Computer stuff!

[Raziaar]

Haha yeah, another computer thread. I know everybody has these, and I have had some recently too.

The thing is, I have recently come into $1,000 that is actually mine.

And instead of investing it wisely, I'm thinking of blowing it on a computer. Heavily thinking that.

So right now I'm researching processors, and I've come to see that there are two big hitters. Certainly ones that weren't around last time I was entertaining the idea of purchasing a new computer.

These are the the Intel Core i7's and the AMD Phenom II's.

Have been reading reviews and comparisons and stuff on each of them, and I'm leaning towards maybe putting an Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66ghz into my computer as a processor.

280 bucks is kind of expensive though, especially when I need to maintain a budget of 1000 for basically an entire new computer. And the motherboards for these i7's are kind of pricey as well!

The AMD Phenom II X4 940 Deneb 3.0GHz are considerably cheaper, but I would have to research them more to see if they are good for gaming as well as video graphics rendering, like 3d modeling stuff. Plus I'm still iffy after many years of AMD stuff, especially in regards to overheating and frying.



What kind of other new things are out there that I need to worry about?

One of my biggest fears is that shortly after upgrading, things advance rapidly again kind of like they did after I made my 2003 computer purchase with things like PCI-Express video cards basically rendering my inability to upgrade unless I basically changed my motherboard and every single component on it.

 

[Krynn72]

One of my biggest fears is that shortly after upgrading, things advance rapidly again kind of like they did after I made my 2003 computer purchase with things like PCI-Express video cards basically rendering my inability to upgrade unless I basically changed my motherboard and every single component on it.

Unavoidable. It will happen. Two years and you'll be quite obsolete again, and you'll probably only be able to upgrade certain components at that point as well. But this will happen no matter what, doesnt matter when you buy it.

I sent you a pm regarding the video card.

In my opinion, right now the i7s are still not worth the price. Especially if your main concern is gaming. I know you'll be doing some rendering, but honestly, unless you're doing production quality rendering then you dont need an i7. As a hobbyist, I'd say go with a Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550. Its almost the same price as the i7 you were looking at, but its clocked at 2.83 so its going to be more than enough for modern games and your 3D rendering. But the benefit to going with this cpu is that the motherboards for it are much less expensive, and more stable. The i7 technology is new and there are still some bugs that need to be ironed out, 775 processors and motherboards have had years of development and are generally rock solid at this point.

 

[Raziaar]

Hey, thanks for the response Krynn.

This is what I'm leaning towards at the moment, though what I told you before I am always second guessing myself when it comes to these computer parts.

Unavoidable. It will happen. Two years and you'll be quite obsolete again, and you'll probably only be able to upgrade certain components at that point as well. But this will happen no matter what, doesnt matter when you buy it.

Yeah, I guess you're right.

In my opinion, right now the i7s are still not worth the price. Especially if your main concern is gaming. I know you'll be doing some rendering, but honestly, unless you're doing production quality rendering then you dont need an i7. As a hobbyist, I'd say go with a Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550. Its almost the same price as the i7 you were looking at, but its clocked at 2.83 so its going to be more than enough for modern games and your 3D rendering. But the benefit to going with this cpu is that the motherboards for it are much less expensive, and more stable. The i7 technology is new and there are still some bugs that need to be ironed out, 775 processors and motherboards have had years of development and are generally rock solid at this point.

Yeah I started to lean away from the i7. I just can't fit as much as I want to with my budget if I go for the expense of the i7. Right now I'm looking at that AMD Phenom II one that I have in the screenshot above.

And yeah I won't be doing a ton of super rendering, and anything I get will just be leagues beyond what I currently have... this pentium 4 2.8ghz hahaha.

 

[Viperidae]

Keep in mind purchasing good peripherals can go a long way. What kind of monitor/speakers/mouse do you have right now?

Also that sound card looks a bit iffy.

 

[Qonfused]

A bit?

 

[Raziaar]

Keep in mind purchasing good peripherals can go a long way. What kind of monitor/speakers/mouse do you have right now?

