My new computer setup

danball1976danball1976 Wichita Falls, TX
edited December 2006 in Hardware
Alright, I am definitely going to start building me a new computer next year as I have put it off long enough. My monitor is slowly failing, and I seem to have an intermittent failure in my C: drive (I did buy it back on Nov 2002). The hard drive occasionally parks the heads and spins down and then spins back up, twice causing my computer to freeze. SMART monitoring claims my hard drive is fine, at 95%. Last upgrade was way back in February of 2003.

Here is the hardware for this new computer:
COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC ATX Mid Tower
ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe socket AM2
SAPPHIRE 100186L Radeon X1950XT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610 EPS12V EPS12V 610W
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+(65W) Windsor 2.0GHz Socket AM2
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit
2x Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000KS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s (To be set in RAID 0)
Western Digital Caviar RE WD1600YS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s - to be used as C:\ drive
Logitech Ultra X 967353-0403 2-Tone PS/2 Wired Standard Keyboard - I could use my current white IBM keyboard, but I want a color matching computer
ViewSonic VX922 Black/Silver 19" 2ms LCD Monitor
Logitech G5 Laser 931376-0403 2-Tone 6 Buttons 1x Wheel USB Laser Mouse
SONY Black IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model DDU1615/B2s
LITE-ON 16X DVD±R DVD Burner W/ LightScribe and 5X DVD-RAM - I could just use the LITE-ON 16X Dual Layer DVD±R DVD Burner that I just bought instead.
ZALMAN CNPS 9500 AM2 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink
Logitech X-230 32 Watts 2.1 Black Speakers

Total Cost of hardware: $1950.31

I have some Antec Silver Thermal Compound, is it just as good as the Artic Silver 5 Thermal Compound?

I also have a copy of Windows XP Professional 64bit that I got from the Microsoft academic licensing program through a class of mine at the college I go to.

Comments

  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited November 2006
    Your hardware choices are already out of date. The Core 2 Duo creams the Athlon 64s, and the Athlon 64s are already on 65nm (Brisbane, instead of Windsor). Wait until january, and the landscape is going to firmly settle for a while (No big product announcements are expected until late spring at that point).
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited November 2006
    I second what Thrax has posted. Plus, Intel should have some new C2D choices coming out then too, possibly making the prices for C2D even more affordable.
  • danball1976danball1976 Wichita Falls, TX
    edited November 2006
    Thrax wrote:
    Your hardware choices are already out of date. The Core 2 Duo creams the Athlon 64s, and the Athlon 64s are already on 65nm (Brisbane, instead of Windsor). Wait until january, and the landscape is going to firmly settle for a while (No big product announcements are expected until late spring at that point).

    You know what, I don't care if my choice is out of date. I can't afford to have the next newest thing that just came out. I have no clue what AMD's Socket F or S1 is and what motherboards are good for it. I also will not touch any Intel CPU with a 10 foot pole, I am AMD for life.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited November 2006
    Oooookay. Fine. I apologize for making a helpful suggestion that would've saved you money and considerably increased the performance you received for every dollar you spent. Good luck with your purchases, and consider taking advice when you ask for it.
  • danball1976danball1976 Wichita Falls, TX
    edited November 2006
    Brisbane core isn't on NewEgg yet. But just remember, any suggestions for a CPU or Motherboard must be for AMD.

    Besides any money saved by going to Intel is just Intel attempting to undersell their processors to try to take market share away from AMD. I am actually fine with not saving a few dollars by staying with AMD.

    If you are interested, here is what I currently have running my in my computer.
    Enermax EG365P-VE(FC) ATX 350W PSU
    AMD KD7-RAID
    AMD Athlon XP 2600@2.08GHz
    Corsair PC3200 1GB DDRAM
    ATI Radeon 9550 AGP 8x w128MB RAM
    60GB Maxtor ATA133 7200RPM
    2x 120GB Maxtor ATA133 7200RPM in RAID 0
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited November 2006
    That's a narrow appraisal of the situation. Underselling was something AMD did for a very long time, and is <i>still</i> doing in the Enterprise and cheap desktop segment, to take market share away from Intel. Welcome to capitalism.

    It's not about saving money with the Core 2 Duo, it's about getting up to 35% more performance, dollar per dollar, megahertz per megahertz. Do you really want to be so blindly loyal to a company that you screw yourself out of a lot more for less?

    I know I wouldn't be, and I bought AMD (Religiously) for 7 years.
  • danball1976danball1976 Wichita Falls, TX
    edited November 2006
    I not being blind, I just don't want to bother with Intel products. Besides I won't notice the performance difference that the Intel has since I won't be buying it.

