New rig - Mainstream build

[blacktankofhopelessness]

1. What YOUR PC will be used for.

Gaming such as the Total War series of strategy games (Rome, Medieval 2 and the upcoming Empire: Total War), Football manager, very little graphics intensive gaming. Other than that nothing demanding. Oh, and silence is golden.

2. What YOUR budget is.

In Swedish crowns, about 5000-5,500. Around 800-900 US dollars. Looking around these threads I can see electronic components are much cheaper in the US than in Sweden, so think along the lines of 700-800 US dollars.

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

Sweden.

4. IF YOU have a brand preference.

Not really. But I'm pretty sure I will go with an Intel-based rig.

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts.

I already have a 17" TFT screen, the necessary optical drives (IDE), and keyboard/mouse.

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.

I've looked around the buyer's guides on this site and some benchmarks plus various forum stickies on the subject.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

No, I am a fairly experienced OC:er but I want this system to last and remain stable. For now...

8. WHEN do you plan to build it?

Within two weeks time.

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The system I have come up with is this one:

- Antec LifeStyle SONATA III (500W power supply)
- Abit IP35-E
- Intel Core 2 Duo E4500
- Sapphire Radeon HD3850 512MB 256-bit (updated)
- Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX 2x1024MB (tot. 2048MB) DDR2 PC2-6400 800MHz
- Samsung HD501LJ 500GB 7200rpm 16MB

Total: 5,200 SEK (= 870 USD)

Nothing too fancy as you can see. I just want something that will last me a while without me demanding too much in the way of performance. I mostly play games that are heavy on the CPU and RAM more than on the GPU, and I think that this system will do the trick.

I should also point out that I really want this system to be as silent as possible. What is the stock cooler on the E4500 like?

Any suggestions?

 

[MarcVenice]

Stock cooler should be 'silent' enough, you can always purchase a arctic freezer 7 pro for more quietness.

I'd step up the HD3850 256mb to a 9600gt 512mb or perhaps a HD3870 512mb. 512mb of ram is key here. The latest rumour has it that the new RADEON series are ahead of schedule, which might result in price drops, but I really suggest getting something with 512mb of vram, it will last longer then just 256mb.

The other components of your build look awesome. Intel pricedrops should have occured by now, it might take a week to affect the retail prices though?

 

[blacktankofhopelessness]

Thanks for your reply.

I managed to find a 9600GT from Gigabyte with a fanless heatpipe-heatsink which really appeals to me and my silent setup. It's a 50% increase in price compared to the 3850 I had pinpointed previously though. But if you're saying 512 MB of memory is really important I might just choose that one instead.

What about the CPU, will the E4500 be ok for my needs in your opinion?

 

[MarcVenice]

Should be for now, and when you need more CPU power, in 12-24 months, you simply OC the living crap out of that CPU. Honestly, I'd dare say if you crank it up to 3.0ghz with a arctic freezer 7 pro that it will still last long enough, so long that you'll replace it with something new before it even starts dieing.

I wouldn't say that a 9600gt is worth 50% more then a HD3850 256mb btw, and sticking a passively cooled videocard in a Sonata III with just 1 casefan is asking for high temperatures, so you'll have to buy a second 'intake' casefan if you want to do that. Gimme a few swedish hardware vendors and let me have a look ?

 

[blacktankofhopelessness]

Datorbutiken
Komplett

Those two sites are the ones I mainly order computer stuff from. They're cheap, fast and reliable. You can find GPUs under "Datorkomponenter" ---> "Grafikkort".

I suppose I would have some heat issues running a fanless midrange-vidcard in that chassi. Thanks for the heads up... And thanks a milion for helping me pick the right stuff for my new rig! You're a big help I assure you.

 

[MarcVenice]

How much did this one cost: Sapphire Radeon HD3850 256MB, for 1160 you get 512mb ? That's no to much of a price increase, is it ? I see a GeForce 9600GT for 1330, which is roughly as fast as a HD3870.

 

[blacktankofhopelessness]

You're right, I saw that earlier. I think I'm going for the 3850 w 512MB or maybe a 9600GT. It's just that the fanless soluion really appeals to my silent needs, but I guess it's not really a good solution if I want to keep temps at acceptable levels. And I prefer not to install additional case fans.

Well, thanks for taking the time to look into this. I think I'm good to go by now.

 

[Roguestar]

Try getting 2GB of RAM in one DIMM, then you can add another later. A lot of motherboards don't play as nice with 4 DIMMs than with 2.

 

[blacktankofhopelessness]

I think I'm going to go with XP because I don't like what I'm hearing about Vista performance-wise so I think 2GB will be enough for my needs for quite some time. If the need for 4GB arises and if I feel that an upgrade to Vista is worth it, then I may need to buy more memory. But right now, I can't see myself going for 4GB for some time. And in the short term I want dual channel memory.

Thanks for the suggestion though!

Oh, I just have to ask: Will my dual core processor be as efficient in a 32-bit environment as in a 64-bit? Does Vista bring anything new to the table as far as dual core is concerned?

 

[Roguestar]

Vista with 4GB of RAM is much smoother than XP with 2GB in my experience. Vista uses more memory but it does more with it. It'll obviously run better on higher end hardware, and will discriminate this harsher than XP does, but Vista is totally worth it. Been using Ultimate x64 on my desktop for a year now, had no problems with it at all. Gaming, multimedia, photo-editing etc etc. No driver or performance issues, not a single bluescreen.

Pretty much all new processors execute 64-bit instructions natively. If you're running a 64-bit operating system you'll be able to run natively compiled 64-bit software (like certain CAD programs and stuff) but so far there's no major difference to the average user between 32- and 64-bit other than being able to see all your RAM at the expense of needing digitally signed drivers.

 

[blacktankofhopelessness]

I don't know. I just don't see the point in spending money on Vista when I have XP which has worked perfectly for me up until now. It also feels like a major hassle to learn all the tweaks and tricks for Vista when I'm so at ease optimizing and fiddling with XP.

I couldn't care less about the new look in Vista and I'm still to find a really good reason to ditch XP. I don't use any 64-bit apps and there aren't really that many around are there? I hear that most compatibility issues and problems people have had with Vista are being adressed and I'm sure it will be a great operating system. But as long as Microsoft keep supplying updates for XP I'm pretty sure I will continue to use it. Also, the benchmarks I have seen seem to favour XP ahead of Vista when it comes to gaming. The higher performance demands put me off a bit as well.

 

[Roguestar]

Fair enough, if XP does everything you need it to that's good. Also, SP3 is out next monday!

 

[blacktankofhopelessness]

Originally posted by: Roguestar
Fair enough, if XP does everything you need it to that's good. Also, SP3 is out next monday!

Indeed it is. Cheers!