Help/Ideas for my PC build

[Rory Deol]

I have decided to upgrade to a new homebuilt desktop after six years
with my current one. Here is a list of the components I plan to
purchase right now and then some for later purchases:

CPU: E6750 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo

MoBo: Asus P5N-E (I am looking for the best board but I am not having
much luck finding anything. I want to stay around $150 and this was
the most cost effective)

PSU: Antec 850W True Power Quattro

GPU: Sparke Geforce 8600 GT 512MB (I would love the 8800 but thats a
bit too decadent for now. I am hoping that whatever I get now I can
double up in SLI later)

RAM: ????????????? (I have NO idea. I want 2GB but don't want to spend
more than $110. But I found "Super Talent 2GB(1GBx2) DDr2-800" for
$58, which means I could go to 4GB within my price. Should I?)

Case: Without question the Antec P182

So there it is. I have the keyboard, mouse, monitor, optical drives,
and hard drives that I need right now. My future upgrade will just be
more RAM if needed, another GPU if needed and eventually an HDTV to
double as a monitor. Which means that I would need a Graphics card
capable of hooking up to an HDTV. Are there cards with HDMI out? Also
right now all of my TV watching is done through an ATI All in Wonder
VE. I like the setup and would like to continue but w/o this card. If
I buy a seperate HDTV Tuner, can my monitor only be hooked up to it,
or can it remain hooked up to my GPU?
That is all I can think of for now. I hope to get building within the
month so any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Rory

 

[peter]

The 1st thing that pops out is that 850w psu.......Thats overkill.With the
parts your showing a good 500-550 watt unit will suffice and safe you a few
bucks.
That mobo is picky about RAM settings so I would suggest you stick with the
RAM recommended by ASUS to work with that board..I'm too lazy togo look but
you can on the ASUS website.
That video card has DVI out...not HDMI..so you would need to look at a DVI
input HD monitor.There are 8600 GT with HDMI out..here is one that a google
search turned up.The 8600 cards are actually better at video than the basic
8800 ones
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/1147/msi_8600gts_diamond_plus_with_hdmi/index.html

If you buy a seperate HD Tv Tuner card take a look at the Haupage
products.The card would have input for HD Satellite/Cable or off the air the
output would go thru your Video Card and then display on your monitor.Of
course both the Video Card and the Monitor need to be HDCP enabled in order
for you to watch HD DVD movies...in HD.
There is a lot to research when building a new system.As an example that
ASUS mobo has a Nvidea 650 chipset...which is a very good chipset I have it
on a Gigabyte mobo ..but there are newer chipsets out like the newest one
from Intel..that are a little quicker and are able to support the newer CPUs
coming out soon as well as the newer DDR3 RAM with a 1066 speed.That would
be future proofing..thinking ahead inorder to upgrade by purchasing the
fewest new parts.
good luck
peter

 

[Paul]

I have decided to upgrade to a new homebuilt desktop after six years
with my current one. Here is a list of the components I plan to
purchase right now and then some for later purchases:

CPU: E6750 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo

MoBo: Asus P5N-E (I am looking for the best board but I am not having
much luck finding anything. I want to stay around $150 and this was
the most cost effective)

PSU: Antec 850W True Power Quattro

GPU: Sparke Geforce 8600 GT 512MB (I would love the 8800 but thats a
bit too decadent for now. I am hoping that whatever I get now I can
double up in SLI later)

RAM: ????????????? (I have NO idea. I want 2GB but don't want to spend
more than $110. But I found "Super Talent 2GB(1GBx2) DDr2-800" for
$58, which means I could go to 4GB within my price. Should I?)

Case: Without question the Antec P182

So there it is. I have the keyboard, mouse, monitor, optical drives,
and hard drives that I need right now. My future upgrade will just be
more RAM if needed, another GPU if needed and eventually an HDTV to
double as a monitor. Which means that I would need a Graphics card
capable of hooking up to an HDTV. Are there cards with HDMI out? Also
right now all of my TV watching is done through an ATI All in Wonder
VE. I like the setup and would like to continue but w/o this card. If
I buy a seperate HDTV Tuner, can my monitor only be hooked up to it,
or can it remain hooked up to my GPU?
That is all I can think of for now. I hope to get building within the
month so any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Rory

Is this a gaming machine ? What are the objectives ?