Also that sound card looks a bit iffy.

The sound card is iffy. It's a cheap one I found. I saw the price, the 4 eggs, and just clicked.

I have been using a sound blaster live! for about... oh I don't know, a decade? Ever since it came out. It recently died, and I need a replacement. I am not an audio junky at all, and all of them sound more or less the same to me.

I just want something stable, that won't lag my games as I have had issues before with the sound blaster live.

I don't really want to spend 80-100 or more dollars on a sound card.


I am using super old speakers as well... from a company called Altec Lansing. They still do the job, and as I said I am not a sound person much. I just need to hear things.

My mouse is a terrible cheap one that I hate, but it does the job.

And lastly my monitor is an aging Viewsonic UltraBrite A90F+ that is all blurry and stuff. It still works though so I don't feel the need to upgrade. Eventually in time, when it starts failing or I get more money to spare I will buy a nice flatscreen.

 

[Viperidae]

Maybe it won't matter since you don't seem to mind, but you'll have all this intensely high tech hardware running through some less-than-desirable peripherals. Makes me :/

 

[Raziaar]

Maybe it won't matter since you don't seem to mind, but you'll have all this intensely high tech hardware running through some less-than-desirable peripherals. Makes me :/

They are things I can upgrade later. Right now I'm shopping for core stuff for a system.

I'm going to take Krynn's advice and just abandon a sound card and use onboard audio.

 

[Raziaar]

Krynn notified me that the processor/motherboard I had limited me to DDR2 memory. Still thinking that DDR3 was overly expensive and not worth it yet, he corrected me and showed me that prices have indeed dropped and it is worth it.

So I swapped around a few things.

I upgraded the processor, and to accomodate it I updated the motherboard. Each are more expensive, but they appear to be better and more useful, especially the motherboard, particularly when it comes to onboard audio.

I dropped down from a 1TB hard drive to 640gb to cut down the price below 1000.

I also swapped out my sticks to g.skill ddr3 RAM. Not the best kind, but still better and only slightly more expensive than what I had before.

Overall I'm up more than what I had before, but still below 1000. It's a tight fit though.


Does anybody know a lot about power supplies? That's always been one of my biggest failing points. I can never find a power supply that people won't always say, "that's underpowered for your needs."

This power supply is an old hangover from the last time I was looking to upgrade my computer. It might be outdated and not capable of handling the needs of this system, but I am not particularly sure.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341002

Anybody who is knowledgeable about power supplies able to do me a favor and check it out?



Anyway, here is my new loadout.

If you need links, here they are.

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

ASUS M4A79T Deluxe AM3 DDR3 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131363

EVGA 896-P3-1260-AR GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130370

OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI 700W ATX12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341002

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-4GBNQ - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231190

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor Model HDZ955FBGIBOX - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103674

 

[Krynn72]

That power supply is more than sufficient. I've never used OCZ products myself, but I hear they're pretty reliable. I've always gone with corsair psu's because i've never had one fail on me.

 

[Raziaar]

Made a thread over on Toms Hardware and got this response.

It's a nice build, but one or two things seem a bit out of whack.

The video card is Nvidia, but the board is a crossfire board. With the 790FX chipset you are actually paying extra for improved crossfire speed... so why close that door?
Get a good 4870 1GB... In fact, the GTX 260 you linked is much slower anyway, as it's an older core 192 version.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...re Technology Limited&ActiveSearchResult=True

Next, in order to make sure you have the power to crossfire in the future, get this PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...8 113142558&name=701 - 800W&SpeTabStoreType=0
Here's another good PSU in combo with your case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.193713

If the budget is too tight, you could always pick up one 4850 now and one later.

I had to admit that I only put marginal effort into picking the video card there. I honestly do not know what video card I want to get. Picking video cards is so hard!

Working some of that stuff he suggested in is going to make this juggling act within budget even more difficult.

 

[Hectic Glenn]

The guy is right, I bought an SLI ready mobo and a nvidia card when I built my PC, in order to allow for possible SLI in the future. Although since then, I've spoken to so many people who say...forget SLI / Crossfire.

