The (new) Official PC building thread!

Mort81,
Good to see you spreading your knowledge around. Your thinking that for the money and 'power' an Intel (conroe?) is the way right now. I'm looking at something probably early next year and need to have my mind in the right place for the build. I've had 4-5 computers (work and home) in the last 3 years and the Intel's for some reason are a little ahead of the AMD's. Not a FANBOY of either as I've said before but with your input and the performance for the $$$$ Intel is looking more attractive. Looking forward to your wisdom again.


..........c

 

greensman,

I'm not really per say a fanboy of either. I just know that Intel has the edge as of right now. 6 months ago I would have recommended AMD. This E6600 when it was stock (2.4 ghz) was twice as fast as my P4 3.4 ghz OC'ed to 3.6 ghz. You can imagine what it is like OC'ed to 3.0 ghz. I was going to OC it to 3.2 ghz or 3.4 ghz but it's so fast now I really don't know that it would really be beneficial. I'll probably bump it up some more eventually.

My vcore voltage is at the top end of specs now and to go any higher I would need to raise it above spec, which really wouldn't hurt anything as long as my cooling is adequate and it should be with my zalman cnps9500 hsf.

 

I'm concerend about weither or not I'll have enough power outlets to power a Antec Nine Hundred case with a Scythe SCNJ-1100P 120mm CPU Cooling Fan with 1 opitcal drive that is an E-IDE and two hard drives that are E-IDE. The mobo is a ASUS P5W DH DELUXE/WIFI-AP thats powered by a OCZ GameXStream OCZ600GXSSLI ATX12V 600W. I'm not sure if I can plug stuff into the board it self or if it all comes form the PSU. Yeah I'm new to building PCs, thanks for all the help on the small stuff.

 

Ichigo100,

Do you already have the IDE hdd's? Reason I ask is because that mobo will accomodate 3 SATA/SATA2 hdd's and SATA has faster data transfer than IDE. Save your IDE connectors for optical drives.

All the drives will directly power up from the PSU. The CPU fan should get it's power from the cpu fan connector on the motherboard. There are 4 three pin connectors for case/auxilary fans on that motherboard. 2 labeled as cha fan and 2 labeled as pwr fan. You can dowload the owners manual for that mobo here http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us&model=P5W DH Deluxe

Good choice on that mobo BTW. What CPU, GPU, and memory do you intend on using?

 

I already have the HDDs. I'll get a SATA drive down the road most likely. Thanks for the link to the manual. I was pretty sure you could connect fans to the motherboard but I couldn't see any connecting ports from the pictures. My memory is OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400), it's pretty expensive but I love the look and I'm sure it'll last me a long time. My GPU is a Readon X1600 Pro. Not on the high end at all. But then again I'm not into games really. I'm sure I'll play most games I want to with out a problem. I also like how when ATI get's Crossfire on Linux it won't cost much to buy the second GPU. Basically I know GPUs are always getting better so I just got something good enough to last me a little while to the high end ones become cheaper. Oh yeah, and my CPU is Core 2 Duo E6600. Very nice price that can be OC pretty well from what I've read. I basically setting my self up for a very good ATI setup that will be good to learn how to OC on.

 

@Mort81

Thanks for the input. What if I don't know anything about overclockin and all that? Would that E6600 still be the way to go?

 

lp531

im trying to locate some sata cables with a power plug on it. a one in all type thing. less cables to deal with. ive been searching through a few sites but have not had any luck finding this cable. i found one but i was hoping for a round cable or a colored cable to go with my color scheme that ill becoming up with soon. do you happen to know where i might find a set of these cables at? any help would be great.

i also have a question about the processor i want to get. i have been looking around and compairing prices. some places have the processor but they also have another processor that is the same but has a different number on it. the one with the extra number cost alittle more. this is what i am wanting. AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual core 4200+ socket AM2. But i see ones with all that stuff and then something added like this. AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual core 4200+ socket AM2 (89W)or a (65W). it called thermal power. What do these numbers (89W) (65W) mean and are they better to have on the processor. is it better to have the higher number or the lower number?
whats your knowlegde on this.

thanks

 

shuboy00,

I can't say from personal experience (I don't have an AMD system) but do know from good sorces that do have both high end AMD X2 systems and high end Intel core 2 duo systems that the stock core 2 duo's will outperform the AMD dual core's. One sorce has both an AMD opteron 185 and a core 2 duo E6600 and he told me that the E6600 stock will walk all over the opty 185. You don't have to take my word for it though. Go with whatever you're comfortable with.

My old pc was a northwood P4 3.4 ghz (@ 3.6 ghz) w/800 fsb and hyperthreading and 2 gb corsair XMS DDR PC3200 dual channel memory. My E6600 stock (2.4 ghz) was twice as fast as it was. You can only imagine how fast it is at 3.0 ghz. I intend on bumping it up some more later.