    --EDIT I--
    Also, I'm sorry for seeming to be a little crass after your initial post, but telling me that my choices are out of date just got on my nerves after trying to keep up with the constant disappearing entries in my wish list of items that are no longer produced and replacing them with fairly similar items. I started my wish list 11 months ago.

    --EDIT II--
    However, I still don't care if my choices are out of date, compared to what I currently have, this is a big step up (I did wait out for the changes from Socket 754, 939 and 940).

    --EDIT III--
    Also, maybe in 2008 I'll build a computer that is more up to date by the standards then - but I still will buy AMD (I do get my car paid off at the end of next year).
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited November 2006
    danball1976 wrote:
    I not being blind, I just don't want to bother with Intel products. Besides I won't notice the performance difference that the Intel has since I won't be buying it.

    --EDIT I--
    Also, I'm sorry for seeming to be a little crass after your initial post, but telling me that my choices are out of date just got on my nerves after trying to keep up with the constant disappearing entries in my wish list of items that are no longer produced and replacing them with fairly similar items. I started my wish list 11 months ago.

    --EDIT II--
    However, I still don't care if my choices are out of date, compared to what I currently have, this is a big step up (I did wait out for the changes from Socket 754, 939 and 940).

    --EDIT III--
    Also, maybe in 2008 I'll build a computer that is more up to date by the standards then - but I still will buy AMD (I do get my car paid off at the end of next year).

    No, that's just being a fanboi of the most extreme kind. :p But to each their own I guess. ;D

    As for your psu choice, that is a good one, but you might also check out the Corsair HX620w. It uses 105 C rated capacitors inside and also has a longer warantee than the Silencer 610; 5 years instead of 3 years. I just bought one and installed it last week and I am really impressed with it. And it's the same price as the PC Power & Cooling job you are looking at. And it's actually cheaper at ZipZoomFly, where I bought mine from. It's $160 there with free ground shipping or $2.99 2nd day Fedex. It's also modular on all cables except the ATX and 12v P4/EPS 4/8 pin connecors too, and it looks like the Silencer isn't modular. It even comes with a nice bag to keep the unused cables in.
  • danball1976danball1976 Wichita Falls, TX
    edited November 2006
    Looks good, but I'm fine with not having modular cabling, and I'm not sure about that flat cable style.

    Combined 50A on the +12V rails for the Corsair, and 49A on the +12V rail for the PCP&C. Is there really a difference between the 3 +12V/18A rails on the Corsair vs. the 49A on the single +12V rail on the PCP&C?
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited November 2006
    danball1976 wrote:
    Looks good, but I'm fine with not having modular cabling, and I'm not sure about that flat cable style.

    Combined 50A on the +12V rails for the Corsair, and 49A on the +12V rail for the PCP&C. Is there really a difference between the 3 +12V/18A rails on the Corsair vs. the 49A on the single +12V rail on the PCP&C?
    Good question ...I'm curious about this myself.
  • danball1976danball1976 Wichita Falls, TX
    edited November 2006
    csimon wrote:
    Good question ...I'm curious about this myself.

    This is what the manual has to say:
    Triple 12V Rails provide independent reliable power to the CPU, video card
    and other components with a combined rating of 50A (40A on 520W)
    maximum! Advanced circuitry design that automatically enable power sharing
    between the triple +12V rails in an event of overload on any single +12V rail.

    I think I'll go ahead and get the Corsair. The 5 year warranty is too attractive compared to the 3 year on the PCP&C. Also, with the PCP&C, I would be using 3 of the 6 SATA power connectors, the Corsair has 8, so there's room to grow.

    PCP&C connectors
    1 x Main connector (24-pin)
    1 x 12V(4pin)
    1 x 12V(8pin)
    8 x peripheral
    6 x SATA
    1 x Floppy
    2 x PCI-E

    Corsair connectors
    1 x 20+4-pin ATX
    1 x 4-pin +12V
    1 x 8-pin EPS12V
    2 x PCI-Express
    10 x 4-pin peripheral
    2 x 4-pin floppy
    8 x SATA
  • danball1976danball1976 Wichita Falls, TX
    edited November 2006
    What do you think of this? Instead of the Viewsonic VX922, I am looking at the Viewsonic VA1912wb. Do you think it would be a better choice to go widescreen?

    --EDIT--
    Anyway, I decided on this monitor:
    BenQ FP202W Black 20.1" 8ms Widescreen LCD Monitor, same price, just a little bit bigger, and I didn't particularly like losing 124 vertical pixels if I were to go with the Viewsonic 19" widescreen, as I currently run my CRT at 1360x1024 (The Viewsonic widescreen is 1440x900 vs 1680x1050 with the BenQ).
  • cambrosecambrose
    edited November 2006
    Widescreen is always better, imho. My roommate just moved to a 22" widescreen, and I'm jealous of it. Also, be careful with your xp x64bit version from your college, because academic licensing tends to be kind of screwy with 64 bit for some unknown reason. And by that I mean no cd key will agree with it. Just thought I'd let you know.

