new pc

[Twoflower]

after hijacking another thread about this on this forum, i thaught i'd better make my own one. so, after reading the very helpful posts in this thread http://wow.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=402504 ( thank you again, Kalos ) i went looking around in my local shop a bit and i found...

ram :
Patriot DDR2 2GB Kit, PC6400, HeatShield,240Pin,800MHz, CL5

CPU:
Intel CORE2DUO E6750-VPRO&SIPP 775P,1333MHz,4MB,65nm,Fan,BOX, Conroe, 2.66GHz, VT, TXT, SpeedStep, I64bit, NX
( realy cannot decide between this and the E6850. is it worth the much higher price ? )

motherboard:
ASUS P5K, PCX, P35, FSB1333,Audio,1394,GLAN
( no idea what to look for here... i fear this will be the cheapest part of my new pc. please tell me straight if this is outclassed by the rest of the pc )

gfx card:
XFX GF 8800GTS, 320MB XXX, 1800/580MHz,TV-Out,2xDVI, DDR3
( producer : http://www.xfxforce.com/web/product/listConfigurations****pa?seriesId=730995&productId=731024 DO i need a 600mb version ? )

and of course this babe :)

http://www.enermax.com/admin/pic/20065315394227442.jpg

so, waht do you think ? How would a up tod ate game like Bioshock run on this pc ?

[Tunga]

How would a up to date game like Bioshock run on this PC?With sparkly bits. That's pretty much the PC I'd build right now if I could justify a new PC because it's high-spec without touching the very top end hardware and so still getting decent performance for your money.

For the 320MB vs 640MB card issue, it's not going to be a huge difference and the gap will vary depending on the game. What's the price difference?

[HolyDemon]

All seems good to me, however I would like to add one more bit. Be sure to get a good PSU to power that pc of yours, or you might get instability. Antec makes good ones.

[Tunga]

hat's pretty much the PC I'd build right now if I could justify a new PCI just realised this is because I suggested these parts to you in the other thread :grin: .

I wouldn't bother with a 6750 over a 6700 unless the price difference is negligible. Then you can save on not needing a P35 board too.

[Twoflower]

i am confused now.

the Intel CORE2Duo-1333 E6750 is 270 Swiss Franks.
the Intel CORE2Duo E6700 is 420 Swiss Franks ?

i thaught 1333 is the faster one ? and 6700 < 6750 ?

and there is no 1333 mhz FSB model whit the specification "E6700" in this shop.

do i get this right that the faster one is cheaper ? that would be a new thing to me :)

as for the gfx cards, the pürice difference would be 470 vs 540 Sfr. I am tempted to pay a lil more, specialy since it is only a "lil".

[memetootoo]

I run bioshock at max detail and resolution with average FPS in the 40-50 range, using a 8600 gts, 2.4 core 2 duo, and 2 gigs of ram. All your parts are much better then mine, so I expect you wont have any issues. Turning off DX 10 "effects" also causes a significant boost in fps. And as far as anyone can tell, there is very little notable difference from enabling DX 10 effects.

[Kalos]

There is no noticable differences inbetween 1066 Mhz FSB'ed Core 2 Duos and their 1333 Mhz Core 2 Duo equvilents. However you should go for the cheaper 6750. The reason why is, the store you are in is being lazy. Thier price is above the Intel ASP for that item. Either they're ripping you off or it hasn't been lowered yet like it should have over a month and a half ago. It still wouldn't be cheaper though, Intel is trying to give the consumer the incentive to go onto thier new platforms rather than thier old 965/975 motherboards. They want to be producing less variaties of motherboards and thier different chipsets, yet thier brand new 45 nm techology is all going to have a FSB of 1333. So they moved several of the Core 2 Designs onto this speed, so they can phase out the first stage Core 2 Duos on 1066 Mhz, and be left with one motherboard that can run the last generation Core 2 duo 65 nm, the slightly into the future Core 2 Duo 45nm shrink, and perhaps Core 2 Duo's third and unknown incarnation. It won't run their next big monster platform however, that has a completely different memory controller, making all of thier current motherboards incompatible with it, including P35. The processor known as Nahalem won't be out for at least a year, but should, if designs come through properly, which they might, be the high end replacement for today's Core 2 Duo line. It's a fairly unique architecture for Intel at least, it'll be interesting to see if it goes or not.

