PC build

K

Kilauea

banned
Hello all, I've been on these boards for a few months now looking at different builds, but have not decided yet to build a new computer for myself, so I'm looking for some advice...

First of all, I am using my current computer for music, video, pictures and surfing the web... Usually nothing too intense, just lots of applications at the same time. Lately I have been converting videos, but I doubt I'll do that very much. I'd like to play some games... usually nothing too demanding, but still wondering if I'd have time...

Somehow, I had decided a while back that I'd want a P180 with an Antec NeoHe 500 PSU, the latter changed for a Corsair 520HX.

However, at NCIX in Canada there is an offer on the Sonata III which is quite interesting. If you order the Sonata III there is no shipping fees for your whole order. So I am considering a build with that instead of the P180 and to use the EA500 PSU that comes with it.

Wondering if there is any issue with using this Case, it has 2 fans less than the P180 and just curious... Still haven't decided on it tho, so I'll expose my thing... I had originally hoped to stay around 1000$ (Canadian that is), but with the P180, I was looking more for 1500....

Probably wouldn't be overclocking, but I figured maybe I would consider it, but since such a computer would already be blazing fast and my needs aren't that high... I doubt I'd really do it.

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Price matched : 217.26
Mobo: Asus P5B 119.99
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 320gb SATA2 Price matched 89.59
GPU: EVGA 8600GTS 178.88
RAM: 2x1gb Corsair XMS2 DDR2-667 4-4-4-12 Price matched: 97.01
Case: Antec Sonata III 109.99
DVD: Liteon LH-20A1L Price matched 37.48
OS: Vista Home Premium 64bit 123.98

Total with taxes, shipping and no insurance : 1032.63
If I had ordered a P180 and Corsair 520HX instead of the Sonata III: 1190.09 (using another store with free shipping, but no price match policy)
Savings: 157.46

So, I am interested in going for the Sonata III, but still wondering if I should or if I just wait...

The next thing is the GPU, I know the 8600GTS isn't a great performer, but I find that the EVGA 8800GTS is sort of pricy at 312.70 (the cheapest I could find), that's about 130$ more, is it really worth it ?

Also, wondering if I should go with a P35 board instead, such as the Asus P5K, not sure what the difference is with the P5K-SE.

Not sure if I am all clear throughout this post, but tell me if I am not. In the end, I am still unsure of if I should build now or not, but this is what I'd build...
 
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I guess either I suck at writting attractive titles and that I wrote too much for people to bother reading it all... Sorry, I didn't mean to bump this...

I forgot to add that this would be my first time building a computer...

Anyhow, I still need advice on that build and on the Sonata III and everything mentionned there.
Is there anything I should change ? or is Intel the way to go for my needs and usage ?
 
That power supply would be fine but if you can i would rather go with another case and buy the Corsair unit, im not sure about the difference on the motherboards maybe some one else can help. Other than that i think it will be a very nice build.
 
To add to what I said, my priorities go to:

1. Stability
2. Performance
5. Overclockability (3 and 4 are unknown, but O/c isn't very high...

I am also wondering, but that is probably stuiped, how would a cable modem with a eternet cable plug connect to such a build, would I need to buy another card of some sort or is it included with the mobo.
 
Kilauea said:
To add to what I said, my priorities go to:

1. Stability
2. Performance
5. Overclockability (3 and 4 are unknown, but O/c isn't very high...

I am also wondering, but that is probably stuiped, how would a cable modem with a eternet cable plug connect to such a build, would I need to buy another card of some sort or is it included with the mobo.
Click to expand...

Not at all. There will be an ethernet connector in the motherboard's I/O. You just plug it in and set up a connection to internet as usual.

By the way, if you need any computer building tips, there are many websites you can find by googling. Here are some great sites:

Computer Forum (Of course! That's what we are here for! :D Check the Building 101 Thread)

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/other/144 - With Pictures :)

And again, too many sites you can find on google.
 
holdenssx said:
Why not go for DDR2-800? http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=18581&vpn=TWIN2X2048-6400&manufacture=CORSAIR#CustomerReviews
Click to expand...

I did not go for DDR2-800 because I thought there would be no performance gains between that and DDR2-667 provided I do not overclock a lot. And since that is my plan, I thought... Also, maybe I am wrong since I don't understand them very well, the 5-5-5-18 was sort of pushing me back compared to the 4-4-4-12 CAS latency, but as I said I don't understand them very well...
 
Kilauea said:
I did not go for DDR2-800 because I thought there would be no performance gains between that and DDR2-667 provided I do not overclock a lot. And since that is my plan, I thought... Also, maybe I am wrong since I don't understand them very well, the 5-5-5-18 was sort of pushing me back compared to the 4-4-4-12 CAS latency, but as I said I don't understand them very well...
Click to expand...

Go for atleast DDR2-800. It's not going to differ the price from DDR2-667 that much...but since you live in Canada...I'm not sure where you can find a good store that allows you to buy them.
 
Alright, but maybe you or someone else can explain me more about the CAS latency between those RAM sticks...

As for stores, well that is around the best price to get...
 
Direct canada, canadacomputers, ncix are all decent sites, where i usually get my stuff. Direct canada tends to have the lowest prices.

About ram timings and ocing, if you don't plan on ocing, then lower timings would be better. As long as the default cpu fsb is equal to the rams speed. Not sure what that processors is, but lets say the multiplier is 10, divide the speed by it. so 2660 / 10 = 266Mhz. The DDR2 647 ram will run at 333Mhz without problems. so if you don't plan on bringing the cpu higher than 333, that ram will be ok. and if you did want to go higher, the corsair might let you go a little, might have to raise the timings though.

im dead tired, i hope that made some sense, ill come back tomorrow when im awake.
 
Well thanks Reneki, that did made a lot of sense...

For the stores, I mostly go to directcanada and NCIX, although I prefer the way NCIX is, I find its almost impossible to order from there. When you got Directcanada having usually lower prices(not that it matters with price match) and no shipping fees, that is always where things get out of control by NCIX.

As for the multiplier and FSB, not sure I remember correctly, but I checked and the multiplier was 8 and that gave me 333mhz which is precisely what DDR2-667 is. So if I was to oc a little bit, I'd see less improvement because I'd be bottlenecked by the RAM... Before, I thought it was closer to 266mhz so it gave me a bit of room.
But for the CAS, still confused... lower timings means any of the 4 numbers 4-4-4-12 or 5-5-5-18... I know lower is better, but not sure which number is better to be lower... for instance, I saw 5-5-5-15 and 5-5-5-18, I assume the first is better, but is it a big diff since the 5s are identical....

And I guess I won't order the Sonata III, anyway... I did not get a single positive answer regarding it... so maybe I will wait a bit to see a deal I can't resist...
 
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