New Computer Specs

N

Natoma

Veteran
Well the computer I currently have, 4yrs old, has about given up the ghost. I wanted to wait until Penryn and the G80/R600 refreshes came out, but I have no choice.

That said, I've put together the following specs and ask for your input:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850 ($999), Q6700 ($530), E6850 ($266), Q6600 ($266)
Memory: ocz/corsair/crucial 2GB DDR2 $160, super talent DDR3 $590 (2x1GB)
Motherboard: Asus P5K Deluxe $220, Asus P5K3 $247
Cooling: Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme $65
CPU Paste: Arctic Ceramique $5
Video Card: ATI R600 $450, evga Nvidia 8800 GTX $516, may just use the onboard IGP though. save money and wait
OS: Windows XP SP2
Hard Drives: Hitachi 7K1000 (1TBx2?) $360, Hitachi T7K500 (500GBx3?) $120
Case: Cooler Master Stacker 832 $240
Monitor: BenQ FP241WZ $730, Dell 2407WFP-HC $679, LG L246WP, $630
Power Supply: Antec Trio 650W


Any thoughts? Our computer has been massively failing over the past several weeks, and I'm not sure how much longer it has to live.
 
Should we assume you want your next PC to last a similiar length of time?

How comfortable are you with mid-life updgrades? (Like CPU, memory, GPU)
 
nAo said:
Is DDR3 worth a 430 dollars difference over DDR2? I don't think so :)
Click to expand...

There are a couple of things with the DDR2. I want to run my CPU at 1333mhz, and I do a lot of video editing and compression.

That's why the Quads really interest me. Can DDR2 do 1333Mhz?
 
Geo said:
Should we assume you want your next PC to last a similiar length of time?

How comfortable are you with mid-life updgrades? (Like CPU, memory, GPU)
Click to expand...

This computer lasted 4 years only because I was hellbent on getting us out of debt from school loans and credit cards. I typically like to upgrade every 2-3 years or so, particularly since computer parts really start to fail around the 3-4 year mark.

I am considering using the onboard IGP until the next gen graphics come out though. Save a few hundred now and put it toward the CPU and memory.
 
Is the current rig failing for hardware faults or just the usual spaghetti mess that MS OSes leave laying around (DLLs are EVIL!)?

I'm in a similar boat - upgrade time and trying to pick hardware. In my case the current rig is crashing intermittently in both XPSP2 and Linux (Ubuntu 7.04). Pretty sure it's either ACPI or Azalia audio related. I could probably solve it with a motherboard replacement, but as long as I'm going to do that I might as well replace some other stuff ;) Besides, finding a 939 motherboard might not be easy (don't tell me if it is as I'm rationalizing a major upgrade and don't want facts to get in the way).

I won't go Core2 Extreme because the price is absurd. Quad seems like a good route since I rarely game but do tons of other editing. 8800 GTX for certain as NV's Linux support is a million times better than anything ATI (Can't even run Beryl with my X1800XT without tons of issues). I'm also shying away from expensive DDR3. Toughest thing is the motherboard...
 
Natoma said:
There are a couple of things with the DDR2. I want to run my CPU at 1333mhz, and I do a lot of video editing and compression.

That's why the Quads really interest me. Can DDR2 do 1333Mhz?
Click to expand...
AFAIK yes, dunno if you can buy DDR2 1333 Mhz right now
 
Mize said:
Is the current rig failing for hardware faults or just the usual spaghetti mess that MS OSes leave laying around (DLLs are EVIL!)?
Click to expand...

Hardware.

1) The hard drives make clicking noises when under duress
2) The original videocard was a 9800 Pro 256MB that died in May. Then the 9250 I bought died when the heat hit. Now I've got a 1650 in there.
3) Already replaced the old power supply from Enermax a week ago with the Antec one.
4) Computer has troubles booting up or staying turned on. Looks like a Mobo issue.
5) Already replaced the lithium mobo battery twice. Once this year.
 
before looking for an higher specced DDR2 module are you sure DD3 will give you any significant performance improvement? it has to be a relevant improvement to justify all that money, IMHO
 
nAo said:
before looking for an higher specced DDR2 module are you sure DD3 will give you any significant performance improvement? it has to be a relevant improvement to justify all that money, IMHO
Click to expand...

It's not really the DDR2 or DDR3. In particular because I figure a year or two from now I may swap in a Yorkdale (quad core penryn). I just want to run my CPU at the 1333Mhz FSB afforded by the motherboard I'm going to purchase.
 
Then I'd go for DDR2 now, and DDR3 later if you find out that is going to make sense, it's likely you will save some money anyway, the price disparity now is IMHO absurd.
 
1.) I'd certainly not go with one of the "Extreme" models from Intel, its simply not worth the price. Instead I'd suggest either the Q6600 or Q6700 depending on if you're willing to overclock or not.

2.) Going with DDR2 would be my suggestion as well. It simply doesn't make any sense to go with DDR3 as it offers no performance enhancements but a very substantial increase in price. In fact, since you seem to be very concerned about editing performance, I'd suggest going for 4GB of DDR2 for less than 2GB of DDR3. While the bus line up "issue" might annoy you, in reality its a complete non-issue.

3.) Personally I think I'd go with the two times 1TB drives. No real reason other than better value and the three drivers offer nothing over the two 1TB drives.

4.) I'd highly recommend a higher quality PSU. Anecdotal or not, I simply don't put much faith in Antec power supplies anymore, especially when you're looking at a very high end system. SeaSonic and SilverStone is where I look these days.
 
Natoma said:
Well, that's the thing. Is it rated for 1333Mhz, or is it a case of "hope you buy the right module" for 1333Mhz overclock?
Click to expand...

ddr2 pc5400 should be for 1333. My friend has a core2duo 6600 @ 3 (or was it 3.2?)Ghz with a bus @ 1333 and he says he got 5400 for that because that is rated at 1333Mhz.

I think you should get the quadcore, its cheap and probably the fastes one for video compression as that will probably scale very well the more cpu's you have.
 
Are you planning on running 2 or 4 dimms? You should really plan on running a minimum of 4Gigs total via 2 2Gig dimms. The 975X chipset doesn't perform so well with 4 dimms and high FSBs. The P965 performs a bit better within those constraints. I think the P35 performs even better than the P965. I don't have a reasonable idea how well the Nvidia i680 performs.

Avoid wasting money on DDR3. Get some quality DDR2 and a Q6600/X3220 or Q6700. The Intel platform doesn't lose too much performance when running memory asynchronously.

My Mushkin HP2 PC-6400 DDR2 Dimms (800Mhz rated) are running fine at 1000Mhz speed with their original specs of 5-4-4-12. I'm also running a full 8 Gigs of memory. Mushkin also provides higher spec'd PC-8000 and possibly have some PC-10000 DDR2 Dimms that should perform better.
 
Natoma said:
But from what I've seen, you have to get DDR2 that is rated for the speed. I've seen DDR2-400, DDR2-800, DDR2-1066, but no DDR2-1333. Only DDR3-1333.
Click to expand...
You don't need DDR2-1333, with DDR2-800 the P35 chipset will use a 4:5 ratio to run the CPU at 1333MHz FSB and the memory at DDR2-800 speeds.
 
BRiT, that's one sweet rig. Any clue as to whether I can passively (Reserator 2) cool a Q6600, GTX and NB to adequate (not extreme OC) temps? Right now my x2 4400 and X1800XT-PE run real cool with that setup, but the quads are looking pretty steamy.

Anxious to hear how the new water-blocks-included EVGA 680i board does...
 
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