The (new) Official PC building thread!

theres no advantage to getting a bigger HD preformance wise anyway. i like running two HD using one as a slave to store music/movies/data/keycode/info etc. on. then when you reformat you have all you stuff very handy

 

@ aabbccdd

i know you like to run alot of dvd drives and harddrives in your computer with that being said what psu are you using and how many watts is it?

 

@pszczoll

Well BigDK beat me to it...so pretty much what he said. They are just drivers, like the ones you get from the NVIDIA site, but altered to support chipsets other than NVIDIA's. I believe NVIDIA will/did not produce drivers, in the near future, to support 3rd party chipsets so that the unknowing will buy NForce (Nvidia chipset) based motherboards.
Hope that also helps.

As for video cards..I agree with BigDK with getting a DX9 card for now, but would recommend going for (2) Radeon x1950GT's. Though not the fastest card on the market, but at the price point it's hard to beat $124.99 after MIR at Newegg. Or go with just one 8800GTX. Do keep in mind that there are yet to be any DX10 games and even when DX10 is officially released, there will still probably only be a handful of games. Currently the 8800's are the only DX10 cards on the market allowing the prices to be up. I too would just wait til, ATI releases their DX10 card...that way you will have options, and more than likely pay less.

@redice

Newegg's OEM/open box goods usually lack the drivers, manual, cables, I/O shield, and fancy packaging. But, most of the missing stuff can be found in your existing PC.

For me, aside from ASUS,
I personally have always liked:
MSI <-for the price to performance ratio
ABIT <-price and OC'ing features
ECS <- used many boards for non overclocking needs.
DFI <- very cost efficient but nothing spectacular about it

Hmmm, I see a trend here...price(cheap)
I have used many others as well be not enough to recommend.

 

To 6spdSER.

than if i would go with 2 radeons for crossfire mode yes?. than new cards from ati with dx10 support. i sell radeons get dx10 supported. ok cool . BigDK gave me list with mobo/processor/ect. so now i would need to change all that but i got no idea what to chose. so what do u think with those 2 radeons what mobo/processor/psu/...?

And dont think small price-small performance. i got 2000 for case and keyboard.

 

@pszczoll

yes, Radeons would be in crossfire mode, and you won't have to change anything else. Your system is speced out to supply enough power for 2-8800's. As for your DX10 cards in the future...you can always go back to NVIDIA if you prefer, the 2 radeon x1950 are to hold you over until DX10 becomes mainstream and for more DX10 GPU's to come on the market. This in turn should 1- bring prices down on the 8800, and 2- to give you options other than just having to go with the only DX10 card on market today.

I'm not sure what games you currently play..but an idea of how a single x1950GT performs...I play BF2 with all options on high, w/ AA6x and AF4x on while getting 85FPS @ 1280x1024.

Do note that I have the x1900GT, but the specs of the two cards are identical.

 

6spdSER .
So the radeons would work on that motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131045 ?
same as 8800 GTS

 

redice heres my specs.

Antec Nine Hundred Mid-Tower Gaming Case/Thermaltake 750-Watt PS/ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe MB Socket 939/ Seagate160GB Barracuda/ Westeren Digital Raptor 150 GB Sata/NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GX2,1 GB of GDDR3 Memory / CORSAIR XMS 2GB DDR SDRAM (PC 3500)/AMD Opteron 185 Dual Core CPU OC(ed) to 2.87 GHz/Zalman CNPS-9500 LED Cooler/2-Plextor PX-716A Drives/Lite-On SHW-160P6S/View Sonic-VX2245wm 22" Widescreen 1680x1050 res. 5ms Respone Time

 

ok thanks aabbccdd but i'm puttint together a computer. would you lookat the specs of it and get your views.

also what psu watts would i need to run a dvd-rom drive, 3 dvd-rw drives, and 2 harddrives?

i have also notice that the amd 939 socket boards are becoming harder to find.

heres what i have
monitor
keyboard
mouse
1 gb of ddr 400 (3200)
amd 3200+
dvd-rom drive
dvd-rw drive

so i need a case , motherboard, video card, psu.
heres what i was looking at
case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119114
motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131125
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186059
video card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143049
psu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153052
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817128001

only looking to spend about 300- 400 dollars on this.
will all this work?

 

@pszczoll

I have no experience running this board, but per BigDK's post, the ASUS is by default a crossfire board. Since SLi is not officially supported on any other chipset other than an N-Force(Nvidia) chipset motherboard, it makes sense that ATI Radeons were in mind.

Either way you should have no problems with that board.

Correct me if I'm wrong anyone, the only "problems" running multiple cards in SLi or Crossfire, are with Nvidia GPU's only on 3rd party chipsets (that is with "certified" Nvidia Drivers).

 

@BigDK & 6spdSER,
Thanks for clearing that up on the video cards. He went beyond my experience and personal know how. ;-)

@redice,
Not knowing the quality or performance of the Foxxconn I can't speak personally on it but it seems good on "paper" and should do you just fine. Like I said I personally have the ASUS A8N5X and it works perfectly for me

.....gm

 

Im sorry for doing that. my bad.
I really tried! to build it myself omg that my first time x).
Please take look at that and judge me.
My Mashine
Motherboard

EVGA 122-CK-NF68-TR LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813188010&ATT=13-188-010&CMP=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r
$229.99

CPU
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115003
$313.00

Memory

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145590
$189.00

Graphic Card

MSI NX8800GTS-T2D640E 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127225
$379.99

Case

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021
$119.99

Sound Card

Creative 70SB046A00000 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Professional Series - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102005
$139.99

Hard Drive For Storage

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive – OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822144701
$74.99

Hard Drive for System and Games

Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10,000 RPM 16MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136011
$229.99

Optical Drives

LITE-ON Black 18X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 18X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM IDE Burner – OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106042
$28.99

LITE-ON Black 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM ATAPI/E-IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model SHD-16P1S - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106028
$17.99

Floppy

NEC Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive Model FD1231H-302 – OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16821152005
$5.99

Keyboard

Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1617455&CatId=534
$68.99

Software

Microsoft Windows Vista 32-Bit Home Premium for System Builders Single Pack DVD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116202
$119.99

PSU:

I dont know .


