Building a PC, suggestions?

Jun 3, 2006
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I hope this is the right section, and I'm sure many people post threads like this so I'm sorry for yet another one.

Recently my system has been showing its age (AXP 1900+, 512MB ram, 9700 Pro), and by recently I mean for the past few years. But lately I've been getting all sorts of random restarts, the hard drive is finally seemingly kicking the bucket and I think it's time for some new hardware.

At any rate, I've run around online to find a few components that seem like they would fit okay, but if anyone sees problems with what I've chosen, please let me know. I will not be overclocking, and I realize that I'm light on RAM but I'll fix that later. I'll be installing XP again. I've had trouble picking out a motherboard and this is the main area I'd like guidance. I'm looking to spend around 120 USD, and would just like something that is stable and good. I've pretty much lost interest in deep tweaking and want the PC to just work.

E6400 Retail
Corsair 1GB DDR2 533
Antec 400W PSU
Seagate 320GB SATAII HD
Lite-On DVD burner
EVGA 8800GTS

The PSU might need a bump to 450 or something, but overall I'm not terribly worried. I won't be putting anything in the computer aside from what's listed above, so I don't think the PSU will be that large an issue.

Also, a few last questions. When is AMD supposed to release their new processors, and does anyone have any idea when the next slew of graphics cards will be coming out?

Thanks in advance for any help
 

jzodda

Senior member
Apr 12, 2000
824
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My personal fav is the Bad Axe 2

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121059

but if thats too much for you there is the Asus P5N-E SLI which is cheaper and seems like a good board. There are in fact a lot of good boards out right now. I only suggested Bad Axe 2 as I have experience with it. Look at the roundup that Anandtech did recently where he gave out some awards. All of those boards are good imo.

 
Jun 3, 2006
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I think the P5N-E is along the lines of what I'm looking for, so thanks for the suggestion. Any comments on the rest of the parts?
 

jbking

Junior Member
Sep 1, 2006
2
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I think the next Graphic cards are out in May. AMD's new processors are supposed to be out middle of the year I think.

Regards,
JB
 

Operandi

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
5,508
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Stay away from Antec PSUs, if you hold reliability and quality in high importance.

My two recommendations would be Seasonic and Enhance (80+ units from ewiz.com). Keep in mind that quality is far more important then quantity 350-400 watts is plenty.
 

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
14,387
480
126
Originally posted by: Operandi
Stay away from Antec PSUs, if you hold reliability and quality in high importance.

My two recommendations would be Seasonic and Enhance (80+ units from ewiz.com). Keep in mind that quality is far more important then quantity 350-400 watts is plenty.

Here is the psu Operandi is talking about (I think?)

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=PS-E5150GH

And get your self a gigabyte ds3 rev.3.3 like this

http://www.clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=CA4830994

Then your good to go .
 

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
14,387
480
126
Originally posted by: Operandi
Originally posted by: happy medium
Here is the psu Operandi is talking about (I think?)

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=PS-E5150GH

Or this one; 400 watts is plenty.

I think I disagree here. The combined 5 and 3 volt rail are 130watts. which leave 270 watts for the 12v+ rail which = 22amps. Correct me if i'm wrong but the 8800gts requires more than that. I would definitly leave some upgrade room too.

edit : now the 500watt model has a 150watt 3 and 5 volt rail which leaves 350watts for the 12v+ rail which= 30 amps for that rail. 8800gts requires 26 correct?:thumbsup: Pay the extra 12 bucks to be sure.:thumbsup:
 
Jun 3, 2006
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Thanks for the suggestions. I have one more question, I've seen efficiency percentages listed for PSUs on some sites and I would like to make sure I'm reading them correctly. If you have a 70% efficient PSU currently using 300W, does that mean 90W is being lost and only 210 is actually being used? If so, I assume that means that theoretically a 100% efficient PSU would only be using 210W in this situation, a 90% efficient one would be using 233.33W, etc. Is this part of the case people make for paying more for better PSUs (aside from the fact that they're better quality) but supposedly less wasted power?

