# A fistful of build questions



## mantra002 (Oct 28, 2008)

Hey guys, I was just putting together parts for a new system build, and quickly realized I've fallen out of touch with the current generation of... well everything really.

So, I pretty much put together a list of stuff that seemed to be highly rated on newegg, and then I figured I'd run it by a group who knew what was what:

Antec 900 Black Steel ATX Case (No room for a 3.5 floppy anymore? How sad)
Samsung F1 1TB
2x Asus 20x DVD+-R 
Antec NeoPower 650 650W (Is this enough?)
Zotac ZT-X26E3KB-FCP GeForce GTX 260
Corsair XMS2 DHX 8GB
ASUS P5N-D nForce 750i (I could not find much info on this one)
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 
Vista 64-bit
As much as I would hate to get vista (although I've heard it's much better than before), I'm thinking the 64-bit support is going to be a plus (and a requirement for the ram really). I was wondering if going the 64-bit route is advised for gaming? I don't really play many older games (16-bit older), and those that are, are old enough to run in DOSBOX which does work right? If 64-bit is crap I can always scrap the extra ram and invest (squander) the money in some other, better part.

Well, that was quite a few questions, any answers would be highly appreciated. Also if any components that y'all think are utter crap are on my list, let me know what's better. I'm not looking to spend much more than I already have here (about $1600), but plus minus 10% is certainly in the budget. I would value any and all advice on this.

Thank you all in advance.


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## BarbaricSoul (Oct 28, 2008)

I would get this psu over your antec. 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006
Dont get me wrong, antec are decent, but corsair is the best right now, and your getting 100 more watts for only $10 more

as for your motherboard choice, I run a 750i chipset board and I'm very happy with the chipset. Asus are making some of the best motherboards today, I'd say you've made a good choice.

Vista sp1 32 bit runs just as good as XP does nowadays, and 64 bit vista even better, no need to worry.

Everything else looks good to me.


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## Tatty_One (Oct 28, 2008)

BarbaricSoul said:


> I would get this psu over your antec.
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006
> Dont get me wrong, antec are decent, but corsair is the best right now, and your getting 100 more watts for only $10 more
> 
> ...



Agreed, however the 650W version would be more than enough should he want to save a few $.................

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

As for the rest of the build........any reason for 8gb?  4Gb is enough if you want to save some money, in fact, use the saving to get a decent motherboard, DO NOT get a 650i.....if you want an NVidia chipset board because you might go SLi in the future then go for at least 750i.....plus the 650i boards are poor at overclocking Quads and have some compatibility issues with Yorkfield quads, try this one instead...................

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130159R

If SLi is not a priority, and you were just going for that board as it;s cheap, consider instead a cheapish Intel P45 chipset board instead like this...................

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131299

Just a few suggestions!


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## Hayder_Master (Oct 28, 2008)

well come to TPU
with gtx 260 need more size if psu try 800w 
i see 4G of ram is enough 
why you try 2x500g hd to got more speed with raid
good chose


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## kyle2020 (Oct 28, 2008)

Wow, nice specs for a first build! 

Like others have recommended, id swap the PSU out for a Corsair equivalent - something like the HX620 or a toughpower series - anything around 600W - 800W will do the job fine.

Also, and i hate to say this, but i would NOT recommend the antec 900. Purely because its a nightmare for cable management and its poorly laid out. I ended up modding mine but have since sold it because i just disliked it so much. A better case thats cheaper, and seems to be all the rave around TPU at the minute (and i might get one myself) is the CoolerMaster CM690. Excellent case, id recommend that over the 900 in a heartbeat!


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## BarbaricSoul (Oct 28, 2008)

Tatty_One said:


> Agreed, however the 650W version would be more than enough should he want to save a few $.................



agreed


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## BarbaricSoul (Oct 28, 2008)

hayder.master said:


> well come to TPU
> with gtx 260 need more size if psu try 800w



huh, he doesn't need 800 watts for a gtx260 unless he goes SLI, 600 would be plenty


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## JrRacinFan (Oct 28, 2008)

Also may want to get this instead mantra:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130398

Saving you a $20 spot and getting you FarCry2.

Also, the Antec 300 is pretty nice:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042


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## kyle2020 (Oct 28, 2008)

^ antec 300's are awesome, used one for a build a month or so ago. Excellent little cases. Id still recommend the CM690 though!


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## Tatty_One (Oct 28, 2008)

hayder.master said:


> well come to TPU
> with gtx 260 need more size if psu try 800w
> i see 4G of ram is enough
> why you try 2x500g hd to got more speed with raid
> good chose



I have run two GTX260's off a 750W PSU no problem, a GTX260 coupled with a quad will require a minimum 500W PSU.


