The (new) Official PC building thread!

@ dumbstuff

Wow for some reason I never saw that mobo...looks good. ty sir

@ 6spdSER

Well at least for awhile I think I'll survive without sli but I guess it would be nice to have that feature ready for a time when a single 8800gts cant keep up, that could be a long time plus I work at a smallish resolution (1440x900).Im kinda stuck between getting a board with sli and getting a better board without sli like an Abit AB9 Pro since I heard it overclocks like a dream.

Oh and I already have an Auzentech XDA Xplosion and logitech Z-5500's that I love to death, so I know where youre coming from there.

Ok so I guess all that is left is to sit and contemplate sli yay or nay.

thanks for help so far

 

@6spdSER
Here is a link...that should answering your question on memory...being synchronous and asynchronous...

and yes you are running...asynchronous

http://anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2900&p=4

 

hi,
im not very good with computer hardware, so any help would be great. Im looking make a computer, but have no idea what i need. Im looking to make a computer for gaming. I play hi-def games like rainbow six and total war games. My VAIO doesnt handle them too well, so any tips of any relaible parts would be great.
Thanks!
BbB

 

anybody know if the corsair xms2 dominators will post with 1.8v?

 

@marsey99
Do not know if it would post at that voltage...Its rated at 2.4v...I would ask over in the O. C. thread...

Link:
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/25/426825

@bombayboy
What Sony Vaio model do you have?..maybe you can upgrade it...
What is your budget?..

 

it was all ok my mobo (p5n e sli) picked them up on auto so its all good.

thanks for the reply any hoo.

 

@marsey99
Very nice ram...Just curious...what voltage did they auto-set two?..

Which dominator's are they?..

I would talk to them over in the OC thread...they can help you get the most...out of those sticks...

 

it booted with timings of 5-5-5-15 on 1.8v

they are the cas4 models

edit

i have already upped the voltage to 2.1 and set the timings to 4-4-4-12

 

@Lp531
Thanks for the link.

So it seems that if no overclocking is being done then there is little to no performance gain having premium memory, say DDR2-800 over DDR2-533. I know that CAS and RAS latencies come into play as well, but even tweaking those only helps marginally...well at least for the user.
So for users looking to build a emailing/word processing box the $200 stuff versus the $600 stuff won't make much of a difference for you.

@esoteric1
If you have doubt about how long the 8800 will last you then I'd say go with an SLi board. You can never be too safe with having an extra slot for a GPU boost.

@bombayboy
There are many options out there...and like Lp531 said maybe you can upgrade your Sony..but in the end it's how much you are willing to spend. IMHO, Intel's Core 2 Duo is the CPU to base your system around. Also to take into consideration is what resolution do you usually game at, let alone what resolutions can your monitor handle? I ask because if say your montior can only handle a max resolution of 1280x1024 then a SLi setup using two XFX Fata1ity 7600GT's (650MHz core, 1600MHz Mem: Oh and they are silent) would be plenty. Give us a budget and we can help you out for sure!

Cheers!

 

Thanks for the quick replies!
Well at the moment i have sony vaio pcv w1/g. If you search it up, youll find its built werid, so not much space for ram and upgrading, as the hard drive is smaller than my screen.

E.g. here. I dont have much money going spare. I bought a new laptop few months back, thats just for college work.

I have around £300-£500.
I just want something for gaming. any tips would be great!
thank you.

 

@6spdSER

Basically being synchronous and asynchronous....is not as important as it once was...you still get a performance boost with DDR2-800 over DDR2-533...No real difference in price between those two speeds...It is the upper speeds that are Uber expensive...

And yes in my opinion you don't need to spend $600 on a couple sticks...

@greensman
And for you greensman..."You got any wiggle room" is my new slogan..

@bombayboy
What is the Vaio model number...A video card is where you will see the biggest bang for your buck in gaming...Does it have a PCI-Express Slot or an AGP slot...for a Video Card...

 

hi,
this is the model sony vaio pcv w1/g.
Im not sure what slot it has. As i cant open up the HD. Youll see if you look at the pictures.

