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Official 2008 "I Need A New PC" Thread

S

SRG01

Member
The Chef said:
Definitely Home Premium is the best bang for your buck. I might just order this today.
Thanks again epix
Click to expand...

Home Premium is the choice for most users, as the Business version doesn't have built-in DVD decoding and has some business networking authentication stuff which you probably don't need.
 
Apocryphon

Apocryphon

Member
The Chef said:
I just want to make sure that if I spend the cash on Vista 64 it will run great.
This is my processor for my new PC I built:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017

So this along with 4 Gigs of ram - will that run well?
Click to expand...

Depending on your needs you'd probably be better off with the E8400.

It's the 45nm refresh of the 65nm E6850 which was a better processor for gaming than the Q6600 when they were both released early in 2006. The E8400 has the same clock rate as the E6850, but it's fabricated on a 45nm chip and so not only runs at a higher frequency and has an additional 2MB cache, but it runs cooler and consumes less power.

They're both overclockable to about 4GHz, and in gaming related tasks the E8400 will always come out ahead.

The Q6600 is better for video editing and encoding, so it really depends on what you are going to be using your PC for.

If you were insistant on getting a quad core then why not just spend the additional $40 - $50 and get the Q9300? It's clocked slower, but it's more efficient than the Q6600. It's 45nm and can be overclocked to around 3.7GHz. Overall it's about 7% faster than the Q6600.

If you're on a budget and are going to be gaming, the E8400 is the best processor going right now.
 
V

Vyse The Legend

Member
Majik said:
If you're on a budget and are going to be gaming, the E8400 is the best processor going right now.
Click to expand...

Those are the keywords. "Right now." It won't always be this way. So, getting a Quad-core actually isn't a bad investment if you're not planning on getting a new rig for another few years.

Vista Question:
Is there anything glaring missing from the basic edition (things important for gaming)? I checked out the checklist posted above, but I didn't see anything major. Just a lot of flashy extras.
 
T

The Chef

Member
Sorry - i guess I should have clarified, that quad core processor I was talking about is the processor I already bought for my pc build I made about 3 weeks ago.
 
E

Epix

Member
Vyse The Legend said:
Vista Question:
Is there anything glaring missing from the basic edition (things important for gaming)? I checked out the checklist posted above, but I didn't see anything major. Just a lot of flashy extras.
Click to expand...
Not important to gaming but the new Vista Aero GUI isn't included in the basic version.
 
Z

zoku88

Member
Doesn't the basic edition also have a smaller RAM limit? I was under the impression that it just kinda sucked as a whole...
 
E

Epix

Member
zoku88 said:
Doesn't the basic edition also have a smaller RAM limit? I was under the impression that it just kinda sucked as a whole...
Click to expand...
Yeah, the basic version has limits of 4GB (32bit) and 8GB(64bit).
 
godhandiscen

godhandiscen

There are millions of whiny 5-year olds on Earth, and I AM THEIR KING.
Cheeto said:
Remote Desktop isn't available in Home Premium...that's shitty. Looks like I have to spring for ultimate.
Click to expand...
I gave up on trying to get remote desktop to work. The configuration is a pain. ?I wish I had a static IP.
 
B

brain_stew

Member
SRG01 said:
Oh, in that case, go visit the some overclocking forums to see their input. The E4xxx are overclocking monsters, but I'm unsure of the E7xxx.
Click to expand...

The E7200 is a very good clocker from all accounts, and is better clock for clock than the E4xxx range. Its the clear choice imo, only other consideration I'd have would be an E2160/E2180 because of the ridiculous bang for buck you get once overclocked. I've got my E2180 running at 3.24ghz and it flies, scores 2800ish in 3DMark06 CPU test, which is damn close to an E8400 at stock. Except the E2180 was well over £100 cheaper for me.
 
S

SRG01

Member
brain_stew said:
The E7200 is a very good clocker from all accounts, and is better clock for clock than the E4xxx range. Its the clear choice imo, only other consideration I'd have would be an E2160/E2180 because of the ridiculous bang for buck you get once overclocked. I've got my E2180 running at 3.24ghz and it flies, scores 2800ish in 3DMark06 CPU test, which is damn close to an E8400 at stock. Except the E2180 was well over £100 cheaper for me.
Click to expand...

What the hell. Are you kidding me? What's the voltage and temperature?

Then again, it's an artificial benchmark, and I expect the larger cache on the E8400 to make a big difference on some applications.
 
G

Gwanatu T

Junior Member
aznpxdd said:
Damn, 8800GTX for $218. :O

http://fxvideocards.com/ZOTAC-ZT-88...Express-x16-SLI-ZOTAC-Video-Card-p-16277.html

At first the brand and the site seems fishy, but the people at [H] confirmed both are legit.
Click to expand...