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## Grimskull (Oct 28, 2008)

get a corsair HX620 PSU... they are brillant PSU's. I put opne in my new build this weekend, used them for other peoples and have had zero problems!! They are modular and great for cable managment!


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## linyanti (Oct 28, 2008)

I am looking at your budget and it seems large enough to get an excellent system. You have a great one listed and the suggestions have been terrific.

Here are just some thoughts: 

I do not recommend RAID 0 for anyone who is worried about the data on their computer. RAID 0 is tricky. If you go that way then definitely get a third hard drive for your music, photos, etc and use the first two that are RAID 0 only for the OS and games.

Wait three weeks until the x58 and new cpu's ship. The current offerings will plummet in price.

Get the Vista 64 Ultimate. The ultimate gives you a bunch of options that you do not know you are missing until you try to do something particular. I am not talking about dreamscene, etc. It has to do with network and native dvd support and some other things.

But, if you intend to stay with your system for a long time then you can save money sometimes by going with a build configurator like ibuypower, cyberpower or even HP. These and other companies have good reputations and you can usually get a "better" system for less money but you are much more limited in what you can get. 

Before you buy a system you may want to go to those web sites and see what your machine would cost if they built it. It is close in price to doing it yourself but comes with a one hundred percent fun reduction. Out of curiosity, I went to cyberpower and your system priced out to about 1700 including Vista 64 Ultimate.


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## BarbaricSoul (Oct 28, 2008)

> Before you buy a system you may want to go to those web sites and see what your machine would cost if they built it. It is close in price to doing it yourself but comes with a one hundred percent fun reduction. Out of curiosity, I went to cyberpower and your system priced out to about 1700 including Vista 64 Ultimate.



it's alittle over $1500 with vista home prem 64 bit and the 750 watt corsair PSU I suggested.


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## mantra002 (Oct 28, 2008)

Wow! Thanks for the fast replies, I think I'm going to step up to the 750w Corsair, I'd rather have some extra room for later expansion and it's only $10 more. Also, I'll look into the cases more, that CM690 looks pretty nice.

I'm also avoiding the RAID + External Drive for media type setup, I have that on this machine and it's just been a general pain. I might look into cyberpower I guess, but I'd rather not, I quite enjoyed building my last machine, and it's still a bit cheaper.

Thanks for all your help, comments, and advice!


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## Tatty_One (Oct 28, 2008)

mantra002 said:


> Wow! Thanks for the fast replies, I think I'm going to step up to the 750w Corsair, I'd rather have some extra room for later expansion and it's only $10 more. Also, I'll look into the cases more, that CM690 looks pretty nice.
> 
> I'm also avoiding the RAID + External Drive for media type setup, I have that on this machine and it's just been a general pain. I might look into cyberpower I guess, but I'd rather not, I quite enjoyed building my last machine, and it's still a bit cheaper.
> 
> Thanks for all your help, comments, and advice!



Avoid the 650 boards!


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## mantra002 (Oct 28, 2008)

Is this an issue? The P5N-D is a 750i board.


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## JrRacinFan (Oct 29, 2008)

mantra002 said:


> Is this an issue? The P5N-D is a 750i board.



Don't worry the P5N-D is pretty darn good.


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## Hayder_Master (Oct 29, 2008)

BarbaricSoul said:


> huh, he doesn't need 800 watts for a gtx260 unless he goes SLI, 600 would be plenty





Tatty_One said:


> I have run two GTX260's off a 750W PSU no problem, a GTX260 coupled with a quad will require a minimum 500W PSU.



yeh , righ im go too high 800w it much , 600w is enough ,but i don't think 500w is enough cuz i see full load of gtx260 take about 320w , and the efficiency of any psu can't go over 80% ,so from 500w you have 400w or 420w active


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## BarbaricSoul (Oct 29, 2008)

> and the efficiency of any psu can't go over 80%



no offense man, but you really ought to make sure what you post is accurate when you give advise. There are 85% effeciency power supplies on the market

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817103941

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817103940

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817163109

There's 3 of them


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## jeebuscrp (Oct 29, 2008)

mantra002 said:


> Antec 900 Black Steel ATX Case (No room for a 3.5 floppy anymore? How sad)





Great Case I just put my new system in it and I love it.  And there is room for a 3.5 I  believe..it comes with a extra bay adapter that's the size of a floppy drive.


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## Tatty_One (Oct 29, 2008)

hayder.master said:


> yeh , righ im go too high 800w it much , 600w is enough ,but i don't think 500w is enough cuz i see full load of gtx260 take about 320w , and the efficiency of any psu can't go over 80% ,so from 500w you have 400w or 420w active



Sorry, a GTX260 does not take 320W.....nowhere near..............


