Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: bmwgs on July 19, 2008, 01:09:50 PM
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I am thinking, well no, I'm going to build a computer for gaming, specifically for Aces High.
I have a couple of friends that will help put it together, but they are not gamers.
What I need to know is what is the top end for power supply, mother board, sound board, and such so I don't have to do this again for a while. I already understand graphics cards, but any recommendations would be of help.
So if someone has a couple of minutes and has the knowledge, can you post a list of what is needed to make a basic system for gaming. I do not plan to use the computer for internet or anything else.
Thanks
Fred
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A 1500W power supply, one of these (http://www.xfxforce.com/en-gb/products/motherboards/7series/790.aspx) with a intel Quad Extreme CPU and 3 of these (http://www.xfxforce.com/en-gb/products/graphiccards/200series/280GTX.aspx). Slap on some fast RAM, hook up SATA disks in RAID mode, or if you're really serious get a solid-state disk. Then if you want best possible graphics experience get a good 30" widescreen LCD, and a TrackIR.
That's a pretty good high-end setup just off the top of my head. It will cost you $$$ but you'll have fun with it.
Good luck with your project! :aok
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Your first step bmwgs is to figure out a budget. You can get a nice Aces High gaming system for about $500 on the average (w/o monitor).
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Your first step bmwgs is to figure out a budget. You can get a nice Aces High gaming system for about $500 on the average (w/o monitor).
I have a fairly new computer that works pretty good now. I have no real budget in mind, but just looking to get the best bang for the buck. I'm not looking for anyting more than what
Aces High can handle. Just want to get the best experience possible.
Fred
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My thoughts:
E8400 intel chip
Abit IP35 pro or newer, easy to overclock. Still though nothing wrong with a Gigabyte board.
I would choose a modular PS. I forgot what my PS is. But go for a least 550 watts.
Get a sound card: I use asus but that doesn't matter Just get one.
Video card. I'm no expert here. However, I use an ATI 3850. I hear the 4850 and 4870 are awesome.
Get a good heatsink and fan. I use a Zalman but the one Falcon is getting is highly rated and only cost 27 bucks.
Might as well grab 4 gigs of memory. Get it all at once.
Other than that it is as easy as playing with legos. Although I could never figure out what the yellow ones were for.
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Best overall Power Supply going right now for a gaming rig is this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139002
They have one better, but it costs almost twice as much. This one will run anything on the market right now and do it in style. SLI and/or Crossfire ready, modular cabling, 3x12v rails that deliver 18A nominal power, 30A max and 2x120mm fans to keep it from overheating. Plus, nobody that I know of is making better quality units right now than this one. Newegg has 379 reviews showing on this one, and almost 90% gave it a perfect score. It will run the most power hungry video cards on the market and do it without flinching.
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Gigabyte or ASUS MB and definately Intel if you can afford it. I prefer Asus.
I went with bluegears b-Enspirer sound card because it uses the least amount of CPU (less is good in flight sims) AND it has the best reviews for audio quality in a sound card below $200 plus it gets along with XP and Vista. What ever you do dont go with onboard sound. It has never been good enough for AHII no matter what you hear. (ha!)
Get a new copy of XP SP3 before they run out! I love Vista but you might not.
If you decide to go with Vista (or even if you dont) you might want to stick to ATI video. ATI has fewer driver issues with Vista. Most of the 'anti-Vista' talk you hear is because of all the really really poor Nvidia drivers that were around when Vista was released (chipsets too). Still I like Nvidia because of the bang you get for every dollar its just you sometimes have to deal with waiting on problems to be fixed.
Get the fastest hard drive you can afford say 7200 rpm and 32 Meg cache.
I like the Antec or Kingwin PSUs myself and I have a Kingwin 900 right now but they are expensive.
Do your homework! Whatever MB you decide on get the manufacturers QVL for memory. Read reviews and customer reviews. I like newegg because you can see how the product rates with customers and you can get an idea of how the QA/QC of each product reveals itself in customer satisfaction. For instance if you see 240 reviews of a product and 79% are 5 stars you know the product is making people happy. Read the forums for the MB brand AND the memory brand you choose. Obviously I like Asus MBs and Corsair memory. You can get a feel for what to expect in setting things up by reading the boards.