The price of a second card is silly, you may as well save up for a larger upgrade than going SLI / Xfire. I would personally just go with a better card than the one you picked. A 280 would be my choice.

Also, indeed...future proof your PSU. 700W is a fine purchase, but if you can stretch a bit more, do eeet!

 

[Raziaar]

The guy is right, I bought an SLI ready mobo and a nvidia card when I built my PC, in order to allow for possible SLI in the future. Although since then, I've spoken to so many people who say...forget SLI / Crossfire.

The price of a second card is silly, you may as well save up for a larger upgrade than going SLI / Xfire. I would personally just go with a better card than the one you picked. A 280 would be my choice.

Also, indeed...future proof your PSU. 700W is a fine purchase, but if you can stretch a bit more, do eeet!

So I'm trying to bump things around and work in a GTX 280 1GB card like you recommend... and at the moment, along with their recommendations, I'm sitting at grand total of 1064.53

And trying to figure out how I can shave off 65 bucks. Wonder if it would be wise for me to drop down the motherboard a bit maybe.

The guys on the tomshardware forums keep telling me this is more of an ATI oriented board and that I should probably stick to ATI. Like getting a 4890 or 4850X2

 

[Qonfused]

To be perfectly honest, as long as the company is reputable, you don't have to go all out on a motherboard. While it is the central hub for all your components, having a cheaper motherboard won't affect performance.

 

[Dumb Dude]

To be perfectly honest, as long as the company is reputable, you don't have to go all out on a motherboard. While it is the central hub for all your components, having a cheaper motherboard won't affect performance.

I used to think this, but having bad experiences almost all the time with sub-$100 motherboards I can say that you shouldn't cheap out on them. My problems were with more than a few boards and brands with problems ranging from bad LAN's, wonky USBs, to dying chipset fans and down right retarded SATA controllers. Spend a little extra for that quality Raz.

 

[Raziaar]

I used to think this, but having bad experiences almost all the time with sub-$100 motherboards I can say that you shouldn't cheap out on them. My problems were with more than a few boards and brands with problems ranging from bad LAN's, wonky USBs, to dying chipset fans and down right retarded SATA controllers. Spend a little extra for that quality Raz.

Well they're both well above 100 dollars.

The one is 199 bucks. And the other I'm looking at right now, is about 135 bucks.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131363

vs this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131366

To be perfectly honest, as long as the company is reputable, you don't have to go all out on a motherboard. While it is the central hub for all your components, having a cheaper motherboard won't affect performance.

You have a good point, which is something I've been trying to do especially after finding that second motherboard I posted above.

Doing so might even allow me to bump back up to a 1TB hard drive, which is something I would like... because I *REALLY* utilize that space.

Grand total of $943.93

I feel like a total bitch bouncing back and forth so rapidly between things. But I'm really trying to narrow something down solid that satisfies as many people as I receive knowledgeable input from as well as myself.

 

[Saturos]

One of my biggest fears is that shortly after upgrading, things advance rapidly again kind of like they did after I made my 2003 computer purchase with things like PCI-Express video cards basically rendering my inability to upgrade unless I basically changed my motherboard and every single component on it.

When I built my PC 4 years ago, PCI-x16 slots were brand new tech. Guess I was lucky.

Problem for me now is that my CPU and all it's expansions can nearly be classified as antiques and I've been spending too much money paying bills to save up for a damn upgrade.

Well, good luck!

If I had that kind of spare change, I'd be too busy installing satellite/wireless broadband and new vid cards to be posting here. :jealous:

 

[Dumb Dude]

For 10 more bucks you can already get a 1TB drive:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152101&Tpk=samsung 1tb spinpoint

Unless you're set on getting a Western Digital, in which case the only other similarly priced 1TB HDD is their "green" version that costs 80 bucks.

 

[Raziaar]

For 10 more bucks you can already get a 1TB drive:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152101&Tpk=samsung 1tb spinpoint

Unless you're set on getting a Western Digital, in which case the only other similarly priced 1TB HDD is their "green" version that costs 80 bucks.

