The Official PC building thread -3rd Edition

Discussion in 'Building a new PC' started by ddp, Jul 16, 2008.

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  1. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    The previous "Official PC building thread" dates back to 2006 and is a fair old few pages long now - http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/426825 so it's a good a time as any to start afresh. The old thread is now closed/unstickied but as it's linked here in the first post of the new thread it won't be forgotten and can still be referenced. copy, pasted & edited from creaky's post from 2nd edition.
     
    ddp, Jul 16, 2008
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  2. cincyrob

    cincyrob Active member

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    well let me start.
    my b-day is next month i am getting another mobo. i am looking at the P45 boards. the board is all ill need as for im gonna use my other parts for now. once up and running i might get a better GPU.

    Sam, boozer, shaff. you can let me have it. all the mid range GPU's can throw at me. $150-250 is all i want to spend when i get one...lol

    the 2 mobos i kinda like right now are the
    GA-EP45-DS3R AND the ASUS P5Q deluxe
     
    cincyrob, Jul 16, 2008
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  3. Mort81

    Mort81 Senior member

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    I'm just posting to get onboard (with my freshly installed Q9450 and bios update I might add).
     
    Mort81, Jul 16, 2008
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  4. shaffaaf

    shaffaaf Regular member

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    right well this is coming from a biased man, but i have heard nothign but amazing things for the ASUS p45s. even the most basic one. they are breakign records hitting over 670Mhz on the FBS and are a clockers dream
     
    shaffaaf, Jul 16, 2008
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  5. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    I've no idea what the EP45-DS3R is like, so I'll have to do some reading up on that one. Needless to say if it's anything like its predecessor it'll be a solid bet. The P5Q Deluxe is also shaping up to be an excellent board though, so I doubt you'll go wrong with either.

    My current suggestion for the GPU:
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102747
    Assuming you actually need an upgraded GPU of course?
     
    sammorris, Jul 16, 2008
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  6. abuzar1

    abuzar1 Senior member

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    I will second Sams choice on the GPU.


    As for the motherboard, personally if I was you I would NOT upgrade my board at this point. Seriously, the board you have right now is pretty damn good. How much more are you going to OC?

    Save your money for Nehalem.
     
    abuzar1, Jul 16, 2008
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  7. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    You raise a good point actually, the P35-DS3R is still a capable board for 775. Still, if you're after big numbers on a quad core the P5Q Deluxe is about as good a board as any to use. I'd recommend a bigger cooler if trying for big scores on a quad though, those bad boys get hot! :)
     
    sammorris, Jul 16, 2008
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  8. Mort81

    Mort81 Senior member

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    I'm trying to figure out what the max spec voltage for my Q9450 is. the box says 1.25 but newegg says 1.3625. I can't find the spec/data sheet on intels site for some reason now.
     
    Mort81, Jul 16, 2008
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  9. Sophocles

    Sophocles Senior member

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    Sophocles, Jul 16, 2008
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  10. Sophocles

    Sophocles Senior member

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    Sophocles, Jul 16, 2008
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  11. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    ddp, Jul 16, 2008
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  12. abuzar1

    abuzar1 Senior member

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    Sam, I took a Q6600 to 3.6GHZ on a GA-P35-DS3R. It is a more than capable board. The only thing holding me back was the cooling. It works pretty damn well for a Quad core.

    Seriously, with Nehalem only 6-8 months away, I would advise anyone doing an upgrade on their CPU, Motherboard, or Ram, to hold their horses for a while. In fact I wouldn't even purchase a newer CPU cooler that costs me 60+ dollars because I'm not sure if it will be compatible with the socket.
     
    abuzar1, Jul 16, 2008
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  13. Mort81

    Mort81 Senior member

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    thanks Soph and ddp.

    I've got something wacky going on now since I updated the bios. all the music I play now sounds like it is on an old vinyl record. cracking and popping noises in the background. it's the same whether the sound is going through my desktop speakers or headphones. I don't think it was there prior to updating the bios but I'm not 100% sure I played any tunes prior to the update. I know it wasn't there yesterday. any ideas? the bios was official, not beta. buggy bios maybe?
     
    Last edited: Jul 16, 2008
    Mort81, Jul 16, 2008
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  14. cincyrob

    cincyrob Active member

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    yes iwill be needing a better gpu as like i said im getting into playing WOW. i know its outdated now bt hey i gotta start somewhere. and winter will be here soon enough and cant get outside as much.

    im mainly going with the P45 board cause of my CPU. it will help with my temps and i think from what i have read about the P45 chipsets they can handle th 45nm alot better than the P35 boards.

    im not ready for the nehalem stuff yet. thats 7-8months down the road for me..lol
     
    cincyrob, Jul 16, 2008
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  15. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    heh, and so the upgrade cycle is revealed... :p
    I'm not considering Nehalem at this stage as it means not just new CPU, but new board and memory too, and considering I'm primarily focused on a graphics upgrade right now, that'd basically be an entire system rebuild. If I do get anything Nehalem related, it will be at least a year from now, probably longer, not that I will stop others of course.
     
    sammorris, Jul 16, 2008
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  16. Sophocles

    Sophocles Senior member

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    LOL. I just beat ddp by 2 minutes or less with the same link.

    If you're using Integrated audio try looking for an updated driver that sometimes help quite a bit. I've never been a fan of integrated audio because I always found the sound a little thin and sometimes a bit harsh. Still check for an updated driver.
     
    Sophocles, Jul 16, 2008
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  17. abuzar1

    abuzar1 Senior member

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    All I'm sayin is this. Your temps RIGHT NOW are fine. Why are you so worried? What do you get under load AT MOST? 60C core temps? Nothing to worry about.

    YES, 8 months down the road. But look at what you will have to get. A WHOLE NEW motherboard, CPU AND RAM. Better to start saving up now.
     
    Last edited: Jul 16, 2008
    abuzar1, Jul 16, 2008
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  18. Mort81

    Mort81 Senior member

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    Soph,

    I'm using the supreme II audio card that came with the mobo.
     
    Mort81, Jul 16, 2008
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  19. Sophocles

    Sophocles Senior member

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    It's not integrated? I haven't heard much about the card. Do you have the latest drivers? You can try this. Go into Device manager, right click on your audio card, select uninstall. and reboot and see if that helps.
     
    Sophocles, Jul 16, 2008
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  20. Mort81

    Mort81 Senior member

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    thanks again Soph.

    seems to have solved the problem. I was about ready to revert back to the old bios or try my creative SB audigy sound card. all seems to be good now.

    has anybody installed XP SP3? I was looking for an audio driver on windows update and they want me to install SP3.
     
    Mort81, Jul 16, 2008
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