Help with new PC purchase

Greg <malchior32<at>hotmail<dot>com> wrote something like:

> Hi guys,
>
> I'm currently in dire need of a new PC (my current 1 GHz set-up is very
> close to being thrown out the window).
>
> I've been surfing the online stores over the last week and have put
> together what I believe to be a decent package (I wanted to spend around
> $2500).
>
> I'd appreciate any comments you have...

My home address is available on the net. Box this up and send it here

> CPU - AMD S939 Athlon 64 3800+ Dual Core

Nice. Makes my poor old single core 64 look really slow

> Motherboard - Gigabyte K8N-SLI

I'm running gigabyte here again. Seem okay.

> RAM - 2 sticks of DDR 512MB Kingmax 400Mhz PC3200 RAM

64's work best with lotsa ram, but I still have 512. I should upgrade I
guess

> HDD - W.Digital Caviar 250GB 7200RPM SATA II 16MB Cache.

Oh yeah, I'll have two of those thanks.


> DVD - Pioneer DVR-110D 16xDVD DL Burner OEM

don't know, but sounds good.

> Video - Leadtek PX6800GT TDH 256MB PCIe Card

Yep.

> Sound - Creative Audigy 2 Value Card

don't know.

> Monitor - 19" Viewsonic VA905 LCD

LCD's are cool. Get good refresh and view angles now.

> Speakers - Creative Inspire 5200 5.1 Speakers and Subwoofer

I still use stereo on the PC, but this sounds good.

> OS - MS Windows XP Home OEM

I'd run Mandriva 2600 x86_64 myself, but hey I guess XP dual boot is handy
for some games

> Case - CoolerMaster Centurion 5 Case (350W PSU)

350 bogowatts. check the 12v amps... Some 350's are better than cheap ones
rated at 550... The watt ratings are often bogus

> One thing which I can't seem to find an answer for is what wattage PSU I
> need. I plan to buy another HDD down the track, so will 350W be enough?
> Is it enough for the current set-up?

PSU's are rated in bogowatts. Hard to trust unless you get an antec trupower
or such. Check the 12v amp rail. I use cheap PSU's here, but YMMV...

> Also, what's the diff. between SATA and SATA II? I chose the Gigabyte
> board over the ASUS A8N-SLI due to SATA II on the Gigabyte.

The actual drive is still the bottleneck even with the fast interface, but
with the SATA II and 16meg cache it will speed up a lot of things.

> Many thanks in advance,
> Greg

If you can't find my home adress to post this to, just email me privately

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-
Leafnode. Making usenet a better place.
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Hi guys,

I'm currently in dire need of a new PC (my current 1 GHz set-up is very
close to being thrown out the window).

I've been surfing the online stores over the last week and have put
together what I believe to be a decent package (I wanted to spend around
$2500).

I'd appreciate any comments you have...

CPU - AMD S939 Athlon 64 3800+ Dual Core
Motherboard - Gigabyte K8N-SLI
RAM - 2 sticks of DDR 512MB Kingmax 400Mhz PC3200 RAM
HDD - W.Digital Caviar 250GB 7200RPM SATA II 16MB Cache.
DVD - Pioneer DVR-110D 16xDVD DL Burner OEM
Video - Leadtek PX6800GT TDH 256MB PCIe Card
Sound - Creative Audigy 2 Value Card
Monitor - 19" Viewsonic VA905 LCD
Speakers - Creative Inspire 5200 5.1 Speakers and Subwoofer
OS - MS Windows XP Home OEM
Case - CoolerMaster Centurion 5 Case (350W PSU)


One thing which I can't seem to find an answer for is what wattage PSU I
need. I plan to buy another HDD down the track, so will 350W be enough?
Is it enough for the current set-up?

Also, what's the diff. between SATA and SATA II? I chose the Gigabyte
board over the ASUS A8N-SLI due to SATA II on the Gigabyte.


