Recommend a system build for me

[fustercluck]

My computer seems to be on it's last legs. There's probably just one or two parts failing. If I could I just like to upgrade CPU and Memory I guess since I think my other parts are still good. I want a crazy fast CPU and Memory/RAM. My mobo is pretty old though so It's probably not able to handle newer stuff like dual/quad core cpus. So, I might need a new motherboard also. I'm still satisfied with how my vid card is holding up (see sig for my current system). I don't want to go the bargain route for RAM, I want the best I can get...reasonably . Not going to pay like $500 for ram, but you get the idea, I want something really fast. I'm SOOOOOO tried of computer hang ups and hiccups. I always felt bad about getting this 'value' ram as it's always been pretty slow.

I forget but I know Intel had something a while back that made things on the desktop go faster, like when there were lots of apps open. I want to say hyperthreading but I don't think that was what they called it...Anyone know what I'm talking about?

I don't really have a budget as I don't have any money - But don't worry about that, I can always sell a kidney or two. I'm not saying the sky's the limit on the budget, just that I don't have a budget in mind. So don't get too crazy with prices. I guess theres a big CPU price drop on the 22nd.

Thanks. Ask me any questions.

 

[ForumMaster]

alright then, so we're getting a CPU/Mobo/Ram/ and Video Card.

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 1.86Ghz for $117
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 for $110
RAM: CORSAIR XMS2 2GB DDR2 800 for $113
Video Card: Nvidia 8600GT for $129

total: $469 for something that will totaly destroy what you currently have.

if you want to overclock even higher and have some more money to spend ($64) then buy this heatsink.

otherwise, the stock should be fine. it is quite enough and will let you do a mild overclock.

 

[fustercluck]

Originally posted by: ForumMaster
alright then, so we're getting a CPU/Mobo/Ram/ and Video Card.

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 1.86Ghz for $117
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 for $110
RAM: CORSAIR XMS2 2GB DDR2 800 for $113
Video Card: Nvidia 8600GT for $129

total: $469 for something that will totaly destroy what you currently have.

if you want to overclock even higher and have some more money to spend ($64) then buy this heatsink.

otherwise, the stock should be fine. it is quite enough and will let you do a mild overclock.

Thankies. Probably looking to get something higher than 1.86 ghz but dunno, have to do a few nights of research. Whether I buy soon or not completely depends on if my system will continue working. That ram is cheap...don't think I should get something better than that or is it just a bad bang to buck ratio after that point?

I was thinking I used to have a 8600GT and ending up selling it and getting this X800XL instead, but that was the 6800GT i suppose - Is the 8600GT a lot better than the 6800GT? If not, then I got rid of the 6800GT to get this X800XL, so it wouldn't make much sense to spend that much on a minimal upgrade. But I don't know what I'm talking about, only time I follow hardware/video stuff is when I'm looking to buy, so I go long periods of time without knowing what's up.

I assume quad core is not worth it now? Like I said I really want a zippy computer with no hangups or hiccups. Did I mention I'm a big gamer?...Well I am. I know how to overclock, usually play it safe though, either not OCing at all or taking it to the highest point where it doesn't put more stress on the CPU.

 

[ForumMaster]

Originally posted by: Adaman

Originally posted by: ForumMaster
alright then, so we're getting a CPU/Mobo/Ram/ and Video Card.

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 1.86Ghz for $117
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 for $110
RAM: CORSAIR XMS2 2GB DDR2 800 for $113
Video Card: Nvidia 8600GT for $129

total: $469 for something that will totaly destroy what you currently have.

if you want to overclock even higher and have some more money to spend ($64) then buy this heatsink.

otherwise, the stock should be fine. it is quite enough and will let you do a mild overclock.

Thankies. Probably looking to get something higher than 1.86 ghz but dunno, have to do a few nights of research. Whether I buy soon or not completely depends on if my system will continue working. That ram is cheap...don't think I should get something better than that or is it just a bad bang to buck ratio after that point?

I was thinking I used to have a 8600GT and ending up selling it and getting this X800XL instead, but that was the 6800GT i suppose - Is the 8600GT a lot better than the 6800GT? If not, then I got rid of the 6800GT to get this X800XL, so it wouldn't make much sense to spend that much on a minimal upgrade. But I don't know what I'm talking about, only time I follow hardware/video stuff is when I'm looking to buy, so I go long periods of time without knowing what's up.