From what I understand, Zotac is the sister company of Sapphire, so it's a good brand.

The Chef said:
Vista needs like 4Gb of Ram to run optimally, correct?
Click to expand...

Na. I run 2gb and it's just fine, I've never seen a hint of it freaking out over lack of RAM. I run Vista Ultimate x64 on a Core 2 Duo e6750 and a Radeon HD 3850 512mb with 2gb DDR2-800.
 
godhandiscen

godhandiscen

There are millions of whiny 5-year olds on Earth, and I AM THEIR KING.
Cheeto said:
Is vista's different? I've never had an issue using it in XP.

If you don't have a static, see if this will help you:
http://www.dyndns.com/services/dns/dyndns/
Click to expand...
It must be. I dont know what incompatibilities I had (else I would have it running now). I had it working in XP 64, but it didnt work with Vista Ultimate. Apparently the setup with a static IP is a breeze so thats why I said I wish I had one. With XP I could even RD connect into my school's Windows server, but with Vista I haven't been able to do it. TBH to set it up with XP it also took me a while, so maybe if I kept trying, but I gave up because I already have my XP PC as my server.
 
B

brain_stew

Member
SRG01 said:
What the hell. Are you kidding me? What's the voltage and temperature?

Then again, it's an artificial benchmark, and I expect the larger cache on the E8400 to make a big difference on some applications.
Click to expand...

1.35 set in BIOS, roughly 1.3V under load after VDROOP so well within spec. Temps are <30C idle and <50C load. Its been proven time and again that the extra cache doesn't produce anywhere close to the effect one would expect in the real world. It is ofcourse application specific, but you're rarely looking at more than a 10% performance drop. My CPU score is 2800 @ 3.24 and an E8400 will score just shy of 3000 at stock so, it seems to represent that 10% figure quite well.

Its a cracking little chip, and for £31, my machine doesn't have any hint of a CPU bottleneck in modern games, so I saw little need in spending more money for very minor performance increases.
 
AZ Greg

AZ Greg

Member
Ok guys, need some help. I posted a little earlier that my little brother was looking to build a PC that would be suitable for gaming. I was told not to go with Dell but there is currently a deal he isn't going to be able to pass up. So, I need some advice on a few components and a couple of questions answered.

The system will come to $579 and the major components will be:

- Intel® Core™2 Duo Proc E8300 (2.83GHz,6MB L2Cache,1333FSB)
- Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition
- 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz - 2DIMMs
- Single Drive: 16X DVD-ROM Drive
- 160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
- 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800 GT

After taxes he'll still have about $70-$80 to play with. He can upgrade the processor for $60 and get this instead:

- Intel® Core™2 Duo Proc E8400 (3.0GHz,6MB L2Cache,1333FSB)

Or he can use his remaining money to upgrade the ram for $70 and get this instead:

- 3GB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHZ - 2X1GB+2X512MB

Or he can use his remaining money to upgrade the HDD for $60 and get this isntead:

- 250GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™

So which of those 3 upgrades would be the most worth it? Are any of them worth it?

Finally, what can he expect to play on this system and how will it run? Thanks! :D
 
K

Kadey

Mrs. Harvey
Why isn't there an official post your rig thread?

And AZ.
3gigs is an oddball.
I'd doubt a casual user would need that much space.
The E8400 is the best price/performance processor right now in the Duo core family.
 
S

Smidget

Member
I'm looking at this:
Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply - Retail - $129.99 - $30 MIR = $99.99
SAMSUNG SpinPoint T Series HD501LJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - $89.99
GIGABYTE GV-NX88T512HPV1 GeForce 8800GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail - $179.99 - $40 MIR = $139.99
OCZ SLI-Ready Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2N800SR4GK - Retail - $98.99 - $30 MIR = $68.99
DFI LANPARTY DK P35-T2RS LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - $129.99
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - Retail - $194.99

+ shipping $12.18

= $736.12 shipped

Play any game out there right? :)
 
K

Kadey

Mrs. Harvey
Cheeto said:
Is the E8400 going to drop?
Click to expand...

Official statement.

" In Q3 of this year Intel very likely will add a new processor to it's line-up, the Core 2 Quad Q9650.

The Q9650 will be priced at $530 close to half the price of the similarly spec'd high-end "Extreme" QX9650, which is listed at $999 on Intel's pricing Web page. It's very likely that the main difference is the lack of a free multiplier.

