TWEAK My New PC Config

A

ATITek

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 6, 2004
Messages
138
EDIT: See last page for my final order config:



Just graduated college and have some extra cash to finally buy my new gaming PC.

Thoughts on this config?



Power Supply
850 Watt Power Supply - Nvidia® SLI™ Certified

Motherboard
Asus® P5N-D nForce 750i SLI, Socket 775, PCI-E, DDR2

Processor
Intel® Core™ 2 Quad processor Q9450, quad 2.66GHz cores, 12MB L2 Cache

CPU Cooling
Intel® Certified Oversized Solid Copper Heatsink/Dual Fans with Arctic Silver™ 5 Thermal Compound
Memory

4096MB Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800 Low Latency Extreme Memory with Heat Spreader

PCX Video
512MB EVGA GeForce™ 9800 GTX PCI-Express 2.0, Dual DVI

Audio
Creative Labs SoundBlaster® X-Fi™ XtremeGamer

Hard Drive
500GB Hitachi 7200rpm 16MB Cache SATA 300 w/NCQ

Optical Drive
20x Lite On® DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Burner with LightScribe Labeling Technology, Black

Media Reader
Integrated 52-in-1 Internal Media Card Reader

Network Adapter
Integrated 10/100/1000MBps Gigabit Ethernet Network Adapter

Operating System
Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit
 
What's with the generic listings like "850 Watt Power Supply - Nvidia® SLI™ Certified". That doesn't mean much. Is this a listing from system builder? If so, you need to know the EXACT parts that are going into it.

Looks pretty good however. I would recommend going with Vista x64 as you will need it to effectively use the 4GB of RAM.
 
Drop the Hitachi 500GB and go for a 640GB WD6400AAKS. Fastest non-Raptor drive out there, and retails for not much more than a 500GB drive. $20 or so will buy you a lot of extra performance, and it's reasonably quiet and power-efficient as well.

I second the concern about the PSU. Better to get a high quality lower wattage one (5-600W would likely do fine in that system) than a questionable high wattage one.

Also, the LiteOn drives that I've had in the past can get noisy during use. Check out the storage forum for some quieter suggestions. Shouldn't cost you any money to do so, they all run roughly the same amount.
 
ATITek said:
Just graduated college and have some extra cash to finally buy my new gaming PC. Thoughts on this config?
Click to expand...

Power Supply: 850 Watt Power Supply - Nvidia® SLI™ Certified
What brand and model is that power supply? 850W is way more than you need for this config, unless that's a cheap power supply.

Motherboard: Asus® P5N-D nForce 750i SLI, Socket 775, PCI-E, DDR2
Any reason you are using an SLI motherboard when you are only going to have one video card? You'd be better off with a P35 motherboard.

Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Quad processor Q9450, quad 2.66GHz cores, 12MB L2 Cache
Good CPU, no complaints here

CPU Cooling: Intel® Certified Oversized Solid Copper Heatsink/Dual Fans with Arctic Silver™ 5 Thermal Compound
What brand and model?

Memory: 4096MB Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800 Low Latency Extreme Memory with Heat Spreader
With a quad-core, you're just as well off going with a lower cost memory like G.Skill

PCX Video: 512MB EVGA GeForce™ 9800 GTX PCI-Express 2.0, Dual DVI
Good video card, no complaints

Audio: Creative Labs SoundBlaster® X-Fi™ XtremeGamer
Creative doesn't have a good track record with Vista. The on-board sound on most motherboards these days is plenty good enough, unless you are an audiophile. If you must have a sound card, you're better off with something like an Auzentech.

Hard Drive: 500GB Hitachi 7200rpm 16MB Cache SATA 300 w/NCQ
You should look into the new WD Caviar SE 16 320GB / 640GB drives. Very fast!

Optical Drive: 20x Lite On® DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Burner with LightScribe Labeling Technology, Black
A good drive as long as you don't mind the noise. A Samsung S230-N would be quieter and just as good.

