Specs for new rig

Pages: 1

Index »
Community »
Tech »
Specs for new rig

2006-08-10 05:12:45

aujt74: Member; +11|6997|Scotland!

My main aim for my new rig is to get the best system I can for as reasonable a price possible and to build a quiet/near silent rig. I'm looking to make it more than just a gaming rig, but an all round do everything system that has style and speed

I doubt I'll get Crossfire, but I'd like the option to get it if the prices become more reasonable and I can with the MB I've chosen.
My choice of GFX, and most other parts, was based on getting high end performance now that will last me a long time before I encounter games that I'll need to lower settings for, or applications that will really challenge the system. Also the cooling cant sound like a vacuum cleaner, so thats why I chose the HIS over other slightly cheaper x1900 cards.

Asus P5W DH Deluxe WiFi (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
Antec NEO HE500GB 500W Modular PSU With 80mm Low Speed/noise Fan 18db
Antec P180 EU Aluminium Super Miditower - No PSU
G.Skill 2GB DDR2 NR PC2-6400 (2x1GB) CAS5 Dual Channel Kit (F2-6400PHU2-2GBNR)
Western Digital WD740ADFD 74GB 10krpm 16MB Cache SATA 5.2ms Raptor - OEM
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB ST3250620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music - OEM
HIS ATI Radeon X1900 XT ICEQ 3 SILENT Heatpipe 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard UK - USB
NEC ND-4570 16x DVD±RW/RAM Double Layer Internal IDE (Black) - OEM
Asus DVD-E616P1 DVD-ROM (Black) - Retail ---- (or any other black DVD-ROM)
Mitsumi 7-in-1 USB2 Floppy Drive / Media Drive SM/MS/MD/CF/MM/SD Black
Samsung SM940BF 19" 2ms 1280x1024 DVI Black & Silver TFT Monitor + 3 years OnSite Warranty
Creative Labs Inspire T7900 7.1 Speakers System *OEM*

So opinions on the specs? Anyone got suggestions? Alternative parts? better value parts?
Worth getting a Zalman or other CPU cooler for a Conroe? Or is the stock cooler OK?
If anything I'm looking to reduce the price tag, but dont want to sacrifice too much performance.

Thanks in advance!

2006-08-10 07:15:38

Crap.Bag: Member; +5|7015

I might be able to add 1 or 2 points

If your getting a PC with that kinda spec and assuming your going from a 17" Monitor ?

I'd invest just a little bit more money in a 21" TFT chief because your not getting any extra resolution in a 19" just everything blown up more

If you go for the 21" option widescreen for an example you can go as far as 1680*1050 giving you a better desktop area and better for gaming

I have a Belinea and it's sweet similar to this

No blurring or crazy shit happening during me BF2 games everything on High

Hope that helps

Crap

2006-08-10 07:30:26

aujt74: Member; +11|6997|Scotland!

Yeh I'm going from a P4 1.8Ghz, 1GB RDRAM, HIS Radeon 9800Pro and a 17" CRT.
The max res in my Dell CRT was 1152x864, so at 1280x1024 I'm getting a little more resolution, but I take ur point.

Edit: (Its a Dell Dimension 8200 I've progressively upgraded... Never again Dell!)
Just about scrapes by on the lowest settings at 1024x768, but its laggy as hell in places, especially the Palace on Warlord if everyone is there - all I can do is nade spam and hope for the best.

I was thinking of a 21" monitor, just not found one with as good reviews as the 19" 940BF yet. In Anandtech's LCD Buyers Guide it is in their opinion the best gaming monitor around. I already use a 940B at work but I cant find them anywhere so I'm moving a model up. 2ms Grey to Grey response is pretty respectable, 3ms average, 7/8ms max response times.

But yeh I'll look around!

