Parts for my PC

khan31

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My Dad's mate builds computers for living. He is willing to build me a new PC for under ?600 if he can get the parts I require. I have decent knowledge of computing and know what parts are required. Here is what I was hoping to ask him to build for me:
CPU - AMD/Intel Multi-Core Processor 2.4GHz+
RAM - 3GB min
GFX Card - NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS/GTX/Ultra
Sound Card - Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite/Platinum
Hard Drive - 300GB min
OS - XP (Install Vista in Future)
DVD/RW and CD/RW Drives

I am not sure if this combination would work/be good? What motherboard would go with this? Whats the difference between all the Hard Drives (SATA, RAID etc)? please help!
 
I would recommend that you go with Vista from the start (eew), which is only to make sure you get the best from your multi-core CPU, and can fully utilize your RAM. The Service Pack is just around the corner, and you're set up would not suffer from its misgivings. If you are prepared to wait a couple of months, the new Geforce 9000 range are looking very promising, and they are probably the video card of choice in the near future.

As for SATA drives, I think it is just the connectivity to the Motherboard - I have two slots on my mobo, and two IDE slots. The transfer speeds off the SATA are faster, so I run games off there.
 
Pretty good setup you've thought.

Regarding the RAM, go in for either 2 GB or 4 GB. Do Not Take 3 GB.
If you plan to buy 2 GB, then buy 2 x 1 GB sticks and put it in dual channel mode.
If 4 GB, then 2 x 2 GB sticks in dual channel mode.

They would give a much better performance than otherwise.

Also buy a good motherboard. ASUS or Gigabyte generally offer good overclocking abilities.
I have Intel 33G on one of my computers, and it is nothing exceptional, with absolutely no overclocking settings.
I have the ASUS PE5NE Sli on another computer, and it is a beast.
Great overclocking capability, and pretty good compatibility and performance :)
Here is the Thread where i have detailed the configuration : http://www.planetcricket.org/forums/showthread.php?t=39179
 
8800 GTX/Ultra are really ungainly. The Ultra has been the best card from the outset, but you're still paying double the price of a card that has more than 90% of the performance. They really are like big American muscle cars, the actual card is very big, it uses a lot of power and makes a lot of heat. There's a pedigree, but it comes at a premium. I'd go for broke and chose the most powerful (the GTX isn't all that great any more) if that was what I was looking at, although it must be said that for real nerd points you'd need to have multiple graphics cards.

Next on the list is the 8800 GTS. This is a bit sticky, as there's the old GTS and the new one. The old one came out with the GTX and the Ultra. The chip is referred to as G80 and I think the easy way to tell is that the memory only comes in variants of 320 MB and 640 MB. It shouldn't be too hard to tell what is the old GTS, it will be a lot cheaper. Avoid the G80 model, if this is your price range, ATi's top-end card is a screamer. In fact, most of ATi's cards are good options if you want value for money.

The new model GTS is an updated chip design called G92. nVidia made a number of tweaks to the 8800 design based on what the gamers were asking for, primarily, more bang for their bucks. G92 is made with smaller details on the chip, making it more power efficient and less hot, which means it is more stable at faster speeds. Overall, nVidia are very pleased with the new chip, saying it is their best design in 5 years.

This all sounds good, except that the GTS has a little brother, the GT. The base model GT version of G92 is extremely well priced, so much so that it almost edges the GTS out of the market.

Even more enticing (but confusing), there are mutant versions. Like I said, when they updated the Geforce 8, they made it more stable at speed, so the top companies like Gigabyte and XFX and Zotac took it upon themselves to make hotted up versions. Some of these are actually clocked faster than the 8800 Ultra and will deliver performance so close, you'll wonder why anyone paid twice the price to get one.

So to summarise a whole lot of garbage, the newer versions of Geforce 8800 are overall the pinnacle of the 8 series (with the geforce 9 coming this year) and with all versions sitting somewhere around AU$300-500/?150-250, about as much as you'd want to pay.
 
Thanks alot for your help guys. So, I'll guess I'll wait for the Nvidia 9 series cards and install Vista from the outset. Is there really that much difference in performance between 2GB and 4GB RAM? I will use this PC for gaming (COD 4 etc quality games) and video editing/converting. Apart from that, there are no conflicting issues with the actaul hardware, are there?
 
Thanks alot for your help guys. So, I'll guess I'll wait for the Nvidia 9 series cards and install Vista from the outset. Is there really that much difference in performance between 2GB and 4GB RAM? I will use this PC for gaming (COD 4 etc quality games) and video editing/converting. Apart from that, there are no conflicting issues with the actaul hardware, are there?

Intense Gaming and Video Editing would always require a lot of RAM and a larger Hard Drive, which I would also recommend. I think it's pretty good overall with the comments above.
 
Only installing Vista wouldnt help, if you're going in for 4GB RAM, then go for Vista 64bit. 32 bit would be no difference from XP.

Also, I strongly recommend against AMD, as the fastest AMD has got for now is the Phenom X4, which have a TLB error in the chips, not allowing you to go for speeds above 2.4 GHz. I would suggest wait for the Penryn QC chips to come out if you want to go for quad core. Or If you can do with dual core, then buy the Intel E8400, which is available now. all the penryn chips overclock in excess of or atleast equal to 4GHz :)

In regards to a graphics card, i would suggest either choose The newly released AMD radeon 3870 X2, or take two 8800GT's and put them in SLI. Both these would cost much less than a single GTX/Ultra, but would give lots more performance than it. The AMD card can be put in any motherboard, but the SLI rig can be only set up in an SLI compatible motherboard. Opt for the newly released 750i or 780i if you're going in for SLI.

Next up is the sound card. Just one word - Useless. Its not needed actually at all. The onboard sound in the motherboard these days is more than ample to even fulfill the desires of your 7.1 audio system. The Xfi is not required until you are going in for the highest model Klipsch 7.1 channel system, which i think is highly unlikely in a 600 bucks rig. ;) Save the money here.

Whew, what a long time and i didnt give any advice to anyone. Its a relief ;) Believe my advice and you would be happy for a long time.
 
What price would I be looking at for all this?

Also Kshitiz, do you mean ATI Radeon not AMD Radeon? Thanks for the great advice!
 
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I dont know the exacts, The AMD Radeon 3870x2 should be around $449. The 8800Gt's are at around $239 each. And a Intel E8400 would set you back by around $225 now(though it would cool down to $183 in a month)
And yes, AMD has taken over ATI. Its a long lost news :p
:)
 
Aye They are quite alot. I remeber my friend got one hand built that was meant to cost around £1,200 but he ended up having to pay £2,500. He wasn't best pleased. Its best to look around for the parts and try and find the best parts at the best price
 
depends how good you want your Rig to be really. My mates is one of the best could quite easily play games for the PS3 if it was possible.
 
Hey! if you want to go cheaper i suggest taking a single 8800GT and an Abit's IP35-E motherboard! would still give you lots of performance! And just around $310 for both :)
 
Hey! if you want to go cheaper i suggest taking a single 8800GT and an Abit's IP35-E motherboard! would still give you lots of performance! And just around $310 for both :)

I think I'll go with the ATI you suggested as I want to be able to play all the lastest games and future games. Thanks mate, your advice is legendary.
 

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