Pc Build Mumblings

[Pic0o]

Update post to link some good info for Benchmark Apps.

 

I am rocking a Core 2 Duo and nVidia 460 GTX Hawk atm. Doing me good justice, and I only have 2GB of RAM in it currently, rocking Windows 7 x64 and an Ubuntu dual-boot.

 

- Old Post

 

Jolly Friday. I'm digging around and seeing what PC Builds have a good Cost-effective to performance ratio. So far, Core 2 Duo or the i7 Intel CPUs are looking like the winner. I am entertaining the notion of an AMD build as well, but the specs and heat performance is not really what I want for those CPUs. Considering the AMD Phenom II X4 940 is ~180 bucks and an Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 is ~190, I'd spend the extra loot for the Intel build.

 

Hot damn, motherboards got really damn expensive for the fancy ones. Luckily, you can do reasonable board for under $200. Depending on when I buy and prices, I might bump into the i7 realm. That is the area of expensive Mobos.

 

So far, here is my build in mind:

• ASUS P7P55D EVO LGA 1156
  
• Intel Intel Core i5 750 CPU
  
• Kingston HyperX 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 RAM
  
• SPARKLE R-SPI600GLN 600W PSU
  
• OCZ OCZTGLADM 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler (similar to my Thermalright)
  
• Antec P183 Case
  
• ASUS ENGTX275/HTDI/896MD3 GeForce GTX 275 896MB (or MSI build) GPU
  

Total (without Vid Card) = $932

Add a nVidia GTX 275 for +$230

Total Build Cost = $1162 $1112 with Cart Rebates.

 

I have a SATA 3.0 Drive, DVD and all that junk. I don't think I missed anything, and after getting that Antec case for my office build, spending $140 on a case is justified, as I don't have to drill a single hole in it.

 

I'm going to stay with a single Vid Card. I am enjoying some info and benchmarks on the different cards out and so far, I think the GTX 275 is a good value. I am curious to see if the double memory editions are worth the extra $80.00... so far, not so much of a gain.

 

Also to add, I can get a Thermalight Ultra-120 Extreme 775 BP Heatsink with 1366 Kit @ CrazyPc. I will want one of those. :P

Edited January 5, 2011 by Pic0o
Rig Up

[JeT]

Remember when we all just constantly spat out build lists back in the day? Feel like I haven't checked one of these out in awhile... I need to build a new rig someday too... My desktop was upgraded like 4 years ago or something.

 

Would be fun to play some top o the line games on super high settings, though. It's funny how outdated 360 graphics look already. (Well actually I guess that's pretty oldish technology now... hrm)

[Pic0o]

When order day does come, I want to add an HD Recording card. Grabbing HD rips would be fun. :P

 

I know what you mean on the longtime spec'in anything. I was laughing @ the price to power of current hardware.

[JeT]

Hmmmm, where you buying things at these days anyhoo? Still newegg?

 

It's very voodoo how timed this was, but my desktop just took a major fuckin' shit, even after a recent format... so it wasn't loaded up on bloat.

 

I think I might be putting together a full build list, complete with new HDs and everything. SATA 3.0 you say? :o

 

What's some of the new trends and such you've noticed whilst build-making?

[Pic0o]

Honestly, the 2 biggest misconceptions I see, are HUGE Power supplies and overpriced motherboards with silly shit, like onboard WiFi. If I'm using a desktop, why would I want to WiFi? Then again, I live for data rates, and stream like whoa.

 

The PSU thing is justified if you are going SLI, but for the money, you are better off getting the higher grade card instead (IE GTX275 > 2x GTX 250s). If you are going single card, you should not have to spend much more than $100 for a high-grade, moderate power PSU. I'm thinking 600w will be fine, I will do HD count math to verify before I buy.

 

Motherboards speak for themselves. Before I got pricing, I was under the impression all Mobos got inflated to $200+ for anything non-PC Chips. Luckily, ~$150 range is what a good motherboard runs, unless going Intel i7. Everything goes up with i7. :P

 

My PC is tweaking on Memory timings @ POST over the last few days, and I'm pretty certain the mobo battery is brand new, plus no other BIOS settings are resetting. I do think the P4 runs WoW much better than my AMD 2600+ did. I honestly just think Intel setups of similar spec, outperform AMD rigs. You know me, this is coming from a guy with an AMD Army in his pad. It's an older army, but none the less, still a fleet. :P

 

I'm hoping to build in the spring or potentially Winter. We have some projects to finish (Dishwasher + install) before the light of a new rig is to be.

