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  • 06-05-2010 5:40am
    #1
    bishopofn
    Registered Users Posts: 36 ✭


    Current system:
    Athlon XP2000+
    Gigabyte GA586SG with 512MB RAM
    Geforce Ti4200 (128MB)

    I really liked this PC, it ran almost everything I wanted (cept Deus Ex 2), now cos of a jammed fan, it's in Silicon Heaven.

    I think it was 10 years old.

    The guru who advised me on the specs has gone to a better place (not dead, moved on)

    The hardest decision (the chip) has already been made for me, I'm getting an

    Intel I7 870 LGA 1156

    That part is a done deal!

    So now I need a box to put it in :D and some of you guys really know your stuff :p

    Special needs, there's a few...
    • Motherboard? It can run XP and has IDE for my funky DVDRAM drive (and 160GB HDD)
    • Overclock-ability? Not a chance!
    • Upgrade-ability? Not bothered. I'm keeping it as long as possible, the next one'll have cranial implants. Hopefully.
    • RAM? XP can't handle more than 4 GB can it? Will I get 3x1GB for this 'triple channel' thing?
    • Case? I like big cases. The one I have now is almost a meter tall on 4 castors. Plenty of room inside for air and cables. And chicks dig it. :D
    • Power Supply? It's news to me they're seperate from the case now... is 750W too much?
    • Video card? The very hardest question. On my last PC I thought the chip and video card were well matched, there was no sense of 'bottleneck'... what one was able to do, the other could handle and vice versa. So what pairs well with an I7 870 these days? I hope to run everything at 1280 x 1024. (€180 enough?)

    I'm off to look at elara and komplett now, any advice very welcome!

    -bishopofn


Comments

  • Options
    #2
    bishopofn
    Registered Users Posts: 36 ✭bishopofn


    Hello lads

    Am I making any obvious fcukups here..?

    The Intel barebones cofig gave me zero matches for an i7. None! The buggers.
    http://mbsg.intel.com/mbsg/
    They did point out the chip works with these chipsets: H55, H57, P55 and Q57. I'm off to find out which have IDE.


    I like the look of this board... And it's got IDE and a Floppy port :D I think we have a winner!
    http://www.komplett.ie/Komplett/product/ZKB_01COM/15_MOBO/02_INTEL/productdetails/15584454/Gigabyte_GA-H55M-USB3_H55_Socket-1156/GA-H55M-USB3/default.aspx


    It's massive. It's SATA. It's cheap, and it's free delivery this week!
    WD Caviar Black WD5001AALS - Hard drive - 500 GB -
    http://www.komplett.ie/Komplett/product/ZKB_01COM/11_HDD/07_INTHD35/productdetails/20000018/WD_Caviar_Black_WD5001AALS_Hard_drive_500_GB_-/WD5001AALS/default.aspx


    Sweet Baby Jesus, the price of cases with power supplies... the case I have was about £40 with a PSU built in. Some of these new ones are almost €200. :baffled:


    How about this for a video card, it's within the budget and has DX11. DX11 for Chrissake!
    It is a good balance for the i7?
    RADEON HD 5770 512MB PCI-E DP DVI-I HDMI DX11
    http://www.elara.ie/products/detailsfull.asp?productcode=MMEM310814&productID=S7745235


    RAM - DDR3, 1666, 2x2GB. CL9 (9-9-9-24) timings, now that's gotta be good...
    4GB Patriot DDR3 PC3-10666 1333MHz Viper
    http://www.memoryc.ie/products/description/4GB_Patriot_DDR3_PC3_10666_1333MHz_Viper_Extreme_Performance-9_9_9-Dual_Channel_kit/index.html

    Wait, 2 sticks, how is that 'triple channel'? It's not is it?


    Coolers? Clueless. No overclocking means standard will suffice, right?


    Later,

    -bishopofn


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    #3
    Solitaire
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 18,377 Mod ✭✭✭✭Solitaire


    bishopofn wrote: »
    Hello lads

    Am I making any obvious fcukups here..?

    Oh dear... :o

    You want a €600 CPU then want to stick with XP and an old 19" monitor?!

    Just. Get this. And this. Now that you have an OS that can use more than 3.25GB of RAM and a monitor worth owning you can try to build a new PC.

    Oh, and get this or this (not neccessarily from Pix though!) instead of the i7-870, it gives eff-all advantage for over twice as much money!
    The Intel barebones cofig gave me zero matches for an i7. None! The buggers.
    http://mbsg.intel.com/mbsg/
    They did point out the chip works with these chipsets: H55, H57, P55 and Q57. I'm off to find out which have IDE.

