Might buy new PC! Help Please.

[Volcom]

Tell me if this is an okay PC. Or if you have any suggestions!

Master Hard Drive
$469.99

• 300 GB

• 15,000 RPMs

• 15 MB Cache

[link=hyperlink url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822116059[/link]

Slave Hard Drive
$199.99

• 750 GB

• 7,200 RPM

• 32 MB Cache

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145170

Motherboard
$259.99
LGA 775

• PCI Express 2.0 x16: 3

• PCI Express x1: 1

• 8 GB of Memory

• 4x 240 Pin

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188024

Processor
$189.99

• Core 2 Duo

• 3.0 GHz

• 1333 MHz

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115028

RAM
$100.99

• 2 GB

• DDR2 1200

• 240 Pin

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220241

Graphics Card
$189.99

• EVGA

• 8800 GT

• 512 MB

• PCI Express 2.0 x16

• 1800 MHz

I already have 2 of these cards.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130318

Power Supply
$249.99

• 860 W

• 1 Fan

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703013

Sound Card
$90.99

• 7.1 Channels

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102006

Optical Drive
$34.99

• DVD+R-20X

• DVD+RW-8X

• DVD-R-20X

• DVD-RW 6X

• CD-R-48X

• CD-RW-32X

• DVD+R DL-8X

• DVD-R DL-8X

• DVD-RAM-14X

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135156

GRAND TOTAL​

$1786.81​

NOT Including Below Items

​

Monitor -Already Owned-
$369.99

• 24" Wide Screen

• 1920 x 1200 Max

• 2 ms Time Response

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824112011

Mouse -Already Owned-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126034

Keyboard -Already Owned-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126034

Operating System -Already Owned-
Windows XP Pro

• 32 Bit

• Includes All of Office 2007

OVERVIEW​

HDD #1: 300 GB, 15,000 RPM
HDD #2: 750 GB, 7,200 RPM
Mobo: 780i
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 3.0 GHz
RAM: 2 GB of Patriot Ram, DDR2 1200
Graphics Card: 3x Nvidia GeForce 8800-GT 512 MB
Power Supply: 860 Watts
Sound Card: 7.1 Surround Sound Channels
Optical Drive: Fast all Around.

Tell me what I should get and what I should change.

Thanks In Advanced,
-Volcom-

 

[/dev/null]

I'd go with a pair of 150G raptors or wait for the VelociRaptor (300G) due shortly for the OS. I'm planning to drop a pair of those in my rig when they come out.

http://www.storagereview.com/WD3000BLFS.sr

I use to go all SCSI, but for gaming / workstation work this is a better pick. Were you building a TF2 server...

Good data drive. That is what I use in my box. Very happy with it.

Good mainboard. That is also what I use in my box. Very happy with it again.

OK CPU. Consider the E8400 (same thing, 45nm build) for an extra $10.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037

RAM... It is easy to lose sight of the fact that the 1333 FSB CPUs like the e8400 uses DDR2-667 ram (stock), the . The 1066MHz FSB CPUs like the Q6600 uses DDR2-533 (stock). Unless you are trying for some crazy overclocking - and even then, might be better off spending more on the CPU... DDR-800 is the sweet spot for RAM. I've got two sets of cheap 2x2G DDR2-800 I picked - 8G of ram (2Gx4) for about $140 total.

Your board will support tri-sli. When you pick up the next generation of cards, tis something to watch for.

Good power supply, but overkill for what you are doing. Running all that and more on the 750W version. The 750W version has a pair of the 6+2 (8-pin) power connectors, just in case something other than the 9800gx2 every uses it going forward.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703009

Not sure I'd bother with a sound card. The on-board audio on the EVGA board is pretty good. Good enough for my ears and music.

Consider WinXP-64, if you go over 3G of RAM. Rock solid, nvidia has drivers for all of the mainboard and video cards with that OS. You won't be able to tell you were running the 64-bit version, until you realize you played TF2 for the past 3 hours with BFME2, and IDE, and a few other things running in the background the entire time.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116378

 

[jdcskillet]

/dev/ null hit it on the head with the CPU, extra $10 and you can get the Wolfdale chipset. The big difference with a wolfdale chipset and the 65nm chipsets is speed, heat, and the fact that you get more cache for your cores. All in all its definitely worth the extra 10 bucks you would have to pay.

My only nitpick for this selection is the 300gb 15000rpm hard drive. Reason being: I think you need an SAS controller for it.? I don't know but something is picking at the back of my head about those type of drives....

Excellent mobo, RAM, etc. I myself would like to upgrade to xp-64 bit, but haven't had the time (although I get it for free...yay computer science majors).

 

[trykael]

I'd wait for the VelociRaptors like /dev/null suggested. According to the latest benchmarks there isn't much in the consumer market that can beat them for speed. Toss a pair in configured at Raid0 for some crazy speed Then use the data drive to back everything up.

I agree his take on this as well, with one exception. I like his CPU pick IF this is nothing but a gaming machine. If you're going to be using this for video/media work, you might want to consider the Q6600 (if you want 65nm) or the Q9300 (if you'd rather 45nm). As he said, I'd spend the extra money on the processor than that RAM. The reason I suggest the quad core is that media applications often take advantage of all 4 cores. If you're just using this for gaming, though, then go for the cheaper 45nm E8400 due to the clock speed.

 

[pillar]

hey volcom, let me ask you something. do you really need 1x750gb hd that has 7200rpm & 1x300gb hd w/ 15k rpm? i would really suggest gettin the 750gb hd 1st & then if you start to run outta space (which is highly unlikely unless you torrent stuff like Joko & I do), then go ahead with the 300gb drive. either that or try to get 2 drives that have the same rpm speeds, that way your wait time between drives isnt that long. just my 2 pennies of this issue.

 

[Silent Assassin]

I wouldn't get the SCSI Hard Drive, wait for the velociraptors. Also I would get this for RAM [link=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220293]Patriot Viper 4GB (2 x 2GB)[/link] and I would get Vista Home Premium 64bit so you can use 4GBs and get DX10!!
Another suggestion would be to get the E8400 or Q6600

 

[/dev/null]

[quote1210727978=pillar]
hey volcom, let me ask you something. do you really need 1x750gb hd that has 7200rpm & 1x300gb hd w/ 15k rpm?
[/quote1210727978]

Some folks will use the faster drive for OS and apps, and a slower drive for storage. The new 7200 RPM drives are pretty fast.... but the raptors (and ilk) are even faster - but at the cost of capacity.

 

[trykael]

nooooo - stay away from Vista!!! <grin> XP64bit is the way to go if you want all the ram, but Vista is a bad bad choice.

 

[/dev/null]

I had problems with Vista 64 being stable. *If* you go Vista, do the initial install with less than 4 gigs of RAM, then add the rest. I had nothing but heartaches with my Plextor DVDR (PX712A) drive - probably due to the SATA interface. With that, a 8800GTS, and just the mainboard, it was not stable for me. I've got an MSDN subscription, so could try out a bunch of options. Ended up going WinXP-64, which is rock solid.

That said, I have not tried Vista since SP1. It might be better.

 

[Volcom]

Im not going Vista.

Im concidering Dual boot though 64 bit.. even though its glitchy!

thansk for all the advice

 

[tiddy]

What is this computer being used for primarily? I'm trying to figure out why you wanted to throw $700 dollars into hard drives. The performance gains by redistributing that money to other components would be much greater.

 

[Volcom]

using it for movies and gaming.