Media Reader: Integrated 52-in-1 Internal Media Card Reader
Personal preference

Network Adapter: Integrated 10/100/1000MBps Gigabit Ethernet Network Adapter
Something available on all motherboards these days

Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit
If you're going with 4GB RAM, then you should get the 64-bit version

Which vendor do you plan on going with, and what's the cost?
 
If I go with a 64-bit OS won't I have issues running certain applications?

If I am staying with a 32-bit OS should I just go with 2Gb of RAM?


The correct video card should have been:

2x 512MB EVGA GeForce 9600GT DDR3 in SLI

I am going with Velocity Micro. The cost is about $2,200. The details I listed are all I have for parts info.

Also, I deleted the sound card and went with the on-board.
 
ATITek said:
If I go with a 64-bit OS won't I have issues running certain applications?
Click to expand...

You might for any existing applications and hardware that you have. You'll need to check each one of those out to see how 64 bit support is. Some older games, like vintage 1998, have problems with Vista x86 and x64.

For anything new both hardware and software it won't be a problem. Always check to be sure. And to be honest, why would you buy something new that didn't run on Vista? That to me is probably going to be a product with many other flaws.

But pretty much all of the serious gamers you see hear are on Vista x64 and are doing fine.
 
let me start w/ congrats on the graduation!

now-

PSU- check the corsiar 750W it's probably robust enough for what you're looking to do, a great price (<$120 newegg) and was rated very highly by the testers here at [H]

I would also recommend going for Vista 64bit to get the most out of the memory- if you have old apps (not games, but work/school/business stuff) that require 32 bit, use a virtual machine w/ windows xp 32bit-

the only thing i've come across that doesn't run on my new system is FarCry but that is a known issue- you need to buy 64 bit version of that one!
 
Ok based on my case choice, here are my three video card options. I am not sure what one to select:

[SLI] 2 x 1GB EVGA GeForce 8800GT in SLI DDR3 PCI-E w/HDCP

[SLI] 2 x 512MB EVGA GeForce 9600GT DDR3 in SLI PCI-E Dual DVI/HDCP

or

1x 512MB EVGA GeForce™ 9800 GTX PCI-Express 2.0, Dual DVI

1 x 1GB EVGA GeForce 8800GT in SLI DDR3 PCI-E w/HDCP (**Maybe add a second down the road)


My case will not support two 9800 GTX cards.

What is my BEST option in terms of performance both today and down the road.
 
you could probably get away with the corsair 520w modular. and the new nvidia cards are coming out mid june, so if you wait a little longer, the 8800s will probably drop more.
 
Ok here is the adjusted config. I dropped the RAM from 4GB to 2GB and decided to stick with 32-bit Vista. I play Command and Conquer 3 and many other EA Games, which most people cannot get running on Vista 64-bit.

I am afraid if I go 64-bit that some of my games will not run. At the end of the day do I need 4GB of RAM? If I do install 4GB on a 32-bit OS i should still get 3.25 to 3.5, which is better than going with 2GB?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.

EDIT: I also added a new HD: 300GB Western Digital VelociRaptor 10,000rpm SATA/300, 16MB Cache

Power Supply
850 Watt Velocity Micro® Power Supply - Nvidia® SLI™ Certified

Motherboard
Asus® P5N-D nForce 750i SLI, Socket 775, PCI-E, DDR2

Processor
Intel® Core™ 2 Quad processor Q9450, quad 2.66GHz cores, 12MB L2 Cache

CPU Cooling
Arctic Cooling® Freezer 7 Pro Heatsink, Ultra Quiet Fan, Copper Heat Pipes

DDR2 Memory
2048MB Corsair Dominator DDR2-1066, with Dual-path Heat XChange (2x1024)

PCX Video
2 x 512MB EVGA GeForce 8800GT DDR3 in SLI, PCI-E, Dual DVI/HDCP

Audio
On-Board Integrated High Definition 7.1 Channel Sound

Hard Drive 1
300GB Western Digital VelociRaptor 10,000rpm SATA/300, 16MB Cache


Optical Drive 1
20x Lite On® DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Burner with LightScribe Labeling Technology, Black

Optical Drive 2
16x DVD/48x CD-RW Lite On® Combo Drive, Black Bezel


WINDOWS VISTA ULTIMATE 32-BIT
 
Even thought only vista64 supports 4 or more gig of ram I would still buy 4 for a 32bit system. Windows should still recognize 3.5 gigs of it still
 
ATITek said:
If I do install 4GB on a 32-bit OS i should still get 3.25 to 3.5, which is better than going with 2GB?
Click to expand...