    I'm more interested in finding out why you need IDE. It really is on its last legs at this point. You do know you can buy an all-formats SATA DVD burner for €20-25 nowadays?
    I like the look of this board... And it's got IDE and a Floppy port :D I think we have a winner!
    http://www.komplett.ie/Komplett/product/ZKB_01COM/15_MOBO/02_INTEL/productdetails/15584454/Gigabyte_GA-H55M-USB3_H55_Socket-1156/GA-H55M-USB3/default.aspx

    Erm.... all LGA1156 mobos have an IDE port. Why you'd want one is another matter... :o If you're talking about futureproofing have a closer look at whether it has USB3 and SATA3 or not!
    It's massive. It's SATA. It's cheap, and it's free delivery this week!
    WD Caviar Black WD5001AALS - Hard drive - 500 GB -
    http://www.komplett.ie/Komplett/product/ZKB_01COM/11_HDD/07_INTHD35/productdetails/20000018/WD_Caviar_Black_WD5001AALS_Hard_drive_500_GB_-/WD5001AALS/default.aspx

    Fail. That's not the best, and its not even massive! 2TB is massive. 1TB is the standard nowadays, with 500GB only on budget rigs. For the sake of futureproofing I'd get a 1TB Samsung F3 right now and add more later as needed.
    Sweet Baby Jesus, the price of cases with power supplies... the case I have was about £40 with a PSU built in. Some of these new ones are almost €200. :baffled:

    Obvious answer - buy them seperately. God and your wallet will thanks you. Goid kills a kitten each time you buy a case that has a PSU. Again, for that future bit I'd suggest a decent 650W unit like a Corsair TX650 or Antec Earthwatts. If you want quality, look at the HX650 and Antec Signature and dig deep. As for cases its up to you. Good ones start around €35 (Thermaltake V3, NZXT Gamma, Antec 200) and fly up.
    How about this for a video card, it's within the budget and has DX11. DX11 for Chrissake!
    It is a good balance for the i7?
    RADEON HD 5770 512MB PCI-E DP DVI-I HDMI DX11
    http://www.elara.ie/products/detailsfull.asp?productcode=MMEM310814&productID=S7745235

    For once a good choice. But not so futureproof - it might handle DX10 at 1080p for now, but eventually if you don't buy one now you'll be upgrading to a HD5850 or better for DX11...
    RAM - DDR3, 1666, 2x2GB. CL9 (9-9-9-24) timings, now that's gotta be good...
    4GB Patriot DDR3 PC3-10666 1333MHz Viper
    http://www.memoryc.ie/products/description/4GB_Patriot_DDR3_PC3_10666_1333MHz_Viper_Extreme_Performance-9_9_9-Dual_Channel_kit/index.html

    Wait, 2 sticks, how is that 'triple channel'? It's not is it?

    You want a LGA1156 CPU, you're stuck with dual channel (oh, and USB3/SATA3 filling your PCIe bus with glue :o). And that's not bad RAM, although not awesome RAM either.


  • Options
    #4
    bishopofn
    Registered Users Posts: 36 ✭bishopofn


    Hi Solitaire!

    Thanks for the reply, I genuinely laughed out loud reading it - straight talking is appreciated round these parts :)
    Solitaire wrote: »
    Oh dear... :o

    You want a €600 CPU then want to stick with XP and an old 19" monitor?!

    That's the thing, the CPU's a given.
    'Engineering Sample', bit tarnished looking with chalky gunk on the top, but mine for nowt. And no, I can't sell it or give it away.

    Also: Yes I've a 19"! How did you... :eek:
    Solitaire wrote: »
    Just. Get this. And this. Now that you have an OS that can use more than 3.25GB of RAM and a monitor worth owning you can try to build a new PC.

    But... (lower lip trembling) I like my monitor :o As for the Windows 7 thing... OK... I s'pose I can dual boot with XP...
    Solitaire wrote: »
    I'm more interested in finding out why you need IDE. It really is on its last legs at this point. You do know you can buy an all-formats SATA DVD burner for €20-25 nowadays?

    Cos I have my dox and photos on one of these... SW-9576S

    http://www.imagestore.co.uk/productImages/SW9576-USBthumb.jpg
    http://saylean.blog.so-net.ne.jp/_images/blog/_03e/saylean/sw-9576-c4-cd729.JPG

    The Disc is actually in that yellow cartridge, keeps them super safe. Never once had a read error. :) All my stuff is on two sets of ~8 of them. And I've a 160GB HDD I don't want to bin! :D
    Solitaire wrote: »
    Erm.... all LGA1156 mobos have an IDE port. Why you'd want one is another matter... :o If you're talking about futureproofing have a closer look at whether it has USB3 and SATA3 or not!

