Building the Ulitimate (VISTA Experience)

[saywhat5959]

Noob here. I have been trying to find information on how to build a sweet 64 vista pc. The only thing I can find is stuff that was built prior to vista even coming out.

I want to see what you guys would build in my situation. I want to build a Vista "ultimate" pc that has plenty of upgrade options (at least a 4-5 year lifespan) Can run RAID 5. Able to use Vista 64. (Computer will be used for some gaming, some editing (videos) and plenty of music. But yes I will have to still take care of business. In short multi purpose.) Please also comment on Case, coolers, physx cards (if needed). Basically if you were building it for yourself.

BUDGET- $3000-$3500

Thank you for all of your help.

 

[Meithan]

Well, pretty much any rig you buy today (above, say, $800) can run Vista, so you can leave that out of the equation.

Now, I can propose a build with that budget in mind, if that's what you want. But I have to ask this first: will you be overclocking?

 

[saywhat5959]

I would love to learn all about that stuff. I have never been brave enough to do it. Nor do I truely understand what it does. (lol the last computer I built was in 1999efore all the fandangel watercooling stuff. ) I have a dell CRAPxPS gen 4. (with 0 upgrade support.) No more dell ever for me.

Not that I know what it does but I wouldn't mind buying one of those MB that can support the 2 64 chips. (that way I can run one for now then add the other.

 

[Meithan]

I see.

Well, in my opinion spending $3.5k on a computer is not really worth it (unless overclocking is the sole purpose of the rig). It's a much better idea to get a very nice high-end computer for $2k now, and upgrade it (or buy a new one) in 2 or 3 years. Why? Because of the price/performance curve!

There's a 'regime' where computer parts have a very linear price/peformance relationship. What do I mean by this? Suppose you have two similar pieces (ie: two graphic cards), and one costs twice as much as the other one. If the parts are in this regime, then the first card will be nearly twice as powerful as the second. In other words, you get approx. the same "performance per dollar" with both parts.

However this only works in the so-called linear regime. If you go above it, you start getting what they call diminishing returns. If you go below it, the prices get insanely low, but the pieces are becoming obsolete. In my opinion, and this is only my own very personal opinion, one should always look to buy parts within the linear range.

Still want an "ultimate" system? Here's a proposition:

Processor: Intel QX7600 - $965.00
Motherboard: Asus Striker - $349.99
Memory: 2 x OCZ DDR2-800 CL4 - $361.98
Video Card: eVGA 8800GTX - $569.99
Hard Drive 1: 2 x Raptor 74GB - $319.98
Hard Drive 2: 2 x WD 500GB - $279.98
Optical Drives: 2 x Lite-On DVD+/RW - $71.98
Monitor: ViewSonic 22" LCD - $318.99
Keyboard: Logitech G15 - $71.99
Mouse: Logitech G5 - $45.99
Speakers: Altec Lansing FX5051 - $183.99
Power Supply: OCZ GameXStream 700W - $139.99
Case: Antec P180 - $129.99

Total: $3809.84, and this is missing after-market cooling and additional accesories. Expect it to reach $4k easily.

Now, with half of it we could also build a very nice system. Here:

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 - $308.00
Motherboard: eVGA nForce 680i - $174.99
Memory: Corsair 2x1GB DDR2-800 - $169.00
Video Card: eVGA 8800GTS 640MB - $374.99
Hard Drive: Western Digital 400GB - $99.99
Optical Drive: LG 18X DVD+/RW - $29.99
Monitor: HannsG 19" LCD - $174.99
Keyboard: Logitech Media Elite - $23.99
Mouse: Microsoft B7G 5-Buttons - $24.99
Speakers: Logitech X-230 - $40.99
Power Supply: Antec TruePower 650W - $109.99
Case: Antec 900 - $119.99

Total: $1651.90... and this system is powerful indeed, and will last you a good 2-3 years. By the time it's outdated, technology will have moved so far that even the $4k rig above will start to become obsolete. Remember Moore's Law.

 

[BennyV04988]

35 hundred is too much for a pc, no matter what "Dell" tells you... There is really only so much you can put in a pc and actually notice it.

2 GTX's vs 1 GTX would only pay off in rare occasions...
a quad would only rarely beat out an e6600...


I'd say HUGE lcd, GREAT speakers, atleast a GTX, some raid action, the 650i mobo, a 700-800w psu, 2gb of ddr2 800, an x-fi soundcard, 500GB+

 

[saywhat5959]

Thank you both so very much

I'm not sure what linear rigime is.

How would this work?
Hard Drive 1: 2 x Raptor 74GB - $319.98
Hard Drive 2: 2 x WD 500GB - $279.98

What type of RAID would this be?
Also between the two setups you built for me. Which one would have the best potential for future upgrades. (Or are you saying within the next 3 years upgrading would even be necessary because the tech out at that time will be so radically different.)

 

[saywhat5959]

I know I'm asking a lot of questions (for being a N00B) but Can you explain the difference for MoBo 757 - 957 680i etc.

 

[Ridlyn]

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 - $308.00
Motherboard: eVGA nForce 680i - $174.99
Memory: Corsair 2x1GB DDR2-800 - $169.00
Video Card: eVGA 8800GTX - $569.00
Hard Drive: 2x400GB Seagate - $239.98
Optical Drive: LG 18X DVD+/RW - $29.99
Monitor: Acer 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD - $254.99
Keyboard: Logitech Media Elite - $23.99
Mouse: Microsoft B7G 5-Buttons - $24.99
Speakers: Logitech X-230 - $40.99
Power Supply: Antec TruePower 650W - $109.99
Case: Antec 900 - $119.99

Total:2064.91 w/o shipping. So it's under your budget and when the time comes you can upgrade it too.

 

[saywhat5959]

THIS IS WHAT I HAVE NOW. Do you if I can upgrade what I currently have?
I have a Dell XPS Gen 4
PENTIUM 4 NORTHWOOD, 3.46, 2, 1066, SOCKET T
2x DUAL IN-LINE MEMORY MODULE, 512, 533M, 64X64, 8, 240, 1RX8
DVD DRIVE, 17G, 16X, I, 5.25" FORM FACTOR, LITEON, CHASSIS 2001, V5
DVD+/-RW, 16X, HALF HEIGHT, NEC CORPORATION, CHASSIS 2001
MULTI-MEDIA, AUDIO, 1394, SB0358
CONTROLLER, 1394A, PC INTERFACE, ADAPTEC
FLAT PANEL DISPLAY, 20W, DUAL VOLTAGE, 2005FPW
GRAPHICS, 256, X850, UHMGA12
FLOPPY DRIVE, 1.44M, TEAC, CHASSIS 2001
2x HARD DRIVE, 160GB, Serial ATA, 7.2K, 8MB, NATIVE COMMAND QUEUEING, SEAGATE
RAID 0
Serial ATA, TRANSFORMER SKY DIVE MINITOWER, 2.0

 

[pinoy3000]

Re: Thank you both so very much

I'm not sure what linear rigime is.

How would this work?
Hard Drive 1: 2 x Raptor 74GB - $319.98
Hard Drive 2: 2 x WD 500GB - $279.98

What type of RAID would this be?
Also between the two setups you built for me. Which one would have the best potential for future upgrades. (Or are you saying within the next 3 years upgrading would even be necessary because the tech out at that time will be so radically different.)

For this RAID to work I believe you would have to do RAID 0 + 1 OR RAID 1 + 0 Either ways will work. Cant tell you the difference between either ones.