If it was me, I would still get the 4GB RAM. DDR2 RAM is really inexpensive these days, although I don't know how much VM is charging for the RAM you are getting.
 
AndonSage said:
If it was me, I would still get the 4GB RAM. DDR2 RAM is really inexpensive these days, although I don't know how much VM is charging for the RAM you are getting.
Click to expand...

$170 for 4096MB Corsair Dominator DDR2-1066 QUAD. That seems very cheap to me.

Are there any performance issues with have 4GB of RAM and only using 3 - 3.5GB? The obvious is the lack of using all the RAM, but I would rather do that than risk not being able to play C&C3 and the upcoming Red Alert 3.
 
ATITek said:
Ok here is the adjusted config. I dropped the RAM from 4GB to 2GB and decided to stick with 32-bit Vista. I play Command and Conquer 3 and many other EA Games, which most people cannot get running on Vista 64-bit.
Click to expand...

C&C3 works FINE in Vista x64... I just finished Kane's Wrath without a single problem. All you have to do is enable administrator mode which you have to do in 32-bit anyways.
 
Bop said:
C&C3 works FINE in Vista x64... I just finished Kane's Wrath without a single problem. All you have to do is enable administrator mode which you have to do in 32-bit anyways.
Click to expand...

Can you play online? A quick google search finds most people are getting a DX10 error and EA even says it will not work on most x64 machines. If I order a x64 OS from VM and it does not work with C&C3, I am screwed.
 
ATITek said:
Can you play online? A quick google search finds most people are getting a DX10 error and EA even says it will not work on most x64 machines. If I order a x64 OS from VM and it does not work with C&C3, I am screwed.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. You can always request the 32 bit disc version from microsoft and pay shipping on it. It costs about $10, and you can re-use your license. I'm also sure that most people using Vista are too stupid to know about using administrator mode.
 
Total Price: $3,184

This a little more than I want to spend by about $300, but I think this config is worth it. I need to keep this machine 5 to 6 years. Thoughts on my final config. I am going with the 64-bit OS in the end. All new games seem to support it and I have a few friends running C&C3 on a 64-bit OS as it turns out.

Biggest changes are the 10k RPM WD drive and the change from the ASUS MB to a EVGA. It seems people have had better luck with EVGA. This MB also supports DDR2-1066, while the ASUS only supports DDR2-800.

Please advise me if this overkill. I am looking to play Crysis, the new Alone in the Dark, BioShock, C&C Red Alert 3, and so forth.


OS
Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit

Power Supply
850 Watt Velocity Micro Power Supply - Nvidia® SLI™ Certified

Motherboard
EVGA nForce 780i SLI, Socket 775, PCI-E, DDR2 (+$120.00)

Processor
Intel® Core™ 2 Quad processor Q9450, quad 2.66GHz cores, 12MB L2 Cache

CPU Cooling
Arctic Cooling® Freezer 7 Pro Heatsink, Ultra Quiet Fan, Copper Heat Pipes

DDR2 Memory
4096MB Corsair Dominator DDR2-1066 QUAD2X4096-8500C5D* Dual-path Heat Xchange

PCX Video - SLI
2 x 512MB EVGA GeForce 8800GT DDR3 in SLI, PCI-E, Dual DVI/HDCP

Audio
On-Board Integrated High Definition 7.1 Channel Sound

Hard Drive
300GB Western Digital VelociRaptor 10,000rpm SATA/300, 16MB Cache

Optical Drive 1
20x Lite On® DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Burner with LightScribe Labeling Technology, Black

Optical Drive 2
16x DVD/48x CD-RW Lite On® Combo Drive, Black Bezel

Reader
1.44MB Floppy Drive, Black Bezel
 
ATITek said:
Total Price: $3,184. This a little more than I want to spend by about $300, but I think this config is worth it.
Click to expand...

