Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: ariansworld on July 18, 2007, 08:41:46 PM
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Got any ideas on what I should build around Conroe that is not a wallet breaker?
Thanks
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Whats your buget? Are you looking for a full build case and all?
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$400 - $1k
medium tower
500 watt power supply or better.
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Originally posted by ariansworld
$400 - $1k
medium tower
500 watt power supply or better.
Ohh i can throw a good setup together for that...:D
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I need a parts list :D then I will be good to go. :aok
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I don't know a good motherboard. Mine's only so-so (it does what I need but not the best). If you can hold off, I think they'll be releasing the successor to the Conroe sometime this Fall. It's got a higher FSB. Even if you don't go for it, it will lower the price of current chips even further.
If you can't wait, here's my top "budget" choice.
CPU:
E6420 (4MB cache) (~$186 on newegg)
or if you have more $,
E6600 (~$222 on newegg)
Motherboard is going to cost anywhere from $70 to $200. This isn't my area of expertise, as I haven't had a conroe chip for very long. It MUST have PCI Express (not AGP) otherwise you'll have to replace it at a later time, and waste money.
Vid Card: (ATI and Nvidia suggestions for price)
$100 range: X1650 or Ge7600GT (avoid 8500s and other 8000s below 8600)
$150 range: X1950 or Ge7900GS/Ge7950
$300 range: Ge8800GTS 320MB.
Personally I won't get an 8000 series unless it's an 8800GTS with 320MB or more. Anything less than 320MB is a stripped down card. X1950 seems best bang/buck right now, for upper-mid-range cards. Ge8000s aren't worth it IMO (and this is just my personal opinion based on what I've read).
PSU:
I don't know that many good PSUs... I know the one I have is from a good manufacturer. I did a newegg search (just one of many places you can look) and found they have 500W PSUs from $60-$90 range. Plan on spending $100. I have a bookmark from when I got mine.
http://www.devhardware.com/forums/power-supply-units-98/how-to-choose-a-power-supply-94217.html
It lists good PSU manufacturers, crappy ones (avoid those), and OK ones. It will help you in your search.
HD: If you can't use your existing one, plan on spending $150 for a good SATA hard drive.
CASE: If you want a new case, you need to add anywhere from $30 (my barebones case cost this much) to $120 or more. Average is probably $50-$60.
CPU: ~$200
MOBO: Probably around $100
VIDEO: Say $160
PSU: Say $100
RAM: DDR2 or DDR3 expect to spend $120 for 2x 1GB sticks
Assuming you keep your current monitor and CD-ROMs and all that stuff, this adds up to about $780 or so. If you already have DDR2 ram and get a new MOBO that accepts DDR2 you can save some money by using what you have.
All prices subject to change, this is only one combination of an infinite number of possibilities.
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A basic system from Newegg with good performance, right near the $1K mark:
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price
1 Antec Solo Black/Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Model #: Solo
Item #: N82E16811129018
$99.99
1 ASUS P5K LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Model #: P5K
Item #: N82E16813131180
$139.99
1 Leadtek PX8600GTS 256MB Standard GeForce 8600GTS 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail
Model #: PX8600GTS 256MB Stan
Item #: N82E16814122026
$159.99
1 Antec True Power Trio TP3-550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply with Three 12V Rails - Retail
Model #: TP3-550
Item #: N82E16817371002
$79.99
1 Intel Core 2 Duo E6320 Conroe 1.86GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6320 - Retail
Model #: BX80557E6320
Item #: N82E16819115015
$165.50
1 CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Desktop Memory Model VS1GBKIT667D2 - Retail
Model #: VS1GBKIT667D2
Item #: N82E16820145568
$44.99 (for $65 you can get a pair of 1GB sticks from Corsair)
1 Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) ST3250620AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Model #: ST3250620AS
Item #: N82E16822148144
$67.99
1 LITE-ON Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model SHD-16S1S-05 - OEM
Model #: SHD-16S1S-05
Item #: N82E16827106039
$17.99
1 LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black SATA Model LH-20A1S OEM BK - OEM
Model #: LH-20A1S OEM BK
Item #: N82E16827106070
$30.99
1 Microsoft Windows XP Professional With SP2B 1 Pack - OEM
Model #: E85-04741
Item #: N82E16832116059
$139.99
Subtotal: $947.41
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Thanks, I would recycle parts, but they are currently over 800 miles away from me at the moment.
