Vista hardware?

[Brett]

I'd like some feedback on the hardware below for a high performance Vista
machine. I'll get the hardware now but will upgrade to Vista once it is
released. I won't be playing any games. Just having a lot of apps open
(development IDEs, Virtual PCs, Servers).

- eVGA 512-P2-N637-AR GeForce 7950GT 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 KO
Superclocked Video Card - Retail

- eVGA 122-CK-NF68-AR Socket T (LGA 775) NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel
Motherboard - Retail

- (2) OCZ Platinum 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual
Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2P8002GK - Retail

- (2) Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording
Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

I'll have an Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4ghz cpu. I would go with DDR2 1000
but no motherboards seem to support it. Has any body seen one that also
gets good ratings?

I'd like general comments on this configuration or suggestions on something
better. I'm trying to stay below $1600 on hardware w/o a monitor.

Can any one say if additional fans are needed and which ones in particular
would be best?

Thanks,
Brett

 

[Guest]

I have an Intel DP965 mother board with 2 GB of Crucial 800 MHZ RAM, a Core 2
Duo 6300 processor and an NVidia 7600GS video card with 256MB of Video RAM. I
use a 160GB SATA-II system drive and a couple of 320GB SATA-II data drives.

This configuration gets 5.6 WEI for memory, 5.1 for processor, 5.4 for disk,
and 4.7/4.8 for the two graphics measurements. These are all excellent
scores for anything except the most intensive of games. Your proposed
configuration beats what I have in almost every category so I would say that
you will be in good shape. In fact, you could even go a little cheaper than
what you show and still be in great shape.

HTH

Dale

 

[Brett]

Thanks Dale. Where are you getting those numbers?

Since I'm using 4GB RAM, the E6600 is a must since it's double the cache.
But where else do you see I can reduce cost?

BTW, what is the max memory Vista Ultimate 32bit will support?

Brett

 

[Guest]

32 bit software max 4 GIG, doesn't matter about Vista version

as in 2 to the power 32 = 4 294 967 296

Colin T

 

[Brett]

I'll be accessing this machine via Remote Desktop. I guess the video card
doesn't really matter and I can just use the build in video when I need to.

Brett

 

[Guest]

Those numbers are the Windows Experience Index created by Vista to determine
which features to enable or not enable - for instance Aero. Aero requires a
minimum of 4 on each number. The max, if I am not mistaken, is 5.9 so my
numbers are pretty darn good.

Where you can save money, from what you said you'll be doing with your PC,
is, with approximate savings per item:

there's certainly no reason to buy a high end SLI capable mother board:
$75

no need for a 7950GT - even for most games but especially since you're
not playing games and connecting with remote desktop. $100

as you see, I get excellent numbers with a 6300 processor: $100

So there's $275 easily saved. There's no reason why you couldn't build a
great Vista box for under $1000 - even with Aero. But, believe me,
transparent borders are not all they're cracked up to be. You're not losing
a thing without Aero. So you could save even another $50 by going to 128MB
or even 64MB video card.

Dale

 

[Brett]

The processor isn't for Vista but for everything else I'll be doing. I
think a 256MB card with DirectX 9 is good enough for all Vista video. But
I'm wondering if I really need it since I'll access the box by Remote
Desktop. Will Vista disable some feature automatically if the video is
cheap? If the machine I use to access the Vista box can support the video,
will I still see Aero or what else is there even if the Vista box doesn't
have the supported video card? Strange questions.

Here's a motherboard that saves a bundle and should do fine for the E6600 (I
won't be OC'ing):

$108.99
Intel BOXDG965SSCK Socket T (LGA 775) Intel G965 Express Micro ATX Intel
Motherboard - Retail


As for video, there are quiet a few for under $100:

$65
GIGABYTE GV-NX73G256D-RH GeForce 7300GS 256MB Onboard (Supporting 512MB by
TurboCache) GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail

$62
PNY VCG7300LXPB GeForce 7300LE 256MB GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Low Profile Video
Card - Retail

$49
GIGABYTE GV-R955256D Radeon 9550 256MB DDR AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail

There's a lot like that. Guess it depends on if I want PCI or AGP. Does it
matter?

Would something like a Thermaltake 420w for $40 be enough power for this
setup?

Thanks,
Brett

 

[Brett]

As for the PSU, it looks like 541W is the requirement:
http://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

Here's the configuration:

- Intel Duo E6600
- 4 sticks 1GB DDR2 RAM
- Intel BOXDG965SSCK Socket T (LGA 775) Intel G965 Express Micro ATX Intel
Motherboard - Retail
- GeForce LE 256MB RAM PCI Express x16
- (2) 7200RPM HDs
- wireless NIC

I varied the motherboard from high end to regular and went down to 528w.
Looks like 550w is what I need minimum.

Brett