Well, if you're interested, I put together the following config at AVA Direct, and it comes in $421 less at $2762.87, and includes overclocking the CPU (you can save another $99 if you choose not to get it, for a total savings of $520). I had to make a couple of parts changes, since I couldn't match everything exactly. I realize there have been some posts lately on [H] with two people unhappy with AVA Direct, but I've been following this forum since Jan 2007, and the good posts highly outweigh the bad posts for AVA Direct. Since you were over budget, I just thought I'd give you an alternative. There is certainly nothing wrong with Velocity Micro if you want to buy from them, though.

Parts differences:
  • 2x 150GB Raptors, because they don't have the VelociRaptors listed yet, but I'm sure a telephone call would take care of that. I was trying to equal the capacity, and the price of 2x 150GB Raptors is probably more than 1x 300GB VelociRaptor.
  • OCZ Reaper HPC memory instead of the Corsair Dominator. AVA didn't have the Dominator 1066MHz in 2x2GB. The Dominator uses a heat sink, and the OCZ uses a heat pipe conduit, so that's similar, and the OCZ Reaper HPC memory gets very good reviews.
  • I don't know which case you are getting, so I used the default case in the AVA config. I'm pretty sure the Thermaltake ArmorPlus case is considered a good case, and it looks good.
  • I don't know what warranty you were getting, but AVA Direct comes with a standard 3-year warranty.
GAMING PC, Core 2 SLI DDR2 Gaming System $2762.87

INTEL, Core™ 2 Quad Q9450 Quad-Core 2.66GHz, 1333MHz FSB, 12MB (2 x 6MB) L2 Cache, 45nm, 95W, EM64T EIST VT XD, Retail
ARCTIC COOLING, Freezer 7 Pro Quiet CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink, Socket 775, Ceramic Bearing, Retail
SERVICE, Overclocking, Quad-Core CPU, 10-20% Performance Increase
eVGA, nForce 780i SLI 775 A1, LGA775, nForce 780i SLI, 1333MHz FSB, DDR2-1200 8GB /4, PCIe x16 SLI /3, SATA 3.0 Gbit/s RAID 5 /6, HDA, Gb LAN /2, FW /2, ATX, Retail
OCZ, 4GB (2 x 2GB) Reaper HPC Edition PC2-8500 DDR2 1066MHz CL 5-5-5-18 2.1-2.3V SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC
eVGA, e-GeForce 8800GT Superclocked 650MHz, 512MB GDDR3 1900MHz, PCIe x16 SLI, DVI /2, HDTV/S-Video Out, Retail
eVGA, e-GeForce 8800GT Superclocked 650MHz, 512MB GDDR3 1900MHz, PCIe x16 SLI, DVI /2, HDTV/S-Video Out, Retail
SERVICE, No GPU Overclocking
WESTERN DIGITAL, 150GB WD Raptor®, SATA 150MB/s, 10000 RPM, 16MB cache
WESTERN DIGITAL, 150GB WD Raptor®, SATA 150MB/s, 10000 RPM, 16MB cache
RAID, No RAID, Independent HDD Drives
MITSUMI, Black Internal 1.44MB 3.5" Floppy Drive
LITE-ON, DH-16D2S-04 Black 16x48x DVD-ROM Drive, SATA, OEM
LITE-ON, LH-20A1L Black/Beige 20x DVD±RW Dual-Layer Burner w/ LightScribe, SATA, Retail
THERMALTAKE, ArmorPlus Black Full-Tower Case w/ Window & 230mm Fan, EATX, No PSU, SECC
CUSTOM WIRING, Standard Wiring with Round Cables
THERMALTAKE, Toughpower, 80 PLUS®, 850W Power Supply w/ Modularized Cable Management, 24-pin ATX12V EPS12V, Quad +12V, Quad SLI Approved
MICROSOFT, Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit Edition w/ SP1, OEM
SERVICE, OEM System Recovery (secure HDD partition only)
SERVICE, System Binder
GAMING PC, Silver Warranty Package (3 Year Limited Parts, 3 Year Labor Warranty)
SERVICE, Standard Shipping (UPS, DHL, or Fedex)

ATITek said:
Please advise me if this overkill.
Click to expand...