Similar to the QX9650, the Q9650 will have a clock speed of 3GHz, a 1333MHz front-side bus (FSB), and 12MB of cache memory. The other notable desktop processor slated to debut in the third quarter is the Core 2 Duo E8600. This will have a clock speed of 3.33GHz, a 1333MHz FSB, and 6MB of cache memory. It is expected to be priced at $266.

The E8600 will top the currently available E8500, which runs at 3.16GHz and is priced at $266.

Also rumored are some price cuts. The quad-core Q9550 (2.83GHz), for example, is slated to drop from $530 to $316 (the upcoming Q9650 will push the Q9550 down to a lower price point). The widely-used Q6600 (2.4GHz) is expected to fall from $224 to $203. The Core 2 Duo E8500 should see its price fall from $266 to $183.

Good stuff. "
 
S

SRG01

Member
brain_stew said:
1.35 set in BIOS, roughly 1.3V under load after VDROOP so well within spec. Temps are <30C idle and <50C load. Its been proven time and again that the extra cache doesn't produce anywhere close to the effect one would expect in the real world. It is ofcourse application specific, but you're rarely looking at more than a 10% performance drop. My CPU score is 2800 @ 3.24 and an E8400 will score just shy of 3000 at stock so, it seems to represent that 10% figure quite well.

Its a cracking little chip, and for £31, my machine doesn't have any hint of a CPU bottleneck in modern games, so I saw little need in spending more money for very minor performance increases.
Click to expand...

Holy shit. I might go this route rather than getting an AMD system then.
 
M

momolicious

Member
Is my system expected to run COD4 at 60fps or more on max settings at 1440x900 resolution? Because it definately doesnt run at 60 fps on some of the later levels.

Athlon X2 dual core 3800+
8800GT 512mb
2 gig ram
 
S

SRG01

Member
momolicious said:
Is my system expected to run COD4 at 60fps or more on max settings at 1440x900 resolution? Because it definately doesnt run at 60 fps on some of the later levels.

Athlon X2 dual core 3800+
8800GT 512mb
2 gig ram
Click to expand...

Did you check your drivers?
 
D

derder

Member
AZ Greg said:
Ok guys, need some help. I posted a little earlier that my little brother was looking to build a PC that would be suitable for gaming. I was told not to go with Dell but there is currently a deal he isn't going to be able to pass up. So, I need some advice on a few components and a couple of questions answered.

The system will come to $579 and the major components will be:

- Intel® Core™2 Duo Proc E8300 (2.83GHz,6MB L2Cache,1333FSB)
- Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition
- 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz - 2DIMMs
- Single Drive: 16X DVD-ROM Drive
- 160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
- 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800 GT

After taxes he'll still have about $70-$80 to play with. He can upgrade the processor for $60 and get this instead:

- Intel® Core™2 Duo Proc E8400 (3.0GHz,6MB L2Cache,1333FSB)

Or he can use his remaining money to upgrade the ram for $70 and get this instead:

- 3GB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHZ - 2X1GB+2X512MB

Or he can use his remaining money to upgrade the HDD for $60 and get this isntead:

- 250GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™

So which of those 3 upgrades would be the most worth it? Are any of them worth it?

Finally, what can he expect to play on this system and how will it run? Thanks! :D
Click to expand...
Anyone know of this deal?
 
R

rabhw

Member
momolicious said:
Is my system expected to run COD4 at 60fps or more on max settings at 1440x900 resolution? Because it definately doesnt run at 60 fps on some of the later levels.

Athlon X2 dual core 3800+
8800GT 512mb
2 gig ram
Click to expand...

cpu bottleneck
 
D

derder

Member
I have <$700 to spend on a PC so that I can play AoC at high @1280x1024, is this possible? I really won't play any other games except starcraft 2 and cod4.
 
AZ Greg

AZ Greg

Member
derder said:
I have <$700 to spend on a PC so that I can play AoC at high @1280x1024, is this possible? I really won't play any other games except starcraft 2 and cod4.
Click to expand...

derder, just saw your PM. Unfortunately, the deal is a coupon code which is for $300 off a desktop that costs at least $749. The coupon came in a little booklet celebrating Dell's 24th anniversary. I believe my dad got them because he has a small business account.
 
B

brain_stew

Member
AZ Greg said:
Ok guys, need some help. I posted a little earlier that my little brother was looking to build a PC that would be suitable for gaming. I was told not to go with Dell but there is currently a deal he isn't going to be able to pass up. So, I need some advice on a few components and a couple of questions answered.

