Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: Silat on July 27, 2007, 07:50:35 PM
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Hi guys, gals and undecided.
Helping someone put together a system.
Please make any changes you feel would improve the system.
The $$ amount max is $1500 excluding monitor.
Monitor choice is the Samsung 226:
Motherboard - Asus p5w-dh deluxe 975w
CPU - Conroe E6850
Sound Card - Audigy2
Video Card - Sapphire or ? X1950XT 256mb -
Ram - G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail $180
Power Supply - PC P&C Silencer 610W EPS12V $149.99
CD DVD RW -
HD - A Western Digital Caviar type 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Case -
Windows XP pro w/sp2 - about $120
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3 gig harddrive?
or am I reading that wrong
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Originally posted by SpikesX
3 gig harddrive?
or am I reading that wrong
3.0gb/s transfer.. lol Best cases out right now are antec 900 and P180 series. I'd defiently get a better videocard
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Sounds kick-arnold to me ;)
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Yeah video card is on the low end.
Go with nvidia based with at least 512MB RAM on board. Like 7950 or 8800 series.
As far as the case, I used the antec p180b case for my recent system, it's a little heavier than I wanted but very nice, lots of silient 120mm fans.
I'd also go with a seagate drive, seagate is only company that offers 5 year warranty with their drives.
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Are you planning on overclocking this system? If not, stick with 800mhz DDR2, its a lot cheaper than 1066mhz. You would need a water cooled overclock to use 1066mhz to its potential. Otherwise you're just throwing money away. Even 667mhz DDR2 will work within like 2% of the 800mhz stuff because you're matching it with a 1:1 ratio (667mhz x 2 = 1333mhz = 1333mhz E6850's FSB) with the FSB speed. But 800mhz gives you headroom for upgrades and is about the same price as the 667mhz, so stick with 800. If you overclock your system with 800mhz DDR2, you can pump the FSB of the Conroe up to 1600mhz without overclocking the RAM. But overclocking is a different tune.
This is what I use in my system. 4gb of it. It's 667mhz but has good timings. $82.99. Same brand as you picked out G.Skill. I've had no issues with this ram.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231055
I would recommend this ram over the above one. 800mhz, good reviews (500+) 5 stars on neweeg. $88.99.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231098
With the money you save on your ram ($90-100) you can add a little more horsepower to your video card.
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actually the 1950 cards arnt "low end", ive got a x1950xtx 512 card and that thing just screams . its just a hair under a 8800 but without the driver problems.
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Originally posted by Roscoroo
actually the 1950 cards arnt "low end", ive got a x1950xtx 512 card and that thing just screams . its just a hair under a 8800 but without the driver problems.
Specifically what card for less than $300?
And specifically what memory for the system?
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you pesky budget card buyer :D
id probely stay with the cheaper priced 1950 over the 7950 ...from what ive read thru the reviews/tests dollar for dollar the 1950 is the better bang for buck . and most of the tests are very comparable (when there not porked by overclocking) so in reality there bolth very good cards ...it just depends on how much you wanna spend.
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Here, if you want to rate video cards, use the Tomshardware.com Video card charts. You can select different cards, select the game, resolution etc. This is an overall FPS off all the games combined.
8800GTS 640mb (what I have and no driver issues) - this 320mb are a little slower buy you can save some $$.
vs.
1950XTX 512mb
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=723&model2=707&chart=318
I'd avoid the 2900 series ATI cards for now, their initial release showed driver problems and the cards were underperforming (in addition to running on the hot side). Recent updates have showed a boost in performance.
Here's one of my favorite articles the site does each month. Best video card for the money. Gives you price ranges and what card is best bang for the buck. This is the July edition. August is almost here so look for the article again.
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/07/03/the_best_gaming_video_cards_for_the_money/
According to that lin above, best bang for the buck in the ~$280 PCI-E category is the 8800GTS 320mb.