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## linyanti (Oct 29, 2008)

Do not forget to include in your power budget all of the breezy case fans and the USB powered coffee cup warmers and beverage coolers.


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## justaconsumer2 (Oct 29, 2008)

Ati 4870x2  $373
corsair 750w (on sale tigerdirect) $79
4gb ocz ddr2 800 titanium $30
Q9450 intel $202
gigabyte GA-EP45-DS4P motherboard $134
3 1tb samsung sata3.0 hd $271
1 146gb raptor 10000rpm $120
ultra full tower case $50
30" dell 3007w refurb $515

$1289 / $1800 with monitor

after microsoft cash back via ebay


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## Hayder_Master (Oct 30, 2008)

BarbaricSoul said:


> no offense man, but you really ought to make sure what you post is accurate when you give advise. There are 85% effeciency power supplies on the market
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817103941
> 
> ...


you right again , im give bad accurate this time ,also im not be accurate with my self cuz my next new psu i need it is gigabyte 800w odin which is 85% effeciency :shadedshu , thanx for tips , sure you are not offense man i miss something and you put up 



Tatty_One said:


> Sorry, a GTX260 does not take 320W.....nowhere near..............


ohh , thanx tatty , is this trust one , cuz i see too much site's testing there is no near result , and the result between 250w-up 350w i see


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## Tatty_One (Oct 30, 2008)

hayder.master said:


> ohh , thanx tatty , is this trust one , cuz i see too much site's testing there is no near result , and the result between 250w-up 350w i see



Well the only way to answer that with DEFINATE acccuracy, as I dont have a power meter or whatever they are called is to say that the card CANNOT draw more than 300W in any case..................

2 x 6 pin PCI-E cables = Max 150W power draw
PCI-E 2.0 compliant motherboard PCI-E slot = Max 150W power draw

Now as a PCI-E 1.1 compliant motherboard can run a GTX260 and that can only produce 75W from a single PCI-E motherboard slot then with a P35 and older motherboard only 225W would be available.


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## Hayder_Master (Oct 30, 2008)

Tatty_One said:


> Well the only way to answer that with DEFINATE acccuracy, as I dont have a power meter or whatever they are called is to say that the card CANNOT draw more than 300W in any case..................
> 
> 2 x 6 pin PCI-E cables = Max 150W power draw
> PCI-E 2.0 compliant motherboard PCI-E slot = Max 150W power draw
> ...




ohhh , thanx tatty that's it ,i miss it he have pci-e 1.1 , and with pci-e 2.0 if up to 300w that's mean 500w maybe not good enough , and what about if do overclock


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## Tatty_One (Oct 30, 2008)

hayder.master said:


> ohhh , thanx tatty that's it ,i miss it he have pci-e 1.1 , and with pci-e 2.0 if up to 300w that's mean 500w maybe not good enough , and what about if do overclock



That margin includes overclocking, the graph I posted earlier was a clocked GTX260 @ 750mhz.  My point is, if a 225W capable system can handle it then you will use nowhere near 300W so a 500W should do it, I agree though there would be little safety margin there which is why I recommended a 600-650W PSU 

Also you have to remember that 300W is the theoretical max, with a card requiring an 8pin PCI-E socket then there is an increase in power available but when you think that a single HD4870 uses a fair bit more power and a single slot HD4870x2 can be powered then with a GTX260 there is still a fair bit to play with.


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## Flyordie (Oct 30, 2008)

mantra002 said:


> Hey guys, I was just putting together parts for a new system build, and quickly realized I've fallen out of touch with the current generation of... well everything really.
> 
> So, I pretty much put together a list of stuff that seemed to be highly rated on newegg, and then I figured I'd run it by a group who knew what was what:
> 
> ...




Well, as impressive as it may be... I would not go the Nvidia route on the board.
Nvidia is dumping their chipset buisness and driver support will cease with Vista. (Windows 7 will have basic chipset support though using a modified Vista driver).
As for Power Supply, yes it will do.
As for RAM, Go with another brand.
Other than that, Good luck and enjoy the build.
Flyordie


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## Hayder_Master (Nov 2, 2008)

Tatty_One said:


> with a card requiring an 8pin PCI-E socket then there is an increase in power available but when you think that a single HD4870 uses a fair bit more power and a single slot HD4870x2 can be powered then with a GTX260 there is still a fair bit to play with.



the i think the 4870 have 2x6pin right and it take less power from gtx260 which is 1x6 pin and 1x8 pin , i think that's cuz 4870 gddr have high frequency  need more power and i want ask too about gpu so it is high core speed but with 55nm and that's small core take low power , so which take more power a 4870 gpu with high core and 55nm or the gtx 260 which is low core speed and 65nm


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## linyanti (Nov 2, 2008)

Mantra, have you started building your system yet?