Dont get in a hurry go slow and build your knowledge as you go so you will be satisfied.
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Thanks, I'm getting some good advise.
As for the OS I already have XP Home with service pack 2 on disk that I bought some time ago. I assume I can download the service pack 3 from the internet. Am I thinking wrong?
And no, I'm not in a rush, just want to do it right the first time. :)
Thanks Again for all the responses,
Fred
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Here. I just built this in March. It's overkill for AH but will give you some ideas I suppose (Just under $2000 all in including mouse, keyboard, cables, surge protectors, shipping etc. as I kept my old machine and needed to buy everything except the two ATA hard drives).
Coolermaster Cavalier
EVGA NVidia NForce 780i
Intel E6750 Conroe 2.66Ghz (OC'd to 3.2 Ghz)
Kingston HyperX DDR2 800 2x1Gb
EVGA 8800 GTS 512 G92
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro
PC Power & Cooling S75QB 750W PSU
Seagate Barracuda 250 Gb SATA HD
Seagate 200 Gb ATA HD
Seagate 160 Gb ATA HD
Asus SATA 20x DVD+R DVD Burner
Asus SATA DVD-ROM
Microsoft Windows XP Pro With SP2C (updated to SP3)
LG 22" 2ms Widescreen LCD
Klipsch Promedia 78 watts 2.1 Speaker
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Which brings me to a question,,not trying to Hijack,but my HD is 80 GB,would a bigger one help?
Falcon23
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Here. I just built this in March. It's overkill for AH but will give you some ideas I suppose (Just under $2000 all in including mouse, keyboard, cables, surge protectors, shipping etc. as I kept my old machine and needed to buy everything except the two ATA hard drives).
Coolermaster Cavalier
EVGA NVidia NForce 780i
Intel E6750 Conroe 2.66Ghz (OC'd to 3.2 Ghz)
Kingston HyperX DDR2 800 2x1Gb
EVGA 8800 GTS 512 G92
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro
PC Power & Cooling S75QB 750W PSU
Seagate Barracuda 250 Gb SATA HD
Seagate 200 Gb ATA HD
Seagate 160 Gb ATA HD
Asus SATA 20x DVD+R DVD Burner
Asus SATA DVD-ROM
Microsoft Windows XP Pro With SP2C (updated to SP3)
LG 22" 2ms Widescreen LCD
Klipsch Promedia 78 watts 2.1 Speaker
Yep,
I just built a similar rig to Bald's.
E8400
ASUS Silent Knight II CPU Cooler
ASUS PK5-E MB
Mushkin Ascent DDR2 8500 2x2GB
JUST ORDERED the eVga 8800GTS KO
Using Onboard sound ATM, I do have an old SB Audigy I may use, but for right now, the onboard is more than enough.
PC & Cooling S75QB 750W PSU
150GB WD Raptor X
Sony DVD Burner Dual Layer
XP Pro SP2
LG 19" LCD monitor
Logitech 2.1 or Sennheiser phones with a Logitech Mic
X52
CH Pedals
Belkin Hub-to-go
BaldEagl's "template" was a sure basis for my PC build. You will see similarities between ours, I went with spartan thinking. What worked for him, has worked for me.
Skuzzy was also instrumental. He gave me a SOLID RECOMMENDATION for the PSU that was the backbone of this build. I would have NEVER looked into the PC & Cooling PSU's. IMO, the Corsair linked is underpowered for the money. I paid $160 at Newegg for mine.
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Which brings me to a question,,not trying to Hijack,but my HD is 80 GB,would a bigger one help?
Falcon23
Possibly. If you are using more than half of the disks capacity then absolutely you could use a bigger one anyway. Windows has to have some empty space on the drive or it starts to slow down really bad. But if you have SATA 2 7200 rpm drives with 16 or 32 MB cache AND all you have is windows and AHII on it then you wont see much improvement.
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Thanks for the nice words Masher. I love my new machine... it rocks! :rock
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OK, this is what I'm thinking about so far. Take a look and see where I am going wrong.
10-Bay ATX Computer Case w/550W PSU&9.84" Blue Led Fan
Includes 7 expansion slots and USB mic and headphone jacks.