Many thanks in advance,
Greg

Corrections :


get 2 gig of ram as the next windows specifies this as a minimum

and maybe a 480 watt power supply as the 350 is a little small given the
components selected , will allow another hard drive in the future etc .

otherwise your on the ball

"Greg hotmail com>" <malchior32<atdot> wrote in message
news:Xns97366BD66B1EEmalchior32athotmaild@203.26.2 4.228...
> Hi guys,
>
> I'm currently in dire need of a new PC (my current 1 GHz set-up is very
> close to being thrown out the window).
>
> I've been surfing the online stores over the last week and have put
> together what I believe to be a decent package (I wanted to spend around
> $2500).
>
> I'd appreciate any comments you have...
>
> CPU - AMD S939 Athlon 64 3800+ Dual Core
> Motherboard - Gigabyte K8N-SLI
> RAM - 2 sticks of DDR 512MB Kingmax 400Mhz PC3200 RAM
> HDD - W.Digital Caviar 250GB 7200RPM SATA II 16MB Cache.
> DVD - Pioneer DVR-110D 16xDVD DL Burner OEM
> Video - Leadtek PX6800GT TDH 256MB PCIe Card
> Sound - Creative Audigy 2 Value Card
> Monitor - 19" Viewsonic VA905 LCD
> Speakers - Creative Inspire 5200 5.1 Speakers and Subwoofer
> OS - MS Windows XP Home OEM
> Case - CoolerMaster Centurion 5 Case (350W PSU)
>
>
> One thing which I can't seem to find an answer for is what wattage PSU I
> need. I plan to buy another HDD down the track, so will 350W be enough?
> Is it enough for the current set-up?
>
> Also, what's the diff. between SATA and SATA II? I chose the Gigabyte
> board over the ASUS A8N-SLI due to SATA II on the Gigabyte.
>
>
> Many thanks in advance,
> Greg

Forget SLI as its pretty much a waste of money and instead get a single
7800gt . The heat from SLI ( I have 2 @ 7800 ) is not good and I ended up
paying for a couple of NV silencers to suck the heat out of the back of the
case but the downside to that solution besides the dollars is that I lost
all my pci slots.

Go get the WinXP pro academic version as its roughly the same price as the
OEM version. The XP Pro is exactly the same as academic version except it
has a sticker on the box.

speakers...5.1 are a lot of wires and getting two behind is a pain in the
arse so consider 2.1

Get two sticks of 1 gig ram ... ie 2 gig as Visa will use it and try a
better memory like OCZ or Ballistic or Geil

Case : that PSU sucks big time . If you still insist on SLI get a power
supply like the Silverstone 550 but even without SLI get something better.

The benq dw1640 can be found cheaper then the Pioneer and gets better
reviews

I have that HD and its smooth

cpu seems ok but if you are interested in overclocking check out the dual
Opteron range

btw: go to www.nintek.com.au and use their system configuration to see what
they can do. They are in WA but my parts arrived the next day

On 24/12/2005 12:59 PM, FruitLoop wrote:
> get 2 gig of ram as the next windows specifies this as a minimum
Bullshit.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/win.../vistarpc.mspx

• RAM — PC systems should have 512MB of memory or more.

Yes 1GB is nice, but for anyone not working with HD media (or top range
games) 2GB is excessive.

> and maybe a 480 watt power supply as the 350 is a little small given the
> components selected , will allow another hard drive in the future etc .
The 350 should be fine if it's a decent unit (and the coolermaster PSU's
arn't bad, I have one in my Athlon 64), unless you're driving SLI 7800's
or 15k RPM SCSI drives you generally don't even need a 400watt unit

"Julien Goodwin" <> wrote in message
news:Sv4rf.136$...
> On 24/12/2005 12:59 PM, FruitLoop wrote:
>> get 2 gig of ram as the next windows specifies this as a minimum
> Bullshit.
> http://www.microsoft.com/technet/win.../vistarpc.mspx
>
> • RAM — PC systems should have 512MB of memory or more.

idiot


read up on it

them are the minimum specs

Will_S wrote something like:

>
> "Julien Goodwin" <> wrote in message
> news:Sv4rf.136$...
>> On 24/12/2005 12:59 PM, FruitLoop wrote:
>>> get 2 gig of ram as the next windows specifies this as a minimum
>> Bullshit.
>>
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/win.../vistarpc.mspx
>>
>> • RAM — PC systems should have 512MB of memory or more.
>
> idiot
>
>
> read up on it
>
> them are the minimum specs

Well, 512meg is enough in linux anyway, and I tend to run 12 virtual
desktops full of apps on my A64. I do get into swap a little when running
everything, esp with a bit of OOo2 open, so 1 gig would be about right. And
with a gig or two you can run and big F@H units

Of course XP-SP3-Vista will probably need a bit more...

