Buying a new PC

good old days

the computer is mainly for games here is the spec, will I be able to upgrade with this machine, the graphics card is it good enough for now?
any help is appreciated

Komplett Intel Gamer SLI Edition

- Surcharges 0.00 per item will be added.
Article number: 303546
Norman IC, 1 year license Virus Control,
PC box
SoftThinks Installation software,
Gigabyte Triton 180 Black
NorthQ 4775-500S, ATX 500W Silent, 140mm
MSI P6N SLI-FI, nForce-650i SLI,
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz
Corsair Value S. PC5300 DDR2 2048MB
Corsair Value S. PC5300 DDR2 2048MB
Gainward GeForce 8600GTS 512MB GDDR3,
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB SATA2
NEC DVD±RW burner AD-5170 IDE Black OEM,
Creative SB X-FI Xtreme Gamer
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Eng
Logitech Cordless Desktop LX710 Laser,
Acer 22" LCD AL2216Wsd, Widescreen,
Creative Inspire T3100, 2.1 Speaker
D-Link DWL-G510 PCI 54Mbps
Stock status: 1 stocked

Anti

Everything looks fine apart from the psu, they are a poor manufacturer. The graphics card will not be powerfull enough for a 22" widescreen monitor either, so i would suggest you upgrade the card to a 8800gts 320 or the 640mb varient.

You are going a bit overkill with the cpu too. A C2D will be fine for gaming. The quads only come into their own when video encoding, or using heavily multithreaded software.
There is also no point in getting that ram either, 4gb is fine. But the speeds of 5300 is to slow. So i would suggest you change it to 6400.

Apart from that, everything looks fine.

good old days

Thanks Anti, can i ask you a couple more questions?

what psu would you recomend?

Corsair TWIN2X 6400 DDR2, 2048MB CL5 Kit w/two matched CM2X1024A-6400 Dimm's - is this ram ok and is this 4gb of memory?

Anti

I would reccomend this power supply:
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=327672

And that ram is a 2gb kit, with 2 x 1gb dimms (sticks) You could add a second kit to bring it up to 4gb, but alot of people have been having problems using 4 x 1gb sticks. Only 3gb is actualy picked up, or the pc wont boot with the 4th stick in it.

You could go with this:
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=333974
Its 2 x 2gb sticks. And you should have no problem getting them working at all.

good old days

Thanks Very much Anti - i promise one last question, will i need a 64 bit OS with 4 gb of ram

thanks again

Anti

Yep, you certainly will.

good old days

is this a 64 bit os system?:o

Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2b Software English OEM

Anti

Nope, im afraid thats 32bit windows XP.

it will say in the tagline i.e Windows XP pro 64bit or Windows XP pro x64. It will always mention it in the title.


You can find the opersting systems here:
http://www.komplett.ie/k/kl.aspx?bn=10339

good old days

Thanks very much Anti, won't bother you again, you have been a brilliant help

SeanW

I would have to agree with much of what Anti said.

NorthQ PSU - not much good. Corsair, OCZ, Seasonic are all way better.
Ram - are you sure you need 4GB? Also there's no point in pairing a Core2Quad with PC5300 speed ram. The slow RAM would be a huge bottleneck Waste of time.
As for gaming, the 8600 would be ok for most gaming, but if you're going to a more extreme end (as your choice of processor and volume of RAM would suggest) then you would be looking for a GeForce 8000 or Radeon X2900.
Hard drive is probably fine but I'd recommend going with a Western Digital. If money isn't a problem, you might get better performance by selecting the 150GB WD Raptor as the primary hard drive and a smaller (than 500GB) secondary drive.

For all that RAM you may well need a 64 bit operating system. You have to be very specific about this because Windows XP Pro and all versions Vista come in 32 bit and 64 bit flavours. If the 64 bit OS that you need isn't explicitly in the selection list from Kompletts PC builder, select "PC with no operating system" and buy the one you need from the Operating Systems section of the site. I assume you know how to install an OS.

good old days

Thanks SeanW,

regards the os Komplett say

"Dear Sir,
You can buy Vista64 bit but we do not offer it with our prebuilt systems. This is because of outstanding driver issues with the 64bit model. The 32 bit Vista that we offer preinstalled is fine for up to 4mb. It uses all 4mb and should be more than adequate for most computer and gaming needs. XP is also a 32 bit OS so really it comes down to which OS you want. I hope this helps."