    Fail. That's not the best, and its not even massive! 2TB is massive. 1TB is the standard nowadays, with 500GB only on budget rigs. For the sake of futureproofing I'd get a 1TB Samsung F3 right now and add more later as needed.
    Oh, that's a surprise. I have two HDD, a 40GB and a 160GB, and neither were full. I thought 500GB was loads! :eek:

    Solitaire wrote: »
    Obvious answer - buy them seperately. God and your wallet will thanks you. Goid kills a kitten each time you buy a case that has a PSU. Again, for that future bit I'd suggest a decent 650W unit like a Corsair TX650 or Antec Earthwatts. If you want quality, look at the HX650 and Antec Signature and dig deep. As for cases its up to you. Good ones start around €35 (Thermaltake V3, NZXT Gamma, Antec 200) and fly up.
    OK, I'll focus my shopping on those exact models. Cheers.
    Solitaire wrote: »
    For once a good choice. But not so futureproof - it might handle DX10 at 1080p for now, but eventually if you don't buy one now you'll be upgrading to a HD5850 or better for DX11...
    LOL Thanks! €300 for the video... ouch... Well if that's what it takes to match the i7... Have to say, you've already given me an alternative - I could buy the HD5770 now and the HD5850 next year when it's €150? Although that goes against the plan of locking down the hardware now and being done with it forever... oh well, that's why they're called Credit Cards, right? 5850 it is.
    Solitaire wrote: »
    You want a LGA1156 CPU, you're stuck with dual channel (oh, and USB3/SATA3 filling your PCIe bus with glue :o). And that's not bad RAM, although not awesome RAM either.
    Yeah, no choice with the CPU. Glad to hear the RAM is not bad :p

    So that's everything then! Case, Power, Video, RAM, HDD, OS, (aw dude I like my monitor)

    I'm not sure you like the motherboard, do you get why I do? IDE and LGA1156? Given those limits it's OK?

    Many, many, thanks, I'll let you know when it's finished! :pac:

    - bishopofn


  • Options
    #5
    Solitaire
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 18,377 Mod ✭✭✭✭Solitaire


    bishopofn wrote: »
    That's the thing, the CPU's a given.
    'Engineering Sample', bit tarnished looking with chalky gunk on the top, but mine for nowt. And no, I can't sell it or give it away.

    Ah, that explains it! :D Get those every so often in these parts ;)
    Also: Yes I've a 19"! How did you... :eek:

    Psionic powahs It was a standard panel size a couple of generations back (oddity in fact as it was 5:4 instead of 4:3). We've had 16:10 since then and are now on 16:9, which is nice as it increased the resolution and dropped the price of 22" (well, 21.5") panels right down :) Imagine what you'd pay for a gaming-grade Full HD 22" screen a few years back - it sure wouldn't be €150! :D

    Do you have a nice (read: IPS) 19"? I can see why you'd want to hold onto one of those but for a high-end rig a 1280*1024 monitor is just plain unfitting :o
    As for the Windows 7 thing... OK... I s'pose I can dual boot with XP...

    Why? Win7 supports pretty much anything XP would, and its a much better OS. Unlike Vista! :p
    Cos I have my dox and photos on one of these... SW-9576S

    http://www.imagestore.co.uk/productImages/SW9576-USBthumb.jpg
    http://saylean.blog.so-net.ne.jp/_images/blog/_03e/saylean/sw-9576-c4-cd729.JPG

    The Disc is actually in that yellow cartridge, keeps them super safe. Never once had a read error. :) All my stuff is on two sets of ~8 of them. And I've a 160GB HDD I don't want to bin! :D

    Oooohh... one of those Not MiniDisc drives :p I thought you just had a DVD-RAM burner, not a cartridge jobbie :o

    As for the old HDDs... any important reason you still need those? You could just back up pertinent data off them onto the new HDD... and a limitation of 99% of modern mobos is that they dropped the second IDE channel so you only have one IDE port and thus two IDE devices. Which means you'd have to lose one of the HDDs.

    And finally... try to keep the RAM under €100 if possible. No reason to spend over the odds, unless you saw a decent low-voltage 1600MHz kit down to, say, €105 or something. Basic 1333MHz stuff (CL9 @ 1.5V) shouldn't cost the earth, at least not compaed to most other types of RAM on the market. Sickening to see the prices double... :mad:

    Also have a quick gander at Hardwareversand.de and eBuyer.co.uk for parts as Elara can be pricey and Komplett is having... issues... at the moment :o


  • Options
    #6
    bishopofn
    Registered Users Posts: 36 ✭bishopofn


    Hi Solitaire!
    Solitaire wrote: »
    Ah, that explains it! :D Get those every so often in these parts ;)
    Yep, if there was no chip I'd be on to Dell or somesuch, but I have a V8 so might as well make a sportscar for it :D
    Solitaire wrote: »
    Psionic powahs It was a standard panel size a couple of generations back (oddity in fact as it was 5:4 instead of 4:3). We've had 16:10 since then and are now on 16:9, which is nice as it increased the resolution and dropped the price of 22" (well, 21.5") panels right down :) Imagine what you'd pay for a gaming-grade Full HD 22" screen a few years back - it sure wouldn't be €150!

