New Computer Setup

[rockski32]

I haven't built a PC in about four years now and it's definitely time for a new computer. Since I haven't done this in a while, can y'all check out the below specs and make sure every thing is kosher? I'm keeping the case, DVD-RW, DVD, keyboard, mouse, speakers etc. from my current PC until I feel the need to upgrade them.

I'll be using this new PC to play games [mostly FPS], watch movies, do school and office work, the usual internet & email stuff, and to watch HD cable on the monitor...that last bit is what I'm most confused about. Right now we have SD satellite system, if I get the ViewSonic monitor would it be worth upgrading to HD satellite and how would I hook this up to the PC/monitor?

So here's the setup, any suggestions or does it look good?

CPU: AMD Opteron 170 Denmark 2.0GHz Socket 939 Dual Core Processor Model OSA170CDBOX - Retail

MOBO: ECS NFORCE4M-A (V1.1) Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce4 4X ATX AMD Motherboard

Video Card: eVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16

HD: Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

PSU: Thermaltake W0093RU ATX 12V 2.0 Version 500W Power Supply - Retail

RAM: CORSAIR XMS2 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X1024A-6400 - Retail

Monitor: ViewSonic VG2230wm Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail

comes out to $650 on Newegg without the monitor, $1050 with the monitor

Do I need a TV tuner card in order to watch satellite (HD) TV on the monitor? Or would the cable just plug into the video card/monitor?

Thanks for the help in advance guys!

 

[benplaut]

You have a socket mismatch... 939 can't fit on a AM2 mobo. I'd go for a x2 4600, or bump it up to a c2d if you can

 

[s13se]

^ what he said.

If you're building a new system, I highly recommend you get a C2D. E6300 is a very good value and will beat most AM2 cpu's in performance. You may also want to get a 2GB ram kit instead since games are becoming more demanding. Oh yea, don't get an ECS board.

About the satellite TV. I'm pretty sure you need a TV tuner since that video card has no coax input.

 

[Operandi]

CPU: Intel Core2 Duo E6300 -- Just check the benchmarks.

Board: Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 -- The DS3 is very solid well built board. I wouldn't give an ECS board to my worst enemy.

PSU: Seasonid S12 380 watt -- I would not recommend Thermaltake. Seasonic on the other hand make some of the best desktop/workstation PSUs you can get.

Videocard: Gigabyte GV-NX76T256D-RH -- Still a 7600GT but this one has a very nice passive dual heat-pipe heatsink, that means no noise and no chance of failure. But if you can work it into your budget consider a faster card such as this Gigabyte 7950GT. I've used both of the above mentioned cards.

RAM Geil DDR2 800 -- You really want 2GB if you can afford it. This Geil is cheaper then the XMS and Geil is a well established name in RAM now. I've personally had good experience with them.

 

[Howard]

Hm, you'd need an HD-capable capture card, and the capture card, video card, and monitor all have to be HDCP-enabled, I think.

 

[rockski32]

So it seems Intel > AMD now a days...hmmm...didn't see that one coming. Oops on the socket mismatch...I had an AM2 chip in one of my browser windows but apparently clicked on the 939...good thing I stopped by here first!

The bump up in RAM isn't a problem...was planning on getting another stick within a month anyway. Is it worth getting all HDCP stuff as Howard said or do you guys thing the inc.s are gonna get smart and allow for patches or some other way around the HDCP protection? It seems that once enough people get outraged that their equipment doesn't work HDCP would flounder...

My price range is up to to $1000 for the pc, the monitor is going to be a birthday gift this weekend so I personally can spend up to a $1000 on all the other equipment. I don't want to go top-of-the-line though as it never seems to be worth the price premium. Does anyone know if the Viewsonic is HDCP capable? I am not planning on getting HD DVD drives [until they significantly drop in price] so for the time being my HD viewing would just be the Dish Network feed.

Operandi, wouldn't I need more than 380 Watts to power this thing?

What's everyone's opinion on Vista? Should I get an XP package so I can get Vista for free when it comes out or can I stick to XP for my purposes for now?

 

[modestninja]

Well, you wouldn't need more power than that for a CD2 rig, but if you wanted more power and still good quality at the same price range check out the 5140gh (400W) and the 5150gh (500W) from Enhance (which as far as I know are only available at eWiz.)

 

[rockski32]

One more quick question, is the stock Intel heatsink + fan good enough or should I look into a 3rd party here? I won't be overclocking for now...(the default settings will be such a huge upgrade I probably wouldn't even notice a significant difference by overclocking right now!)

 

[cptCuervo]

The stock heatsink should be fine if you are not going to overclock.

 

[rockski32]

One more question (sorry for lying guys), would I be better off getting one 7950GT or two 7600GT? In other words is the 7950GT come with twice the performance for twice the price? Or would I be better off with the 7600GT and then adding a second 7600GT?

Also considering that I won't be oc'ing for a little while (bad memories from 4 years ago) do I really need such a beefy mobo or would something simpler suffice? Although...I do like having the ability to oc without having to upgrade but if I can save ~$100 I can forgo oc'ing...

 

[bamacre]

One 7950 GT is a better idea that two 7600 GT's. SLI is not a good option for anyone other than those using two high-end cards.

I would also consider an X1950 Pro for ~$200.

 

[Boyo]

Originally posted by: Operandi
CPU: Intel Core2 Duo E6300 -- Just check the benchmarks.

Board: Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 -- The DS3 is very solid well built board. I wouldn't give an ECS board to my worst enemy.

PSU: Seasonid S12 380 watt -- I would not recommend Thermaltake. Seasonic on the other hand make some of the best desktop/workstation PSUs you can get.

Videocard: Gigabyte GV-NX76T256D-RH -- Still a 7600GT but this one has a very nice passive dual heat-pipe heatsink, that means no noise and no chance of failure. But if you can work it into your budget consider a faster card such as this Gigabyte 7950GT. I've used both of the above mentioned cards.

RAM Geil DDR2 800 -- You really want 2GB if you can afford it. This Geil is cheaper then the XMS and Geil is a well established name in RAM now. I've personally had good experience with them.

I'd follow this guy's advice. Except I would bump up the psu to a 450Wor 500W. Also, Thermaltake is the worst PSU you could buy.

If you can afford it, and you want to play games, it's worth getting the 7950GT. Definitely consider it.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: rockski32

Operandi, wouldn't I need more than 380 Watts to power this thing?

Not at all. If you go with the hardware I outlined (or similar) you will be under 200 watts DC, making the 380 watt S12 more then plenty.

 

[rockski32]

Thanks guys. Really looking forward to getting this beast(compared to my pc now) built and running...any suggestions on games for this? I'm looking forward to Crysis but thats seems to be a ways off right now.

I'll be building the system pretty much as you outlined Operandi...only comes out to about $150 more than my original build and seems to be much more beastly.

My only last concern is the monitor...anyone know of any problems with it? I've got a Viewsonic G90fb right now and it's served me well so I'd really like to go with Viewsonic again unless someone knows of a better deal out there (there's an acer 22" for $300 on tigerdirect but I don't mind paying the extra $100 for peace of mind...plus it's a b-day gift so I'm not paying for it!)

I'll post the final specs here in a day or two as I'm needa get back to the papers and final exam studying I've been procrastinating on...

 

[Operandi]

The Viewsonic might be the safer bet but Acer makes good stuff too, I'd look for some reviews.

Good luck with the build.