I've heard a lot of good things about Western Digital ever since I entertained the idea of upgrading this year and last(or was it the year before last?)

This was the one I originally had in mind before downgrading it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284



Oh and in case anybody wonders how I, the deadbeat bum happened to get $1,000... it was a gift from my Uncle as a congratulation for graduating/getting an equivalent that he does for all his immediate nieces and nephews and sons.

 

[Sedako]

Raz, just wanted to remind you not to miss out on live.com cashback. Especially with such a large order. I think it's currently at 2.5% for Newegg.

 

[VirusType2]

I highly recommend this drive over the caviar 640GB you selected. Being high density and having less platters, it's much faster, runs cooler, and is quieter. At 1 terabyte, it's also almost twice the capacity, all for only $10 more. Because it has less platters, supposedly, it's just about as green as the WD 'green' series, yet way faster.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152101

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD102UJ 1TB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

 

[TwwIX]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148433

Newest Seagate HD. Two 500Gb platters, nuff said!

They may have screwed up with the 7200.11 drives, it happens. This one is gonna bring em back to the top spot though.

 

[Raziaar]

Raz, just wanted to remind you not to miss out on live.com cashback. Especially with such a large order. I think it's currently at 2.5% for Newegg.

What is that? Is that part of your advertising whatever it is?

I highly recommend this drive over the caviar 640GB you selected. Being high density and having less platters, it's much faster, runs cooler, and is quieter. At 1 terabyte, it's also almost twice the capacity, all for only $10 more. Because it has less platters, supposedly, it's just about as green as the WD 'green' series, yet way faster.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822152101

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD102UJ 1TB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

I don't know anything about the platters and stuff.

Is that one you listed still better than the 1TB one I listed that I am going to end up getting probably?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284

I mean I don't know if it's just more storage space. It's caviar as well.

Tell me what hard drive is most reliable and fastest! You are my lifeline guys! I need you to pull through for me!

Guys!

 

[VirusType2]

I own a few Caviars. A 500 GB and two 750 GB ones. They are a year old or less.

I got a couple of the Samsungs I referred to. They are WWWAAAYYY faster, to the point I'm just going to get all Samsung F1s and just use the WD's for data backup (in an eSata external enclosure) they are painfully slow.

 

[VirusType2]

duplicate post sorry

Proof:
(The specific model I referred to):
MAIN PAGE
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/samsung-overtakes-a-bang,1730-4.html

Note the read transfer speed:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/samsung-overtakes-a-bang,1730-9.html

beat all competitors. faster than Raptors doing that

WRITE speed:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/samsung-overtakes-a-bang,1730-10.html

beat all competitors. faster than Raptors doing that


conclusion FTW
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/samsung-overtakes-a-bang,1730-11.html

 

[Raziaar]

Thanks Virus. I love you long time.

The greatest thing about all this? It isn't just a wishful thread. I actually get to buy a computer this time!

And Virus, any idea if the Samsung one you posted is better than the seagate TwwIX posted?

I find harddrives to be really hard to figure out what is better. I'm not quite up to the terminology on them and the reviews always make them all sounds great. To me in the end, the thing that always stands out the most is the storage capacity.

 

[VirusType2]

According to the first review I found:

The Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS achieved a write speed of 78.49 megabytes per second and a read speed of 83.77MBps. When copying the data folder from one location on the drive to another, it delivered a speed of 32.75MBps.

http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/revie...acuda_7200_12_st31000528as/299372?image=42833

compared to the write and read graphs I posted in my last post above, the Samsung is about twice as fast at writing, and faster at reading. Granted from a different test center, but it's safe to assume it's much faster. And cheaper.

 

[Sedako]

What is that? Is that part of your advertising whatever it is?

