I'm building a new PC

This forum is for members to discuss topics that do not relate to anime music videos.

Postby Willen » Fri Dec 28, 2007 9:33 am

Ileia wrote:The components inside are irrelevant. All you need is a badass case.

Like this one for example.

Still needs some case mods. Like a Hello Kitty sticker or Swarovski crystals and a Wacom tablet to go along with it.

In all seriousness, I had high hopes for AMD's Phenom but Intel still has the edge. And I also concur on the 4 GB RAM choice. While the speed won't be really noticeable for non-gaming tasks right now, the advantage of 8 GB probably isn't much either. Unless you set up a RAM drive...
Having trouble playing back videos? I recommend: Image
User avatar
Willen
Now in Hi-Def!
 
Joined: 10 Jul 2005
Location: SOS-Dan HQ
Status: Melancholy

Postby Koopiskeva » Fri Dec 28, 2007 9:52 am

I suggest going 8gbs - I actually used up all 4gbs as I was editing last night.... |:
Hi.
User avatar
Koopiskeva
|:
 
Joined: 17 Mar 2002
Location: Out There Occupation: Fondling Private Areas ..of the Nation.
Status: O:

Postby dwchang » Fri Dec 28, 2007 2:53 pm

Beowulf wrote:Ok new question.

4 gigs of ram at 1066 or 8 gigs at 800?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145176

vs.

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6820145179

I'm leaning toward 8 gigs at a slower speed. Is the SPEED of ram a big deal when you're dealing with video editing/creative work, or is it primarily a gaming thing? I'm open to expertise of course, and again price isn't the issue.


I guess I'm in the minority, but I say 4 GB at 1066. Why? You want your FSBs matching in an ideal case. Assuming you get Q6600 or something similar, it has an FSB of 1066. To optimize performance, the two values on your processor and Memory should match.

Now of course, if they don't match it's not a HUGE deal, but know that for all memory transactions, your memory will be slightly lagging your Processor.

At the same time, the argument about expanding I think also supports going 4 GB at 1066. 800 is a dying breed. 1066 is already out there and 1333 is on the horizon (as is DDR3) so I think matching things up now is the best solution. Also with DDR3 this entire argument may be moot (but my estimates are it'll be awhile for that...oh and you'd have to get a new processor/mb for that too...so forget DDR3) :P.

Also from personal experience, I only have 2 GB of 800 RAM and it works fine. Then again, when I edit it's usually just a few layers and nothing fancy, but yeah the two vids I've worked on with this machine weren't a problem. Then again, I'm OLD SCHOOL -_-;;

...and wish I had more RAM :(
-Daniel
Newest Video: Through the Years and Far Away aka Sad Girl in Space
User avatar
dwchang
Sad Boy on Site
 
Joined: 04 Mar 2002
Location: Madison, WI

Postby Beowulf » Fri Dec 28, 2007 4:34 pm

Thanks for that info danny. I think I'll go with the 4 gigs @ 1006. Ok, I think I have the preliminaries figured out.

Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131219

RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145179

CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115017

Video Card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130312

HDs:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822136131 x 2

DVD Burner:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827135156

Sound Card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6829127002

Case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811129021

Power Supply:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817139006

Heatsink:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835118223

Windows XP 64:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6832116378

My main question is about the motherboard. My initial justification for it was to give my rig some head room for upgrading. Do I need it? What is the primary advantage of the Intel X38 northbridge chipset, over the other chipsets? Will the mobo be able to run at 1066 like my ram and cpu, or will it only run at 1333/1600?

If I overclock my CPU to 3ghz (like everyone else), will that naturally increase the mobo speed up to around 1333?

Also, will there ever be DDR2 ram at 1200 speed? If there will be, then its a good reason to pay a little more now so I won't have to buy a completely new motherboard/cpu/ram combo when the time comes. Am I investing in a mobo with head room that I'm just going to skip over in 2 years?

I'm pretty set on Corsair products. They are damn expensive but they have never failed me in 7 years.