Intel Pentium 4 3.40GHz 800MHz 1MB Socket 775 CPU
Intel D955XBK LGA775 1066SB CrossFire ATX motherboard
Western Digital WD800JD 80 GB Serial ATA 150 Hard Drive 7200 RPM
Don't know about the graphics cards yet, also thinking about some extra cooling.
Fred
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I went with nearly same build as Karaya & Baldeagl - I just went AMD instead of Intel and ATI instead of Nividia
my PC specs:
ANTEC 900 Series Case ( all fan switches set to medium speed )
PC POWER & COOLING 750 watt crossfire edition power supply
ASUS M3A32-MVP Deluxe with WiFi ( wifi not installed ) am using the memory heatsink pipe/cooler plates that came with MB
AMD Athlon64 6400 X2 operating @ 3.21 ghz default stock heatsink/fan that came with it
4 Gigs of Corsair PC6400 800 mhz DDR2 ( windows shows 3.25 gigs / on bootup BIOS shows all 4 gigs )
ASUS EAH3870 512meg DDR4 video card
Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatality Extreme Gamer Professional Series Sound Card
ASUS SATA DVD-DL RW with Lightscribe
ASUS SATA DVD-ROM
(2) SATA-II 320 gig hitachi hard drives ( am not running RAID setup at this time, will eventually with another HD added Raptor 10,00 RPM 150gig SATA HD <--this HD will be for Aces High use only and using multi-boot for seperate OS's )
Rosewill 1.44 Floppy Drive + 9 in 1 Card Reader
Windows XP Pro SP2 ( have downloaded SP3 )
CH Products HOTAS ( fiterstick/throttle/pedals 12+ yearold gameport version )
DELL UltraSharp 19" LCD ( fixing to upgrade to HannsG 28" LCD WideScreen )
JAZZ J-902 Subwoofer & Speakers
Plantronics 90 series headphones/Mic with vol/mic mute control inline ( these are 5 years old and work great for $20 bucks )
just recently put it together, have a few tweaks to work on to be Aces High ready.......
videochip running around 34 to 36 degrees C / MB running 37 to 39 C under load, will see if temps go up under running Aces High )
edit:
Antec 900 Series Case
AMD 6400 X2
ASUS M3A32- MVP Deluxe MB with WiFi ( both AM & AM2 processor compatible )
4 gig's of PC6400 800 mhz DDR2 Memory
ASUS Ati 3870 512mg DDR4 Videocard
Sound Blaster Fatality XtremeGamer Professional Series Sound Card
(2) 320 Gig SataII Hard Drives
ASUS DVD- DL Burner with Lightscribe SATA
ASUS DVD-Rom SATA
9 in 1 card Reader with 3 1/2 floppy drive
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 watt power supply
after Shipping & Taxes total cost was a little change over $1,120.00 @ newegg
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Similar to others:
E8400 3.0 ghz chip, OC to 3.492
Abit IP 35 pro MB
ATI 3850 VC
600 watt PS
320 gig HD
24 Inch ACER Montior 2ms Gray to Gray
Asus Xonar Sound Card
Cooler Master Case (Somewhat like the Antec 900).
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Hello everybody,
i will post here the topic I opened where Fugitive (thanks!) gad me the link to this discussion.
As sayd, I have poor PC acquaintances and need someone to tell me what's the best component to buy in order to play AH and other flight sim with full details at maximal frame speed.
(i was watching some film like "raid" and some other and I was amazed by the details, quality of immages, shell impacts, ground ect..all things I can only dream with my ASUS AX800 PRO).
I see many already posted the list of theyr components but wich is better?
All do I wish is to go to my computer seller and give him a list ;)
My budget depend on the components quality, i don't have a fixed price..mb araund 1500 $
Thanks in advance for any help!
p.s. I have already a dolbi digital 7.1 soundcard with its speakers
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Rather than listing components, here's some thoughts for you:
Case: Find one with good cooling. At least two fans, front intake and rear exhast, along with a side duct or fan for the CPU cooler intake. 120mm fans are better than 80mm although side fans are usually 80mm. Make sure it can accomodate any and all drives you're ever going to want to install (hard drives (5.5" bay), optical drives (5.5" bay), floppys (3.5" bay), etc.). I like mid-tower cases as a good compromise between external size and internal roominess.