 

@Bombayboy
We need a model number...like VGC-RM1...so we can look-up specifications of your system...

How old is this this system...what did you pay for it...

Is it something like this:

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INT...roductSKU=PCVRX860/BSTOCK&TabName=specs&var2=

Or one of these:

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/_3C...&SearchAll.x=4&SearchAll.y=7&SearchAll=Search

 

Give this link a look see of the Sony bombayboy is talking about. Well at least I think that's it. ;0

Sony Vaio W1

This link is better....lol

Did some quick research on the Sony Vaio W1 and I think it's a hybrid but may be able to have a little upgrade. ;-)

.....gm

 

Yh sorry. Its the second link greensman pasted (thanks).
So anything i could do for performance wise and gaming wise?

 

sorry ace but those vios are almost like macs, what you buy is what you get. you could add some more ram but that would mean you need to remove whats installed already and buy a bigger stick. not sure wether it would be worth getting a pci vid card as most likly it will be worse than your onboard.

 

oh right. Hm..thanks for your help! So i guess i cant do the VAIO. Any tips on builing a gaming computer from scratch for under £500.

 

bombayboy,
I'll not be completely negative here but you should save another 200-300 pounds and do it right. I don't know the conversion but I was looking last night for myself and you can do one for about 1200-1500 American money. That was for minimum on almost everything. Well at least what I call minimum, I won't buy cheap again. Good or better quality components, you know good name brand. This is only for the tower itself, no key board, mouse, or monitor. I'm sure with some shopping around and frugal purchasing you could add those items for pretty cheap. ;-)

Intel C2D E6400 w/high level cpu cooler
Good PSU
ASUS mobo w/ iNVIDIA chipset
250GB SATA HDD
mid level video card (preferably iNVIDIA)
mid tower case (aluminum)
2 optical drives(pioneer or liteon unless you want to spend the $$$ for Plextor)

I'm sure that I'm missing something here, to many distractions with wife and kids bugging me. lol. If you would like I can post something to look at from an American vender and let you see what I'm talking about. Also I consider Mort81 and Lp531 good sources for ideas and experience for computers. There are some others but very seldom do they show there face here. Busy people if you know what I mean. ;-)

....gm

 

Hi…. I am building a new system but am unsure of several things as the last system I built was in 2003 and things seemed simpler then. I would appreciate anyone’s input on my thoughts for a game system. I am concerned about the Vista Ready aspect and component compatibility. I have read so much lately about memory and processor incompatibility with the newer MoBo as well as difficulty keeping the system SLI and Vista Ready. I have done some research and have an idea of the system I would like to build but would appreciate some input on value, performance, and especially compatibility. I will list my choice of components and would appreciate input from anyone that can help me with the final configuration…. Other conponents suggestions are fine as well, the idea is to get a very good game machine, that is upgradeable, for arround $2000.00 USD. Thanks..... JV

MoBo:

ASUS P5N32-E SLI Plus LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX
ASUS P5N32-SLI Premium/WiFi-AP LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI ATX
ASUS P5N32-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX
EVGA 122-CK-NF68-AR LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX


Processor:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4 GHz

Memory: (Dual Channel)
Patriot eXtreme Performance 2 GB DDR2 800, CL 4, 4-4-4-12, 2.2V
OCZ Vista Performance Gold Ed., 4GB (2x2048), DDR2 800, CL 5, 5-5-5-18, 2.0V
OZC EL, Gold Gamer eXtreme, XTC Ed., DDR2 800, 5-5-5


Video: (install one now and one when the price comes down)
EVGA 640-P2-N825-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320 Bit PCI Express x16 SuperClocked HDCP.
EVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384 Bit PCI Express x16 HDCP.

HDD:
WD Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250 GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0 gb (x4 Mirrored Raid)

PSU:
OCZ GameXstream 700W Power Supply
Thermaltake Toughpower 750 Modular Power Supply


Case:
Antec Nine Hundred Mid Tower Case

Floppy, DVD Room, DVD-RW, Card Reader, Etc.

 

Yh that would be great. thanks for your help. Just wondering the grpahics card, any tips?