I don't think anything is overkill for Crysis :)
 
I am 100% sure I am going to order from Velocity Micro. Based on this I am not sure what to get for my MB/memory combo and hard drive. I know that the the more expensive stuff is better, but is it worth the cost? I plan on keeping this machine for the next 4-5 years.


Am I better of with:

Combo # 1: [$235 more than combo # 2]
EVGA nForce 780i SLI, Socket 775, PCI-E, DDR2
and
4096MB Corsair Dominator DDR2-1066 QUAD2X4096-8500C5D* Dual-path Heat Xchange

Combo # 2:
Asus® P5N-D nForce 750i SLI, Socket 775, PCI-E, DDR2
and
4096MB Corsair™ XMS2 DDR2-800 Low Latency Extreme Memory with Heat Spreader

The Asus MB only supports DDR2-800.


------

I am also stuck on my HD choice. I can go with a WD 10K 300GB drive or a must larger 750GB 7200rpm drive.


Choice # 1 [$240 more than choice # 2]
WD VelociRaptor 10,000 RPM SATA/300, 16MB Cache

Choice # 2
750GB Hitachi 7200rpm 16MB cache SATA300 w/ NCQ
 
ATITek said:
I know that the the more expensive stuff is better, but is it worth the cost? I plan on keeping this machine for the next 4-5 years.
Click to expand...

Here is what Dan_D, the [H] Motherboard Editor, says about nVidia chipset motherboards:

-----------------------------------------
Originally Posted by Dan_D

Also I'd like to point out I've had a whopping 2 dead motherboards in my own systems in 12 years. (Excluding 680i SLI motherboards.) I know I've had a bad run with 680i SLI boards and I am overclocking the piss out of them but I've had boards run overclocked for years without trouble. So I do put a large amount of blame on the design or at least the QC of the boards coming out of the factory. I am not totally off the hook for the failures myself as I said before I am overclocking the piss out of them but with that said I do believe I know what I'm doing and I've got a ton of experience with computer hardware even outside of HardOCP. So while I do not completely eliminate myself as a cause of some of these issues I do not believe it is me that is the primary reason why these things have such a high failure rate. I've got several friends with similar problems who do not overclock and use dual core processors instead of quad cores.

To be fair the 680i LT, 650i SLI and 650i Ultra boards I've worked with never gave me a problem. The only problematic 600 series chipset based boards I've experienced were all 680i SLI chipset based boards specifically. To date the 700 series has worked well for me excluding the 780i SLI chipset which truth be told is just a re-badged 680i SLI chipset with a companion chip added to it for PCI-Express 2.0 support. I've given both the 790i Ultra SLI and the 750i SLI FTW high marks as both worked very well for me.

However Intel boards produced by good manufacturers (ASUS, Gigabyte, etc.) are bullet proof and virtually problem free. They are the pinnacle of stability and while the last two NVIDIA boards I reviewed were as good as I've ever used I still tend to recommend Intel chipset based boards because their reliability and drivers are nothing short of absolute excellence in computing hardware and are a safe bet. I do have concerns about the 790i Ultra SLI reference boards' longevity based on the design of their voltage/electrical subsystem. It still is largely unchanged from the 680i SLI reference design. The boards still use traditional capacitors and a 6-phase power design. I will say from what I was able to learn about the 790i Ultra SLI reference boards electrical components I'm somewhat confident in their longevity but I still see a few coners being cut there. 6-phase power isn't a bad thing if its' implemented well but NVIDIA's 6-phase power design has fallen short of what I'd call a "good implementation" in the past. Most companies are already using or are moving to an 8-phase setup (with admittedly varying quality) and ASUS is even claiming 16-phase power on some new models.
-----------------------------------------

If you are going to get a nVidia chipset motherboard, you are best off with the eVGA 750i SLI FTW.

ATITek said:
I am also stuck on my HD choice. I can go with a WD 10K 300GB drive or a must larger 750GB 7200rpm drive.
Click to expand...