[JeT]

Mmm, lookin' at the Intel i5's.... combo deal on this CPU / Mobo that seems pretty solid:

 

Intel Core i5 750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I5750 - Retail

MSI P55-GD65 LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

 

CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM

 

My video card is a NVidia 8800 GTS PCIe x16 that I bought with my monitor about half a year or so ago... so I'll be keeping my current video card I think. I'm gonna get new Power Supply, HD and Tower, though. My sound card is getting super old... dunno if relying on on board sound is better these days? That mobo has built in 8 channel. I think I have a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS from like... 5 years or more ago...

[Pic0o]

I'll keep that in mind. I honestly pretty much gave up on Corsair for RAM though. My last few RMAs have been annoying, and despite being older components, their communication utterly blew. I had to call to learn the item was being found for replacement.

 

I think onboard sound is fine, as my speakers do well running off the onboard audio on an Intel board. As for Vid card, I'd keep what you got too, as I suspect the performance jump is no where near as much as I will get, jumping from an AGP 6800 GT ;)

[JeT]

I don't think I've ever RMAed any ram before, but you seem to be RMAing ram all the time-- do you run memtest a lot or something?

[Pic0o]

Nope, only when I have an issue. :P I think I've only RMA'd Corsair DDR1 maybe 3 times since 2001-ish. Typically, I don't have any issues, but after the hubub with my last RMA recovery time, I'm giving other Lifetime Warranty Vendors a chance. Also of note, J0k3r pointed out that Corsair tends to over-rate the memory timings, and he's had issues with some RAM not running @ the supported speed it's spec'd at.

 

Since DDR2 and 3 are still very common, you should have no woes on a super RMA, since there is no reason they would not have replacement inventory. ;)

 

Oh yeah, it looks like i5 and i7 were just announced. I hope they drop nicely by time my order goes out. :zyo:

 

Oh again. The below quote from the Forum thread in the link, may justify going right for an i7 setup.

Dont forget the PCI-E controller is on the cpu die of the i5 & i7-8xx. So regardless of the chipset, you are limited by the actual cpu itself to either 1x PCI-E16x or 2x PCI-E8x (unlike previous generations of intel cpus which relied on the chipsets).

 

If the performance gain is as large as it sounds, this might be an absolute upgrade.

Edited September 8, 2009 by Pic0o
Ooooh

[JeT]

Definitely thinking I'll be going with an i5, as I don't want to spend the super extra $$$ on i7, and it's looking like I'll be needing a rig asap. Can't even boot a linux live CD without craziness... have no spare parts, and I'm just tired of swapping out one piece here or there and having the system just fuck up again a couple months down the road... need a nice fresh build for a change. (I guess that's me justifying the price)

[Pic0o]

I'm doing some skimming of benchmarks of the i5 / i7 Intel builds, and they look to beat out the 9xxx series Core 2 Duo rigs, or bench very close in the Multimedia and Encoding realms. Game performance is a little more hit and miss than encode jobs, imo.

 

OCAU has a bunch or reviews to go through.

[JeT]

Well my new tower came today... the rest of my stuff should be here for tomorrow. Yay weekend rig building. :]

[Pic0o]

I wasn't thinking you were thinking of ordering so soon. :o

 

Yay to new building. I wish I could justify ordering and building now. :lol: Maybe early X-mas for Halloween! :roflmayo:

 

I'm pretty sure I should do me some Windows 7 x64 so I get the SupraHertz outta said build.

 

FYI, it looks like Windows 7 Pro is $299, while Ultimate is @ $320. Per this rundown, Windows 7 Pro is where it's at.

[JeT]

Well the reason I needed to build so quickly was because my desktop killed itself and I use it as my primary means of workens.

 

I got the 64 bit Vista Premium, which will come with a free upgrade to Windows 7 Premium. If I need to upgrade to pro at a later time, it seems that's pretty easy to do.

 

I'm typing from my new build... just getting basic apps and drivers installed and configured, will then look further into performance tweaks and such. New case has the power suppy on the bottom, which is interesting, with super crazy giant fan on the top of the case. All 4 case fans have 3 speed controls with little switches wired, and damn on low I can't even hear this machine... my other desktop was like "VRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM"

[Pic0o]

Awesome new score. I forgot about the desky death the other day. :o