New Pc Build

[BigDirtyJase]

Hey guys,

A friend of friend wants a PC built - Now othen two packaged machines from CPL, I have a custom built option

here is my configuration:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 (2.33GHz/45nm/1333FSB/4MB)

ASUS P5QC Systemboard

Corsair 4GB DDR3 1333C9DHX or Kingston 4GB 8500C5 Twin HyperX (DDR2 1066MHz)

Seagate 1TB SATA2 HDD

Powercolor 1GB HD4670

2x Pioneer DVR-216D SATA DVD-RW Drive

Logitech Cordless Desktop 1500 Rechargeable Keyboard + Mouse

22” Samsung 2233BW LCD

Foxconn TLA-889 Case

Coolermaster Extreme 650w PSU

Altec Lansing FX5051 5.1 Speakers

I'm guessing that he wants an all-around PC..I'm also trying to "future proof" him for a while (yeah I know the Intel i7 has hit the market but there are way too expensive)

what do you guys think of this setup and should I get him to go with DDR2 or DDR3 (the price difference is $76 ($215 for DDR3 and 139 for DDR2)

thanks in advance

[25GTT]

I think you will find if you look through this section you will find at least two more threads on PC builds etc that maybe of benefit to you.

DDR2 RAM as DDR3 RAM is more for the i7 series.

[R31Nismoid]

What is his budget?

What is he going to be doing?

ie, gaming? HD video encoding? etc etc

But yeah, the other two PC build threads will be right down the alley here i think

[BigDirtyJase]

I should have gone window shopping in the forum first...silly me

budget - he hasn't give me an exact price (I hate when people don't give me one)...I'm guessing he wants a machine for the internet, and with a bit of gaming

[R31Nismoid]

Tell him he needs to decide on budget

Thats the key thing, and when building a PC its easy to stick to the budget as there is a zillion parts to fit the bill.

Its not like a modified skyline where budget often goes out the window

[BigDirtyJase]

IMHO, I think PC building can be like a modifed skyline where the budget can go out the window...if that was the case then you would have a PC like PC Powerplay's The Beast...Really quick, really beautiful...but did you have to get two 30" LCD Screens and the Optimus Maximus keyboard??

I'll show my firend what his options are (one machine is $1500 another is $1600 - different CPU is the difference and then my custom build) and see what the budget is...I've asked him already for a budget and didn't give me a straight answer so I told him that if he didn't give me a solid budget to work with then i'll quote him for 4-5k machine...hehehe

[R31Nismoid]

Think is though all those "built" machines are gonna be $$$$.

They charge you @ a fairly decent price in terms of putting a box together.

Better off DIY and learning, with cash saving. Its really easy

[BigDirtyJase]

All the prices are just parts - I'll build the machine for him

[LOOF]

What about HDMI inputs?

[pkblade]

Seagate 1TB SATA2 HDD

FYI: in recent weeks the Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 series and primarily the 1TB (and to a lesser extent the 500/750Gb) drives have been failing at an alarming rate (ie. permanent lock-ups when booting) due to faulty firmware codes. But, don't fret Seagate has released a firmware update to rectify the problem, however, my SG 7200.11 500Gb drive of 7 months is still running fine.

If you want a better alternative and IMO currently one of the best performing $ p/Gb HDD is the Samsung Spinpoint 750Gb F1 DT/ 1Tb FDT.

[R31Nismoid]

the 500/750's were only killed if you used the interim fireware that was released to fix the 1TB HDD problem.

So if you didnt touch the 500/750's you'd be A-OK, but as the firmware worked on all... people updated hehe.