--
-
Leafnode. Making usenet a better place.
-

"Julien Goodwin" <> wrote in message
news:Sv4rf.136$...
> On 24/12/2005 12:59 PM, FruitLoop wrote:
>> get 2 gig of ram as the next windows specifies this as a minimum
> Bullshit.
> http://www.microsoft.com/technet/win.../vistarpc.mspx
>
> • RAM — PC systems should have 512MB of memory or more.
>
> Yes 1GB is nice, but for anyone not working with HD media (or top range
> games) 2GB is excessive.


You are a complete tool Julie...

They said 32Mb was excessive, then other wankers like you said no one would
ever need 64Mb RAM! And you were all wrong...so give your stupid opinions
to yourself.

I suppose your running XP on a Pentium 166Mhz with 64Mb of RAM? Tool.

> Hi guys,
>
> I'm currently in dire need of a new PC (my current 1 GHz set-up is
> very close to being thrown out the window).
>
> I've been surfing the online stores over the last week and have put
> together what I believe to be a decent package (I wanted to spend
> around $2500).
>
> I'd appreciate any comments you have...
>
> CPU - AMD S939 Athlon 64 3800+ Dual Core
> Motherboard - Gigabyte K8N-SLI
> RAM - 2 sticks of DDR 512MB Kingmax 400Mhz PC3200 RAM
> HDD - W.Digital Caviar 250GB 7200RPM SATA II 16MB Cache.
> DVD - Pioneer DVR-110D 16xDVD DL Burner OEM
> Video - Leadtek PX6800GT TDH 256MB PCIe Card
> Sound - Creative Audigy 2 Value Card
> Monitor - 19" Viewsonic VA905 LCD
> Speakers - Creative Inspire 5200 5.1 Speakers and Subwoofer
> OS - MS Windows XP Home OEM
> Case - CoolerMaster Centurion 5 Case (350W PSU)
>
>
> One thing which I can't seem to find an answer for is what wattage
> PSU I need. I plan to buy another HDD down the track, so will 350W be
> enough? Is it enough for the current set-up?
>
> Also, what's the diff. between SATA and SATA II? I chose the Gigabyte
> board over the ASUS A8N-SLI due to SATA II on the Gigabyte.

I just had a look at the ASUS A8N-SLI specs and they state that the board
supports SATA at 3Gb/s transfer rate.
Not sure if it supports the additional capabilities of the SATA-IO
specification. But there seems to be some naming confusion going on at the
moment.
I might have to read up on it myself. Starting here.

"The term SATA II has grown in popularity as the moniker for the SATA 3Gb/s
data transfer rate, causing great confusion with customers because, quite
simply, it's a misnomer."
http://www.sata-io.org/namingguidelines.asp



>
>
> Many thanks in advance,
> Greg

"Gonzo" <> wrote in message
news:43ace40f$0$17707$ u...
>
> "Julien Goodwin" <> wrote in message
> news:Sv4rf.136$...
>> On 24/12/2005 12:59 PM, FruitLoop wrote:
>>> get 2 gig of ram as the next windows specifies this as a minimum
>> Bullshit.
>> http://www.microsoft.com/technet/win.../vistarpc.mspx
>>
>> . RAM - PC systems should have 512MB of memory or more.
>>
>> Yes 1GB is nice, but for anyone not working with HD media (or top range
>> games) 2GB is excessive.
>
>
> You are a complete tool Julie...
>
> They said 32Mb was excessive, then other wankers like you said no one
> would ever need 64Mb RAM! And you were all wrong...so give your stupid
> opinions to yourself.
>
> I suppose your running XP on a Pentium 166Mhz with 64Mb of RAM? Tool.
>

A very famous man (Billy Gates) once said "No-one will ever need more than
640k".