"The GeForce 8800 GTS is the little brother of the 8800 GTX, and both are based on the same Nvidia next-generation DirectX 10 GPU. The 8800 GTS is slightly crippled compared to the GTX, but it will still beat powerhouse cards like the dual-GPU 7950 GX2 in many cases. At $280, this card really brings unheard-of performance for the price. It also isn't notably slower than it's 640MB 8800 GTS cousin, which costs almost $100 more.
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For a ~$200 range:
1950XT (not XTX)
"The X1950 XT is a powerful video card. Its core runs a mere 25 MHz slower than that of the X1950 XTX, and its memory runs a full 250 MHz (effective) faster than the X1900 XTX. In English, it is on par with the previous X1900 XTX champ, and fast enough to run at high resolutions with nice eye candy. It will handily beat a 7950 GT, and even best a 7900 GTO or 7900 GTX at most things.
The X1950 XT is an incredible deal at the $200 price point and I've seen it go for as low as $180 on Newegg. Many are $250 or higher though, and at that price it begins to tread too closely to the 8800 GTS, which is more powerful."
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I'd at least consider a P35 MB...
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Originally posted by humble
I'd at least consider a P35 MB...
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Humble which one? And do the p35 mb's only take ddr3 or both ddr2 and 3?
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Originally posted by Roscoroo
you pesky budget card buyer :D
id probely stay with the cheaper priced 1950 over the 7950 ...from what ive read thru the reviews/tests dollar for dollar the 1950 is the better bang for buck . and most of the tests are very comparable (when there not porked by overclocking) so in reality there bolth very good cards ...it just depends on how much you wanna spend.
HAHA its for someone else:)
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I know that ... i'm just rubbin ur stockings the wrong way :D
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Originally posted by Silat
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Humble which one? And do the p35 mb's only take ddr3 or both ddr2 and 3?
Hey Silat, I found this last week when I was researching a new pc.
ASUS P5K PREMIUM/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131190)
it takes DDR2 but only 1066 MHz and is $239.99 at newegg.
ASUS P5K DELUXE/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131182)
DDR2 1066/800/667 MHz at $239.99
they have a few others ranging in different prices also.
Lambo
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Originally posted by lambo31
Hey Silat, I found this last week when I was researching a new pc.
ASUS P5K PREMIUM/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131190)
it takes DDR2 but only 1066 MHz and is $239.99 at newegg.
Lambo
May be a typo, or there are discrepencies with the listing. I did find that board sold elsewhere where it listed only 1066mhz DDR2. I just found this hard to believe for them to design a motherboard that only accepts one speed of ram.
This site lists its specs as taking 667 to 1066mhz DDR2
http://www.overclock3d.net/news.php?/cpu_mainboard/asus_p5k_premium_preview/1
There's no info on the board on Asus's site. I've always loved their products but their site has always sucked.
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There are alot of P35 boards out. Some are DDR2, some DDR3 and some "combo". Toms did a P35 run off with 8 boards I think. Even the "budget" P35's did very well....I have an Asus P5K wifi board.
Link to Toms P35 comparison (http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/06/19/eight_p35-ddr2_motherboards_compared/)
You can get same board minus wifi for ~$135. If you look at the chart at end the difference between my board and the other P35 boards is pretty minimal...but they all are better then the "comparison" board for gaming. I dont think you'd really go wrong with any of them...obviously the P5K is a good choice:)...
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The Asus takes any DDR2 but supports PC8500 (1066) {which is what i'm running}. As mentioned you really dont "need" PC8500 but the board is amazingly overclockable so I figured it was worth the few extra bucks (was on sale for about $10 more then the 800's
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He didn't mention anything about wanting to overclock his system. Yeah, if he wanted to, you could probably reach 4ghz with a water cooling setup, but just from this thread I don't think he's really interested in setting a record. I would take convenience (ram selection) in this case with his computer than the potential of overclocking which doesn't seem to be his aim at all (correct me if I'm wrong).
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You need Asus p5k (-C - with support both ddr3 and ddr2, or chip -SE, but you will have only one slot for chassis fun). Or any from P5K.
Why?
1. You gonna get E6850, it supports 1333 FSB, you need mobo which supports the same FSB. P5K does that, p5w does not.
2. This mobo supports DDR2 1066, p5w only 800.