What things on your current machine aren't fast enough ?

Is Vista part of the plan ? What OS is in the picture ?

Paul

 

[Rory Deol]

O

Is this a gaming machine ? What are the objectives ?

Yes having this system will my alternative to buying a PS3, so I plan
on doing some pretty heavy gaming with it (Direct X10). Also this
system is my alternative to having to buy a TV. So I run my cable
through the current card. That will be used frequently and I would
like a better resolution than what the All in Wonder VE I have
currently offers. In the future this will hopefully be something that
can accommodate HD television/Blu-Ray/HD DVD viewing.

What things on your current machine aren't fast enough ?

My current machine is slow on running multiple programs (DVD,
interntet, and word all at once). So that limits my usage quite a bit.
I would like to use this for video editing. I am currently using the
local University's equipment and thats a hassle.

Is Vista part of the plan ? What OS is in the picture ?

So far, only because I would like to use the SLI feature, will Vista
be an option. Until I upgrade to that i will stick with XP. But, I
hope that upgrade happens within the next 6 months. It should be
useful to get used to using Vista eventually.

I hope this helps narrow down my needs a bit more.

 

[Rory Deol]

The 1st thing that pops out is that 850w psu.......Thats overkill.With the
parts your showing a good 500-550 watt unit will suffice and safe you a few
bucks.
That mobo is picky about RAM settings so I would suggest you stick with the
RAM recommended by ASUS to work with that board..I'm too lazy togo look but
you can on the ASUS website.
That video card has DVI out...not HDMI..so you would need to look at a DVI
input HD monitor.There are 8600 GT with HDMI out..here is one that a google
search turned up.The 8600 cards are actually better at video than the basic
8800 oneshttp://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/1147/msi_8600gts_diamond_plus_with_h...

If you buy a seperate HD Tv Tuner card take a look at the Haupage
products.The card would have input for HD Satellite/Cable or off the air the
output would go thru your Video Card and then display on your monitor.Of
course both the Video Card and the Monitor need to be HDCP enabled in order
for you to watch HD DVD movies...in HD.
There is a lot to research when building a new system.As an example that
ASUS mobo has a Nvidea 650 chipset...which is a very good chipset I have it
on a Gigabyte mobo ..but there are newer chipsets out like the newest one
from Intel..that are a little quicker and are able to support the newer CPUs
coming out soon as well as the newer DDR3 RAM with a 1066 speed.That would
be future proofing..thinking ahead inorder to upgrade by purchasing the
fewest new parts.
good luck

Thanks for all of the great info! I like the card you had linked. But
I have one question about SLI would I need to buy the exact same card
or could I buy any other 8600gts and it will still work?

 

[Paul]

O

Yes having this system will my alternative to buying a PS3, so I plan
on doing some pretty heavy gaming with it (Direct X10). Also this
system is my alternative to having to buy a TV. So I run my cable
through the current card. That will be used frequently and I would
like a better resolution than what the All in Wonder VE I have
currently offers. In the future this will hopefully be something that
can accommodate HD television/Blu-Ray/HD DVD viewing.



My current machine is slow on running multiple programs (DVD,
interntet, and word all at once). So that limits my usage quite a bit.
I would like to use this for video editing. I am currently using the
local University's equipment and thats a hassle.


So far, only because I would like to use the SLI feature, will Vista
be an option. Until I upgrade to that i will stick with XP. But, I
hope that upgrade happens within the next 6 months. It should be
useful to get used to using Vista eventually.

I hope this helps narrow down my needs a bit more.

This is the plan I cooked up, but I wanted to verify you were
a gamer first.

Prices:

Power Supply - twice as big as that system needs, and a price of $250
Antec P182 - $160 case
RAM - 2GB is good for now. Why waste money ? Save another $58.
Video - buy a nicer card with the money saved
Processor - buy a nicer processor etc.

Getting an 8800 class card would be my first priority. You can fix
the processor later if you're ever unhappy with it. An E6750 is
pretty fast, so that shouldn't be an issue. Future games will
need a minimum of an 8800GTS for decent performance.

If you only spent $100 on the PSU, used a $50 case, went with 2GB of
memory ($58 RAM saving), that makes $208 for more video card.

