The Official PC building thread -3rd Edition

Call Of Duty is so badass on this new machine plus the 24" montior at 1920x1600 res. checked my temps after playing about 2 hours the system was running 34 C

 

Hi, just a quick question, which is better to buy Windows XP or Vista?

I haven't been hearing great reports about Vista.

 

Actually you can run a Q9450 and HD4870 on a 450W VX, no trouble. However, by laws of 'breathing room' you should have something bigger. The 650TX is good, but can't run two 4870s in crossfire as it doesn't have four 6-pin PCIe connectors. You can, however, do it with adapters.

Evastar: Most (but not all) of us prefer XP as there's very little it doesn't do that Vista does, and runs a lot faster.

 

Thanks Sam

I think we have more or less decided on what pc to go for, so can you take a look at these specs for me:



And just let me know if any of the components are really crap!

Thanks.

 

Ideally I'd avoid the EVGA KO graphics card. The 9600GT is a reasonable performer, but miles behind current cheap stuff like the HD4850, and EVGA's overclocked cards have had a dodgy reputation in the past. The X-Fi sound card might be a little excessive, but I forget which name means what, so I don't know quite how excessive it is.
The keyboard is also vastly expensive, you could probably save money by using something a little less 'profound'...

 

Yeah, i wanted him to go for the Radeon graphics card, but he thought the other one would be better.

I'll have another chat with him. Thanks Sam!

 

The 9600GT is about 10% or so slower than the 8800GT.
An HD4850 is as fast as two 8800GTs.

 

Thanks Sam

I moved to the graphics card thread, cos most of the other stuff seems to be ok.

He really wants that keyboard, so what the heck?!

 

Evastar,

Everything looks good! Is there a large price difference between getting XP-Home and XP-Pro, SP-2? The reason I ask is that XP-Pro is the better program.

I noticed you asked about Vista in another post! Vista is slower than XP and overly complicated in my opinion, particularly in the Control Panel. Why they need 50 or more Icons to do the same job around 30 do with XP, is beyond me. They've even complicated it worse by changing a lot of the icons from the familiar ones we've known to something we now have to try and figure out what the heck it is! Worse yet is the security! I recently missed out on about 2 hours or so, that I could have enjoyed with my Daughter and my 5 grandchildren in the pool thanks to it taking that long before I could validate the larger hard drive I installed in her Acer Ferrari laptop! I converted it to XP-Pro, SP-2 that evening! They (M$) can keep their Big-Brother mentality security crap, we don't need being told what we can and cannot do with our own computer that we Paid for with our own money.

I went to install PowerDVD 7 on my Acer Vista Laptop and got an error message saying that "There is a compatibility problem with the Software you are trying to install. Certain features of the software may not work! It is recommended that you do not install this software"! No where did it say anything about it harming the computer! I installed the program and the first time I ran it, it tied the computer up in a knot! I re-booted and Vista came up fine. I went to Add Remove Programs and uninstalled PowerDVD 7. It wouldn't un-install! The computer kept crashing! I had to spend almost $40 to get a Recovery Disk, just so I could make the computer work again!

Can you tell why I'm not a Vista fan? LOL!!

Best Regards,
Russ

 

Hi theonejrs

The only reason i went for that XP was because it was the only XP available on that build. I think they're trying to phase it out or something.

I already have microsoft office on this computer, so i might just run the discs again on the new one. Is that ok to do?

 

Evastar,

It should work just fine with the XP-Home. They'll be another New Version of XP-Pro coming pretty soon anyway. Last I heard it was to be called "XP-Pro Vista Edition", that has most of the features people like about Vista without all the security junk and the need to validate that new DVD Burner or hard drive you just bought!

Good luck with it,
Russ

 

Let's hope it's only the best bits, not only the worst bits...
It would be ideal if they offered DX10 support for XP, but I doubt that'll ever happen...

 

XP is great and all but we really need to move forward. I personally dont use Vista because YES it does use more resources. To some that's fine, but on a low powered Laptop I needed all the power I could get from it.

Hopefully Windows 7 will be better.

 

I eventually plan on putting Vista on my gaming PC. I'll see how it goes then.

 

with vista now, i dont need to go back to XP, and never will.

i love it (simply put)

everything seems so much more snapier, esp after SP1.

and XP looks crap compared to it

ill never move back, and ive had no problems, bar 64bit nvidia drivers.

 

Snappier? Lmao. I guess you've forgotten how much faster XP is...

Anyway, I'm off for a day and a bit, going round to a friend's place, so I'll be AFK until tomorrow night. Have fun everyone!

 

aye snappier.

 

YES!!!!! That's what I've said before. It's like the guy that bought the Porsche 930 Slantnose, he didn't need it to drive the normal speeds required by law!! BUT if he chose to do 150mph he could and would. ROFL!!!!

Just make sure you can run the specified components if you get a "bigger" psu. IF adapters are needed the so be it!!

shaff... You and LOCO are about the only guys that I know that have Vista... You really like it huh?? Do you have the "security" thingy turned off?? Sorry don't know the actual name.

....gm

 

yep, first thing was turn UAC off. i dotn even need a firewall, as the windows one is brilliant.

the security is brilliant. i remmember XP, i wouldnt dare do anything for the net before i got a FireWall. XP would BSOD like mental with any installation, till SP2. id say vista is the most stable OS i have had

 

if gonna buy a new bigger psu my choice would be the Corsair-750TX
that will be on my next build..coming up
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006