Stephen
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Posts posted by Stephen
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I'm going to be doing my first build sometime in January. I'm looking for advice on the order to assemble the parts. I've seen several lists of which parts to do in what order, with a few variations.
In general, it's as follows:
PSU
Mobo
CPU
CPU HSF
RAM
video card
floppy
Hard Drives
optical drives
testing
I have some variations where the PSU goes in after the mobo & CPU - particularly with the Antec P180 case.
I have also read some variations where people recommend testing the bios after the mobo & cpu - though it wasn't clear to me if they had installed the ram yet or not. Is it possible they didn't install the ram before testing, or did they just forget to mention that step.
I'm interested in opinions on all of the above, and any other advice anyone would like to share.
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Check these stats out!
None of this is relevant to my question. I already know the stats of the processor, as well as the stats of others. I'm interested in whether or not there's a likelihood of the price dropping, given how prices have gone historically.
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I'm planning on getting the Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 for my new build. I plan on building the computer near the end of January. I'm trying to decide if I should buy within the next week, or wait until some time in January. Does anyone know if the price is likely to come down after Christmas and by mid-January? Or should I just bite the bullet and get it now?
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Here are a few cards that I found Stephen:
~ High End ~
Sapphire Radeon x1950XT - This one is the fastest, but it takes up two slots; I'm not sure if that makes a difference to you, but I thought I should mention it
ATI Radeon x1950XT - This one is a little bit slower, a little less expensive, and it only takes up one slot
~ Mid Range ~
ATI Radeon x1650PRO - This one's got 512 MBs of GDDR2, and a pretty decent core, although significantly slower than the x1900 series
ASUS Radeon x1650XT - This one is the slowest, but not by a very big margin; not to mention, it only costs $150! If you want to save some cash, and sacrifice a little performance, this is by no means a bad card
There were tons of other cards that fit your budget, but these are all from companies that I really like. Diamond and HIS Hightech also had some pretty good deals, but I've never bought from them before, so I can't really recommend them. Let me know what you think.
The link for the x1950xt actually brought up a 1950 pro - which I've read on some reviews is noticeably slower than expected. The Sapphire card is one I hadn't looked at before. I definitely will consider it. Thanks!
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Looks like a very nice system, Stephen. As far as your video card goes, I personally favor ATI cards for a number of reasons:
1. If you want multiple video cards, ATI's Crossfire setup is better than Nvidia's SLI in almost every category.
2. ATI has recently teamed up with AMD (major CPU manufacturer) which means that you can expect great things from them in the near future.
3. Nvidia cards have never been able been able to render both HDR (High Dynamic Range) lighting and antialiasing at the same time, which means in games you have to either use one or the other, and not both. ATI cards, on the other hand, can do both simultaneously, which makes for a much better gaming experience.
4. ATI has recently put out video cards using GDDR4 as video RAM, which is way freakin' faster than GDDR3. I'm not sure if Nvidia has embraced the new video RAM yet, but it sure is a beautiful thing.
Anyways, those are my personal reasons for favoring ATI over Nvidia. It is true that Nvidia has one DX10 card out on the market now, but ATI will be releasing theirs soon, and I've never known ATI to disappoint, so keep your eyes peeled.
What price range did you want to stay in for your video card? There are a few cards in different ranges that I've had very good luck with, so if you can give me a ballpark figure, I can post some links for you. Have fun building your new rig!
I'm not sure about the price - partly because I'm not sure if I at what point to get a DX10 card. I guess I'm in the $200 - $300 price range.
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Your motherboard and processor are compatible, but unless I'm reading this wrong, your memory isn't.
They list other types, but not PC2-6400.
Four 240-pin DDR2 SDRAM Dual Inline Memory Module (DIMM) sockets
Support for DDR2 800, DDR2 667, or DDR2 533 MHz DIMMs
Support for up to 8 GB of system memory
Support for ECC and non-ECC memory
About your GFX card: I know that ATI makes the All-In-Wonder series, but NVIDIA's 8800 GTX is the most powerful card out there. Link 2 in SLI = amazing-ness. Just a little FYI.
EDIT- Your powersupply might be undersized. Not 100% sure on that.
AJ
??? Isn't DDR2 800 the same thing as PC2-6400?
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I'm going to do my first build early next year. The computer will be used for video editing, moderate gaming (e.g., occasional game of Half Life 2), web surfing, and general applications. My proposed parts are as follows:
Antec P180 case
Antec NeoHE 500 PSU
ACEDVio video capture card
Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS Soundcard
Plextor PX-755SA DVD/CD burner
ASUS DVD-E616A2 BK DVD ROM/CD reader
Sony MPF920 Black floppy drive
Western Digital Raptor 150GB HD (OS and applications)
Seagate 300GB SATA HD (storage - mostly for vide editing)
Intel D975XBX2 mobo
Intel Core Duo E6700 processor
Zalman CNPS9500 LED CPU fan
Crucial 2GB Kit - DDR2 PC2-6400 (CT2KIT12864AA80E) memory
ATI video/graphics card - don't know which one yet
Zalman VF900-Cu Video card fan
Windows Vista OS
I'm interested in ideas for a graphics card. I use Vegas Video for my video editing work, I don't do any graphics creation as part of that, so I don't need to worry about that for the graphics card.
I'm also interested in feedback on my memory choice - is it compatible with the mobo and processor?