The video card you planned on buying starts at about $100. Moving
to the cheapest 8800GTS I can find costs about $179 more. You'll need
to shell out a bit more, to get a brand with a good warranty.

The 8800GTS has one 2x3 PCI Express power connector, and you won't
need a large supply to run the whole thing. About 8.5 amps from 12V
for the video card. The processor is another 6 amps. One HDD, one ODD,
and current for fans adds about 2.6 amps more, for a total of 6A on 12V2
and 11.1A on 12V1.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/gf8800gts320MB-roundup_8.html

This supply features a single output rail for +12V of 26 amps, which is
more than the proposed total load of 17.1 amps. Design is 74% efficient,
whereas to get a quality "80%+" unit doubles the price. (I flipped through
reviews on a few, and noted DOAs. This unit is new enough to Newegg, to
not have any reviews.)

PC Power & Cooling Silencer 470 ATX ATX12V Ver 2.2 470W Power Supply 100 - 240 V $75
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703011
http://www.pcpower.com/products/assets/S47ATX/S47ATX2.jpg
http://www.pcpower.com/products/viewproduct.php?show=S47ATX&view=techspecs

Example of a $50 case. 120mm fan in the back.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16811119068

So basically all I'm recommending, is putting the money where it counts.

Paul

 

[Fishface]

GPU: Sparke Geforce 8600 GT 512MB (I would love the 8800 but
thats a bit too decadent for now. I am hoping that whatever I get now
I can double up in SLI later)

You say you have the monitor? What is the size and resolution? Does
it support the requisite HDCP?

Beware that some of the 8600GT cards use DDR2 and are reported to
be much slower than the DDR3 variety. I agree that a better video card
should be a priority for gaming. NVidia is releasing a replacement for
their midrange cards on November 21 which better support HD media
playback, if you can wait 'til then. Just Google G92.

 

[peter]

Thanks for all of the great info! I like the card you had linked. But
I have one question about SLI would I need to buy the exact same card
or could I buy any other 8600gts and it will still work?

In order for SLI to work you would need another card with the same
chipset...
You do realise that come about mid Nov the 9000 series will be coming out
and the price of the 8800 are slowly going down.
So far SLI is still a problem if your running Vista.
I live in Canada and doing a quick Calculation the parts that you listed
come to about $800.00....where do you live??
peter

 

[Phisherman]

I have decided to upgrade to a new homebuilt desktop after six years
with my current one. Here is a list of the components I plan to
purchase right now and then some for later purchases:

CPU: E6750 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo

MoBo: Asus P5N-E (I am looking for the best board but I am not having
much luck finding anything. I want to stay around $150 and this was
the most cost effective)

PSU: Antec 850W True Power Quattro

GPU: Sparke Geforce 8600 GT 512MB (I would love the 8800 but thats a
bit too decadent for now. I am hoping that whatever I get now I can
double up in SLI later)

RAM: ????????????? (I have NO idea. I want 2GB but don't want to spend
more than $110. But I found "Super Talent 2GB(1GBx2) DDr2-800" for
$58, which means I could go to 4GB within my price. Should I?)

Case: Without question the Antec P182

So there it is. I have the keyboard, mouse, monitor, optical drives,
and hard drives that I need right now. My future upgrade will just be
more RAM if needed, another GPU if needed and eventually an HDTV to
double as a monitor. Which means that I would need a Graphics card
capable of hooking up to an HDTV. Are there cards with HDMI out? Also
right now all of my TV watching is done through an ATI All in Wonder
VE. I like the setup and would like to continue but w/o this card. If
I buy a seperate HDTV Tuner, can my monitor only be hooked up to it,
or can it remain hooked up to my GPU?
That is all I can think of for now. I hope to get building within the
month so any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Rory

I think the Antec Sonata III case with 500w PS included will work for
you--it has 120mm fan mounts for lots of quiet air movement. There
are plenty of feature-packed quality motherboards for $100. GPUs are
expensive and probably the fastest item that will obsolete. Go with
2GB RAM and allow two memory slots for expansion--I prefer a quality
brand such as Crucial, Kingston or Mushkin. Any extra money left over
should go for a faster CPU.