Ruken's new computer, part 2

In My Humble Opinion
1

As some of you may know, I am getting a new computer. I come seeking your sage advice once again! I have narrowed things down to the following:

$067 Case: 400W Apex FoxConn TU-150
$016 Case Fan: 80mm Antec Quiet
$190 Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-SLI
$160 Processor: AMD Athlong 64 3000+
$000 Heat Sink Fan: None (comes with retail box chip)
$198 Memory: Corsair (TwinX1024-3200C2PT)
$125 Hard Drive: Western Digital 200GB SATA (WD2000JD)
$074 DVD-RW: Samsung TS-H552B/WRCH
$014 DVD software: Nero and Cyberlink
$015 Floppy: Some stupid waste of money
$049 Sound Card: Creative Audigy ES 24Bits/5.1/PCI
$189 Video Card: eVGA GeForce 6600 GT 128MB
$156 Windows XP Prof
$015 1 year parts and labor
$049 Build Fee

~$1320 Total (plus shipping, taxes, hidden fees, etc.)

My other options for parts can be found here

I want this system to last for a while. I plan on upgrading processor, RAM, and GPU over the years. I want to play new games. They don’t have to be running at the blazingest speeds possible, but I’d like to run them at my monitor’s native 1280x1024 60Hz with as high a quality as I can afford.

Here are my questions:
1: Do you see any possible compatability issues?
2: Do any of my parts seem too fast/slow compared to the rest of the system?
3: Is SLI a good upgrade path to take? I wasn’t sure if I should do this or downgrade to some sort of non-SLI GPU path. The current plan is 1x 6600GT, 1x 6800GT, 2x 6800GT.
4: I know nothing about cases and PSUs. I just picked the ones listed above at random. Will they be ok?
5: I’m just getting the fan the comes with the processor. Is that unwise? I don’t plan on doing any of this overclocking stuff unless convinced that it’s easy enough and not too risky.

I think that’s all. Please note that my reasons for selecting any particular component are rather sketchy, so please don’t assume that I know what I’m doing ;). This has been a learning experience, and a not-too-frustrating one thanks to the help I’ve gotten from my fellow dopers.

2

First of all, I am an IT professional and computers are a hobby. However, I don’t focus on hardware as a profession but I have as a hobby and I am fairly knowledgable.

  1. No compatibility issues.
  2. No. It is pretty evenly designed. You could get a higher performing video card if you chose or a more expensive sound card if that is what you are interested in but what you picked should be sufficient.
  3. You confused the crap out of me with this. I know that you are talking about the video card but I don’t understand what you plan to do to it in the future.
  4. Almost any modern PC will hold your components. You pick the case based on: A) Size and expanability. Small is good for some. Huge for others. Look at the number of each type of slot that you may want to expand into later to judge.
    B) Looks. There are a lot of beautiful cases out there. Yours is attractive but fairly conservation. They make everything from beautiful wooden ones to polished aluminum. That is for you to decide.
    C) Quality of construction. Hard to tell on-line. Most are sufficient but you can look at the weight to see if is made from aluminum foil.
  5. It should be fine. That is why the CPU maker included it. Overclockers are weird. Don’t get sucked into their world unless you are just playing with BIOS settings. Most people don’t need liquid nitrogen running through 15 feet of tubing to surf the web.
3

Thanks for the reply. This SLI thing lets me put 2 identical GPUs in the box and hook them together for some sort of good result. I’m not going to do that from the start because I don’t want to spend any more money. For now, I’m going to have one 6600GT. When I decide it’s cheap enough, I’ll replace this with a 6800GT. When I decide I need more power (newer bigger badder games come out) I will buy another 6800GT and hook it up to the one that’s already in there.

Re: #5, I guess this case will do. It comes with a 400W PSU. Does this seem sufficient?

4

I see on the video card. However, your video card should be plenty sufficient for what you plan to do in the near future. By the time that you decide it is not sufficient, it is certain that a whole new generation of video cards will have been introduced and even today’s fastest cards will be cheap. I always find that it is better to use what you have until you need more and then just move up to the next sweet spot in price/performance. You can just pull the old one out and get a new, much faster card than even your two linked together when that time comes. I wouldn’t worry about that part at all until you need to think about it. It should be at least a year or more down the road.

#5) 400 watts might be sufficient but I would go for a 500 - 550 watt case/powersupply. Your components will be sucking some power and I would want the extra margin of safety. A few bucks saved on a power supply is not a wise move. Any of your other components could be destroyed if it consistently got overloaded and blew.

5

I think you will be OK with a good 400 watt PS. I am not sure of the quality of the FoxConn brand though. I have always been a Antec customer as I trust their PS and cases. That OEM heatsink that comes with the CPU is generally a howler. There is no doubt that you could get a quieter and more efficient one if noise is an issue. Zalman makes some nice coolers that are quiet.

6

This seems like you’re spending too much money. SLI will only gain you about 50% gain over a single card, so you really want to use it when you’re either at the top of the line and you still need some more, or at two cheapo cards that, when combined, cost less then the latest top of the line. (And you get more boost out of the second scenario).

