PC Checklist and Recommendations

[Tyler1989]

Please help me assemble a PC as I'm more of a Software OS Technology related user than a Core Hardware user. I'll bump this thread when updates are availible.



Notes - I am aiming for a high end PC custom built that is 64 bit. I am not an over clocker at all and will not be over clocking so I'd like to not buy the expensive OC hardware. The budget is $2,000. I will be looking for a fast CPU and a good GPU so I can play new games such as Oblivion.

I have all the parts but I guess I could through in a floppy drive and buy newer models of these parts I'm not at my budget max yet.


CPU - $497.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103546

Motherboard - $125.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136152

RAM - $190.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145579

Video Card - $319.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130247

Sound Card - $93.00
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16829102162

Hard Drive - $115.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144701

2 DVD Burners - $89.99 + $89.99
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/p...B,00.html?compName=PNA_ProductDetailComponent

Power Supply - $68.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103937

Case - $59.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119074

Operating System - MSDN/Free
Windows XP x64, Windows Vista x64

Floppy Drive - $10.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16821103116

Total Spent - $1,538.96

 

[Flanker]

Please help me assemble a PC as I'm more of a Software OS Technology related user than a Core Hardware user. I'll bump this thread when updates are availible.


Notes - I am aiming for a high end PC custom built that is 64 bit. I am not an over clocker at all and will not be over clocking so I'd like to not buy the expensive OC hardware. I will be getting these products from my Uncle who is currently out of the country in China. Every year he goes there and he buys hardware cheap and factory direct so I'm not sure how this affects availability and cost of the hardware.


CPU - Is the AMD Athlon 64 a duel core processor does this mean I will have to use a 64 bit edition of windows? Does the AMD Athlon 64 X2 Processor require you to run a 64 edition of Windows?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103562
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103539

Motherboard - I will be going AMD though I am an Intel lover because of Pricing. I will need an Athlon 64 or Athlon 64 X2 Supporting Motherboard depending on what CPU I choose.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131530
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127212
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127207

RAM - 3-3.5 gigs of Ram. May seem unreasonable but I have Beta Tested Windows Vista and know about its extra features that suck up RAM. Also is it true that since I"m going with AMD I cannot get DDR2 RAM and must go with DDR?

Video Card - I hear ATI / Nvidia / Gforce are all good card models. Keep fan-boy-ism to a low I'm not a big gamer but I am seeking a card with 128-256 megs of non integrated memory that supports shader 2.0 to play Oblivion.

Sound Card - I'm looking for non integrated sound. Sound is sound so I don't think this should be too expensive.

Hard Drive - Storage needs are 120-180 gig, 7200RPM

Optical Drive - Educate me on this topic

Power Supply - Educate me on this topic

Case - Educate me on this topic, I hear 1 intake and 2 outtake fans are a good combo.

Speakers - Use my current Speakers

Monitor - May use my old monitor

Mouse - Use my current mouse

Keyboard - Use my current keyboard

Operating System - Windows XP Pro, Windows XP x64, Windows Vista, Windows Vista x64 dependant on hardware

Funds - Christmas and Birthday money with my own savings of $500. I have an unknown budget because of my uncle who is out of the country right now but I'd estimate it should come to around $1100 doesn't mean I want to spend it all or am not able to go over.

Its amazing how someone can know so much about software and no offense, but next to nothing about hardware, lol. I'll let someone else take this one. Intel sucks AMD processors are also cheaper than Intel processors, no idea where you got the pricing part from. Yea, Dual Core processors are a bit more expensive, but oh so worth it.

Either of those processors are good depending on which kind you want. No, you don't need a 64-bit OS to run on a 64-bit processor.

ATi and Nvidia are two different video card makers. Their series of video cards are called "Radeon" from ATi, and "GeForce" from Nvidia. Each of the names are followed by a number that seperates the various cards.

 

[Tyler1989]

Well there is no offence as it's the truth. I don't see it that hard to believe though as I'm mainly a scripter and programmer at this point and have not taken the time to really study and venture into the hardware relm yet.