I assume quad core is not worth it now? Like I said I really want a zippy computer with no hangups or hiccups. Did I mention I'm a big gamer?...Well I am. I know how to overclock, usually play it safe though, either not OCing at all or taking it to the highest point where it doesn't put more stress on the CPU.

well you didn't give me a budget so i gave you the best performance you could get for as little money as possible. if you're inclined to spend more money, then get the Gigabye GA-P35-DQ6 and the Intel Quad Core Q6600 when intel lowers the price to $266 on july 22.

oh yeah, forgot about the graphic card. see the 6800GT is old. the 8600GT is new. the 6800GT belonged to the NV43 core. the 8600GT has a G84 core which is very different and will perform better.

you could also get an 8800GTS 320MB or even the 640MB if you have enough money for significantly better performance.

 

[taterworks]

Probably looking to get something higher than 1.86 ghz but dunno, have to do a few nights of research.

I'd say so. I'm not sure how long it's been since you've looked at processors, but things are quite different from the way they were in the days of Intel's NetBurst-Into-Flames architecture and the Pentium 4. These days, new processor architectures place more emphasis on efficiency, doing more per clock cycle than previous-generation processors. A 1.86GHz Core 2 Duo processor will still demolish even the fastest Pentium D. Don't get focused on the clock speed - instead, comparative benchmark testing is your new best friend.

 

[fustercluck]

What I would probably do first is just upgrade mobo (if needed which is likely), CPU, and RAM. Hopefully video card isn't on it's last legs, but it definitely could be.

Wouldn't mind some more recommendations also.

 

[fustercluck]

bump. Not necessarily looking for a budget system. Gimme the goods.

 

[S7EXEN]

I think having 2 gigs of ram will eliminate system hiccups. You really don't need to have 300 dollar ram... just get 2 gigs of ram like the guy recommended and one of the midrange (or cheaper) c2d's or athlon X2's. RAM prices dropped a ton a while ago so don't worry about the speed. 2 gigs will be fine.

 

[fustercluck]

Yeah the more research I do the more it sounds like "ForumMaster" knows what he's talking about. Not sure about that Motherboard (GA-965P-DS3) though. Since I'm probably going to keep my video card I'll need a motherboard that supports AGP vid cards...as least I think the X800XL is an AGP card, I don't remember, and I'm too lazy to look right now.

 

[fustercluck]

I noticed ForumMaster mentioned a couple times the mentioned new rig would destroy mine (which is nearly destroyed anyhow...), but it gets me to wonder it would really be a noticeable upgraded. I've upgraded computers about 4 times in my lifetime, and I've never noticed much change in performance inbetween them. The biggest change was probably going from 750mhz to 2.4 ghz. The performance increase was there, just not noticeable, lots of stuff was still slow. What I want it a lightning fast comp where I can think "Wow, this system totally kills my last system". I don't have high hopes, but would this be a big time noticeable upgrade? I've heard these claims before.

 

[drakore]

As if you need an enthusiast board with 2 pcie slots for CROSSFIRE NOT SLI!!! talk about waste of money. Do not even consider this board unless you want crossfire or you plan on overclocking your processor on like water, phase, ln2.. etc.

I don't know how long you keep systems for... if its like 3 years, then fine get a quad core. otherwise you are wasting your money. It seems like nobody understands programs utilize quad cores, also the amount of heat they produce... like buying a quad now is a bad idea... they are mainly b stepping...

Also if you want to waste money or want enthusiast stuff... get an x38 chipset when it comes out since you aren't buying this system right away. Then you can get some overpriced DDR3 ram to go along with it.

Ok here are some suggestions....

CPU: e6850 or overclock an e6750 if you want
mobo: GA-P35-DS3R or get the DS4 if you want the heat pipes.
RAM: crucial ballistix 1066 or 800 from mwave.com.. 1066 if you want overhead for overclocking... 800 if you dont plan on much of an overclock if any
videocard: 8600GT is cool... if you want something higher end, look at the 2900xt or 8800GTX

Heatsink: If you are going to lap that thermalright then fine get it... otherwise get the tuniq tower or enzotech cooler... use some good thermal paste ie Arctic Cooling MX-1 or Shin-Etsu X23-7783D (they are both better than arctic silver... and yes even after the burn in period)

PSU: Corsair 520HX should be good enough... you could get the 620HX
Case: I dunno P182 or something like that....

This is really not the greatest list... more of a basic guideline. if you want a detailed list more configured to your use... then pm me and i will give you something much better.

 

[fustercluck]

Bump. Well, my system is finally down and I'm on the hunt for a new one soon. Would like to buy in the next day or two. Luckily I made this thread a while ago and have some good recommendations in mind. I'm pretty tight on cash...gonna need to sell my Piano . If possible I would like to get a motherboard that supports AGP vid cards so I could keep my X800XL (still happy with it, as long as it works). I upgrade my computer every 2 years pretty much. Here's what I'm probably looking for:

New motherboard that supports AGP if possible
new dual core CPU (thinking about the e6750)
new PSU
new superfast memory

I still have your recommendations in mind but there's still a lot I don't know. Am I looking for Conroe when it comes to CPUs?