Motherboard: Find one in the 100-250 price range that is well reviewed and features 4 slots for DDR2 memory (8 Gb supported) and PCIe x16 or PCIe x16 2.0 video card slot(s) (2.0 slots preferred but not nessesary... yet). I prefer ATX over micro ATX. Make sure it can accomodate 1333 FSB speeds and DDR2 800 memory as a minimum, has a 24 pin PSU plug, 8 pin CPU plug and several 4 pin fan plugs (these will allow all fans to be run by the motherboard depending on heat).
CPU: I can't speak to AMD but as far as Intel goes stick with the Core2Duo family. Great bang for the buck and overclockers heaven. Pick this first as your motherboard will need the right socket to accomodate it.
CPU Cooler: The stock Intel units are fine unless you plan on overclocking, then you'll likley want an aftermarket unit.
Memory: Stick with DDR2 800 for now. It's the most common and it's cheap. Make sure it's got heatsinks.
Video card: Again I can't speak to ATI but as far as NVidia goes stick with the 9600 (lower end), 8800 (best bang for buck) or 9800 (high end) series. If you're on a very tight budget you can get by with the 8600's (budget). Which one depends on your budget.
Sound card: A source of varying opinion. Mine is that it's required. It lowers load on the CPU and usually sounds better than on-board sound. I have a strong preference for Creative.
Hard drives: Buy 7,000 RPM SATA3 drives as a minimum. They are much faster than the old ATA drives. If you can afford it, the Western Digital 10,000 RPM Raptors are the way to go but are premium priced products.
Optical Drives: Same deal... go SATA3.
Floppy Drives: Not needed these days but still nice to have for small file transfers, BIOS updates, etc. and for $7 why not?
Power Supply: You'll need one that provides enough wattage to run your whole system. There are wattage calculators at newegg to get you in the ballpark. It will also need enough amps on the 12V rails to run everything. You can add together the amps from multiple 12V rails to get the total. Most PSU's run 80% or less efficient so take that into account. As an initial guess I'd be looking for 35-40 amps on the 12V rails as a minimum (the video card alone is going to use over 20 of that).
I'm sure others will add more. I tried not to get too far into features here as eveyone has their own preferences, budgets, etc. I really only wanted to cover a few of the basics to get you started.
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Today, I would switch from the Asus P5K motherboard to the P5Q and use the E8400 CPU. Quad core is overrated and more market hype than anything else. Bang-for-the-buck is owned by the E8400.
With the P5Q, I am liking the GSkill DDR2-1066 RAM. Good prive/performance curve.
The PC Power and Cooling supply does not have modular cables, but is probably one of the most durable and dependable supplies on the market. They always have been.
As a plus, they also manufacture and design all their own supplies, unlike other companies who repackage power supplies from one source in China.
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Another thought, the e8500 is now only 199.99 at NewEgg, Free shipping. Over clocks even better than the E8400.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115036
Skuzzy, which PS are you referring to?
Thanks,
Getback
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Skuzzy, which PS are you referring to?
Thanks,
Getback
not trying to answer for Skuzzy, but it is the same brand Baldeagl, Karaya and I have in our pc list breakdown
they don't have 2/dual 12v rails and all that mumbo jumbo....... and they have 5 year warrantys
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010320058+50009830&name=PC+Power+%26+Cooling
83% efficiency http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341011
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Thanks, I'm getting some good advise.
As for the OS I already have XP Home with service pack 2 on disk that I bought some time ago. I assume I can download the service pack 3 from the internet. Am I thinking wrong?
And no, I'm not in a rush, just want to do it right the first time. :)
Thanks Again for all the responses,
Fred
If you have a WinXP SP2 CD, don't bother upgrading to SP3 unless you are forced to (i.e. software/hardware requires SP3). Once you upgrade to SP3 and for whatever reason need to repair or reinstall XP, you won't be able to use your XP SP2 CD unless you do a complete clean install. If you try, you'll get an error message saying that your version of Windows XP is older than the current version installed and it won't let you proceed.
ack-ack
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not trying to answer for Skuzzy, but it is the same brand Baldeagl, Karaya and I have in our pc list breakdown
they don't have 2/dual 12v rails and all that mumbo jumbo....... and they have 5 year warrantys
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010320058+50009830&name=PC+Power+%26+Cooling
83% efficiency http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341011
Well darn me. I didn't realize the name was "PC Power & Cooling". I will keep that in mind.
