Thread: Did a guts-o-rectomy on my comp, thoughts...

  1. #1
    Ethernal Noob
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    Did a guts-o-rectomy on my comp, thoughts...

    Basically I haven't upgraded my pc in a while. I'm doing a switch to Intel from my several builds of AMD over the 6 years I've been building my own pcs. Here's my current setup (probably one of the better setups for a 939/AGP motherboard

    Gigabyte GA-K8NSC-939, AMD Opteron 64 X2 175
    2GB DDR400 ram
    Western Digital Caviar SATA 320GB HD
    Western Digital Caviar SATA 160GB HD
    ROSEWILL R5601-BK Black Mid-Tower
    ROSEWILL RD450-2-DB 450W PSU
    SAPPHIRE X1950PRO 512MB 256-bit


    My new build will consist of

    Processor (spring a bit even though intel's coming out with socket Hby the end of the year)
    Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115043

    Motherboard (same as above)
    ASUS P5K PRO LGA 775 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131275

    Ram (A bit overkill but trying to future-proof it)
    G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 1066 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231166

    Video card (for all my spore, starcraft 2, et-al needs)
    EVGA GeForce 8800 GT - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130318

    PSU (Sprung for modular cabling because I use a mid-tower)
    CORSAIR 520W ATX12V v2.2 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139001

    HSF (conflicts a bit with the Northbridge heatsink, requires a little of my boy-scout era whittling skills)
    ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835186134

    feel free to show off yours. What do you think?

  2. #2
    Cat without Hat CornedBee's Avatar
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    Starcraft 2 shouldn't really have any needs. They're targeting pretty low-level hardware.
    All the buzzt!
    CornedBee

    "There is not now, nor has there ever been, nor will there ever be, any programming language in which it is the least bit difficult to write bad code."
    - Flon's Law

  3. #3
    Ethernal Noob
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    I know, I'm just saying I'm "future proofing" if there is any sense of the word with today's technology as far as applications go. I'm primarily a console gamer but often play a few odd games on the pc. I'm thinking of investing in Sins of the Solar Empire, but I'm not an avid pc gamer.

  4. #4
    Chinese pâté foxman's Avatar
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    I built a new PC for myself about 2 months ago, to replace my [really] old P3-based computer. I also wanted something that could "age" well. I also went with an Intel CPU (of course), but I chose a dual core instead of a quad. Even with two cores, I don't see them often being fully loaded (I must say, I don't do any video editing or multimedia intensive stuff). I still believe that, right now, except if you have specific needs, you are better suited with a dual-core CPU instead of a quad. At the end, you are likely to get more "performance" for a cheaper price. But I may upgrade for a "big" quad (Q9650?), maybe in a couple of years, depending on price and usefulness.

    I also went with 4 GB of RAM (2x2 GB). I think it's a wise choice, since it's quite cheap anyway, and for this I really like to be on the safe side. And one day or later, I'll buy another 2x2GB. So in 10 years, it will still be enough. I guess.

    Anyway. Here's my setup
    • Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
    • Gigabyte EP35-DS3R (not the wisest choice since I ended up not using RAID)
    • Crucial Ballistix 2x2GB DDR2-6400
    • Asus EN8600GTS (I'm a really light gamer)
    • Antec Sonata III case (come with Antec Earthwatts 500W PSU) and a Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500 GB hard drive
    I hate real numbers.

  5. #5
    Internet Superhero
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    Well your old PC is more than fast enough for Spore and Starcraft 2. If you wan't future proof, then save your money, and wait a year, that machine has plenty left in it.

    But if you insist on upgrading now, drop the 8800GT, get the new HD4850 GDDR3, same price much better performance. Also, Gigabyte is much higher quality than Asus, i have their P35 mobo GA-EP35-DS3, it's fantastic, get the P45 model of that board, from what i've heard it is amazing.

    But other than that it looks fine to me, you won't be disappointed with that Corsair PSU, i've got the VX450, very high quality! Same goes for the Arctic Freezer Pro 7, i have that installed in my old rig, which is constantly hovering at 29 degrees, which i think is quite impressive since it's a netburst chip.

    Oh, and these are my specs, got it about 2 months ago, cost me 4400DKK, which at the current exchange rate is 915$ or 590 Euros.

    Intel C2D E4600 2,4gHz @ 3008 mHz (334x9) 3.3125 vCore
    Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3
    2x 1 GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2 667 @ 334mHz 0,2 Overvolt
    XFX nVidia Geforce 8800GS 384MB Alpha Dog Edition
    Corsair VX450
    Antec Performance One P182
    320GB Maxtor HDD

    Put it together myself, and i'm running Windows XP x64 on it, works like a charm, and very stable, 24 hour Prime95, and does 1M SuperPI in 19 straight.
    How I need a drink, alcoholic in nature, after the heavy lectures involving quantum mechanics.

  6. #6
    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
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    I was also going to suggest a better Graphics card (although frankly I'm not very wise on the things). If you could shell a little more - maybe by waiting a couple more months - I'd probably get one of the 9 series. Maybe the 9800 GTX+ which is about to be launched... around $250.

    My system is known on a recent thread. The upgrade planned for this Christmas to finalize the desktop is a Intel C2D T7600, and just a tad small improvement on the Geforce 7300 SE so that I can run Celestia with 64Kb textures at acceptable frame rates. Will also have to update the motherboard.

    Anyways, I'd probably drop the cooling and put the money on the graphics card, indigo.
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

  7. #7
    Ethernal Noob
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    all the stuff is bought, I'm just waiting for the processor. I'm also not buying ATI anymore these days just because of problems I've had in the past with their drivers and performance.

    And you can't really "drop the cooling"

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