Cheers

Last edited by aujt74 (2006-08-10 07:37:05)

2006-08-10 07:37:44

Reizors: Ninja's > BF2s; +42|6825|Australia

Get the Tuniq Tower 120 for CPU cooling, its the best air cooler you can get, if you can get it.
If your interested in Crossfire but prices put you off, i suggest giving your rig a miss for a few weeks,
because ATI just crushed their prices in almost half, crossfire x1900xtx is dirt cheap,
wait awhile buddy, then invest in some crossfire for that mobo,
i have the same computer your getting,
conny 6600,
p5w dh deluxe,
gskill 800mhz 6400,
1 terrbyte hdds,
2x 21" monitors,
creative xFi,
7.1 creatives (nice quality on the XFI)
bfg 7900gt,
tuniq tower 120 for cpu cooler,
and zalman vf900 cu for vga gpu cooler,
on a 520w stealth Zantec psu, (quality over quanty of watts).

I hope that helps mate.
My suggestion, wait till ATI crossfire cards drop down in price in your area, so basically take note of the prices now, wait until you see a change in them, then buy them, they may not be reduced instantly, because the old stock has to be sold first, then new stock will be cheaper.

But the latest you will be waiting is 20th of august, that is when worldwide ATIs are fully price cut.

So wait til then, save a few more $$$$, then with your extra dollars, get yourself a sexy X1900 crossfire setup, and a 21" monitor, thats the only way to go buddy!

~Reizors.

(Goodluck.)

2006-08-10 07:40:48

Reizors: Ninja's > BF2s; +42|6825|Australia

Hey i read your edit, check this monitor out, i have a few laying around, and i got nothing but good praise to say about them:

BENQ FP202W 20 inch WideScreen LCD monitor

Cheaper then the majority of 20",
although i am using dual 21"s, these 20"s are good bang for buck, although you should check online reviews for them, you never know if i got lucky and the rest of the world have dodgy ones! hehe, wouldn't want you to buy something off just 1 opinion right?

Goodluck again bud.

~Reizors.

edit: PM'ed you some reviews, hope they help.

edit2: just checked your system out again, i got your keyboard too, very good.
oh and i wouldn't bother with raptors, just get SATAII seagates, they are quicker and more efficient then any WD harddrive, benchmarks to prove it.
seagate are built to last aswell.

Last edited by Reizors (2006-08-10 07:45:59)

2006-08-10 07:51:53

joker3327: =IBF2=; +305|6900|Cheshire. UK

All that Power consumption and keeping the abillity to Crossfire in the future I would look at a different PSU maybe try this

http://www.thermaltake.com/2005/purepow … /w0049.htm

Has a seperate 12v rail for Crossfire and SLI

Last edited by joker3327 (2006-08-10 07:52:31)

2006-08-10 07:52:24

ShotYourSix: Boldly going nowhere...; +196|7021|Las Vegas

After my experience with a Neo PSU I'd say ditch the Neo. When I was on the line with as ASUS tech because my machine would not power on, he correctly guessed that I was using a NEO. He said they had had hundreds of issues with Neo/A8N32-SLI. Switched to an Antec Phantom and it's been smooth sailing. This was 6 months ago, maybe they have improved them by now......dunno.

2006-08-10 07:53:07

aujt74: Member; +11|6997|Scotland!

Although I havent said much about money so far, I'm trying not to spend too much . I'm only a cash student after all
Single LCD for me, 19" or widescreen 20/21".

Ok, just checked the HIS x1900xt i'm looking at is currently at £230,$440, AUS$570, €340.
That seem about right for cut price?

Looking into the BENQ FP202W and the Belinea 102035W just now, seeing how cheap I can get them.
I'm not planning on building this till September, so I've got time yet. Just planning and researching it all now.

2006-08-10 07:54:05

Reizors: Ninja's > BF2s; +42|6825|Australia

Yeha listen to these guys, i have heard nothing but bad things from those NEO PSU's..
Apparently they die, and don't give the full power that they say, and all other kinds of shit.
Antec, Zantec, Thermaltake, they are just a few good PSU trusted brands, NEO is trash.

2006-08-10 07:59:06

Reizors: Ninja's > BF2s; +42|6825|Australia

aujt74 wrote:
I'm not planning on building this till September, so I've got time yet. Just planning and researching it all now.

September?? You've got NO PROBLEM!!!