The system will come to $579 and the major components will be:

- Intel® Core™2 Duo Proc E8300 (2.83GHz,6MB L2Cache,1333FSB)
- Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition
- 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz - 2DIMMs
- Single Drive: 16X DVD-ROM Drive
- 160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
- 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800 GT

After taxes he'll still have about $70-$80 to play with. He can upgrade the processor for $60 and get this instead:

- Intel® Core™2 Duo Proc E8400 (3.0GHz,6MB L2Cache,1333FSB)

Or he can use his remaining money to upgrade the ram for $70 and get this instead:

- 3GB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHZ - 2X1GB+2X512MB

Or he can use his remaining money to upgrade the HDD for $60 and get this isntead:

- 250GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™

So which of those 3 upgrades would be the most worth it? Are any of them worth it?

Finally, what can he expect to play on this system and how will it run? Thanks! :D
Click to expand...

The only upgrade I'd consider would be the E8400 as the others have silly prices. As you probably won't be able to overclock on a Dell board, getting the fastest speed at stock is probably a good move.

If you want more HDD space or extra RAM (although 2GB is plenty for XP and games) just buy them off Newegg and upgrade yourself. It'll save you a lot of casha nd is beyond easy to do.
 
AZ Greg

AZ Greg

Member
SRG01 said:
IIRC, the deal is only $579 without the 8800GT. At least, in Canada it is. In total, it's around like $800 or so.
Click to expand...

With the components I originally posted the total comes to $879. Then it comes to $579 with the $300 coupon. I am in the US though.

So the final component set will be:

- Intel® Core™2 Duo Proc E8400 (3.0GHz,6MB L2Cache,1333FSB)
- Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition
- 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz - 2DIMMs
- Single Drive: 16X DVD-ROM Drive
- 160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
- 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800 GT

Grand total of $639 before taxes and with free shipping. Again, can anyone give me an idea of what games this will be able to run and how well? Thanks!
 
S

SRG01

Member
AZ Greg said:
With the components I originally posted the total comes to $879. Then it comes to $579 with the $300 coupon. I am in the US though.

So the final component set will be:

- Intel® Core&#8482;2 Duo Proc E8400 (3.0GHz,6MB L2Cache,1333FSB)
- Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition
- 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz - 2DIMMs
- Single Drive: 16X DVD-ROM Drive
- 160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache&#8482;
- 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800 GT

Grand total of $639 before taxes and with free shipping. Again, can anyone give me an idea of what games this will be able to run and how well? Thanks!
Click to expand...

Oh, I missed the part about the coupon. :D I was going for a similar system too, earlier in this thread. I haven't bought it yet though...
 
B

brain_stew

Member
AZ Greg said:
With the components I originally posted the total comes to $879. Then it comes to $579 with the $300 coupon. I am in the US though.

So the final component set will be:

- Intel® Core™2 Duo Proc E8400 (3.0GHz,6MB L2Cache,1333FSB)
- Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition
- 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz - 2DIMMs
- Single Drive: 16X DVD-ROM Drive
- 160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
- 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800 GT

Grand total of $639 before taxes and with free shipping. Again, can anyone give me an idea of what games this will be able to run and how well? Thanks!
Click to expand...

Everything, basically. The only game you won't max out is Crysis, though I manage a stable 30FPS at 1360x768, all settings to high with 2xAA 4xAF with the demo on a damn near indentical setup . What resolution monitor will you be using as a huge resolution monitor is the only thing that would hold that setup back.

momolicious said:
Is my system expected to run COD4 at 60fps or more on max settings at 1440x900 resolution? Because it definately doesnt run at 60 fps on some of the later levels.

Athlon X2 dual core 3800+
8800GT 512mb
2 gig ram
Click to expand...

That looks like a CPU bottleneck to me. Try a modest overclock on your CPU (the X2 3800 is a good clocker) and you should remove it.
 
B

brain_stew

Member
aznpxdd said:
A E2180 @ 3.24 with only 1.3v? That's pretty much unheard of.
Click to expand...

27421723ho5.jpg


'Tis a sweet chip. From another forum I post on, 3ghz seems to be pretty common, although it usually requires a little more voltage than mine does. With enough voltage and cooling this thing'll run at 3.6ghz but its just not worth the trade off in voltage and temps. Oh, and my temps are about ~5C better since then after installing an extra 120mm intake fan.
 
K

Kintaro

Worships the porcelain goddess
Hey guys, I'm running an E6300 Core 2 Duo at the moment. What's a good step up for me at this point?
 
K

Kintaro

Worships the porcelain goddess
brain_stew said:
Just OC it. An OCed E6300 will not be a bottleneck for any current game.
Click to expand...

Hmm...experimenting around with it, I'm up to about 2.5Ghz up from the 1.86. Not bad.

Edit: Of course, now I'm getting artifacting in Age of Conan where there was none before. =(
 
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