Opinions wanted on proposed rig.

2008-07-02 10:47:27

#1

m0v3m3nt: Member; +15|6178

I'm thinking about buying a new rig. I'm currently running a P4 3GHz with 2 gig that I put together myself a couple of years ago.

I'm not the most tech savvy person you'll meet, so I figured I'd ask for some input here on the one I'm looking at.

Processor: AMD 9850 AM2+ (4x 2.5 GHz) with a Thermaltake Golden Orb II Fan+Heatsink

MB: Asus M2N-SLI Deluxe

RAM: 8.0GB Corsair DDR2 800mhz XMS2

HD: 3x 250GB S-ATAII

Optical: 20x DVD±RW DL S-ATA

GFX: NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT 512MB

Soundcard: E-MU 1212m

PSU: 1000W Thermaltake ToughPower Modular

Case: Coolermaster Cavalier 3

That's for around £800

So... Watcha reckon?

2008-07-02 10:50:55

#2

Mitch92uK: aka [DBS]Mitch92uK; +192|6256|United Kingdom

I'd probably say;

E8400 + thermalright ultra
P35 mobo
4gb 1066mhz ram
ati 4850 or 4870 graphics
650W Corsair PSU (1000W is massive overkill)
etc.

why the 3 x 250 gb hard drives?

2008-07-02 10:52:25

#3

GCFC: Davide Santon; +45|5950|NY/CT

get the ati 4850 instead of 8800gt
and idk if you really need 1kw psu and 8gb ram, but whatever you want

2008-07-02 10:57:33

#4

Gooners: Wiki Contributor; +2,700|6653

You Don't need 8GB of ram, and as GCFC said, you don't need a 1 Kilowatt PSU. Get a 4870/4850 instead of the 8800gt.

2008-07-02 11:00:28

#5

m0v3m3nt: Member; +15|6178

Mitch92uK wrote:
I'd probably say;
why the 3 x 250 gb hard drives?

It's not just for gaming, I work a lot with audio and need the storage. Was thinking about a 250gb c: and a 500gb d: but I wouldn't want to lose everything in one HD failure.

GCFC wrote:
idk if you really need 1kw psu and 8gb ram, but whatever you want

I figured the more RAM the better right? It's pretty cheap. The PSU could well be overkill though.

2008-07-02 11:03:31

#6

Mitch92uK: aka [DBS]Mitch92uK; +192|6256|United Kingdom

m0v3m3nt wrote:
Mitch92uK wrote:
I'd probably say;
why the 3 x 250 gb hard drives?
It's not just for gaming, I work a lot with audio and need the storage. Was thinking about a 250gb c: and a 500gb d: but I wouldn't want to lose everything in one HD failure.

GCFC wrote:
idk if you really need 1kw psu and 8gb ram, but whatever you want
I figured the more RAM the better right? It's pretty cheap. The PSU could well be overkill though.

Why not get 2 larger drives and set them up in RAID 5. It's where if you bought 2 x 500gb drives for example, you'd realistically only use 1 but the other drive mirrors the primary drive. So if one were to fail the other is an exact copy of the other.

2008-07-02 11:04:58

#7

m0v3m3nt: Member; +15|6178

Gooners wrote:
You Don't need 8GB of ram...

It's £129.29 for 8 gig, £67.19 for 4 gig. (hey, that's a slight discount.

I'm thinking for programs like Cubase, Acid, Reason, and a whole lot of other audio apps, the more the better.

2008-07-02 11:07:41

#8

m0v3m3nt: Member; +15|6178

Mitch92uK wrote:
Why not get 2 larger drives and set them up in RAID 5. It's where if you bought 2 x 500gb drives for example, you'd realistically only use 1 but the other drive mirrors the primary drive. So if one were to fail the other is an exact copy of the other.

I have no idea how to do that. Is it tricky? Like I say, I'm not so tech savvy. Are there any other benefits aside from the safety of my data? Would it effect performance at all?

I do have a 500gb WD external, and a 400gb PATA I could pop in an enclosure for purposes of backup.

