything, provided it puts out enough on the 12V rails.

 

So AMPS are most important on the 12v rail.The more AMPS the better off U are
Now let me see if I understand..3 12v rails at 14amps equals 42 amps

 

Yes, BUT 14A is very low for a single rail, the most powerful graphics cards could potentially draw more than 14A by themselves, and they would only draw power from one rail. If that's the spec of a power supply, I don't think I'd recommend it. Look for 16A or above per rail ideally.

 

sammorris..Most of the ATIs I think require around 25amp.I know the Radeon X1900 GT does anyway..So probably I would be better off with a single rail 49amp or above.Would I not

 

No, they don't require 25A. They ask that your Power supply has a minimum of 25A available for everything. The graphics card only uses a part of it. They recommend you have a power supply that can put out 25A or more on the 12V line because that 25A has to power the GPU, CPU and the disk drives.