It's that time again!

[Nuse]

So yea, just started a new good paying job and i'm already gonna spend a significant amount of my first check on a new pc. It's an overall investment because i plan to be doing vmware virtualization in preperation for microsoft exams.

 

First thing i did was do some general review reading here as well as toms hardware. Over at toms they have an article on the items they will be using as benchmarks for the upcoming year. I plugged all those into newegg and came up to about 1,400 for a new pc(minus videocard, because im not a gamer). This seems a little expensive so i was wondering what would be better alternatives for certain items.

 

1st being the memory.

Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model BL2KIT12864BA1608 - Retail

 

This was listed as best on toms hardware and its friggan 549! I dont even know the significance of ddr3, and why its better than 2, so im hesistant on buying this, plus i'd probably have to buy an applicable motherboard.

 

ASUS P5E3 Deluxe/WiFi-AP LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

 

Second is the motherboard. Now this motherboard seems amazing with such capabilities like wifi 802.11n which would pay for itself because i wouldn't have to get internet access with all my neighbours feeding me(lots of wap points in my residential area that are unsecure). The price tag on this is 349 though. Is that expensive?

 

Third on the list is the power supply. I'm sure that 400watts wont cover it so i heard that cooler master is the way to go with their 850 watt ones. $200 seems fair. I think i will go with this.

 

Lastly, whats the big difference between intel duo core and quad core. Will i need a heatsink for these bad boys, and which one is better. I'm hearing duo core is more stable.

 

Any questions, suggestions, or comments would be extremely helpful my fellow overclockers. Thanks so much for reading!

[werty316]

I wouldn't go with DDR3 at this point since its expensive as you already know and the performance isn't quite their to justify its price.

[Nuse]

Yea, i looked at some reviews just now and it seems that ddr3 isn't a significant boost from ddr2 just yet. Also, i seem to notice that 4gb of ram is pretty close to 2gb of ram in price so im thinking i might as well max out for now. Mushkin/crucial/kingston seem to be fairly priced. What do you guys have/reccomend?

[iKillSteal]

I wouldn't go with DDR3 at this point since its expensive as you already know and the performance isn't quite their to justify its price.

Or that Cooler Master PSU. They aren't exactly known for having the best quality PSU's. Now PCP&C on the other hand is among the best PSU manufacturers out there. This PSU is more than enough for a quad and anything else you may throw at it.

 

I'm generally not a fan of Asus boards, not because of their rep of throwing out lemons back in the day but because of how much they OP their products, and will recommend that you look elsewhere for your mobo needs. Take a look at the Gigabyte P35-DS3R or the ABIT IP35 Pro/Dark Raider boards. Much easier on the wallet plus they'll leave you with plenty of extra cash to grab a fancy new 802.11n card and even a router if you decide to stop jacking your neighbors internet They also don't force you to use DDR3 so there are even more savings going around.

 

As for C2D's being more stable than C2Q's, that depends. Straight out of the box that's a complete and utter lie. Factor in overclocking and it's true-ish. C2D's(the dual-core chips, btw) are proven to be able to achieve higher OC's, on average, than any quad out there(short of the new 45nm ones) so in that context it's true...kinda. But really, if you don't OC there's nothing to worry about and even if you do, as long as you do proper stress testing, the whole "greater stability" argument goes out the window. We don't accept chips that are more/mostly stable, we only accept chips that are 100% stable.

[Nuse]

Or that Cooler Master PSU. They aren't exactly known for having the best quality PSU's. Now PCP&C on the other hand is among the best PSU manufacturers out there. This PSU is more than enough for a quad and anything else you may throw at it.

 

I'm generally not a fan of Asus boards, not because of their rep of throwing out lemons back in the day but because of how much they OP their products, and will recommend that you look elsewhere for your mobo needs. Take a look at the Gigabyte P35-DS3R or the ABIT IP35 Pro/Dark Raider boards. Much easier on the wallet plus they'll leave you with plenty of extra cash to grab a fancy new 802.11n card and even a router if you decide to stop jacking your neighbors internet They also don't force you to use DDR3 so there are even more savings going around.