"* ATI Radeon X1900 512MB CrossFire: USD$375, down from $500
* ATI Radeon X1900XTX 512MB: USD$370, down from $500
* ATI Radeon X1900XT 512MB: USD$310, down from $370
* ATI Radeon X1900GT 256MB: USD$280, down from $310
* Sapphire Radeon X1900GT 256MB: USD$230, down from $250

https://images.dailytech.com/nimage/2241_large_4218_182_small.png

Cheap ultra-high end Radeons are upon us

For those of you who can't wait until the Radeon X1950 to debut on the 27th, ATI has already started to cut pricing on the ASICs for the Radeon X1900 series cards: Radeon X1900 CrossFire, X1900XTX, X1900XT and X1900GT. Essentially, all of the ATI cards have shifted down a price tier, leaving the top $500 price tag open for the Radeon X1950.

Although the price reduction has mostly affected built-by-ATI cards, Sapphire and PowerColor are also starting to see some movement on the new pricing. Expect to see the rest of the industry follow shortly, and definitely expect to see all pricing adjusted before August 27th. ATI distributors claim there will be some availability of Radeon X1950 on the launch day.

The Radeon X1950 is ATI's first GDDR4 graphics card. The card is expected to fill in the pricing tier of the older Radeon X1900s."

Muhwuaha.. awesome huh? Crossfire for you!

2006-08-10 08:01:56

Reizors: Ninja's > BF2s; +42|6825|Australia

Oh and i forgot to mention that the P5W series is being advertised as Conroe-ready, but what ASUS forgot to mention to its customers was the fact that in many of the retail boxes feature old versions of the BIOS, which do not support Conroe as such. Many of the boards in the channel come with 0401 and 0501 revs which simply refuse to boot if the Conroe CPU is occupying the Socket - the board has to have 0601, 0701 or 0901 BIOS for Conroe to work flawlessly. So try to get the shop your buying it from to flash it up to latest bios, if you don't have a spare 775 lga cpu lying around.
I didn't cause I have all AMD's in my house, so i got the shop to flash mine up, cost nothing, as long as you get the mobo and CPU from same store/shop.

ps. sorry to continue posting new posts, but editing my old posts would make one long ass un-readable post.

2006-08-10 08:05:31

aujt74: Member; +11|6997|Scotland!

At the moment its a choice between the Samsung 19" 940BF, BENQ Widescreen 21" FP202W and the Belinea Widescreen 21" 102035W, and unfortunately I think its gonna come down to price
And of course the 940BF is cheapest. But I'll keep it in mind, I might put down that extra cash - not sure yet.
Cheers for the reviews, gonna have a look soon.

TBH I'm not gonna get hung up on Crossfire. Thanks for all the suggestions on PSU's for it though
TBH2 I'd settle for 1280x1024 at high settings or maybe 1600x1200 at high as well, but I'd be prepared to lose GFX quality if I had to. I'd rather the game ran completely smooth and look pretty good, than run it at super high settings for shear kicks .

I'm a student so money is a pretty big issue!

Thanks for everyones help so far!!!!!

2006-08-10 08:14:10

aujt74: Member; +11|6997|Scotland!

Reizors wrote:
Oh and i forgot to mention that the P5W series is being advertised as Conroe-ready, but what ASUS forgot to mention to its customers was the fact that in many of the retail boxes feature old versions of the BIOS, which do not support Conroe as such. Many of the boards in the channel come with 0401 and 0501 revs which simply refuse to boot if the Conroe CPU is occupying the Socket - the board has to have 0601, 0701 or 0901 BIOS for Conroe to work flawlessly. So try to get the shop your buying it from to flash it up to latest bios, if you don't have a spare 775 lga cpu lying around.
I didn't cause I have all AMD's in my house, so i got the shop to flash mine up, cost nothing, as long as you get the mobo and CPU from same store/shop.

ps. sorry to continue posting new posts, but editing my old posts would make one long ass un-readable post.

Ha that will be fun I'm buying online so if its an old BIOS revision im screwed

2006-08-10 08:19:58

Reizors: Ninja's > BF2s; +42|6825|Australia

I bought mine online too, from an online store, you can go to their store but its just a warehouse, they i asked them if they could flash it for me and they hooked me up, although i am a good customer with them, thats how i got my shit cheap and preordered early, conroe 6600+ and above aren't here in aus yet for a few more weeks! haha.

but yeah, just ring them up or email them and ask if they can check the bios version, or even just flash it for you, even for a few bucks, its worth it, rather then chasing up a mate who uses 775lga cpu.

don't stray from asus p5w either just because of that problem, its a good mobo, the remote kicks ass!