If a 6600GT meets your needs for today, then the path I’d probably take is:

  1. 1 6600 GT
  2. 2 X 6600 GT (when price drops to at or near $100)… this seems to be about the equivalent of a 1X6800GT
  3. Some $200 card that isn’t on the market yet.

If this doesn’t sound appealing, then I’d go for plan three: Get top of the line today, augment with a second one in a couple years when it starts feeling slower, then go to a different board. IOW

  1. 1X6800 GT
  2. 2X 6800 GT (in the same timeframe as 3 above, when the price drops under $200)
  3. Some other card that isn’t on the market yet.

The danger in this is that you have no real way of knowing how long they’re going to keep selling 6800GTs or 6600GTs, so they may not be available when you’re ready to upgrade.

-lv

7

Personally, I wouldn’t bother too much with SLI, unless you were trying to build an uber machine and needed more power than a Geforce 6800 Ultra. I would go with a cheaper PCI-E mobo, and just save the extra cash towards a $200 card in a year to 18months or so; at the rate graphics cards advance, the $200 cards then should be faster than a pair of 6600GTs, use less power, and have less driver and compatiblity issues to worry about, not to mention that finding a 6600Gt might be tricky then.

Also, I would reccomend going with the XFX Geforce 6600 GT for the video card - same speed as the Evga model you have linked, but it is $10 cheaper, and has dual DVI outputs. That is useful, as DVI is the best way to hook up an LCD monitor like you have up to card, and if you get another LCD monitor in the future, you can hook that one up with the DVI as well, without the quality loss you would have connecting to a VGA port you would have to use for the second monitor on the Evga model you listed.

8

Ok I think I may scrap this SLI idea. Does this mean I’d be better off getting a non-SLI-capable motherboard? Or are they just better motherboards? It seems kind of silly to get the other slot if I’m not going to use it.

For some reason the XFX Geforce 6600 GT is not listed as an option for a computer that they assemble. Did they just forget to list it? I guess I can just order that seperately and install it when they arrive.

I’ll take a look at the other cases and PSUs. Is there a potential problem with the PSU fitting in the case, or are they generally a standard size?

For some reason they charge more for the processor that doesn’t come with a fan. That’s rather odd. I think I may just get the retail fan and replace it if it bothers me. I turn it off when I sleep, so it’s not a huge deal.

Thanks all!

9

I really do know how to read. Thanks RandomLetters for already answering that :smack: .

10

All ATX power supplies fit into all ATX cases.

-lv

11

Ruken,

I don’t know what you previous computer was, but if I wasn’t getting a Mac I’d probably go crazy soon. Why? Because of fan noise! I have an Athlon XP 2700 and the noise is very noticeable. If I were you I’d get a water-cooling system. Of course it depends on how much time you spend on computers, etc, but…If you are going to be around it a lot, get a water cooling solution and be happy when it is almost silent. This isn’t about overclocking, which doesn’t interest me. This is about simply getting something that you dont’ have to drown out with music 24/7. Which is probably why I don’t go crazy because I like music!

12

also, what’s up with SATA?

The last time I built a computer was 2 years ago and this didn’t exist, or I didn’t know about it. Anyways after reading your previous thread Ruken, knowing enough to build a computer isn’t that hard. The truth is that its hard to do permenant damage nowadays by hooking things up wrong. I actually have been continually upgrading my to the point that I can say I built one. So in two years when they have the latest new wonder processor, all you gotta do is replace that motherboard, and video card, and you’ll probably be set for a while. This would cost you about 300 dollars, usually for a not-bleeding edge technology, but for what was bleeding-edge about 9 months ago. Good enough for me.

13

Unless you have some outstanding reason for using XP pro, I just don’t see the need.

If you do plenty of work at home and need to transfer the results often, and you want to do it as part of a virtual private network(VPN)perhaps its worthwhile but then plain old vanilla XP home is plenty good enough for most things.

You might wish to consider that 64 bit Windows will probably be available within the lifetime of this system, sooner rather than later so it does not make much sense to pay out the extra.

I would reconsider SLI, maybe go for another good single graphics card m/b, Gigabyte or MSI or Asus probably.

Use the money saved for a higher spec CPU, although you’ve actually picked a very good price/performance item already.

Graphics card performance has really gone mad, and so have the prices, it will not be at all long before they start using technology from the 6800GT and 6800Ultra on lower range cards. I would avoid the ordinary 6800 though, as the 6600O/C performs as good and for somewhat less.
It will only be a few months before the next range of graphics cards are out, so don’t go silly here, the 6600 is very good, well worth it.

The hard drive looks good, though being the paranoid person, I’d get two and mirror them, or at least use the other as a backup clone, or to store Norton Ghost backup files, use a routine of making a new set of backups once a month and deleting the oldest to free up space for the next backup.

You have not listed much software, which is the absolute most important thing, no doubt about it, make sure you have a good virus scanner, adware blocking and don’t rely on Windows firewall, get a proper one.

My advice is to install windows, without drivers but with all th eupdate, and make a Norton Ghost backup of this, then install all you drivers and antivirus and security products and make sure they are fully up to date too, back this up too.

Then add the rest of your software - if you have some disaster these backups will save you literally hours and hours.