But ye, 1TB are not good value $ vs Gb at the moment

[iseekool]

Hey guys,

A friend of friend wants a PC built - Now othen two packaged machines from CPL, I have a custom built option

here is my configuration:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 (2.33GHz/45nm/1333FSB/4MB)

ASUS P5QC Systemboard

Corsair 4GB DDR3 1333C9DHX or Kingston 4GB 8500C5 Twin HyperX (DDR2 1066MHz)

Seagate 1TB SATA2 HDD

Powercolor 1GB HD4670

2x Pioneer DVR-216D SATA DVD-RW Drive

Logitech Cordless Desktop 1500 Rechargeable Keyboard + Mouse

22" Samsung 2233BW LCD

Foxconn TLA-889 Case

Coolermaster Extreme 650w PSU

Altec Lansing FX5051 5.1 Speakers

I'm guessing that he wants an all-around PC..I'm also trying to "future proof" him for a while (yeah I know the Intel i7 has hit the market but there are way too expensive)

what do you guys think of this setup and should I get him to go with DDR2 or DDR3 (the price difference is $76 ($215 for DDR3 and 139 for DDR2)

thanks in advance

Just a suggestion - Best he get two 500GB drives or any other 2 HDD combination - Reason being - He can physically keep his data on another drive in the event the hard drive physically crashes (partitioning a 1TB drive will only ensure the safety of data if Windows decides to go belly up).

Or if he decides to just have outright performance he can always have a RAID 0 configuration.

[bnr#@]

Ditch the ASUS motherboard and get something from gigabyte and I would run 2 smaller drives raided instead of a single big drive. Big single drives have more platters inside them so they generate more heat and can fail quicker then desired...

[BigDirtyJase]

The only reason I go for ASUS motherboards is that I had gigabyte boards before and built for mates and about 80% of them have failed within 2 years. My last 2 PC's had ASUS boards and never failed me

I'm going to go for 2 500GB drives for my friends setup...for what he needs - 2 500gbs are sufficient

[R31Nismoid]

The Gigabyte UD3-P boards are absolutely sensational, last gen of the old chipset... they came out a month after i brought my older gen... i was slightly annoyed @ that hehe.

[skybarge]

hey man, alright looking build but if he wants to future proof it:

Mobo - go for a P5Q Pr, not the standard one($50 more with loads of extra features)

CPU - skip the Q8200 and for a E7200 with custom cooler(still save him about $150) then overclock it to round 3.8-4ghz, quad cores are pretty poo at the moment, since nothing utilizes them and nothing will for a few year, apart from a few select games and some Adobe Photoshop products(CS4 does i believe)

Video - With the money saved by going E7200, get a 4850(extra $100) but has a lot more kick, graphics cards are more important than CPUs in most respects these days, since CPUs have hit a limit(apart from the new iCore 7s and Phenom IIs displaying some nice overclocking)

RAM - Just go with 4GB of DDR2, there isn't much a performance difference between DDR3 at the moment, just make sure you run XP 64bit or Vista 64, otherwise he'll only ever use 3.5gb

Plus 2GB chips are so cheap, fill up just two slots and have two leftover

HDD - Skip the 1TB HDD, and buy 3x 500gb HDDs for the same price, then take the first and put the OS on it

take the second two and RAID them in a striped config(RAID 0?) so it equals 1TB, this will increase performance by about 20% on the HDDs

Also they are right about the Barracudas failing, we've had several fail at work, get Western Digital, they are also quieter

DVD-RW - Just get teh cheapest one you can find at the time, should only be about $32 with SATA, BenQ are all good with lightscribe too

Keyboard/Mouse - You could go the logitech Desktop 1500, it's one of the cheapest laser models, I've got one here, or you could fork out an extra $30 for a Logitech MX3200 which I also have, great layout and excellent keyboard

Monitor - your choice of 22” Samsung 2233BW LCD, another good brand is the AOC 22.1" if you get it, it uses the same LCD panel as the sharp, but I guess the bezel surround isn't as sexy

Foxconn TLA-889 Case - hmmm, quite a fugly case to be honest, and cheaply made, for about $20 more you should be able to pickup a named brand like a Thermaltake/Antec/Chenbro or for 40-50 more Silverstone/Lian Li etc

PSU - Skip the coolermaster, find a Silverstone 700w modular for the same price, highly efficient and very sexy like most silverstone stuff

