New computer

[Gwydion]

Last nite, I fried....something. I believe it was my CPU, but I haven't really looked into it, as it was way too late to disect my computer. And to be honest, I don't really want to find out, as if I do, I will realize its a $100 fix and I won't be justified in an upgrade.

So, with that in mind, I am deciding to upgrade my computer. I can strip most of the non-essential hardware out of my current computer, so all I am really looking for is the CPU, MB, Memory, and Video Card. As such, I came up with this build....



On Wed, Jun 4, 2008 at 10:51 AM, Aaron Stout <arstout@gmail.com> wrote:

Just a quick look through and came up with this. I believe they are all compatible. Thoughts?

CPU: Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - CPUs / Processors

MB: Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

Memory: Newegg.com - Transcend 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

VC: Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GV-NX96T512H GeForce 9600 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards


Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated! I'd like to stay in the sub $600 ballpark for those four components.

 

[Xaquin44]

Last nite, I fried....something. I believe it was my CPU, but I haven't really looked into it, as it was way too late to disect my computer. And to be honest, I don't really want to find out, as if I do, I will realize its a $100 fix and I won't be justified in an upgrade.

So, with that in mind, I am deciding to upgrade my computer. I can strip most of the non-essential hardware out of my current computer, so all I am really looking for is the CPU, MB, Memory, and Video Card. As such, I came up with this build....



On Wed, Jun 4, 2008 at 10:51 AM, Aaron Stout <arstout@gmail.com> wrote:

Just a quick look through and came up with this. I believe they are all compatible. Thoughts?

CPU: Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - CPUs / Processors

MB: Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

Memory: Newegg.com - Transcend 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

VC: Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GV-NX96T512H GeForce 9600 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards


Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated! I'd like to stay in the sub $600 ballpark for those four components.

I'm not 100% sure that video card will go with that mobo as the vid card is PCI e 2.0 and the mobo just says regular PCI e 16.

I may well be wrong though.

 

[Gwydion]

I'm not 100% sure that video card will go with that mobo as the vid card is PCI e 2.0 and the mobo just says regular PCI e 16.

I may well be wrong though.

I'll look more into it, but the video card is PCI 2.0 x16, and the mobo supports PCI x16... I believe the 2.0 is just the second edition of PCI, enabling a transfer rate of 500 mb/s as opposed to the 250mb/s of the PCI x16. I could be wrong though....and backwards compatibility from the 2.0 is something I will have to look into.

Thanks for taking a look, it is definitely something I will have to make sure is compatible prior to purchase!

 

[basher]

The NVIDIA 8800 GT's are dropping drastically in price, get one of those instead of the 9600....they're a lot more powerful

 

[Gwydion]

The NVIDIA 8800 GT's are dropping drastically in price, get one of those instead of the 9600....they're a lot more powerful

That was exactly what my brother said. He recommended this one:
Newegg.com - EVGA 512-P3-N801-AR GeForce 8800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

What makes them more powerful?

 

[Floyd2004]

Yea I have a 8800GT in mine and it even played Crysis at full settings and 8X AA.

Other than that why not get a faster better chip?
Ive NEVER owned a gigabyte board but I havent heard bad things about them.
Here is my specs for reference...

mobo:EVGA 680i SLI
Ram: OCZ Reaper (800 meg) 2 gigs
VID: BFG OC 8800GT
CPU: Q6600 from 2.4 to 3.2

Runs any games out now with no problems

 

[basher]

That was exactly what my brother said. He recommended this one:
Newegg.com - EVGA 512-P3-N801-AR GeForce 8800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

What makes them more powerful?

The 8800GT has almost twice as many stream processors 112 vs 64.
You can play all of the latest games and max out your graphics settings without any slow down....except for Crysis. It's kinda like comparing the old Xbox vs Xbox360 in graphics.

The cards are huge so make sure you can fit it into the PCI Express slot and leave the PCI slot available underneath it. Also since they are long and might be touching your hard drive or some cables might need rerouting. Just make sure you have a big enough tower. Another thing is you have to have at Power Supply (PSU) that has at least 350+ Watts. 500 is better.

 

[Gwydion]

The 8800GT has almost twice as many stream processors 112 vs 64.
You can play all of the latest games and max out your graphics settings without any slow down....except for Crysis. It's kinda like comparing the old Xbox vs Xbox360 in graphics.

The cards are huge so make sure you can fit it into the PCI Express slot and leave the PCI slot available underneath it. Also since they are long and might be touching your hard drive or some cables might need rerouting. Just make sure you have a big enough tower. Another thing is you have to have at Power Supply (PSU) that has at least 350+ Watts. 500 is better.

Thanks! I've been pulling up benchmarks for the past 30 minutes or so, and you are right. I'll be switching out the two.

My PSU is currently 550, although that might be replaced if I get a new tower.

Thanks for the info!

 

[basher]

Thanks! I've been pulling up benchmarks for the past 30 minutes or so, and you are right. I'll be switching out the two.

My PSU is currently 550, although that might be replaced if I get a new tower.

Thanks for the info!

no problem, I went through the same thing after killing my CPU and Mobo....pretty much replaced everything except for the tower and hard drive, ended up having to reactivate my XP license over the phone with Habib since it wasn't recognizing all the new hardware.

 

[Gwydion]

no problem, I went through the same thing after killing my CPU and Mobo....pretty much replaced everything except for the tower and hard drive, ended up having to reactivate my XP license over the phone with Habib since it wasn't recognizing all the new hardware.

As for the rest, any thoughts? I'm looking to place the order either tonite or tomorow so I can get it by this weekend.

 

[basher]

As for the rest, any thoughts? I'm looking to place the order either tonite or tomorow so I can get it by this weekend.

The only other thing I would suggest is getting a good and reliable memory brand....GSkill RAM seems to be one of the popular ones for the price. Not much more expensive than the Transcend RAM, and they have heat spreaders too.

Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory


If the stock cpu cooler doesn't keep the temps down, try this:
Newegg.com - ZALMAN 9500A 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler - CPU Fans & Heatsinks
I'm gonna order one since the price is right today.....

 

[Gwydion]

The only other thing I would suggest is getting a good and reliable memory brand....GSkill RAM seems to be one of the popular ones for the price. Not much more expensive than the Transcend RAM, and they have heat spreaders too.

Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory


If the stock cpu cooler doesn't keep the temps down, try this:
Newegg.com - ZALMAN 9500A 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler - CPU Fans & Heatsinks
I'm gonna order one since the price is right today.....

Thanks again, I sent in my order yesterday and its already shipped...gotta love NewEgg. I sent it to my parent's house, so I should have it up and running this weekend, as I am heading there for a golf tournament.

I'm in the process of putting all my internal HD data onto an external, as I want the main HD to be a complete wipe before putting it in.

I'm hoping to utilize Direct X10, but it appears that I need Vista for this, is that correct?

 

[GWguy]

I'm hoping to utilize Direct X10, but it appears that I need Vista for this, is that correct?

...
mispost... Just about everything supports the SDK, not sure about the final executables.
Download details: DirectX SDK - (February 2007)

 

[Gwydion]

...
mispost... Just about everything supports the SDK, not sure about the final executables.

Hmm, I'll have to talk with some people then. Anybody out there running XP and DirectX 10?

 

[Floyd2004]

AFAIK DX10 is for Vista only for games.
Oh I can play Crysis just fine on my machine with one 8800GT and my quad at stock settings. Everything maxxed and AA at 8X and plays at about 30-45FPS