[Twoflower]

thanks once again for clarifications, Kalos :)

[Tunga]

I noticed the 6750 were cheaper then their 6700s elsewhere too, that makes a lot of sense now :) .

[Twoflower]

soo, a friend of mine baught this PC today. ( we always baught pc's together for the last 8 years, this time he went ahead and baught it while i wait for my paycheck... )

didnt boot.

hotline guy said that you are better off buying 600 MhZ ram since the 800 mhz one is realy unreliable. as in totaly unreliable. as in 50% chance your PC does not even boot.

why did noone tell me this ? is this true ? how much effect would the downgrade have ? should i try my luck and get 800 mhz ram ?

[Tunga]

That's rubbish, 800MHz (PC6400) DDR2s from a decent make are just as reliable as anything else.

It could be the make, I don't really know about Patriot, maybe Kalos does.

Some people who work on support hotlines are...less than qualified. Not all, but the trouble is you don't know who you're talking to or how much they really know.

[Kalos]

Patriot are supposed to be decent, but they don't ship to my country, so I've never been able to get some sticks to toy around with. However, my two top ram companies as of now for DDR2 are OCZ and Kingston.

It's complete rubbish about 600 Mhz ram being more reliable than 800 Mhz. There aren't any sticks timed at 600 Mhz, the two closest I know of in standards are 533 Mhz and 666 Mhz. There's no inherant flaw with running at a speed of 800 Mhz, bar it being from an individual company that's manufacturing process works better (produces better quality goods) at the lower frequencies, which can and does happen.

[Twoflower]

so i ll just get kingston :)

[Twoflower]

baught it today, damn that PC is fast.

only problem is that on the mother board there is only one IDE socket, while i have 2 harddrives and 2 dvd drives whit IDE.

well, off to buy a sata dvd drive tomorrow, then all will be perfect :)

[Kalos]

Yes, I should have warned you, checked up on how many IDE devices you had. The old parellel IDE interface has been replaced and succeeded, both in terms of cost and bandwidth, by SATA, which is a serial interface. All the motherboard companies don't want to keep supporting many different standards, as that is costly in what has become an increasingly competitive market, so they are trying to streamline standards, phasing the old ones out. Technically, there's nothing stopping PCI-E and AGP working side by side; at least nothing architecturally contrary in nature. It just doesn't happen because the manufacturers don't want the extra costs of having to provide for both, not to mention it's unlikely that a user would be using all of the capacities of both interfaces anyway.

SATA, down to it's serial nature, is far more easy to multiply and consumes less space that the traditional PATA (IDE) interface. Unfortunantly, the older equiptment that we have come on the old interface, so they couldn't aggressively phase it out completely. So they just cut down on the ability to plug so many devices in on the old interface, to make it less of a blow, so we can stagger our conversion over to SATA. Ultimately, SATA is better for everyone, it's just a transition that's costly because of previously invested equiptment.

[Twoflower]

well, i ll keep using my 2 IDE harddrives for the moment. I ll get a new sata DVD drive today, so my PC will be finished and running.

problem is that the IDE slot on the mainboard is in such a far away position, that i would need a ide cable of at least a meter to get from that slot ( at the bottom, in the back, under the gfx card ) aroundthe gfx card and the cpu to the dvd drive ( in the front, all on the top ). Quite "funny" architecture... You can clearly tell from the way they build up the motherboard that they want users to switch ^^

but that aint realy a problem, sata dvd drive for 50 bucks.

[Tunga]

Technically, there's nothing stopping PCI-E and AGP working side by side; at least nothing architecturally contrary in nature. It just doesn't happen because the manufacturers don't want the extra costs of having to provide for both, not to mention it's unlikely that a user would be using all of the capacities of both interfaces anyway.Indeed boards like this actually existed for a little while when manufacturers first introduced PCI-e, so the user could keep their old card and then upgrade to a PCI-e one at a later date.

I noticed a big difference upgrading from an IDE to a SATA hard drive, but that was partly because my old drive was starting to die. I'd swap that over rather than the DVD drive.

[Twoflower]

as i said, unless i find a IDE cable of at least a meter, i cannot possibly reach the dvd drive location whit a ide cable. And i will of course also buy sata harddrives. maybee next month. cash is short for this month ^^

[Twoflower]

jesus holy crist bioshock is creepy. but it runs whit everything maxed out :D thx you guys for all the advice, i will let this thread rest now :)