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As mentioned elsewhere here I'd go with a MB with the P-35 (http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/06/19/eight_p35-ddr2_motherboards_compared/) chipset. It will support the next generation of intel cpu's. I have the Asus P5K-E and highly recommend it...
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1 CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Desktop Memory Model VS1GBKIT667D2 - Retail
Model #: VS1GBKIT667D2
Item #: N82E16820145568
$44.99 (for $65 you can get a pair of 1GB sticks from Corsair)
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if your planing on over clocking i would suggest you step up to the xms or platinum series ram ... the value select is ok ... but it wont like the more aggressive timings.
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Originally posted by humble
As mentioned elsewhere here I'd go with a MB with the P-35 (http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/06/19/eight_p35-ddr2_motherboards_compared/) chipset. It will support the next generation of intel cpu's. I have the Asus P5K-E and highly recommend it...
The next generation will be focusing on the DDR3 design. A DDR2 setup on the P35 is premature for the next generation.
Some have dual slots for both which would be a good deal, but will limit you in total memory available in either DDR2 or DDR3 as compared to boards that have just DDR2 or DDR3. Otherwise if you're planning on a ddr2 setup, I'd check out some other 'older' boards. DDR3 memory right now is mucho expensiveo.
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Sorry about that.. lol started dueling then got tired.. Krusty has listed a setup though
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Originally posted by Fulmar
The next generation will be focusing on the DDR3 design. A DDR2 setup on the P35 is premature for the next generation.
Some have dual slots for both which would be a good deal, but will limit you in total memory available in either DDR2 or DDR3 as compared to boards that have just DDR2 or DDR3. Otherwise if you're planning on a ddr2 setup, I'd check out some other 'older' boards. DDR3 memory right now is mucho expensiveo.
The P-35 boards are equal or better to anything out there right now. DDR2 is much faster right now then DDR3. The P-35 will work with intels next generation of CPU's (of course that could change). You can get a good P-35 board for just over $100. Right now the limiting factor isnt the MB its windows. You cant run 4G without all kinds of tweaks anyway...so "combo" boards arent really hurting you (personally dont see the need). The P-35 boards are also good OC boards for the most part...
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Originally posted by humble
The P-35 boards are equal or better to anything out there right now. DDR2 is much faster right now then DDR3.
Right now the low end DDR3 chips (1333) are 'about' as good as DDR2. Once DDR3-1600 and 2000 become the norm DDR2 will be in the past.
If you looking for the right now market and not to worried about it be future proof the P35 is a good board. Otherwise, a lot of the P35 boards, even the 200+ models are only offering DDR2 support with no support on DDR3.
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Originally posted by Fulmar
Right now the low end DDR3 chips (1333) are 'about' as good as DDR2. Once DDR3-1600 and 2000 become the norm DDR2 will be in the past.
If you looking for the right now market and not to worried about it be future proof the P35 is a good board. Otherwise, a lot of the P35 boards, even the 200+ models are only offering DDR2 support with no support on DDR3.
So far DDR3 lags far behind DDR2, obviously that will change but for now its not worth it. you can always wait for the next big leap. But if your building now then the P35 chip set is the best option. As you mentioned there are combo boards available. to the best of my knowledge there are no low latency DDR3 sticks on the market yet....so even if you got a DDR3 MB you'd be buying crappy memory for it...
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^ Latencies will be higher across the board in DDR3, but given the huge amount of headroom provided by the architecture, I don't see that as a negative. Once DDR3 gets rolling, it will be the standard. Latency doesn't mean as much as it used to, especially for overclocking; slower timings don't necessarily equate with poor memory performance, especially if your memory bus speeds are very high.
But I guess the point is, the guy wants to buy something today, not next year at this time, so the P35 is a great chipset and pairing it with DDR2 is not only ensuring great performance but cost-effectiveness.
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DDR3 latencies will always be higher. DDR latencies are roughly half of DDR2 and so on and so on. The clock speed is what makes up for it performance wise. With prices the way they are now, you can't beat DDR2.
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I'm not arguing that DDR3 is the future, it clearly is. At this time DDR2 outperforms DDR3 according to everything I've read at toms etc...DDR3 doesnt seem to offer the performance gain it will in the future or reasonable economics. I'm running PC8500 (1066) in my P5K and can overclock my CPU by 30% or more without any instability. Will a DDR3 box is a year beat it....sure but this box appears to have "longer legs" then anything I've ever built.