Hello all,
I am looking to buy a new system soon, and did some research on the Intel Core2Duo's here at anandtech already. From what I've gathered, the Core2Duo's are very good value for money, but not yet completely supported? As I feel a little noobish at this entire computer thing, I decided to turn to this forum for help. Budget for the system is around 2000 euros (~2400$). Performance is very important, but I don't blindly want to get high-end for every spec.
Most importantly I will be working with a sizeable Access database on this computer (10gb, growing with about 2gb a month) and this tends to put a big load on my previous computer. Besides Access, general programs such as Outlook Express and Winamp are also on but nothing extremely taxing on the computer. This Access database will be written to, read from, analysed continuously while I am using it.
Furthermore as it will be my main computer, I would like to use it for gaming purposes as well. I have 2 24" from Dell, and might be purchasing a 30" from Dell beginning of next year. This puts a strain on the video cards and motherboard from what I understood. I won't be doing any overclocking, partially because I'm scared to screw up stuff, and because I don't know what I'm doing... Also I heard it reduces mean time till failure.
Finally, noise level is an issue. I would like this computer to be on most of the time, and there is no door or wall between this computer in my office, and my bedroom.
When I went to a local store with these questions, they suggested the following system:
Motherboard: 235
Asus P5W DH Deluxe Sk 775, PCIe, ATX 975X, DDR2, 2Glan, SATA, RAID
Processor 369
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600, s775, 2.4Ghz, 1066MHz, 4MB
Memory 299
Corsair 2048MB, DDR2, 128MX64 PC6400 TwinX 5-5-5-12
Harddisk 89
WD 0250GB, Caviar SE16 SATA300 7200RPM 16MB (no raptor available there)
Videocard 529
ASUS EN7950GX2/2PHT/1G 2x DVI-I, PCIe
Casing 59
Coolermaster Centurion 5
Powersupply 119
Sprie RockeTeer VI 600W
random assorted DVD players, floppy disks etc.
I know about raptor disks and I should probably get one for the database. Is one raptor faster for this type of application than having two 7200rpms in RAID0? Access application needs to retrieve data from one harddisk, process it, and put it in its database. Any suggestions to make this go as smooth as possible are welcome. From what I've read in the memory review, 5-5-5-12 memory is pretty bad for as far as PC6400 memory goes. Is 800Mhz memory overkill for this type of system? Primary focus is the Access database, secondary is gaming. I will want to play games at the native resolution of the 24", and later maybe the 30". When I am attaching the 30" as well, I know I will need a 2nd video card. Should I be looking at a SLI motherboard so the system will be better equipped to handle games later on? Should I buy both video cards now then? If I decide against an SLI setup, do both video cards need to be the same or will I get compatibility issues?
Kind regards and many thanks in advance
Victor
I am looking to buy a new system soon, and did some research on the Intel Core2Duo's here at anandtech already. From what I've gathered, the Core2Duo's are very good value for money, but not yet completely supported? As I feel a little noobish at this entire computer thing, I decided to turn to this forum for help. Budget for the system is around 2000 euros (~2400$). Performance is very important, but I don't blindly want to get high-end for every spec.
Most importantly I will be working with a sizeable Access database on this computer (10gb, growing with about 2gb a month) and this tends to put a big load on my previous computer. Besides Access, general programs such as Outlook Express and Winamp are also on but nothing extremely taxing on the computer. This Access database will be written to, read from, analysed continuously while I am using it.
Furthermore as it will be my main computer, I would like to use it for gaming purposes as well. I have 2 24" from Dell, and might be purchasing a 30" from Dell beginning of next year. This puts a strain on the video cards and motherboard from what I understood. I won't be doing any overclocking, partially because I'm scared to screw up stuff, and because I don't know what I'm doing... Also I heard it reduces mean time till failure.
Finally, noise level is an issue. I would like this computer to be on most of the time, and there is no door or wall between this computer in my office, and my bedroom.
When I went to a local store with these questions, they suggested the following system:
Motherboard: 235
Asus P5W DH Deluxe Sk 775, PCIe, ATX 975X, DDR2, 2Glan, SATA, RAID
Processor 369
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600, s775, 2.4Ghz, 1066MHz, 4MB
Memory 299
Corsair 2048MB, DDR2, 128MX64 PC6400 TwinX 5-5-5-12
Harddisk 89
WD 0250GB, Caviar SE16 SATA300 7200RPM 16MB (no raptor available there)
Videocard 529
ASUS EN7950GX2/2PHT/1G 2x DVI-I, PCIe
Casing 59
Coolermaster Centurion 5
Powersupply 119
Sprie RockeTeer VI 600W
random assorted DVD players, floppy disks etc.
I know about raptor disks and I should probably get one for the database. Is one raptor faster for this type of application than having two 7200rpms in RAID0? Access application needs to retrieve data from one harddisk, process it, and put it in its database. Any suggestions to make this go as smooth as possible are welcome. From what I've read in the memory review, 5-5-5-12 memory is pretty bad for as far as PC6400 memory goes. Is 800Mhz memory overkill for this type of system? Primary focus is the Access database, secondary is gaming. I will want to play games at the native resolution of the 24", and later maybe the 30". When I am attaching the 30" as well, I know I will need a 2nd video card. Should I be looking at a SLI motherboard so the system will be better equipped to handle games later on? Should I buy both video cards now then? If I decide against an SLI setup, do both video cards need to be the same or will I get compatibility issues?
Kind regards and many thanks in advance
Victor
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