    PS: I wish I was as big of a fanboi as you, my desktop just went pentium D. : (
  • clear_darknessclear_darkness TX New
    edited November 2006
    Aww, you should have gone with the VX922, but I suppose that's just a preference of mine. I've heard that specific panel kicks butt when gaming compared to other lcds. I've actually been watching it for myself, but then I plan to game on it, and the higher res is vital to my decision.
  • danball1976danball1976 Wichita Falls, TX
    edited December 2006
    Right now, I'm kind of stuck between choosing the BenQ FP202W 20.1" Widescreen and The Viewsonic VX922 19". I won't be buying it until the 29th of December
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited December 2006
    If you are curious about the working of the Corsair HX620, JonnyGURU has a review of it. And he made some pretty curious findings about the 3 12v rails. From reading this review, it looks like the psu actually only has 1 massive 12v rail that they split into 3. The review says you can load just 1 connector up with 30-40 amps of load with no voltage drop or system shut down And Danball, the flexforce cables are actually real nice to work with. They are easy to hide and work with also, unlike some other modular wires I've messed with on other psu's.
  • danball1976danball1976 Wichita Falls, TX
    edited December 2006
    I wound up changing my mind on video cards. I don't need the absolute top of the line, and the 7600GT version has 98 reviews, and 93% of them gave it a 5 egg rating. It is the XFX GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16, however, the one I am looking at has been rated by 2 people, and both of them have given a 5 egg rating. The one I am intending on purchasing is the XFX GeForce 7900GS 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16.

    I would imagine that the X1950XT is a power hog, and the 7900GS is somewhat less of a power hog, and slightly slower. Also, the X1950XT I was looking at is 625/1800MHz and the 7900GS is 600/1600MHz, the 7600GT is 590/1600MHz.
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited December 2006
    the 7600 is 128 bit and the 7900 is 256 bit. They don't compare really. I'd go 256 bit min unless you plan on upgrading to a DX10 card soon. Just my $.02.
  • MadballMadball Fort Benton, MT
    edited December 2006
    csimon wrote:
    the 7600 is 128 bit and the 7900 is 256 bit. They don't compare really. I'd go 256 bit min unless you plan on upgrading to a DX10 card soon. Just my $.02.

    I just purchased a 7600gt for my new system for just that reason. Once DX10 cards come down in price I'll upgrade. The 7600 performs surprisingly well.

    I, like Thrax, was totally dedicated to AMD, but I just couldn't resist the new C2D's. Man, once you go dual, you'll never go back.
  • danball1976danball1976 Wichita Falls, TX
    edited December 2006
    I decided on another motherboard. The whole hit and miss situation with Asus boards that others seem to be experiencing (especially since you have to update the M2N-SLI Deluxe motherboard BIOS in DOS before you do anything else) has lead me to decide on buying the following motherboard:
    EPoX EP-MF570SLI Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP

    This board has six 5 egg ratings, and two 4 egg ratings.
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited December 2006
    What sort of time frame are we looking at dan? Ati has something coming in Feb on the R600/RD690 front w/ 4x4 compatability. Just in case you're interested.
  • danball1976danball1976 Wichita Falls, TX
    edited December 2006
    I am intending on buying it on Jan 12th. What is the 4x4 compatibility?
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited December 2006
    danball1976 wrote:
    I am intending on buying it on Jan 12th. What is the 4x4 compatibility?

    http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=36236
  • danball1976danball1976 Wichita Falls, TX
    edited December 2006
    Well, I don't need quad core processing power, and I don't really need dual core power other than to run Folding@Home and a few other programs when playing games.
  • MadballMadball Fort Benton, MT
    edited December 2006
    The new Nvidia Nforce 680a chipset is out now. You may want to look into that. If its anything like the 680i, it should be a great overclocker.
  • danball1976danball1976 Wichita Falls, TX
    edited December 2006
    Nah, the nForce 600 series boards (Intel Only) are about twice the amount I want to spend ($250-$300, and $410 for the ASUS Striker Extreme Socket T, that's just crazy). Anyway, if I did buy one of these boards, it seems that the eVGA board is the best choice.

    See search: here
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited December 2006
    $250-$300 on what? Damn that's expensive! I'm sticking w/ my 939!
  • MadballMadball Fort Benton, MT
    edited December 2006
    The 680a board is for AMD, and by the time you purchase your system, they may have some more affordable models.
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