help me build a $3000-3500 computer

**Cromewell** · 12-18-2006, 10:05 AM

RPM is the biggest difference maker. The cache is also a minor factor. A 7200RPM drive should be plenty fast for you, you don't need a 15k RPM scsi drive.

maroon1 · 12-18-2006, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jorday

Thanks for the recommendation. Is the RPM of the hard drive the biggest factor in determining its speed/performance, or are there other factors to consider?

The RPM is the biggest factor, but more cashe memory also helps a lot.

Also, having a SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive is better than having SATA 1.5Gb/s

Quote:

That's some expensive RAM, is that even better stuff than what the G.Skill?

The CORSAIR has better timing than G.Skill.

**Cromewell** · 12-18-2006, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Also, having a SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive is better than having SATA 1.5Gb/s

No it's not. Drives don't get close to the 1.5Gbps limit.

Sirius_GTO · 12-18-2006, 12:39 PM

I know this guy has 4K to spend and all, but realistically, I don't think he needs anything more than 2Gigs of RAM or an E6600. I'm sure he really couldn't utilize the full potential of the Quad core, and I don't think he needs 4G or ram as of right now. But that's just my opinion.

You could save 1K by switching to an E6600 and 2G or ddr2 ram.

kthxbai

maroon1 · 12-18-2006, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cromewell

No it's not. Drives don't get close to the 1.5Gbps limit.

http://www.barefeats.com/hard79.html

In those ^^ charts, the Seagate 3Gb/s is faster than Seagate 1.5Gb/s

**Cromewell** · 12-18-2006, 01:50 PM

Those benches only show gains when using very small files that are being read from cache. Those are entirely 'paper' results, in real use there's no difference. This was shown in a thread omega started in the hard drive section. Omega and myself had identicle drives (well as identicle as they can be) and ran the same bench and both drives finished with almos the same results.

Jet · 12-18-2006, 02:58 PM

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
ASUS P5W DH Deluxe/WIFI
Corsair 2GB XMS Dominator DDR2 800
Western Digital RaptorX 10,000 RPM 150GB (SATA/16MB)
eVGA 88800GTS
Creative Labs X-Fi Extreme Gamer
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610 610W Continuous @ 40°C Power Supply
Antec P180B Case
LITE-ON 16X DVD Burner (SATA)
ACER 24" Widescreen LCD (6ms)
Logitech diNuvo Cordless Desktop
Logitech Z-5450 5.1 Digital Speakers

Grand Total before Mail-in-rebates: $3079.52 (with Shipping)
After MIR: $2824.52

That computer will hold you for a while, as well as being a whole lot of fun to use. The monitor was just a random choice, you can always spend more than $700 on a monitor.

**Cromewell** · 12-18-2006, 03:07 PM

Given that they said they don't play many games I'd drop the 8800GTs for a 7900/x1900 or one of their derivitives.

Jet · 12-18-2006, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cromewell

Given that they said they don't play many games I'd drop the 8800GTs for a 7900/x1900 or one of their derivitives.

But for DX10. Even though "futureproofing" is impossible, you still can try...

jorday · 12-18-2006, 05:29 PM

Thanks for the replies everybody. I am going to save some money by going with probably the E6600.

I'm starting to understand a little bit more on the hard drives. So, the western digital raptorX 10k hard drive be kind of a nice balance between cost and performance since it is 10k rather than 7.2k or 15k?

Jet, I forgot about a sound card. Will the computer have had no sound without it?

If I want 2 hard drives, should I just order 2 of the same one, or get a cheaper second hard drive. Or is it really not worth it?

12-18-2006, 10:05 AM	#11 (permalink)
Cromewell Moderator Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Canada Age: 24 Posts: 10,103	RPM is the biggest difference maker. The cache is also a minor factor. A 7200RPM drive should be plenty fast for you, you don't need a 15k RPM scsi drive. __________________ You know what the chain of command is? It's the chain I go get and beat you with 'til ya understand who's in ruttin' command here. I must plug a couple comics because they are good :D: www.ctrlaltdel-online.com www.userfriendly.org

12-18-2006, 01:50 PM	#16 (permalink)
Cromewell Moderator Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Canada Age: 24 Posts: 10,103	Those benches only show gains when using very small files that are being read from cache. Those are entirely 'paper' results, in real use there's no difference. This was shown in a thread omega started in the hard drive section. Omega and myself had identicle drives (well as identicle as they can be) and ran the same bench and both drives finished with almos the same results. __________________ You know what the chain of command is? It's the chain I go get and beat you with 'til ya understand who's in ruttin' command here. I must plug a couple comics because they are good :D: www.ctrlaltdel-online.com www.userfriendly.org

12-18-2006, 02:58 PM	#17 (permalink)
Jet Diamond Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 5,285	Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 ASUS P5W DH Deluxe/WIFI Corsair 2GB XMS Dominator DDR2 800 Western Digital RaptorX 10,000 RPM 150GB (SATA/16MB) eVGA 88800GTS Creative Labs X-Fi Extreme Gamer PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610 610W Continuous @ 40°C Power Supply Antec P180B Case LITE-ON 16X DVD Burner (SATA) ACER 24" Widescreen LCD (6ms) Logitech diNuvo Cordless Desktop Logitech Z-5450 5.1 Digital Speakers Grand Total before Mail-in-rebates: $3079.52 (with Shipping) After MIR: $2824.52 That computer will hold you for a while, as well as being a whole lot of fun to use. The monitor was just a random choice, you can always spend more than $700 on a monitor. __________________ Macbook/Intel Core Duo 1.83Ghz/2GB DDR2 667/60GB HD/OSX 10.4.11/160GB 3.5" Firewire External/160GB Maxtor One Touch 4 Mini External/

12-18-2006, 03:07 PM	#18 (permalink)
Cromewell Moderator Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Canada Age: 24 Posts: 10,103	Given that they said they don't play many games I'd drop the 8800GTs for a 7900/x1900 or one of their derivitives. __________________ You know what the chain of command is? It's the chain I go get and beat you with 'til ya understand who's in ruttin' command here. I must plug a couple comics because they are good :D: www.ctrlaltdel-online.com www.userfriendly.org

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12-18-2006, 12:39 PM	#14 (permalink)
Sirius_GTO Gold Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 300	I know this guy has 4K to spend and all, but realistically, I don't think he needs anything more than 2Gigs of RAM or an E6600. I'm sure he really couldn't utilize the full potential of the Quad core, and I don't think he needs 4G or ram as of right now. But that's just my opinion. You could save 1K by switching to an E6600 and 2G or ddr2 ram. kthxbai

12-18-2006, 05:29 PM	#20 (permalink)
jorday New Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Age: 27 Posts: 17	Thanks for the replies everybody. I am going to save some money by going with probably the E6600. I'm starting to understand a little bit more on the hard drives. So, the western digital raptorX 10k hard drive be kind of a nice balance between cost and performance since it is 10k rather than 7.2k or 15k? Jet, I forgot about a sound card. Will the computer have had no sound without it? If I want 2 hard drives, should I just order 2 of the same one, or get a cheaper second hard drive. Or is it really not worth it?

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