2008-07-02 11:11:46

#9

m0v3m3nt: Member; +15|6178

Oh yeah, another thing. I'm currently running XP pro 32 bit edition. I was going to use this on the new rig as well. I hear that XP 64 has some compatibility issues, so if correct, that would leave Vista as my 64 bit option. Is it worth buying? Would it be a great improvement over my trusty old XP 32?

2008-07-02 11:12:22

#10

signa: ~~~~~; +50|6749|Michigan, USA

Is there any reason you must have an amd cpu? Intel's cpu's are pretty much crushing amd right now in performance. I cant think of a reason right now to buy amd.

2008-07-02 11:13:33

#11

02fxnmaurer: Member; +75|6503|Birmingham UK

Mitch92uK wrote:
I'd probably say;

E8400 + thermalright ultra
P35 mobo
4gb 1066mhz ram
ati 4850 or 4870 graphics
650W Corsair PSU (1000W is massive overkill)
etc.

why the 3 x 250 gb hard drives?

tht tbh...which a nice case....

2008-07-02 11:17:27

#12

Mitch92uK: aka [DBS]Mitch92uK; +192|6256|United Kingdom

possibly a Q6600 if you do a lot of audio encoding - may be more suited than the e8400?

2008-07-02 11:26:40

#13

aimless: Member; +166|6146|Texas

If you're using any DAW, 4GB of ram and a dual core cpu are perfect.

2008-07-02 12:30:45

#14

utchin: Member; +8|5935

If your not planning on upgrading it evey few months then id say 8 gb is ok.. yeah at the moment notthing can use 8 gb but you never know..

2008-07-02 13:47:07

#15

Wallpaper: ☺; +303|6014|The pool

m0v3m3nt wrote:
Oh yeah, another thing. I'm currently running XP pro 32 bit edition. I was going to use this on the new rig as well. I hear that XP 64 has some compatibility issues, so if correct, that would leave Vista as my 64 bit option. Is it worth buying? Would it be a great improvement over my trusty old XP 32?

Well, you cant use 4.5 of those 8gigs of RAM with the 32bit. I would get 64bit Vista and just set it up as a dual boot with 32bit XP. That way if something doesnt work in Vista you can try it on XP.

Mitch92uK wrote:
possibly a Q6600 if you do a lot of audio encoding - may be more suited than the e8400?

Definitely get a Q6600. I dont see any point in getting a dual core (even if it is quite speedy). The Q6600 (try to get it with G0 stepping) is a good overclocker, so if you need more speed later on you can OC instead of buying a new processor.

My flickr

2008-07-02 13:47:16

#16

']['error.V2: Om nom nom nom; +48|5834

q9300 / q9450, or if you are on a budget: Q6600
4gb ram is fine for now, 8gb to be really future proof.
why 3 x 250gb? it's much cheaper to get 2 x 500gb or 1 x 1000gb.
don't go for the 8800gt, go for a 4850, or even better: a 4870!
1000W is overkill, get a nice 650 or 700W A-brand PSU.

edit: MSI motherboards suck fat dicks, go get a nice p35/p45/x38/x48(is that one even out yet?) motherboard.

Last edited by ']['error.V2 (2008-07-02 13:49:00)

2008-07-02 14:14:56

#17

m0v3m3nt: Member; +15|6178

decisions, decisions.

Are Intel much better than AMD these days? I used to have an AMD single core, and I remember everyone saying how much better they were.

If I lose 4 gig, go for a 750W PSU instead of the 1000W and go for a Q9300 on an Asus P5N-D, That will leave me enough money to get Vista Ultimate 64; but of course with just 4 gig, would I need it?

Hmmm...

Can always get another 4 gig further on down the road.

2008-07-02 15:07:16

#18

02fxnmaurer: Member; +75|6503|Birmingham UK

amd are shit atm dont even go there....

go for an intel e8400/q6600
with an ati 4870
some p35 board...maybe mine an abit ip35 or go for somin thts more compatible with crossfire
4gb ddr2 1066
fairly decent case
few drives in raid
an a 650w corsair psu

2008-07-02 17:42:05

#19

Obiwan: Go Cards !!; +196|6715|The Ville

m0v3m3nt wrote:
Oh yeah, another thing. I'm currently running XP pro 32 bit edition. I was going to use this on the new rig as well. I hear that XP 64 has some compatibility issues, so if correct, that would leave Vista as my 64 bit option. Is it worth buying? Would it be a great improvement over my trusty old XP 32?