If what you do most is game, then the VelociRaptor is not worth the money, as you will only be starting games a few seconds faster. The best drive to get for space and performance is the 640GB Western Digital Caviar SE 16, which is as fast as the old Raptors.
 
Ok I am ordering today and I believe these are my final choices with VM. Any further thoughts?

Total Price: $2,300

My other choice was $3,100, but I thought that was to much for a PC. That config is in a prior post.


Power Supply
850 Watt Power Supply - Nvidia® SLI™ Certified

Motherboard
Asus® P5N-D nForce 750i SLI, Socket 775, PCI-E, DDR2

Processor
Intel® Core™ 2 Quad processor Q9450, quad 2.66GHz cores, 12MB L2 Cache

CPU Cooling
Arctic Cooling® Freezer 7 Pro Heatsink, Ultra Quiet Fan, Copper Heat Pipes

Memory
4096MB Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800 Low Latency Extreme Memory with Heat Spreader

PCX Video
2 x 512MB EVGA GeForce 8800GT DDR3 in SLI, PCI-E, Dual DVI/HDCP

Audio
On-Board Integrated High Definition 7.1 Channel Sound

Hard Drive
750GB Hitachi 7200rpm 16MB Cache SATA 300 w/NCQ [Deskstar 7K100)

Optical Drive
20x Lite On® DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Burner with LightScribe Labeling Technology, Black

Media Reader
Integrated 52-in-1 Internal Media Card Reader

Network Adapter
Integrated 10/100/1000MBps Gigabit Ethernet Network Adapter

Operating System
Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit
 
ATITek said:
Any further thoughts?
Click to expand...

Here is how I would tweak it. Save over $200 and get free CPU overclocking this month, at AVA Direct.

GAMING PC, Core 2 SLI DDR2 Gaming System $2082.78
  • INTEL, Core™ 2 Quad Q9450 Quad-Core 2.66GHz, 1333MHz FSB, 12MB (2 x 6MB) L2 Cache, 45nm, 95W, EM64T EIST VT XD, Retail
  • ARCTIC COOLING, Freezer 7 Pro Quiet CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink, Socket 775, Ceramic Bearing, Retail
  • eVGA, nForce 750i SLI FTW, LGA775, nForce 750i SLI, 1333MHz FSB, DDR2-1066 8GB /4, PCIe x16 SLI, SATA 3.0 Gbit/s RAID 10 /4, HDA, GbLAN, FW /2, ATX, Retail
  • CORSAIR, 4GB (2 x 2GB) XMS2 PC2-6400 DDR2 800MHz CL5 (5-5-5-18) 1.8V SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC
  • eVGA, e-GeForce 8800GT Superclocked 650MHz, 512MB GDDR3 1900MHz, PCIe x16 SLI, DVI /2, HDTV/S-Video Out, Retail
  • eVGA, e-GeForce 8800GT Superclocked 650MHz, 512MB GDDR3 1900MHz, PCIe x16 SLI, DVI /2, HDTV/S-Video Out, Retail
  • HITACHI, 750GB DeskStar® 7K1000, SATA II 3Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 32MB cache
  • RAID, No RAID, Independent HDD Drives
  • ROSEWILL, RCR-102 Black 52-in-1 Card Reader/Writer Drive, 3.5" Bay, USB 2.0
  • LITE-ON, LH-20A1L Black/Beige 20x DVD±RW Dual-Layer Burner w/ LightScribe, SATA, Retail
  • ANTEC, Nine Hundred Black Mid-Tower Case, ATX, No PSU
  • CUSTOM WIRING, Standard Wiring with Round Cables
  • COOLERMASTER, Real Power Pro, 80 PLUS®, 850W Power Supply, 24-pin ATX EPS12V, SLI Ready
  • MICROSOFT, Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition w/ SP1, OEM
  • SERVICE, OEM System Recovery (secure HDD partition only)
  • SERVICE, System Binder
  • GAMING PC, Silver Warranty Package (3 Year Limited Parts, 3 Year Labor Warranty)
  • SERVICE, Standard Shipping (UPS, DHL, or Fedex)
 
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