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If you have a WinXP SP2 CD, don't bother upgrading to SP3 unless you are forced to (i.e. software/hardware requires SP3). Once you upgrade to SP3 and for whatever reason need to repair or reinstall XP, you won't be able to use your XP SP2 CD unless you do a complete clean install. If you try, you'll get an error message saying that your version of Windows XP is older than the current version installed and it won't let you proceed.
ack-ack
I've never had a repair install fix the problem I was having. Good 'ole reformat.
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I've never had a repair install fix the problem I was having. Good 'ole reformat.
Me neither, Key word = backup
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Rather than listing components, here's some thoughts for you:
.....
I really only wanted to cover a few of the basics to get you started.
Tank you very much!
I did a search on the net and read the most quoted gaming pc on some forum an after some comparison that's what I found:
power supply: Enermax 625W Modu82
Motherboard : P5Q deluxe
RAM: Corsair 2*2GB 800MHz CL4
HD: SEAGATE Barracuda 7200.11 500GB SATA2 32MB
Case: CM690 or Cooler Master or Thermaltake :huh
video card: Sapphire HD 4870
Processor: Intel Q9450
ok what do you think about it? there's something outdated..or mb where I can get better performances with a little difference of price?
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OK, this is what I'm thinking about so far. Take a look and see where I am going wrong.
10-Bay ATX Computer Case w/550W PSU&9.84" Blue Led Fan
Includes 7 expansion slots and USB mic and headphone jacks.
Intel Pentium 4 3.40GHz 800MHz 1MB Socket 775 CPU
Intel D955XBK LGA775 1066SB CrossFire ATX motherboard
Western Digital WD800JD 80 GB Serial ATA 150 Hard Drive 7200 RPM
Don't know about the graphics cards yet, also thinking about some extra cooling.
Fred
1st things 1st, DO NOT buy a case and integrated power suppy. Antec makes good cases and the sunbeam I linked in another thread here (newegg) is a steal for $50. I use a PC Power and Cooling PS and as others have mentioned its outstanding. Corsair is excellent and IMO so are the OZC gaming PS units.
I'd stay away from the intel MB for a gaming rig. I have the P5K-E and agree with Skuzzy that the P5Q is a good choice. I'd spend the extra cash for a 10,000RPM hard drive with the latest SATA (think its 3.0 now) thruput. If you get a good case and airflow U do not need extra cooling for the system if you use the 8400 CPU.
Toms is recommending 2 x 4850 VC's in crossfire as there highest end VC configuration right now....
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Tank you very much!
I did a search on the net and read the most quoted gaming pc on some forum an after some comparison that's what I found:
power supply: Enermax 625W Modu82
Motherboard : P5Q deluxe
RAM: Corsair 2*2GB 800MHz CL4
HD: SEAGATE Barracuda 7200.11 500GB SATA2 32MB
Case: CM690 or Cooler Master or Thermaltake :huh
video card: Sapphire HD 4870
Processor: Intel Q9450
ok what do you think about it? there's something outdated..or mb where I can get better performances with a little difference of price?
Personally, I'd swap the Q9450 for the E8400 Wolfdale and save ~$100. I don't know anything about the PSU but as you can tell by reading this thread a lot of us use PC Power and Cooling PSU's. I'd go for the PCP&C 610 or 750 Watt PSU if I was you (750 if you ever plan to add a second video card and crossfire them).
Case will be a personal preference. I've got a Coolermaster and I love it. Don't forget a DVD-ROM drive/burner. I'd also look at adding a sound card.
Other than that it looks good.
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OK, this is what I'm thinking about so far. Take a look and see where I am going wrong.
10-Bay ATX Computer Case w/550W PSU&9.84" Blue Led Fan
Includes 7 expansion slots and USB mic and headphone jacks.
Intel Pentium 4 3.40GHz 800MHz 1MB Socket 775 CPU
Intel D955XBK LGA775 1066SB CrossFire ATX motherboard
Western Digital WD800JD 80 GB Serial ATA 150 Hard Drive 7200 RPM
Don't know about the graphics cards yet, also thinking about some extra cooling.