My pc cost me about $1300 but I carried over my optical drives from my old pc and already had the monitor.

taz,

Even if you do find a SATA cable with only one connector on the hdd end it will split into two cables because you have to get the power from the psu. Western Digital makes some SATA hdd's with both a SATA power connector and the std molex power connector. Most psu's anymore come with some SATA power connectors or at least some SATA power connector adaptors.

 

On the same page as Mort81 here on the SATA cables. The rig I just built for my buddy (AMD Opty 175) Mobo came with SATA, IDE, and other cables. I don't see any reason to get an all-in-one cable for that just like Mort81 said 'they have to be split anyway to connect to the mobo and psu' or something like that. lol. I just folded it gently to length and zip-tied it at that length, looks nice and created more room for air.

Mort81,
I wish I had chatted with you before I let my buddy chose his components. I think he could have gotten a much "better" rig for about the same money with an Intel duo-core. Not knocking the AMD but from what you said I'm really curious about the new Intel stuff.

I now have serious computer envy. Even that Opty 175 smokes my poor little 2.0GHz 3200+ AMD 939. LOL. Told (well asked really) my wife that next year or early 2008 gonna build something better with more POWER....herhhh, herhhh, herhhh.....

Just for conversation. What do you think about the E6400 or E6300 duo-core? I might even be able to get something earlier if they pass the "Mort81 TEST". Thanks for educating us Mort81.

...........c

edit: OOPS put the wrong specs for my PC....lol

 

Don't get me wrong, the AMD dual cores are fast, Intel core 2 duo just has the edge right now with their technology. You can get more bang for the buck with Intel right now. Only disadvantage is you will also have to get some DDR2 memory which really isn't a bad thing either since the memory, depending on what you get, is twice as fast. Example: DDR PC3200 is 400 mhz where DDR2 PC2 6400 is 800 mhz.

Concerning clutter with cables I opted to go with a modular psu. That way I don't have anything in there except what I absoltely need power cabling wise. I chose to go with a hiper 580, 630 watt max modular psu with gold plated aeronautical connectors. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817128001

There are more powerful modular psu's but this suited my needs just fine since I don't intend on running SLI or crossfire and only use 2 optical drives along with 2 SATA hdd's. I like how the rear fan on the psu stays running for about 5 minutes after the pc is shut down. The blue leds on both fans isn't bad either since they match the leds on my zalman 9500led and front led on my case.

I'm not big into all the lights but liked the cooler master mystique case and since the cpu HSF already had leds, why not get some on the PSU to match.

The reasons I chose the E6600 over the E6400 or 6300, obviously the E6600 is a faster cpu but the main reason is because of the jump from 2M shared L2 cache on the 6400 and under to 4M shared L2 cache on the 6600 and up.

 

yup the E6600 is the best bang for the buck at the moment

 

@taz1974
The thermal # is the heat output of the chip...lower the number the less heat output at the rated speed...lower is better...usually more expensive...better grade chip...more over clockable

As for all in one cables...never seen one...would not be of any real gain since they route to diffrent components...

@mort81
how do you like that Hiper P/S?..I looked at buying one a year ago...saw some bad reviews...concerning 12v rail stability...saw some good reviews...saying problem cured...excellent build quality...whats been your story with one...never known someone who had or used one...love the aviation connectors...

 

Lp531,

I did a lot of research and read a lot of reviews prior to going with the Hiper. Some good some bad but mostly good. One review stated that the screw on aeronautical connectors were cheap and crossthreaded easily. All I can say to that is they obviously didn't know how to "screw" and must have tried to start threading before the connector was seated or possibly started them crooked and tried forcing them with pliers. I had no problems whatsoever with crossthreading and tighten them fully by hand.

Another review compared it with 7 or 8 other top quality high end psu's of equivalent power and the hiper took 1st place. My rails are as follows according to pc probe II: 12 volt rail: 12.09 V. 5 volt rail: 5.07 V. 3.3 volt rail: 3.38 V.

I also like the plastic tool box w/tray that the hiper is shipped in. Gives me a nice play to store my extra screws, adaptors, thermal paste, cables, etc.

Every cable and adaptor I needed was included with the psu and still have plenty to spare. Personally, unlike sam, I can not even hear the fans on the psu over the fan on my X850XT running at 27%. I have absolutely no complaints as of yet.

aabbccdd,

Welcome back!

 

thanks Mort

 

thanks lp531. that answered my question on the numbers. now i can order.welcome back.

 

Yes... good to see your back- aabbccdd... Will [Hopefully] be adding new sound card and new case this weekend!

 

thank you herrick tis good to be back

 

@taz1974
Glad to help...have you decided on AMD...over Intell?..

@aabbccdd
Glad to see you and Adriana back...I missed her...Damn...she is so Fine...
Looks like the "paint the kettle" thread is in the crapper...say la vee...

 

aabbccdd,

Good to see you back but even better to see adriana again

 

thank you thank you guys!!

Adriana def. Eye Candy!!