If not, November 3, 2008 is the end of the news embargo on the x58 motherboard.

mobo and cpu prices should start trending down in a few days.

This is a new generation and the old geezer products will get harried out the door.


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## Tatty_One (Nov 2, 2008)

hayder.master said:


> the i think the 4870 have 2x6pin right and it take less power from gtx260 which is 1x6 pin and 1x8 pin , i think that's cuz 4870 gddr have high frequency  need more power and i want ask too about gpu so it is high core speed but with 55nm and that's small core take low power , so which take more power a 4870 gpu with high core and 55nm or the gtx 260 which is low core speed and 65nm



No, the GTX 260 is two 6 pin, it's the GTX280 which is 8 pin and 6 pin.  The 4870 draws more power at idle and load than the 260, a fair bit more in fact.


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## ShadowFold (Nov 2, 2008)

Antec 300 is ok.. I highly recommend going for a HAF or 1200 if you got a high enough budget tho!


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## mantra002 (Nov 3, 2008)

I haven't starting building yet. I was going to build cash while see what the new Intel chips are going to do to the prices of the older chips.

Plus I'm thinking there are going to be some price cuts soon for Christmas/thanksgiving time? Does this seem right? Also, I was able to find the HAG case that was mentioned, but what is the 1200? And is it true that nVidia is scrapping their chipset business soon? I wasn't able to find anything on that.

Final question, how much better is DD3 vs DD2 for system memory? Is it worth the added cost?


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## spearman914 (Nov 3, 2008)

hayder.master said:


> yeh , righ im go too high 800w it much , 600w is enough ,but i don't think 500w is enough cuz i see full load of gtx260 take about 320w , and the efficiency of any psu can't go over 80% ,so from 500w you have 400w or 420w active



There's more then a halve of psu's that have >80% effieciency.


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## BarbaricSoul (Nov 4, 2008)

> I'm thinking there are going to be some price cuts soon for Christmas/thanksgiving time? Does this seem right



Makes sense to me



> Also, I was able to find the HAG case that was mentioned, but what is the 1200?



This is the 1200- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129043



> And is it true that nVidia is scrapping their chipset business soon? I wasn't able to find anything on that.



As of this moment, there has been no word about any nvidia chipsets for the new Intel processors coming out, only intel chipsets will support the new Intel processors. I seriously doubt that that means nvidia will stop supporting thier current chipsets out for the socket 775 motherboards anytime soon. If this does raise concerns in your mind, get a Asus P45 motherboard.


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## linyanti (Nov 4, 2008)

One of the new LGA1366 chips is going for less than 300 dollars. There are reviews everywhere today. And they do not actually go on sale to November 17, 2008. Three days after "Quantum of Solace" opens. This movie is my new time keeper.

The new cpu's show a great improvement over "work" like video editing but not as much benefit for gaming. The current LGA775 based nvividia or intel mobos will be current for at least one year. Who has money to upgrade to these, especially since they will also only fit new motherboards? And there are no games that can afford to focus on this small market yet. (In my opinion).

It will be interesting to see what the daily specials are going to be on Newegg on Nov 17. That may be a great day to make the purchase for the mobo/cpu. The other prices will probably be about the same. Nvidia has a new gpu coming out in Dec but that is supposed to be high end.


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## PCpraiser100 (Nov 4, 2008)

linyanti said:


> One of the new LGA1366 chips is going for less than 300 dollars. There are reviews everywhere today. And they do not actually go on sale to November 17, 2008. Three days after "Quantum of Solace" opens. This movie is my new time keeper.
> 
> The new cpu's show a great improvement over "work" like video editing but not as much benefit for gaming. The current LGA775 based nvividia or intel mobos will be current for at least one year. Who has money to upgrade to these, especially since they will also only fit new motherboards? And there are no games that can afford to focus on this small market yet. (In my opinion).
> 
> It will be interesting to see what the daily specials are going to be on Newegg on Nov 17. That may be a great day to make the purchase for the mobo/cpu. The other prices will probably be about the same. Nvidia has a new gpu coming out in Dec but that is supposed to be high end.



Amen to that, the i7 920 is more powerful than a QX9770. Screw the Q9300 that might still be in the price range. BTW is there any sighting of an x58 mobo with DDR2 slots?


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## BarbaricSoul (Nov 4, 2008)

> BTW is there any sighting of an x58 mobo with DDR2 slots?



X58 will be drr3 only


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