 

As for C2D's being more stable than C2Q's, that depends. Straight out of the box that's a complete and utter lie. Factor in overclocking and it's true-ish. C2D's(the dual-core chips, btw) are proven to be able to achieve higher OC's, on average, than any quad out there(short of the new 45nm ones) so in that context it's true...kinda. But really, if you don't OC there's nothing to worry about and even if you do, as long as you do proper stress testing, the whole "greater stability" argument goes out the window. We don't accept chips that are more/mostly stable, we only accept chips that are 100% stable.

 

 

Alrighty, so quad core it definetly is. 17% of people who get the motherboard i wanted usually get it afterwards according to amazon. And core duo is the same price as quad for some reason too. I wont be oc'ing, so it seems a safe bet. Thanks dude. I've been a fan of asus for a while, but i've also heard cool things about gigabyte as well. That board is 50 bucks less so that sounds appealing. Cooler master is a let down? I guess i'll keep looking, i want to have the list defined by a weeks time. That's when i get my first check. The psu is a top priority for me because i would hate to burn out my stuff after spending so much money on it. Also, do you need huge heatsinks anymore? I remember a long time ago the faster the processor was, the more heatsink/fans you needed.

 

Edit: A wireless 802.11n adaptor seems to go for 70-100 dollars. Might stick with the asus afterall.

Edited December 24, 2007 by Nuse

[road-runner]

Alrighty, so quad core it definetly is. 17% of people who get the motherboard i wanted usually get it afterwards according to amazon. And core duo is the same price as quad for some reason too. I wont be oc'ing, so it seems a safe bet. Thanks dude. I've been a fan of asus for a while, but i've also heard cool things about gigabyte as well. That board is 50 bucks less so that sounds appealing. Cooler master is a let down? I guess i'll keep looking, i want to have the list defined by a weeks time. That's when i get my first check. The psu is a top priority for me because i would hate to burn out my stuff after spending so much money on it. Also, do you need huge heatsinks anymore? I remember a long time ago the faster the processor was, the more heatsink/fans you needed.

 

Edit: A wireless 802.11n adaptor seems to go for 70-100 dollars. Might stick with the asus afterall.

If your not overclocking the stock heatsink and fan will be fine with the quad-core....

[Nuse]

If your not overclocking the stock heatsink and fan will be fine with the quad-core....

Good. My friend has an old 2.8ghz amd computer and he has this friggan fan that sounds like a blender. I think its called tornado. I never want to have something so loud like that in my room. To the poster that reccomended that psu, is 610 watts enough? Like i said im infinite scared of a burnout.

[road-runner]

Good. My friend has an old 2.8ghz amd computer and he has this friggan fan that sounds like a blender. I think its called tornado. I never want to have something so loud like that in my room. To the poster that reccomended that psu, is 610 watts enough? Like i said im infinite scared of a burnout.

That PC Power & Cooling he posted above is an excellent PSU and is plenty for what you need. I have one of those I just built a quad rig with. Tornados, they are loud! I have several hanging on my pegboard I took out of some of my rigs for that exact reason...

[iKillSteal]

I'm pretty sure that the Gigabyte P35-DS3R is a little more than $50 cheaper than that Asus board...If my math is correct, it's more like $223 cheaper.

Edited December 24, 2007 by iKillSteal

[Nuse]

I'm pretty sure that the Gigabyte P35-DS3R is a little more than $50 cheaper than that Asus board...If my math is correct, it's more like $223 cheaper.

Oh wow, i forgot to post that i was getting another asus board instead, the P5W deluxe. I realized how retarded i was for initially wanting the 300ish one.

 

 

This is what i've narrowed things down to so far:

 

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610 EPS12V EPS12V 610W Continuous @ 40

Edited December 24, 2007 by Nuse

[Comp Dude2]

why do you want the 975X chipset. That is basically for overclocking which you wont be doing and also it doesnt have support for the new 45nm chips so would be a bad choice. Go with the DS3R as suggested.

 

and if you are not overclocking you might be able to get cheaper ram since they are pretty much the same at stock speeds (cept in timings but yours are standard, rather than low)

Edited December 24, 2007 by Comp Dude2

[kingdingeling]

Q6600 G0 - 275$

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4 - 180$

Crucial Ballistix 2x1GB DDR2-800 - 75$

EVGA 8800GT 512MB - 280$

PCP&C 610W - 120$

Hitachi 500GB 16MB Cache - 115$

 

Much better system than what you were looking at!