 

[003]

RAM - 2-3 gigs of Ram. May seem unreasonable but I have Beta Tested Windows Vista and know about its extra features that suck up RAM. Also is it true that since I"m going with AMD I cannot get DDR2 RAM and must go with DDR? Also is it better to go with 4 512Meg sticks or 2Gig Sticks?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820161615
http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/FeedBack/CustratingReview.asp?item=N82E16820161626

Why do the hardware requirements for windows vista matter to you if you are not going to be getting windows vista? Windows Vista is going to suck some major ass, not only is it going to be the biggest bloatware resourse hog on the plannet, but it is also dropping support for OpenGL and hardware accelerated audio. It is going to totally suck for gaming, you are better off with winxp 64 bit.

 

[gaara]

Also the fact that Windows XP cannot handle over 2GB of memory without some tweaking...

I'm sure people are going to swear against this, but one of the best cards to buy for your scenario would be an x800GTO, specifically a GTO2 from Sapphire or a GTO from powercolour...99% of these cards have successfully flashed and unlocked to x850XTPE cards for a fraction of price

 

[Tyler1989]

No you are not. I actually know about Vista in fact I know alot about it. Vista will utilise every drop of that ram trust me on that and as for sucking on games it is not going to It's feature to shut down uneeded resources. Vista even in it's current Beta form is outperforming Windows Server 2003 on the same hardware. Carry on Vista discussions at
http://www.techist.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=57368&pagenumber=1

Now back onto topic what makes good RAM. Is it better to have 4 512Megs of RAM or is it better to have 2 1Gigs of RAM? Gaara I will trust you 100% on XPs limatations but Vista supports 128 GB of RAM so you need not worry on maxes .

 

[PcMe]

Is it all right if I forget the hardware you posted, and just try and make a 1100$ budget pc for you?
Also, does it have to be from newegg.com? Here, I made a list of basic stuff you should get.
Processor - AMD 3700
AMD 3700 Link
233$

Motherboard - DFI Lanparty UT nF-4
Lanparty Link
125$

Video Card - 6800GS
6800GS Link
200$

Sound Card - Audigy2 Value
Audigy2 Link
60$

Case - Cavalier 1 (Has psu included, but don't use it)
Cavalier Link
80$

Power Supply - Antec 500W Smart Power
Antec 500W Link
70$

RAM - Corsair ValueSelect - 2Gigs (If you really need 3Gigs, get this + another regular Gig of the same kind)
Corsair 2Gigs
190$

Hard Drive - Seagate 7200RPM 8Mb cache 250Gig
Seagate 250Gb Link
105$

Optical Drive(s) - Sony Combo Drive CD-RW/DVD Drive
CD-RW/DVD Drive Link
40$

+Like 10$ Shipping for the case
=$1113

Reason I did zipzoomfly.com for most was because they offer Free 2 Day shipping on everything I put here.

 

[gaara]

No what I'm saying is XP won't recognise memory larger than 4GB, which includes physical RAM + virtual memory...furthermore, it doesn't handle large amounts of memory very well in the first place due to memory fragmentation...basically what I'm saying is anything over 2GB regardless of your operating system will start to degrade performance...memory bandwidth simply isn't big enough to handle mass memory yet unless you're running multiprocessors each with dedicated memory working together

2x1GB would be better, and I would suggest you stick to 2GB and not go over...you really won't need anymore anyways unless you're trying to run a high traffic webserver

 

[Tyler1989]

PcMe no it doesn't I'm actually "asking" my uncle to get the parts while he is in China (cheaper over there). I'll review your parts shortly and edit this post tomarrow.

gaara again I trust what you say but Vista will take lots of RAM though I'm not sure on the actual ussage of it because the final product isn't out I can say it has outright support for up to 128 gigs of ram something you can't even fit in a server with todays technology. Please join the Vista Disscusion. It seems you have alot of knowladge about RAM.
http://www.techist.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=57368&pagenumber=1

 

[Avalanch3]

i agree with gaara....2gb is enough to run games on the highest settings these days...and its not like you really need much more than that unless like gaara said...your raunning a high traffic webserver