One more question about PSUs, does having a 500W PSU mean that it will currently draw that much constantly, or is it need driven?
 

Rockhound1

Senior member
Dec 31, 2003
592
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Originally posted by: Operandi
Stay away from Antec PSUs, if you hold reliability and quality in high importance.

My two recommendations would be Seasonic and Enhance (80+ units from ewiz.com). Keep in mind that quality is far more important then quantity 350-400 watts is plenty.


I would agree with Operandi with regards to these brands of PSUs. There are other good quality PSUs out there too, but Enhance and Seasonic consistenly get strong reviews. I would however be conservative with the wattage of the new PSU. I would go with a minimum of 500 watts. The graphics cards seem to be requiring more and more juice as time goes by. Your 8800GTS is going to require a steady diet of good clean power. Better safe than sorry. And to answer you question - NO, just because you have a 500 watt PSU doesn't mean you will be running at 500 watts all the time. The PSU can reliably provide 500 watts of power when required (and more if you get a quality PSU like Enhance or Seasonic). If you computer requires 250 watts for Web browsing, the a 500 watt PSU will provide the 250 watts, and if the computer requires 350 watts for gaming, then the PSU will provide the 350 watts, and so on.

As for motherboards, I would go with a quality manufacturer like Asus, Gigabyte, etc. Read the reviews. Be sure to select a motherboard with the features you need. If you need SLI, firewire, etc., make sure the motherboard has those features. The one thing I would recommend to you is to go with a motherboard with an Intel chipset like the P965. In my experience, it is hard to go wrong using a motherboard with an Intel chipset with an Intel processor. They play nice together.

The other two things that I would recommend to you is faster memory (DDR2 800) and add a DVD drive. The reason for the faster memory is obvious. A plain DVD drive reads DVDs faster and more reliably than you typical DVD burner. Also, if you want to copy a CD or DVD, then the DVD drive is really helpful. This wold not add much cost to your build (less than $25 for the DVD drive).

Good luck!! I think you will see a huge difference in performance once you have completed the build and are up and running.
 

magreen

Golden Member
Dec 27, 2006
1,309
1
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Originally posted by: Rockhound1
The other two things that I would recommend to you is faster memory (DDR2 800) and add a DVD drive. The reason for the faster memory is obvious.
What does he need faster memory for? He said he's not interested in deep tweaking. Which means running at stock speed with no multiplier = DDR2 533 memory.

 

Rockhound1

Senior member
Dec 31, 2003
592
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Some motherboards will run your memory at its rated speed, independent of the FSB for your processor. Plus, it is more future proof (although this is a weak argument considering by the time the OP is ready to upgrade again, memory will be completely different [i.e., DDR4 or DDR5]).
 

myocardia

Diamond Member
Jun 21, 2003
9,291
30
91
Originally posted by: Rockhound1
Some motherboards will run your memory at its rated speed, independent of the FSB for your processor. Plus, it is more future proof (although this is a weak argument considering by the time the OP is ready to upgrade again, memory will be completely different [i.e., DDR4 or DDR5]).
Actually, that's not such a weak argument at all, since in just a few weeks, Intel will be going to a 1333 bus, which will require PC5400 RAM (DDR 667), just to run the processor at it's stock speed. It's worth the extra $15 or $20, not to have to buy new RAM, if he decides to get another processor in 4 or 5 months.
 
Jun 3, 2006
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After checking the specs on the DS3, it says DDR2 800 is required, so I'd like to confirm that this is true before purchasing the board. I've also seen people report problems with Windows installing on SATA drives, anyone have comments on this?
 

Roguestar

Diamond Member
Aug 29, 2006
6,045
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And higher in practice. IIRC it's because DDR2-800 was the latest high-speed DDR2 to be rated, signed and sealed by whatever official consortium does that type of thing? From what I recall that's why higher speed memory ratings are all over the place with 1066, 1100 and 1150 and so on.
 
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