Speakers - Altec Lansing FX5051 5.1 Speakers - you don't need these, they are $50more than similar Altec Lansing speakers(GT5051R) and Creative/Logitech speakers with less power, only because they can be run off a USB port, they are for a non dedicated 5.1 setup, since the board above has 8 channel surround, all other 5.1 setups will plus in + 7.1 setups

P5Q vs P5Q Pro = +$40

Q8600 vs E7200+Cooler = $-100

4680 vs 4850 = $+132

DDR3 4GB vs DDR2 4GB = $-88

1TB vs 3x 500GB = $+64

Desktop 1500 vs MX3200 or Wave = $+30

Samsung vs AOC = $-67

Foxconn vs Thermaltake = $20

Coolermaster 650w vs Silverstone 700w = $+10

Altec Lansing FX5051 vs Altec Lansing GT5051R = -40

= $1 difference in NZD prices of course

for a faster system overall, better suited to a casual gamer/the internet

[BigDirtyJase]

Well at this stage my friend hasn't gotten back to me on what he wants to do or spend?? I have made some changes to the custom setup such as cutting back on the speakers and improving on others (from a Q8200 to a Q9550, from a Foxconn case to a Coolermaster Centurion V case)..it's just a wait and see

well i can always give him this setup:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 (3.00GHz/45nm/1333FSB/12MB L2)

ASUS P5Q3 Deluxe/WiFi @n Systemboard

Corsair 4GB DDR3 1600C9DHX

4x WD VelociRaptor 300GB SATA2 Drives

2x Sapphire 1GB HD4870

Pioneer DVR-216D SATA DVD-RW Drive

LG GGW-H20L Super Multi Drive (CD/DVD Reader & Burner. Blu-Ray/HD-DVD Reader/Burner)

Logitech Cordless Desktop MX5500 Revolution Keyboard + Mouse

24” ASUS VW246H Monitor

Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro

Coolermaster HAF932 Case

Coolermaster RealPower Modular 1000w PSU

Logitech Z-5500 5.1 Speakers

But with a price tag of about 6.5k - I don't think he'll go for it

Edited February 6, 2009 by BigDirtyJase

[R31Nismoid]

Seriously though if he isnt gonna be doing eny enconding and so on... Dual core EXXXX.

Dont even have to get a E8400/E8500... Just a 7300 or something.

Then put a quad in there around Q3 2009 when the next price shift will come and quads will be piss cheap and overall should be a good 300 saving.

Im assuming anything will be an upgrade so the 7300 will be markedly better, they clock nice too on stock voltages

[TALBO]

Personally I don't see the point going DDR3 on a S775 mobo. If you're going to go Core 2 then you might as well save some more dough (considering it kind of superseded already) and go superseded memory. Also a Q9550 won't have any trouble clocking well and trly past the 3GHz of a Q9650 without even overvolting Vcore......

[BigDirtyJase]

I got my mates PC built over the weekend (yes I spent Valentine's Day building the PC) here is what I got

Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 (2.33GHz/45nm/1333FSB/4MB L2)

ASUS P5QL-E MB

2GB Corsair 8500C5D Twinx (DDR2 1066MHz)

500GB WD SATAII

Powercolor 1GB HD4670

Logitech Cordless Desktop 1500 Rechargeable Keyboard + Mouse

Pioneer DVR-216D SATA DVD-RW Drive

LG GCG-H20L Super Multi Drive (Blu-Ray/HD-DVD Combo Drive)

22” BenQ E2200HD LCD

Coolermaster Elite 333 Case

Coolermaster Extreme 600W PSU

All up was $1660 (inc. Logitech X530 speakers, Epsom TX200 Printer and HDMI Cable)...Machine is running very nice and slightly overclocked (2.8GHz)...The Blu-Ray Drive is nice and the picture quality from the BenQ screen in 1080p is crisp. I just gotta go back and change some of the screen settings at it was 3am and had work.

The one thing that was very surpising is that the video card has no aux power connecters...which reminds me of AGP card days