You will be able to see all 8 gigs so I'd have to say yes.

Edit: 32bit only shows 3.25 ram so in theory you will be waisting money if you stick with 32 bit and get 8 gigs

Last edited by Obiwan (2008-07-02 17:43:55)

2008-07-02 17:49:21

#20

max: Vela Incident; +1,652|6588|NYC / Hamburg

as everyone else said. Get a nice intel quad core, 4 or 8GB DDR-800, intel chipset based mobo, HD4850 or HD4870. If you want data redundancy and a performance increase get 3 of the same drive and put it in a raid 5 array.

also get Vista x64, if you really need it you can dual boot into XP. I can't imagine why you would need to though. Inb4.sup who get at least 200000% more FPS on XP.

signa wrote:
Is there any reason you must have an amd cpu? Intel's cpu's are pretty much crushing amd right now in performance. I cant think of a reason right now to buy amd.

780G chipset is superb for a HTPC

_{once upon a midnight dreary, while i pron surfed, weak and weary, over many a strange and spurious site of ' hot xxx galore'. While i clicked my fav'rite bookmark, suddenly there came a warning, and my heart was filled with mourning, mourning for my dear amour, " 'Tis not possible!", i muttered, " give me back my free hardcore!"..... quoth the server, 404.}

2008-07-04 08:39:53

#21

GCFC: Davide Santon; +45|5950|NY/CT

m0v3m3nt wrote:
GCFC wrote:
idk if you really need 1kw psu and 8gb ram, but whatever you want
I figured the more RAM the better right? It's pretty cheap. The PSU could well be overkill though.

get faster ram instead of more ram

like 4gb ram (2x2gb) at 1066 instead of 800

Last edited by GCFC (2008-07-04 08:42:56)

2008-07-04 09:08:55

#22

Trotskygrad: бля; +354|6020|Vortex Ring State

GCFC wrote:
m0v3m3nt wrote:
GCFC wrote:
idk if you really need 1kw psu and 8gb ram, but whatever you want
I figured the more RAM the better right? It's pretty cheap. The PSU could well be overkill though.
get faster ram instead of more ram

like 4gb ram (2x2gb) at 1066 instead of 800

Well, if you have 8GB, you probably have enough to last for a couple years. However, faster RAM is a better choice if you don't plan to upgrade your software anytime soon. As for the PSU, 1kw is overkill.

2008-07-04 10:06:48

#23

Gooners: Wiki Contributor; +2,700|6653

']['error.V2 wrote:
edit: MSI motherboards suck fat dicks, go get a nice p35/p45/x38/x48(is that one even out yet?) motherboard.

X48 is out, I'm using it atm.

2008-07-05 07:04:28

#24

m0v3m3nt: Member; +15|6178

Thanks for all the advice, Lots of options....

I appreciate all the input, I ran out of karma half way down the thread

Guess I'll have a rethink, maybe save up some more cash.

2008-07-05 08:26:23

#25

unnamednewbie13: Moderator; +2,053|6792|PNW

Wallpaper wrote:
Definitely get a Q6600. I dont see any point in getting a dual core (even if it is quite speedy). The Q6600 (try to get it with G0 stepping) is a good overclocker, so if you need more speed later on you can OC instead of buying a new processor.

Isn't the Q9300 only around $80 more?

BF2S Forums Opinions wanted on proposed rig.

Mitch92uK wrote:

GCFC wrote:

m0v3m3nt wrote:

Mitch92uK wrote:

GCFC wrote:

Gooners wrote:

Mitch92uK wrote:

Mitch92uK wrote:

m0v3m3nt wrote:

Mitch92uK wrote:

m0v3m3nt wrote:

signa wrote:

m0v3m3nt wrote:

GCFC wrote:

GCFC wrote:

m0v3m3nt wrote:

GCFC wrote:

']['error.V2 wrote:

Wallpaper wrote:

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