On the other hand I could just replace my current Mobo/PSU since i'm pretty sure those are the broken parts of my current computer. It would still cost a lot to get those replaced, and wouldn't really be an upgrade of any sort, but my computer would work anyways...probably, heh. I'll keep thinking about it. I think I'll probably just upgrade everything.

 

[ForumMaster]

Originally posted by: Adaman
Bump. Well, my system is finally down and I'm on the hunt for a new one soon. Would like to buy in the next day or two. Luckily I made this thread a while ago and have some good recommendations in mind. I'm pretty tight on cash...gonna need to sell my Piano . If possible I would like to get a motherboard that supports AGP vid cards so I could keep my X800XL (still happy with it, as long as it works). I upgrade my computer every 2 years pretty much. Here's what I'm probably looking for:

New motherboard that supports AGP if possible
new dual core CPU (thinking about the e6750)
new PSU
new superfast memory

I still have your recommendations in mind but there's still a lot I don't know. Am I looking for Conroe when it comes to CPUs?

On the other hand I could just replace my current Mobo/PSU since i'm pretty sure those are the broken parts of my current computer. It would still cost a lot to get those replaced, and wouldn't really be an upgrade of any sort, but my computer would work anyways...probably, heh. I'll keep thinking about it. I think I'll probably just upgrade everything.

i don't know why you insist on staying with AGP it will hinder your performance because the motherboards that do have an AGP slot aren't very fast. nevertheless, Here is a selection from newegg for socket 775 mobo's with an AGP slot. as you'll notice, all of them are using a VIA chipset. what i suggest you do, is sell your current card and get modern pci-e card. everyone i'm sure will agree.

and yes you are looking at conroe. conroe is the name of the C2D architechture. just like netburst was for the P4. if you're right on cash, why do you want a high end CPU that will cost a lot of money? it might be a better choice to buy a 4400 and simply overclock it. this will still give you good performance.

btw, when i said destroy, i meant it. the conroe architechture is so much better. better performance in every aspect you look at.

 

[fustercluck]

Yeah...tough choices. If I were to upgrade I would go with PCI-E. Though what I'm thinking of doing now is buying another ASrock DualSATA2 mobo and a new PSU (hopefully something cheaper than the Corsair 520HX you mentioned).

But, if I do decide to do a complete upgrade, I would like to save money on a CPU because I'd also need to get a video card. Is the Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 an overclocking champ? I was also looking at the GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R

Thanks for the help. I'll be waiting to hear back. I might cram a lot of research in tonight and buy something. If it wasn't for my Mom's computer I'd be getting the shakes right now. I must have comptuer/internet

 

[fustercluck]

Well I bit the bullet tonight and decided to buy replacement parts instead of upgrading. Why are socket 939 mobos still as expensive as they were 2 years ago? - I bought my ASrock DualSATA2 in november 05 for like $68, now 2 years later I bought an MSI K8T NEO2-F V2.0 K8T800 for $63. I might of bought another DualSATA2 but they're pretty much extinct now. The MSI K8T NEO2 is about the only other 939 mobo that supports AGP. Hopefully it's compatible with everything else.

I also bought a 500w Apevia power supply for 30 bucks, it's probably not great but it's got good reviews and it was cheap.

Hopefully my computer will be back up and running in a few days. I only spent $100 for replacement parts instead of $500 or 600+ for an upgrade. I'm hoping i can last another year with the new mobo/psu without having many probs. I'm just too tight on cash right now for an upgrade, and I was fairly happy with my system before it died. I'm crossing my fingers that it was my mobo/psu that was the problem and replacing them will fix it. Will just have to wait and see. I know zipzoomfly and newegg are good with returns, but I really don't want to have to do that.

 

[ForumMaster]

Originally posted by: Adaman
Well I bit the bullet tonight and decided to buy replacement parts instead of upgrading. Why are socket 939 mobos still as expensive as they were 2 years ago? - I bought my ASrock DualSATA2 in november 05 for like $68, now 2 years later I bought an MSI K8T NEO2-F V2.0 K8T800 for $63. I might of bought another DualSATA2 but they're pretty much extinct now. The MSI K8T NEO2 is about the only other 939 mobo that supports AGP. Hopefully it's compatible with everything else.

I also bought a 500w Apevia power supply for 30 bucks, it's probably not great but it's got good reviews and it was cheap.