Thats what im thinking about. If there is someone who know similar configuration but cheaper and with no lose of performance . replay.

 

Hopefully you'll get a good EVGA board, it seems to be hit and miss.

You may ant to forget the soundcard as that board doesn't have the same issues as the P5B, but saying that, I always use a soundcard as I do notice the difference big time!

You may also want to consider an after market CPU cooler as well, rather than using the stock cooler.
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail $39.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134
There are others you could choose from, but I know this does the job well and is about as easy to fit as it can get.

Another thing to consider as well is 'Vista' do you really want to run it.
I've had a brief play with it 'both times Vista Home pro' and I hate it.
No real decrease in boot time, no major difference in front end, a pain in the arse when loading applications 'keeps telling you, that you must be administrator even though you are' and the overheads its going to put on the system resources.

I only saw Vista as being the way to get proper 64bit processing up and running with full support, but even that is limited still, and the applications just aren't being written to use it properly.
Only a thought, but worth considering, I'll be staying with XP pro for another 1-2 years at least.

 

BigDK
Do you think that all that stuff i listed is gonna work on ASUS P5B

And someone know where i can find some smaller 1000rpm hard drives.

and what psu should i get

 

This board from ECS looks like a winner for C2D....
Bottom line, if you're seeking a fully featured Intel motherboard for a dual-core Core 2 Duo or quad-core Core 2 Quad processor, look no further than the ECS PN2 SLI2+!

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2090&page=1

 

ty crowy.
that one is a better deal i think. but is everything from my list is gonna work on that mobo?>

 

pszczoll,
The ECS board should will compatible with the rest of your hardware.
Also with future bios revisions it should get even better.
Perhaps BigDk can have a look at the review and give his educated opinion.

 

@redice,
Not knowing the quality or performance of the Foxxconn I can't speak personally on it but it seems good on "paper" and should do you just fine. Like I said I personally have the ASUS A8N5X and it works perfectly for me

.....gm
ok thanks greensman and i have searched everywhere online and it looks like the ASUS A8N5X board is no longer being made.

 

@ crowey and psczoll,

im sure someone will correct me here if im wrong, but im sure i read somewhere that that ecs mobo is the same as the evga nf68i (or is it the bfg?) i will have a look in the morning when im not half asleep and tell you for sure.

edit
seeing as this mobo is a current cause of contention i looked now and its bfg(i think )
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_jump.cfm/344865/2926521

 

Well as you asked, I’ll put my 2 pence worth in, but as I don’t have and probably never will have a 680i chipset board I can only advise on what I’ve read.

It didn't make me want to buy it, it's just yet another reference 680i board, and I don't know what sort of support you'll get from ECS, it looks the same as all the other ref boards and will perform just as well or badly depending on what you get.

I tend to only use those sorts of reviews to show the features of a board, I then look on other forums to see what users are feeding back, that gives a true idea of what you'll get.

450FSB is not awesome though, the world record is now 630 approx on the Commando 965 chipset, quite a few of the 965 chipset boards will do over 500.

The review itself wasn’t done very well, with results that didn’t sit right ‘quake 4 scores for single and sli cards’ strange.

Lack of better X975 boards and other 680i chipset board both reference and own brand design such as Striker didn’t help.

All in all, it'll be a full featured board that will do what it says on the tin, and may well provide a very good OC on your CPU, so you'll get a good system out of it what ever happens.

They do tend to need a high voltage on the memory which adds to system stress, and there are reports of multipliers on the CPU causing issues 9x at high fsb fine, 8 etc… causes problems.

No matter what board you end up with, you will find issues especially when OCing it as most people do, so there’s no reason not to buy it.

You just need to decide if the extra features are worth the premium price you have to pay.

 

ok i went to fast before
for now i got things im sure i would like to get, take look at that
Motherboart: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813131045

Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813188012

Motherboard: $195 ASUS P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131028

im not sure wich one motherboard take smile.gif
Those parts im sure i would like to get

Processor: $313 Intel Core 2 Duo 6600 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115003

memory: $189.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820145590

Sound Card: $80 Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card

Case :$119.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811129021

Optical Drives :
LITE-ON Black 18X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 18X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM IDE Burner – OEM $28.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16827106042

LITE-ON Black 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM ATAPI/E-IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model SHD-16P1S - OEM $17.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16827106028

Floppy : NEC Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive Model FD1231H-302 – OEM $5.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16821152005

Software:
Microsoft Windows Vista 32-Bit Home Premium for System Builders Single Pack DVD – OEM $119.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16832116202

Keyboard:
Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard $68.99 http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...5&CatId=534

I dont have idea witch graphic card i should take i was thinking about 8800 GTS 640MB
and hard drives, i know i need 1 for storage (7,200rpm) and 2 for system and games (10,000rpm)
and power suplie .
do i need some other parts that i dont know about?
with those parts that im sure i got about $1000 left.