Any feedback?
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Does anyone have the Intel D975XBX2KR mobo and the Antec NeoHE 500 psu? Any compatibility issues?
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Have used Crucial memory in allot of computer never had a problem with any of it. Cant say much about the other brand good or bad no experience with it.
Any recpmmendations as to which Crucial memory to get?
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I am getting the Intel D975XBX2 mobo and the Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 Conroe for a new build. I will be getting either Corsair or Crucial memory.
The computer will be used for video editing, some gaming, and general use (web surfing, email, etc.). I am interested in memory that is stable and fast, and compatible with the mobo and processor above. Overclocking is not a big priority. Flashing lights on the memory is not something I need either.
Any opinions on the best memory to get?
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Has anyone heard of eWiz.com? More importantly, has anyone bought from them? How do they compare to New Egg?
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I'm considering the Intel D975XBX2KR mobo for my new build (which I'm planning on doing early next year). New Egg has it for $329.99 plus shipping. I've seen it for less on several other sites - but they all have bad ratings on Resellers Ratings. Does anyone know of any good, reputable on-line vendors that carry it for less?
Does anyone know if the New Egg price is likely to drop before Christmas?
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I've been looking at the 150GB Raptors, for their speed at booting up and their speed handling other tasks. I currently have a three year old Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 SATA drive with 8mb cache.
Does anyone have experience with both of these drives? I'd like to know how much louder the raptor would be compared to my current drive.
After the raptor, what is the next best (speed and performance wise) comparable drive that is quieter? And how would it compare to my current drive?
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I think the kaspersky suite is supposed to be pretty good. I've only tried the antivirus so I cant comment on the spyware,firewall components.
Nod32 isn't a bad program though.(its considered by many to be the best)
If your happy with the programs and your not getting infections then I would keep what you've got.(quite honestly for paid programs it doesn't get any better then what you have.) If your licenses are all about to expire and you just want to try kaspersky you can of course trial it here:
http://www.kaspersky.com/trials
Do you have a router?
Yes, I have a router.
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I currently am using NOD 32 AV, Outpost Pro 4 firewall, and SpySweeper. While I know Kaspersky AV is good (comparable to NOD 32), I don't know about the rest of the Kaspersky suite. I am considering switching the above softwares to Kaspersky - I know generally it's better to get individual software rather than a suite, but it seems like the suites are getting better. Does anyone out there have experience with these various software combos and suite options?
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Link to both programs please.
Just want to make sure I know which programs your talking about.
I read wilders every now and then. I like some of the topics but a lot of the people there are quite paranoid.
I love all the threads where the people run like 20 real time programs.
IMHO best security forum is spywareinfo: http://forums.spywareinfo.com/
Here are the links:
http://www.diamondcs.com.au/processguard/index.php?page=home
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Has anyone heard of or used either ProSecurity or Process Guard? I'm interested in comparisons between the two.
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I'm looking ahead to a new build. Is there some good software that can be used to save the log-in passwords from IE7, and then used when I install IE7 in my new build?
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I got some advice on another forum that appears to have done the trick. Here's the suggestion.
In IE7, use the Reset Internet Explorer Settings as follows:
1. Click the Tools menu, and then click Internet Options.
2. On the Advanced tab, click Reset.
3. In the Reset Internet Explorer Settings dialog box, click Reset.
4. When Internet Explorer 7 finishes restoring the default settings, click Close, and then click OK two times.
5. Close Internet Explorer 7. The changes take effect the next time that you open Internet Explorer 7.
Note If you cannot start Internet Explorer 7 for some reason, use RIES from Internet Options in Control Panel.
RIES restores the default settings of the following features:
? Home pages
? Search scopes
? Browsing history
? Form data
? Passwords
? Appearance settings
? Toolbars
? ActiveX controls
NOTE: This completely wipes out saved passwords and log-ins, though it left the favorites.
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do you by any chance have Surfsaver?
also, i found a little detail but no way to solve it as of yet.
ill keep looking
No, I don't have Surfsaver.
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I am getting this error message (C++ event sink: Failed to Unadvise) sometimes when I try to close a tab in IE7. It doesn't happen every time, and there does not appear to be a pattern. I sometimes also got this with IE6, though not as often. Does anyone know how to fix this?
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They both have a 5 year warranty. If you need a manual for the OEM, they should have a download on WD's website. I'd go for it. Only problem should be finding firmware updates.
Why is it harder with the OEM version to find firmware updates?
Sometimes with OEM you get a floppy with Serial ATA drivers, since Windows XP cant install itself on SATA disks without SATA device drivers.
Sometimes you can also get a floppy or CD with S.M.A.R.T tools for monitoring the health of your hard disk......
I've read several places that claim Windows XP can install itself on newer SATA disks without SATA device drivers. Has anyone else heard this? What about Vista?
Regarding S.M.A.R.T. tools, can those be downloaded from the WD website for the Raptor?
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New Egg has the WD Raptor 150GB HD - both retail and OEM versions. The OEM version is $90 cheaper ($30 of that through a mail-in rebate). The OEM price seems hard to beat - so are the any advantages to getting the retail version? Is the warranty the same? What comes with the retail version besides the bare drive?
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Any ideas when (or if) the new Raptors will come down in price?
First build - looking for advice
in Hardware
Posted
??? I guess I wasn't clear. I'm looking for advice on the order in which I put the components into the case.