Hey all, I am new to the forum and I've been reading some threads about new i7 processors.
My current setup is Pentium D 3.4GHz with 2gig memory with 8800GTS EVGA graphics card. (4 year old setup)
I am currently a college student and I am thinking of building another one...
It will be used for Unigraphics, Photoshop, Illustrator, CFD, etc. and of course, gaming (WoW).
I've been researching for past couple weeks and having some hard time picking right parts.
Budget is about 1.5g without monitor and any acc.
First, the processor. Is it worth going for i7 for those listed above? I have built Core 2 Duo and Quad but I really can't tell the difference. And I am an Intel guy...never had AMD my life.
Second, the memory. I was reading some stuffs online and apparently, manufacturers recommend below 1.65 voltages, otherwise you will be damaging processors permanently. Is this the case for other processors as well or only i7? Also, I always buy Corsair memory and they've now got the memory with the fan attachment on top of their memory cards. Is this really effective? I noticed that some don't have this.
Third, the motherboard. I always get Asus for this and seems to be working really well. I normally spend about 200~300dollars but what exactly should I be looking for? I always pick the processor first and work my way to motherboard and etc.
Fourth, The graphics card. I always bought EVGA nvidia geforce lines and I noticed that some say ATI works better. (4570x2(?) or something like that...the guy posted under i7 thread under this subforum) Based on some research that I've done, nvidia stuffs really shine at the high end but ATI stuffs own the mid to upper mid range of performance. Is it simply personal preference? Also, I just found out yesterday that there's something called phyx(?) or some graphic enhancement stuff. People seem to be quite pleased with it and just curious if this is any good for money (60 bucks or so I believe).
Fifth, windows. I noticed that there are 32 bit and 64 bit windows out and I really couldn't find the difference. I was always hesitant to switch to vista because people had issues with other softwares. I hope that is fixed now. I've been using xp since it came out and yet to use vista.
Sixth, sound card. I never bought sound card before and I've always been thinking that it's complete junk unless I got some decent speakers to actually output, which I don't at the moment.
Seventh, server computer type. What exactly is it and how is it different than regular desktop?
I have more questions but I will see if I can get some of these questions answered.
Also, maybe I should post this under laptop section but is there a laptop that is capable of running what's listed above? Some of those programs take hours to process.
Thanks!!!
Another quick question that I got from memory forum, how much RAM can 32bit and 64bit read? XP only reads up to 3.5gig.
My current setup is Pentium D 3.4GHz with 2gig memory with 8800GTS EVGA graphics card. (4 year old setup)
I am currently a college student and I am thinking of building another one...
It will be used for Unigraphics, Photoshop, Illustrator, CFD, etc. and of course, gaming (WoW).
I've been researching for past couple weeks and having some hard time picking right parts.
Budget is about 1.5g without monitor and any acc.
First, the processor. Is it worth going for i7 for those listed above? I have built Core 2 Duo and Quad but I really can't tell the difference. And I am an Intel guy...never had AMD my life.
Second, the memory. I was reading some stuffs online and apparently, manufacturers recommend below 1.65 voltages, otherwise you will be damaging processors permanently. Is this the case for other processors as well or only i7? Also, I always buy Corsair memory and they've now got the memory with the fan attachment on top of their memory cards. Is this really effective? I noticed that some don't have this.
Third, the motherboard. I always get Asus for this and seems to be working really well. I normally spend about 200~300dollars but what exactly should I be looking for? I always pick the processor first and work my way to motherboard and etc.
Fourth, The graphics card. I always bought EVGA nvidia geforce lines and I noticed that some say ATI works better. (4570x2(?) or something like that...the guy posted under i7 thread under this subforum) Based on some research that I've done, nvidia stuffs really shine at the high end but ATI stuffs own the mid to upper mid range of performance. Is it simply personal preference? Also, I just found out yesterday that there's something called phyx(?) or some graphic enhancement stuff. People seem to be quite pleased with it and just curious if this is any good for money (60 bucks or so I believe).
Fifth, windows. I noticed that there are 32 bit and 64 bit windows out and I really couldn't find the difference. I was always hesitant to switch to vista because people had issues with other softwares. I hope that is fixed now. I've been using xp since it came out and yet to use vista.
Sixth, sound card. I never bought sound card before and I've always been thinking that it's complete junk unless I got some decent speakers to actually output, which I don't at the moment.
Seventh, server computer type. What exactly is it and how is it different than regular desktop?
I have more questions but I will see if I can get some of these questions answered.
Also, maybe I should post this under laptop section but is there a laptop that is capable of running what's listed above? Some of those programs take hours to process.
Thanks!!!
Another quick question that I got from memory forum, how much RAM can 32bit and 64bit read? XP only reads up to 3.5gig.