2006-08-10 08:23:23

aujt74: Member; +11|6997|Scotland!

Reizors wrote:
don't stray from asus p5w either just because of that problem, its a good mobo, the remote kicks ass!

I'm not going to. Its a kick ass mobo. Only thing I wondered about using was the remote? I will use most features, including the wifi but I'd love to know what practical use the remote is?

And I will make sure its Conroe ready

2006-08-10 08:30:17

Reizors: Ninja's > BF2s; +42|6825|Australia

It turns your pc on off, you can plug your ipod into your pc, and listen to it while the computer is off, (ur speakers still work while pc is "off"), umm... you can load apps, and assign buttons on the remote to load certain songs, like a 1 hour mix track, or perhaps load up itunes, then press play button and it will play songs..

Hope this all helps for your rig decision,
btw, what case are you getting?? :S

If your going to pursue the Tuniq Tower, make sure its at least 19~ cm wide, otherwise the cooler won't fit.

https://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e211/Nasgul04/7.jpg

Muhwauhauh my beast.

2006-08-10 08:38:31

aujt74: Member; +11|6997|Scotland!

Ok seems like I'll have a use for it then!
I am getting an Antec P180 case. I'll look up prices for the Tuniq.
Although my understanding is that Conroes produce less heat anyway? I've seen the Tuniq before but thought it was a little overkill. For a CPU fan I was thinking of a Zalman Aero Flower.

Dammit cant find the Tuniq Tower at the suppliers I'm using for this. I would need to source it from another store, so it would be 3 deliveries from 3 online stores .

Edit: Typo

Last edited by aujt74 (2006-08-10 08:39:34)

2006-08-10 08:53:27

aujt74: Member; +11|6997|Scotland!

Thermal paste. Would I need to buy this seperately? If i went for the stock cooler I wouldnt need to buy it seperately would I?

I think my plan is to go for stock at first and if I really feel the need to (too loud, too hot etc) I'd go custom.

2006-08-10 09:29:16

ShotYourSix: Boldly going nowhere...; +196|7021|Las Vegas

Keep in mind, depending on if you have a mobo tray or not could leave you having to remove the mobo to replace a CPU fan (depending whether the fan uses a back plate behind the mobo). I had to do this once to change a fan and with the added problem of watercooling CPU/GPU/Chipset, it really SUCKED.

2006-08-10 13:49:33

kylef: Gone; +1,352|6795|N. Ireland

Where are you / where did you get your P180 from? I'm purchasing one, eBuyer seems to be the cheapest..

2006-08-10 15:21:34

Cybargs: Moderated; +2,285|7018

thermal paste get artic silver 5.

dont worry about the tower... it will fit most cases. screw the raptor, raid those 2 seagate drives, you would get better performance than the raptors

https://cache.www.gametracker.com/server_info/203.46.105.23:21300/b_350_20_692108_381007_FFFFFF_000000.png

2006-08-10 16:11:28

a fly: Member; +105|6946|The netherlands

Not reading after first 3 post. (and last one from cyborg)

that thermal paste is very good (it was best last time i/my bro used it)

http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getart … rticID=477

thats a very good pasive cooler. if it fits in there, use it (link from tweakers.net)

2006-08-10 16:22:11

aujt74: Member; +11|6997|Scotland!

leetkyle wrote:
Where are you / where did you get your P180 from? I'm purchasing one, eBuyer seems to be the cheapest..

Ebuyer is the cheapest I can find of UK online suppliers

cyborg_ninja-117 wrote:
dont worry about the tower... it will fit most cases. screw the raptor, raid those 2 seagate drives, you would get better performance than the raptors

My only problem with the Tuniq is actually getting it. Overclockers UK and Ebuyer UK do not stock it. I'm looking around, found one supplier so far.

Anyone UK based know good places to get a Tuniq Tower?

Cheers

Pages: 1

Index »
Community »
Tech »
Specs for new rig

Board footer

Jump to

BF2S Forums Specs for new rig

aujt74 wrote:

Reizors wrote:

Reizors wrote:

leetkyle wrote:

cyborg_ninja-117 wrote:

Board footer