I'm sorry to say SW i would not have a clue as to how to load an os.
i'm thinking at leaving the memory at 2gb and getting the 32 bit vista - this is an update spec of the pc i'm looking at:
Komplett Intel Gamer SLI Edition

- Surcharges 0.00 per item will be added.
Article number: 303546
Norman IC, 1 year license Virus Control,
PC box
SoftThinks Installation software,
Gigabyte Triton 180 Black
Corsair Powersupply 620W Black, ATX/EPS,
MSI P6N SLI-FI, nForce-650i SLI,
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz
OCZ DDR2 PC8500 2048MB KIT, nVIDIA SLI?-
XFX GeForce 8800Ultra 612M 768MB GDDR3,
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB SATA2
NEC DVD±RW burner AD-5170 IDE Black OEM,
Creative SB X-FI Xtreme Gamer
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Eng
Logitech Cordless Desktop LX710 Laser,
Acer 22" LCD AL2216Wsd, Widescreen,
Creative Inspire T3100, 2.1 Speaker
D-Link DWL-G510 PCI 54Mbps
Stock status: 1 stocked

is there much difference in the amd and intel processors - there's a big difference in price?

thanks again

SeanW

As for the 32 bit OS, 4GB RAM limit I was never sure whether it was up to 4GB or up to and including. The man from Komplett was most likely right - it should be fine.

That said I doub't you'll make much use of 4GB Ram. Ditto for the Quad Core Processor.

I also would recommend against buying a Sound card. All retail mainboards today have on-board sound, and the one you chose has 7.1 surround sound, and on board sound is fairly good. You may want to avoid adding a sound card unless you specifically want the Creative one for some reason.

There is a difference between Intel and AMD - right now Intel has the lead on processor performace with its Core2 range. AMD also don't have any 4 core processors at the present time. Any 1337 rig, started any time in the past 12 months, will have a Socket 775, Core2(something) architecture.

DVD, board, case and graphics card all look good for what you would need.

<The following I'm not 100% sure of so I'd appreciate any corrections by DDR2 RAM experts>
Your new choice of RAM speed is very good - for DDR2 which is what all new systems use, RAM should be dealt with in pairs (dual channel), and the rated speed of the RAM should match the Front Side Bus of the processor you intend to use.

Processor speed will always be a function of its intended (or actual) Front Side Bus times a Multiplier, which determines how many clock cycles the processor will run to respond to each tick of FSB. You will only achieve the processors specificied FSB if the RAM is rated to keep up with that. So if you do something counterproductive like use too slow of RAM for the processor, you would have created a bottleneck.

In this case, the QX6600 has a FSB of 1066Mhz, which matches perfectly the speed of PC2 8500 RAM which is also 1066Mhz. So if it's all built properly, which it should, the processor won't be held back by anything. In the normal course, you can (roughly) tell the speed of DDR2 RAM by taking its PCXXXX rating and dividing XXXX by 8 - in the past you had proposed to use PC5300 which runs at only 667Mhz, this would have seriously constrained a QX6600.

Toolbag

DDR2 4200 ram matches the 1066 MHz FSB (266x4) with a 1:1 ratio. The newer dual cores run at 1333 MHz (DDR2 5300). But maintaining this 1:1 ratio isn't of huge importance, especially if you're overclocking. Some 6400 ram will do nicely and it's cheap.

Follow Anti's sound advice. Go with 2 or 4 gigs of 6400 RAM, a decent dual core processor like the e6750, and a upper range GFX card (that Ultra is overkill). The 8800 GTS 320/640 or the 2900XT would match the 22" monitor well.

You might want to check out the building and upgrading forum as there's a lot of good info to be found there, not to mention numerous threads like this.

good old days

thanks all for the sound advise

DemonOfTheFall

The 8800 Ultra is super overkill. Go for an 8800GTS 320Meg. Best option for your screen.

4 Gigs of RAM is a waste if you stick with XP, maybe useful if you go with Vista. I'd suggest XP if you're gaming, Vista will be a pain in your arse.

Quad core is probably a waste too, unless you're into your video encoding.

Khannie

Gonna move this to the building forum.....

-TK^Creator

gmmm why u guys think quad cores of not good for gaming didn't gabe newell say he prefered mutli core processors and was planning to get them working on graphics in game and particle engines? dont want to steal this thread so might create new one

edit : bah i know duals are prob btr but still

garthv

Can someone please explain to me why NorthQ's are so bad?
Ive had a lot of people complain about them but noone has actually said what is wrong with them
Ive got this NorthQ in my rig and Ive had no problems with it at all!

https://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=307837

Anti

Sit back and let me explain...

The problem with northQ Psu's is they are made cheap, i.e cheap components in the psu, thin pcb, ****ty cap's, undersized coils etc etc.

This means, that when the psu is under heavy load for any period of time it builds up alot of heat, and as the heat isnt disapated the componets inside get to hot. When they get to hot the voltage rails start to fluctuate, sometimes lower, and other times higher.

being lower isnt to dangerous, but when it goes over is a really bad thing, as for example, say your cpu is using 1.48volts normaly, it could jump to say 2.5v for example. if this even happens for a split second your cpu will be fried.

Granted they have gotten alot better over the last 2 years, but before this they were utter ****e. Many a fella on here has lost a psu to one of their psu's.


*edit*

@ Creator. Quad core cpu's are great for gaming. If the game can support 4 cores. But most of todays games support a single core, or maybe a dual core cpu. So the spare 2 cores on the Quad are not being used effeciently. Unless you are encoding a dvd in the background. But realisicly who does this?