    Do you have a nice (read: IPS) 19"? I can see why you'd want to hold onto one of those but for a high-end rig a 1280*1024 monitor is just plain unfitting

    It's a Philips 109S, bought (rummage for receipt in 'PC Biscuit Box') on the 11th of June 2003, second hand, for E100. Needs brightness at 75% these days. And in winter helps heat the room :D Man I don't even have a widescreen TV, I've seen the widescreen monitors in the shops and they just look... weird?
    Solitaire wrote: »
    Why? Win7 supports pretty much anything XP would, and its a much better OS. Unlike Vista! :p
    I used Win98SE until I got the 160GB, and got tired of waiting for bleedin' SCANDISK several times a week. 'Your Computer Did Not Shut Down' yadda yadda so now you gotta sit there for ages cos of a crash which may or may not have been your fault... I heard XP didn't crash and by God it's only BSOD'd on me like half a dozen times in... 5 years? More? Worth it, even if it does take 5 minutes to boot up, it can stay up for a week! (Hibernates in between) And Yes, my 'Windows Theme' is NT4 lookalike. What I'm trying to say is I change OS's veeery reluctantly
    Solitaire wrote: »
    Oooohh... one of those Not MiniDisc drives :p I thought you just had a DVD-RAM burner, not a cartridge jobbie :o
    Wow, surprised you heard of them! Yeah I feel really safe about my backups... a few years ago the ancestor of that drive failed and the only place to get the replacement was scan.co.uk. It was over £100 but I gladly paid for the peace of mind. My God they're like Hens Teeth. If they ever bring out a BluRay version, I'll be at the head of the queue... wikepedia says that will happen about... never :(
    Solitaire wrote: »
    As for the old HDDs... any important reason you still need those? You could just back up pertinent data off them onto the new HDD... and a limitation of 99% of modern mobos is that they dropped the second IDE channel so you only have one IDE port and thus two IDE devices. Which means you'd have to lose one of the HDDs.
    160GB man! I can't throw that much storage away ;) I think it'll be the DVDRAM dram drive and the 160GB on the IDE port... what do you reckon I'll get for a (more rummaging) Genuine IBM Desktstar DTLA-305040 41.1GB HDD Build date August 2000 in the Trading Forum? Hardly ever been used! Free Cable Select and 32GB Clip jumpers included! Collectors item, call now! :p
    Solitaire wrote: »
    And finally... try to keep the RAM under €100 if possible. No reason to spend over the odds, unless you saw a decent low-voltage 1600MHz kit down to, say, €105 or something. Basic 1333MHz stuff (CL9 @ 1.5V) shouldn't cost the earth, at least not compaed to most other types of RAM on the market. Sickening to see the prices double... :mad:
    LOL I remember paying £75 for another 4MB on my P133 to stop DESCENT stuttering... Best upgrade ever :D
    Solitaire wrote: »
    Also have a quick gander at Hardwareversand.de and eBuyer.co.uk for parts as Elara can be pricey and Komplett is having... issues... at the moment :o
    Sure, thanks for the links! Now I have my parts list, it's time to go bargain hunting... :)


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    #7
    Solitaire
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 18,377 Mod ✭✭✭✭Solitaire


    bishopofn wrote: »
    It's a Philips 109S, bought (rummage for receipt in 'PC Biscuit Box') on the 11th of June 2003, second hand, for E100. Needs brightness at 75% these days. And in winter helps heat the room :D Man I don't even have a widescreen TV, I've seen the widescreen monitors in the shops and they just look... weird?

    FFS just get a decent sub-€150 22" Full HD monitor and have done with it!! :p
    I heard XP didn't crash and by God it's only BSOD'd on me like half a dozen times in... 5 years? More?

    LIES!! BLASPHEMY!!! If XP doesn't crash it ain't XP!! :p
    160GB man! I can't throw that much storage away ;)

    In an age where a high-end 1TB HDD costs €75 and you're spending several times that on other hardware anyway... :rolleyes::p
    what do you reckon I'll get for a (more rummaging) Genuine IBM Desktstar DTLA-305040 41.1GB HDD Build date August 2000 in the Trading Forum? Hardly ever been used! Free Cable Select and 32GB Clip jumpers included! Collectors item, call now! :p

    lol.gif
    LOL I remember paying £75 for another 4MB on my P133 to stop DESCENT stuttering... Best upgrade ever :D

    I waited for the PSX version :D And then Forsaken came out shortly after anyway... got that for the PSX and then got Descent 3 on my PC anyway :D


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