No no no! MS has been doing a cashback promotion through a bunch of online retailers for over a year now. I've probably saved around $50 so far with it. You have to register a windows live id if you don't already have one, then go to:

http://search.live.com/cashback

Click on "Shop 100s of stores" and navigate to Newegg or wherever you want to shop, and as long as you're logged into live, it will forward you to the site you selected and you'll get cashback on any purchases you make. So far it's worked with all coupons and other promotions. Myself and all of my friends have never had any issues with it.

 

[Hectic Glenn]

If you want to know who else owns Samsung Spinpoints and their stories with owning them, we had a thread about it recently - http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=155445

You will fill a 640gb easily, I betcha.

 

[Raziaar]

No no no! MS has been doing a cashback promotion through a bunch of online retailers for over a year now. I've probably saved around $50 so far with it. You have to register a windows live id if you don't already have one, then go to:

http://search.live.com/cashback

Click on "Shop 100s of stores" and navigate to Newegg or wherever you want to shop, and as long as you're logged into live, it will forward you to the site you selected and you'll get cashback on any purchases you make. So far it's worked with all coupons and other promotions. Myself and all of my friends have never had any issues with it.

If you want to know who else owns Samsung Spinpoints and their stories with owning them, we had a thread about it recently - http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=155445

Ahh, I did not know that. Thanks man I'll check it out.

You will fill a 640gb easily, I betcha.

Hell yes. With my current 100gb hard drive I always have to uninstall games and stuff frequently. Even the ones I play more often... whenever I wanted to play another one, which often didn't amount to very much time playing since I don't play games very much lately

But I think a new nice and fast computer would definitely change that.




*************



I currently do not have the money in my account to purchase the computer, which makes me go a little nuts. I don't have the cash checked, and it's currently a holiday with savings. Not sure how much I am saving currently on this holiday, but it's burning a hole in my pocket and I'm worried the overall price for what I have picked, especially the video card, will boost up after today.

Fathers day is also coming up soon... do you guys know how big of a holiday that usually is for computer places like Newegg?

 

[VirusType2]

I got some good deals at ClubIT and AxionTech if you want to look into them.

not sure if that's exactly how they are spelled.

 

[Raziaar]

AxionTech?

Wow... they're RIGHT in my town, if it's the same axiontech you're talking about.


Anyway guys. It looks like I have all the money I need in my bank account already.

I can make this purchase. I can do this! I can order it today and have it set up this week!

Should I do it? Should I go for it? Order it right now?

Grand total 953.93

 

[VirusType2]

are you sure you have all the wires and goo?

 

[Raziaar]

are you sure you have all the wires and goo?

What wires do I need? The motherboard is retail... it should come with wires. The power supply should come with its own wires.


What wires do you think I might be missing?

I have Arctic Silver 5 compound that I bought sometime last year.

 

[VirusType2]

I have no idea, I haven't done this yet myself.

Sometimes they don't even tell you if it comes with wires, but if you look at the picture viewer, you can see them. That's reassuring.

 

[Raziaar]

Well I checked all the images, and they look like they'll have the cables I need.

And I have Arctic Silver 5, so that's good.

I went ahead and ordered the computer parts.

I am so excited!


Thank you everybody for helping me refine this into something I am satisfied with. You guys and the guys over at tomshardware.


Oh and hey thanks again for the suggestion Sedako. For a second there I confused you with Saturos because of the red avatars and because Saturos does his internet advertising thing he was recently talking about.

Using that cashback thing i managed to save 24 dollars.

 

[Qonfused]

It should come with all the wires you need and then some.

Congratulations Raz!

 

[Raziaar]

Thanks Qonfused.

I'm hoping putting it together will not be a frustrating experience and I hope everything runs well.

The last time I dealt with an AMD processor, putting on the heatsink was such an amazingly aggravating process. I found the intel heatsinks to be far easier.

My biggest fear is that some components simply fail and I won't be able to try them out in another computer or anything because I don't have another computer that can use any of these parts.

 

[VirusType2]

I don't see where the SATA cable for your hard drive is. with the motherboard?

it doesn't come with an OEM HDD, FYI

 

[Krynn72]

His motherboard is retail and they always come with enough sata cables.