Quads are really only needed for media creation and image tools. As these programs are truely multithreaded, and can properly take advantage of all the cores. But so far for gaming a top end dual core, or a highly overclcoked dual core is perfect. And it saves you some money to spend on a better graphics card or ram.

L31mr0d

Anti wrote:

Granted they have gotten alot better over the last 2 years, but before this they were utter ****e. Many a fella on here has lost a psu to one of their psu's.

QFT, I lost my first 6800Ultra to a NorthQ PSU... may it rest in peace. Never skimp on the PSU, it might be the least glamourous of the components in your system, but if you get a good one it will alleviate a lot of headaches and it can be easily futureproofed. I bought my 700w PSU in the summer last year, and even though every other component in my system has gone through numerous changes, the PSU is still the same, and more than likely will be for the next year.

-TK^Creator

Anti wrote:

Sit back and let me explain...

@ Creator. Quad core cpu's are great for gaming. If the game can support 4 cores. But most of todays games support a single core, or maybe a dual core cpu. So the spare 2 cores on the Quad are not being used effeciently. Unless you are encoding a dvd in the background. But realisicly who does this?

Quads are really only needed for media creation and image tools. As these programs are truely multithreaded, and can properly take advantage of all the cores. But so far for gaming a top end dual core, or a highly overclcoked dual core is perfect. And it saves you some money to spend on a better graphics card or ram.

thanks for schooling me in the ways of cores hmm still rly tempted to stick with quadcore argh decisions decisions

Anti

Well if you are going to be doing more then just gaming you may aswell. the Q6600 is pretty cheap.

Toolbag

By the way that nforce 650i board is limited in sli, i'm not sure if it can take full advantage of 2x8800gts (or better) cards.

Anti

You wil see hardly any differdence in 2x8 lanes to 2x16 lanes.

papu

4 Gigs of RAM is a waste if you stick with XP, maybe useful if you go with Vista. I'd suggest XP if you're gaming, Vista will be a pain in your arse.

not true , vista is better for gaming than xp.

anti will back me up on this one

Anti

Yep, vista is a hell of alot better. Ill never go back to xp again.

nibble

Yep stick with the Q6600, I mean ~€240 is a steal for four cores, what else are you going to do with the <€60 saved? Quads will be useful for gaming in the near future e.g. CRYSIS supports up to four threads, need I say more than that? Vista vs. XP is a moot argument anyway, they are not really alternatives to one another vista is the succesor to XP, you will have to move eventually to stay up to date.

good old days

Well I bought it and its arrived, with a few problems, I'm hoping some of you guys can help.
The VGA lead going from the monitor to the main board – the two blue plugs on the lead are both 15 pin plugs, one fits the monitor the other is the problem it will not go into the main board as this socket is pins also. There is no other socket on the computer that will fit this plug.
I purchased two hard drives (a) Western Digital Raptor X 150GB SATA 16MB 10000RPM and (b) Samsung SpinPoint T166 320GB SATA2 16MB 7200RPM. When I go into my computer, it’s showing the C: drive and the drive but no other drive, I opened up the PC case the WDR and the SpinPoint are in the case. Why can’t I see the secondary hard drive?
am I giving you guys enough information - the biggest problem is the vga lead as I can live with a 150gb WDR hard drive - all help is much appreciated

nibble

good old days wrote:

Well I bought it and its arrived, with a few problems, I'm hoping some of you guys can help.
The VGA lead going from the monitor to the main board – the two blue plugs on the lead are both 15 pin plugs, one fits the monitor the other is the problem it will not go into the main board as this socket is pins also. There is no other socket on the computer that will fit this plug.
I purchased two hard drives (a) Western Digital Raptor X 150GB SATA 16MB 10000RPM and (b) Samsung SpinPoint T166 320GB SATA2 16MB 7200RPM. When I go into my computer, it’s showing the C: drive and the drive but no other drive, I opened up the PC case the WDR and the SpinPoint are in the case. Why can’t I see the secondary hard drive?
am I giving you guys enough information - the biggest problem is the vga lead as I can live with a 150gb WDR hard drive - all help is much appreciated

Erm, you don't plug the vga lead into your mainboard it goes to your graphics card, your graphics has a DVI port and if your monitor doesnt support this connection you need to use adapters. Most cards come with the adapters they should be in the box. I'd imagine the port on your board your looking at is the RS-232(serial) port.

good old days

ok, I think I'm calling this lead the wrong name - there are two leads from the monitor - one goes to the graphic card (white pin plug) and this is fine. The second one the blue 15 pin plug goes from the monitor too the pc but the socket on the pc is a pin also?

DamoKen

the white lead (DVI) is the one you want to use. The other lead is just supplied in case you have an older pc with only a vga input on your mobo or graphics card. You don't need to use it. As far as your hard drives are concerned it sounds like everything is fine, you have your 150 raptor on the C: and the Samsung on the as your secondary unless I'm missing something here?