Any input would be very appreciated <3
User avatar
Beowulf
 
Joined: 27 Feb 2002
Location: in the art house

Postby Zarxrax » Fri Dec 28, 2007 4:54 pm

For the hard disks, you might want to consider getting a raptor, or one of those new-fangled flash-based disks. You could load your operating system and apps onto this fast disk, in order to get fast loading times. Then just use your large disks for storage space.
User avatar
Zarxrax
 
Joined: 01 Apr 2001
Location: Concord, NC

Postby Zarxrax » Fri Dec 28, 2007 5:02 pm

Oh, and unless your REALLY into gaming, that graphics card might be overkill. The graphics card can easily be upgraded during the life of your system, and new stuff is getting added on them all the time, and prices fall quickly.
I only got an 8800gt, and it's given me some quite respectable performance in the few games I've thrown at it (gears of war, orange box).
User avatar
Zarxrax
 
Joined: 01 Apr 2001
Location: Concord, NC

Postby BasharOfTheAges » Fri Dec 28, 2007 5:05 pm

Solid-state drive for an OS / app install HDD... that's actually an awesome idea... it's damn expensive, but solid state drives have no seek times. they're slow at writing (so installing stuff will take longer than on a regular drive, but for things you always use it would be awesome.
Another Anime Convention AMV Contest Coordinator 2008-2014 & Head of the AAC Fan-works Theater - follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/AACFanTheater
:sorcerer: :sorcerer: |RD: "Oh, Action!" (side-by-side) | |
User avatar
BasharOfTheAges
Just zis guy, you know?
 
Joined: 14 Sep 2004
Location: Merrimack, NH
Status: Extreeeeeeeeeme

Postby Beowulf » Fri Dec 28, 2007 5:20 pm

I'll probably get an 80gig or 120gig solid state drive for my OS when the price comes down to <$200. In the meantime, I have a 250g sata that will migrate over to this machine, which is used for my OS and apps and such. :up:
User avatar
Beowulf
 
Joined: 27 Feb 2002
Location: in the art house

Postby Beowulf » Fri Dec 28, 2007 5:29 pm

Zarxrax wrote:Oh, and unless your REALLY into gaming, that graphics card might be overkill. The graphics card can easily be upgraded during the life of your system, and new stuff is getting added on them all the time, and prices fall quickly.
I only got an 8800gt, and it's given me some quite respectable performance in the few games I've thrown at it (gears of war, orange box).


I'm not REALLY into games, but when I find time to play them, I want to play them nice. All I really want is to play Oblivion at 1920x1200 :lol:

That being said, I think you're right. I changed the card to a GT and saved $100.
User avatar
Beowulf
 
Joined: 27 Feb 2002
Location: in the art house

Postby Zarxrax » Fri Dec 28, 2007 6:22 pm

Actually I just checked and I only have an 8600GT. 8800GT looks way more awesome though :up:
User avatar
Zarxrax
 
Joined: 01 Apr 2001
Location: Concord, NC

Postby Otohiko » Fri Dec 28, 2007 6:39 pm

Yea, I have an 8600GTS, which is a step below the 8800GT, and I assure you that for the moment you're more than set.
Otohiko
 
Joined: 05 May 2003

Postby dwchang » Sat Dec 29, 2007 4:34 pm

Wow a lot of those things are the identical things I have on my computer. I also agree on Corsair since it's never failed me yet *knock on wood*. I have the same chip, video card and memory (well same company) so that's kinda eerie.

As for MB, this is the one I got:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131153

To be honest, I don't remember why. I remember thinking the SLI stuff sounded cool (even though I'll never use it) and the fact it had 16x PCI Express, but beyond that I don't remember. I'm not too familiar on MBs in terms of the actual stuff like 775 650i and so forth. I do however, have a good experience with nVidia based platforms so *shrug*.

As for the video card, as I said, I have the identical card and although it's a bit overkill (and it is literally a brick), I wanted to build something where I could be good for a few years. Also there's *no reason* not to get a DX10 capable card right now. They're cheap enough now and DX9 is well..a generation back (even though technically DX9 is the one folks are using now...trust me DX10 will be adopted so I'd rather be ready).

Edit: I didn't read the next post and yeah a GT is fine too. My only argument is that you should definitely get an 8X00 series card since they're all DX10 compatible.

As for HDs, I agree on waiting on Solid State. It's WAY too expensive right now to justify. Sure it's hella fast, but well..I'd rather have $800 in my pocket now and wait the whopping 20 seconds it takes to boot then saving a few seconds.

Uhm...I think that's it.
-Daniel
Newest Video: Through the Years and Far Away aka Sad Girl in Space
User avatar
dwchang
Sad Boy on Site
 
Joined: 04 Mar 2002
Location: Madison, WI

Previous

Return to General Discussion

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests