The Ultimate Dream Computer

All I know is that an X800 Pro, of not too dis-similar TDP to a 6800 does not run on a 250W PSU.

 

I used a 250W PSU as a temp backup when a PSU failed with a system running an X850XT Radeon. I didn't go uber gaming on it trying to crash the system, but for viewing video and normal gaming it did okay. Maybe I didn't load it as much as Sammorris did his, but I had good luck under normal conditions.

 

i just bought a 350W psu...tomorrow i'm gonna buy a 7600gs...unless it can last me until the end of the year...

 

A decent 500W couldn't have cost that much more. I look at those as a starting level. 350W works though, if you're not going to add a bunch of extras and go uber gaming.

 

yes i know that...but i dont know if it will fit in my case...

 

Almost all PSUs are a standard size. You could have measured it anyway...

 

Sam's right, most retail PSUs are standard. They need to be to fit all the cases being offered. The exception I've seen are some made specifically for some manufactured PCs. Not all because Dell and others use the regular size we can purchase through vendors.

 

Well except for those Optiplex desktop-style PCs that used those tiny 145W PSUs with the corner missing... The exceptions are high end PSUs such as the Enermax Galaxy, but most ATX PSUs are indeed a specific size.

 

If anyone's interested, I got that Gigabyte board with the ULi chipset today and installed it in my granddaughter's computer. What it replaced was an old Soyo KT400 board with an Athlon XP 2400 CPU. Now she has this board with an Athlon 64 3200 on it. It seems to work OK. I did have to do a repair install of Windows since it wouldn't boot with the Via drivers. Boards with Nvidia chipsets won't either or at least any I've ever tried. The funny thing is that boards with Via chipsets will generally boot when hooked up to a hard drive with Nvidia drivers on it. You still have to install the correct drivers, but they will at least boot. I got about what I expected for a $50.00 board. It will play the Barbie games fine.

Dave

 

hahaha.. *shrugs* it was a criteria on something i had to work on... except that the system we were asked to make changes to was rather old and unstable, not that i think 10k wld b enuff to get it to the standards we were suppose to meet..

spend more than 10k wouldnt be hard, unfortuntely it might make a dent financially. maybe, maybe not. depends? i suppose.

 

outta curiosity.. and some confusion...

what upgrades are good and/or necessary, chip/board as well as visual/sound -wise ?

 

Necessary for what?

With ample RAM, say 1GB, and a fast enough CPU (say a 900MHz PIII) you can run the XP OS and be able to use most office programs, surf the net, transcode movies (takes a long time), and play the more simple games. You only need a burner and a decent older AGP graphics card along with a sound card and some speakers. Monitor is optional as the system will work with the old CRT or could use one of the LCD flatscreens. Now that's workable old. I don't know if a PIII is worth a couple of hundred in upgrades, but some people seem to think so. Frankly I don't see it unless you have the old parts on hand. Put the money in a new system.

To power up for Vista there's a list of compatible hardware necessary. Just follow the Vista requirements during the build or upgrade. You can do that without going crazy and can come out with a good system for less than $2000. Go with a C2D CPU and a good mobo that supports it, a Vista compatible GPU, a quality PSU, some SATA HD drives, some optical drives, quality DDR2 RAM, and a Vista ready monitor and you have what's needed. Older platforms can be upgraded for Vista with Vista compatible components replacing the old. The peripherals and how highend you want to go with components will change it from a "grunt" to a uber performer. Like I said, you can have a good E6600 system for less than $2000 with good performance or spend some serious bucks like I mentioned joking around in the previous post. 2 EVGA 8800s will run you over $1000 for a highend SLI setup. But a good 1950 Radeon will handle most people's needs.

 

Naturally the board has to support the CPU and necessary items like a Vista compatible graphics card to support the Vista ready monitors. Other than that it depends on the mobo to some degree. Many Asus boards have onboard audio that does a good job. Other brands do as well, just note the specs. You can go from stereo to serious surround sound speaker systems. Tailor the audio to your tastes. A sound card is going to give better sound if you go with a quality card. Quality speakers are better than the cheap-Os, the system improves according to the extras you want to invest in.

 

As far as Vista and HD video goes, it's not really that easy or cheap. You need an HDCP video card, of which there aren't many until you get to the DX10 cards. In addition an HDCP monitor. Now my monitor is, and my GPU will be when I buy an R600 when they're released, but the total cost of those components is £1400...

 

Sammorris
I played cheap on the video card for this build. LOL About the only thing. Not really cheap, just not highend. I'm thinking of curing that. I have no plans of switching to Vista any time soon, but it is already Vista ready. ATI has a sytem analyzer for testing systems, which I ran recently. My system meets all the best aspects except for, you guessed it, the vid card. It meets all the best requirements except for the shader. I have 2.0 and for best requires 3.0. The analyzer rates the system and parts on a slow to fast scale with Good, Better, Best. My old card comes in at a shade below Best. Everything else rates Best. So for Vista and HD video, all I'd have to do is install a drive. For best results I need to buy a $250 GPU.

For those wanting to analyze their sytem, here's the link.
http://ati.amd.com/technology/windowsvista/AreYouVistaReady.html

With a decent performing system with last gen parts an upgrade to Vista is painless. It's those who built on the cheap who will have the problems. For Vista all I have to ante up is the cost of the OS. If I want HD Video, then I'll have to add the drive to the list. For optimal quality, a good GPU. No where close to £1400. Going on the cheap for Vista would be a no cost proposition, except for the OS itself.

 

I forgot to mention, with Radeon, the X1800 series up rates Best for Vista. The price for a Best rating for Vista is usually well under $200 US.

 

As far as I was aware though, there are few HDCP ready monitors, mandatory for HD playback in Vista, other than HDTVs, as well as needing a high-def drive, the actual performance-based hardware doesn't seem quite so expensive by comparison.

 

If the current monitor isn't supported by Vista, a Sceptre 20" wide screen can be picked up for about $200 US. Not exactly a bank breaker. Viewsonic, Samsung and others are reasonably priced. Some of the non certified monitors may do well, so I'd check the output before rushing out to buy, especially if it's a late model widescreen with good specs.

 

And they support HDCP?

 

http://www.newegg.com/ProductSort/SubCategory.asp?SubCategory=20&name=LCD-Monitors
Newegg is listing all kinds of Vista Certified monitors. I'd imagine with a little shopping around better prices could be found. There appears to be a good variety.