Hopefully my computer will be back up and running in a few days. I only spent $100 for replacement parts instead of $500 or 600+ for an upgrade. I'm hoping i can last another year with the new mobo/psu without having many probs. I'm just too tight on cash right now for an upgrade, and I was fairly happy with my system before it died. I'm crossing my fingers that it was my mobo/psu that was the problem and replacing them will fix it. Will just have to wait and see. I know zipzoomfly and newegg are good with returns, but I really don't want to have to do that.

that's also an option. just wanted to show you what the E4300 is capable of. stock speed is 1.8Ghz. they got it up to 3.6Ghz. that's a 100% overclock.

 

[drakore]

newer e4300's are harder to oc, mine maxes out at 2800 on water.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

What's your stepping in CPUz? 5/5 here above 3.2GHz. Best 3.6GHz @ 1.5Vcore.

 

[fustercluck]

Now it's looking like I'm going to upgrade everything again since my system is still screwy and I don't know what's wrong with it.

Pretty much got my mind set on what to buy except for RAM, still not sure what to get. Like I said I want something real good, but being tight on cash I probably won't go more than $150 for the RAM.

I was looking at this: OCZ Platinum 2GB - Should I be looking at 184 pin? PC 3200? I have no idea what kind of ram I should be looking at.

 

[Tip3r]

Originally posted by: ForumMaster
alright then, so we're getting a CPU/Mobo/Ram/ and Video Card.

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 1.86Ghz for $117
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 for $110
RAM: CORSAIR XMS2 2GB DDR2 800 for $113
Video Card: Nvidia 8600GT for $129

total: $469 for something that will totaly destroy what you currently have.

if you want to overclock even higher and have some more money to spend ($64) then buy this heatsink.

otherwise, the stock should be fine. it is quite enough and will let you do a mild overclock.

Here's my piece of advice..

DON'T GET 965P-DS3!!!

I bought it last summer. thinking it was a great mobo and everything..
look @ my sig for my reg. after I got it hooled up and running my first impression was disappointment. It was barely faster than my last system which was a old P4 1.8 Ghz, with 2 none matching 256MB rams and a Ti4600.

after about 3 weeks, while playing oblivion, my PC suddenly restarted. at first I didn't think it was anything important. a week later it happened again, and then 2 days later..then everyday...every hour...every minute...before startup!!!!
two weeks later I couldn't even get to windows before it restarted.
I sent it in for repaires twice and both times after a week it was back to the restarting again.
I even changed ALL the parts on the computer and it still didn't fix the problem.
at the end I managed to get my money back, bought a ASUS P5B deluxe.
not only did it stop restarting, it also gave me a big speed boost.

 

[betasub]

Originally posted by: Tip3r
Here's my piece of advice..

DON'T GET 965P-DS3!!!

... snip ...

So you got a bad DS3. Don't try an extrapolate that to every DS3 from your sample size of one. If lots of ppl report this problem with the DS3 then it might be significant, but there are still very many satisfied users of fullly-functional DS3 mobos.

 

[Tip3r]

I didn't read any review or anything about this mobo when I got it. It wa pretty much last minute, I couldn't find what I was looking for (P5N32 SLI) and I really needed a mobo, I had someone buy it for me, he just read the specs over the phone and...

anyway after I ran into this problem I did a quick search and came up with some customer comments saying they had the same problem, one of them having bought two.
I also saw a reviw later on ( I think it was in anandtech ) saying something about it being difficult to build a system on it which worked perfectly.

I do remember it having good benchmarks tho.

anyway the DS3 *I* used was loads slower than my P5B.

 

[ForumMaster]

Originally posted by: Adaman
Now it's looking like I'm going to upgrade everything again since my system is still screwy and I don't know what's wrong with it.

Pretty much got my mind set on what to buy except for RAM, still not sure what to get. Like I said I want something real good, but being tight on cash I probably won't go more than $150 for the RAM.

I was looking at this: OCZ Platinum 2GB - Should I be looking at 184 pin? PC 3200? I have no idea what kind of ram I should be looking at.

no you should be looking at 240 pin DDR2 with a minimum (at your price level) of PC2-6400. i'd go with this.

very good memory.

and BTW Tip3r, i will openly admit that i don't own a DS3. i have simply read positive review of the mobo showing that it overclocks good and is stable. plus, many members here have it and are quite satasfied with it. thus, i recomended it. you obviously got a bad one. doesn't mean all DS3's are bad.

 

[xitshsif]

Originally posted by: ForumMaster
and BTW Tip3r, i will openly admit that i don't own a DS3. i have simply read positive review of the mobo showing that it overclocks good and is stable. plus, many members here have it and are quite satasfied with it. thus, i recomended it. you obviously got a bad one. doesn't mean all DS3's are bad.

My DS3 is rock solid.

 

[Sinn707]

I've also built many systems with DS3 inside, not a single issue. Stable overclocking.