Fred
See my recommendations above.
First of all, don't but a Pentium 4. This is old technology. Get even the lowest Core2Duo processor and you'll be much happier, preferably with a 1333 FSB but not required if you're on a budget.
Do not get a Serial ATA hard drive. Get a SATA3. No price difference and the transfer speeds are higher.
I can't even find that motherboard so no comment.
As humble mentioned, I'd try to stay away from integrated case/PSU deals but if you're budget constrained then go ahead, just make sure the PSU has enough wattage and enough amps as per my outline above to run your system.
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One more thing for you guys building new machines, go to http://www.tomshardware.com They are pretty up to date on the newest hardware and have some great performance comparison charts for CPU's, GPU's etc. and do a regular "best video card for (various price ranges)" comparison. They also do regular "best builds for (various price ranges)".
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See my recommendations above.
First of all, don't but a Pentium 4. This is old technology. Get even the lowest Core2Duo processor and you'll be much happier, preferably with a 1333 FSB but not required if you're on a budget.
Do not get a Serial ATA hard drive. Get a SATA3. No price difference and the transfer speeds are higher.
I can't even find that motherboard so no comment.
As humble mentioned, I'd try to stay away from integrated case/PSU deals but if you're budget constrained then go ahead, just make sure the PSU has enough wattage and enough amps as per my outline above to run your system.
What on Gods green earth? SATA3 is just a planned HD (with access of 600MB/s) from what I can find on the net. Do you know where to get one? I believe your thinking of SATA2 300MB/s (listed as 3Gb/s in some places).
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I just recently bought this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147087
Notice the PSU is at the bottom and in front? :aok No problems hiding all the wiring and keeping it out of the airflow through the case. Its noisier then my Antec P180 but also no where near as heavy!
Newegg screwed up though. I ordered the case and a Rosewill 120mm fan w/ speed control. They sent me the case and two fans and then also double shipped so now I have two cases and four fans. They told me to keep them. :aok
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Quad core processors are about bragging rights and offer little substance to the overall performance of the computer. Yes, you can find benchmarks which show a quad core CPU kicking a dual core all over the place. Of course, if running a benchmark is what you like to do, then I suppose a quad core CPU would be the thing to get. I prefer applications to run better than a benchmark myself.
Higher clocked dual core CPU's offer better bang for the buck.
The thing about high end systems today is they are very picky about power. The better quality the power is, the cooler they run and more stable as well. I have seen a lot of people spend a lot of money on their systems, only to go cheap on the power supply and they regret it.
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The better quality the power is, the cooler they run and more stable as well. I have seen a lot of people spend a lot of money on their systems, only to go cheap on the power supply and they regret it.
Agree to all but this is very important. Consider the PSU as vital as everything else in your system combined.
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You also have to be very careful about how the power supply is rated. The marketing folks at many of these companies have some very clever ways to present the capacity to you today.
For instance, a multi-rail power supply can show its three 12V ralks at 30A each. Then you find out later the actual capacity is 30A TOTAL for all three rails. Which means you only have a maximum of 10A per rail. Some go further to market this as an advantage and call it "flexible scaling" of the rails.
Now, some power supply companies actual advertise thier total capacity based on the maximum rating of the rails. They will take those 3 12V rails they rate at 30A each and actually add those up to get the total power handling capability. It is a lie, but it is a neat marketing trick to make thier power supply seem like it will do more than it actually will.
Most all of them will finally have the real rating, somewhere in their documentation. You would be surprised how many power supply companies are using these tricks today.
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YUP....
I'm not an expert but I look for 2 things....a tag on the PS that actually shows total amps available for each...
exp 4 x 12V with 72@'s total 12v
2nd is a "continous power" rating in watts. My understanding is that is the sustainable output of the unit vs the peak or burst output.
I've seen alot of "750 Watt" power supplies that actually only produce on the order of 500W's of actual stable output. Thats why you see so many PS's fail at only ~65% or so of "capacity". The lable says 750Ws, and the PS can actually produce 620...but only sustain 520W's long term. Even a continous load of 550W's for even a few seconds will fry the PS...