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New PC Specs


MeatEtr

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Hmm - in this article at Anandtech, they can get you sort of an apples-to-apples comparison. Basically, in multithreaded game performance (Far Cry 2) the Phenom II is a bit better on a clock for clock basis than Core 2 Duo, but still gets beat on in games like Crysis that don't use more than one or two cores. However, the Phenom II X4 920 is a 2.8 Ghz processor, and the E8500 is 3.16 Ghz; I would expect in pure gaming terms the E8500 is a better choice.

Now, obviously gaming isn't everything - the quad core Phenom II is going to crush the Core 2 Duos in things like video encoding, but frankly the only reason I care about processor capabilityi beyond a minimal level is for gaming.

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Ok, after changing my mind a hundreds of times and spec'ing out hundreds of different builds from various sites. Not to mention the countless reviews from hardware sites and running around their forums daily. So I'm burned out to say the least. But I finally lined up a shot and pulled the trigger Friday night.

I kept trying to shoehorn it all up into about $1000 bucks on the dot. But in the end I just said the hell with it and ended up spending a little more than I originally planned.

So here it is:

BASE_PRICE: [+559]

CASE: ($10 off Mail-in Rebate) Raidmax Sagitta II Mid-Tower 420W Gaming Case w/ Side-Panel Window [-7] (Blue Color)

CS_FAN: Extra Case Cooling Fan [+3] (2 x Fans [+3])

CPU: (Quad-Core)Intel® Core 2 Quad Q9550 @ 2.83GHz 1333FSB 12MB L2 Cache 64-bit [+116]

CD: (Special Price) LG 20X DVD+/-R/+/-RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (BLACK COLOR)

FLASHMEDIA: INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer (BLACK COLOR)

FREEBIE_CU1: FREE! CyberPower Multi-Purpose Carrying Briefcase ($19.99

FREEBIE_CU2: FREE! Cyberpower Unleash The Power T-Shirt ($19 Value)

FAN: Thermaltake Big Typhoon VX Gaming CPU Cooling Fan (Excellent Overclocking + Silent Proof 16dBA) [+45]

FREEBIES: Age of Conan and MS Flight Simulator X Deluxe games

HDD: Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)

KEYBOARD: Logitech Deluxe 104 PS/2 Keyboard [-2] (Black Color)

MOUSE: XtremeGear Optical USB 3 Buttons Gaming Mouse [-1]

MOTHERBOARD: Asus P5N-D nForce 750i SLI Chipset LGA775 FSB1333 DDR2 Mainboard [+83]

MEMORY: 4GB (2GBx2) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory (Corsair or Major Brand)

NETWORK: ONBOARD 10/100 NETWORK CARD

OS: Microsoft® Windows Vista Home Premium w/ Service Pack 1 [+104] (32-bit Edition)

PRO_WIRING: Professional Wiring for All WIRINGs Inside The System Chasis with High Performance Thermal Compound on CPU [+19]

POWERSUPPLY: 750 Watts Power Supplies [+79] (Corsair CMPSU-750TX - Quad SLI Ready [+90])

SERVICE: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT

SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO

SPEAKERS: 600Watts PMPO Subwoofer Stereo Speakers

TEMP: THERMAL TEMPERATURE LCD DISPLAY WITH 3X FAN CONTROLLER [+12] (BLACK COLOR)

USB: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports

VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 16X PCI Express [+40] EVGA

PRICE: (+1148)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Coupon: MYSPACE ($30 MySpace Rebate) -$30.00

SUBTOTAL $1,118.00

Sales Tax (N/A) $0.00

Shipping: Fedex Ground $65.00

Shipping Discount -$65.00

----------------------------------------------------------------------

GRAND TOTAL $1,118.00

Actually I orginally picked a 9600 GT 512MB Palit but was able to change my order today. The guy let me upgrade to the 9800 GTX+ 512MB for only $21. It was listed as a $71 difference, so he saved me 50 bucks right there. I think the guy hooked me up because I listed him as the salesperson I talked to briefly prior to ordering. Perhaps his way of saying thanks for crediting him for the sale.

Went with a Quad for a bit of future proofing, probably gonna try some overclocking too since I got a good cooling fan.

I might regret not getting 64-bit, but figured W7 will be here in less than a year anyway. I will proabably try dual boot with XP Pro too.

Power supply was expensive but was also thinking along the lines of future proofing here too. I can SLI any card on the market today and then some in the future. Not to mention the reliability of it.

Happy with the motherboard too, when I do give SLI a try it won't dowgrade the speed to 8x, both cards will run in 16x mode.

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I had just gotten a new system these past holidays after a lot of researching and 'deal' waiting also. It took over 4 weeks to get all the parts I wanted and then an afternoon to put it all together! Pretty similar price point, I have been very happy with it. FYI if the Vista 32 bit is a retail version and not OEM, you can send MS another $10 for a 64 bit version, same key and only one copy installed of course!

My PC

Gigabyte EP45-UDR $145

Intel E8400 3 Ghz Dual Core $190

Muskin Redlines PC 8000 $76

Noctua NH-U12P HS $55

Antec P182 Case $150

Corsair 750W PS $114

Extra Fan Free

EVGA 9800 GTX $190 w/ some free game

WD Caviar SE 16 640Gb $75

Samsung TruDirect 22X DVD Writer $35

Scythe 18-1 Floppy Drive $20

Saitek Eclipse Keyboard $20

Logitech Cordless Mouse Free

Samsung 2253 LW monitor $180

Vista Home Premium 64 bit OEM $125

Total $1375 with another $65 in MIRs which I haven't seen as of yet.

This system is suprisingly fast after struggling on a PIII for the past ten years :) I don't know about the Quad 9550, but the E8400 is easily overclockable to 4Ghz with minimal overvolting and never over 45C stress testing with the Noctua HS/fan. I don't know if I will keep it at 4Ghz though, may shorten its lifespan.

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Nice system you got there Ron, thanks for posting about it.

Thanks alot for the responses guys, it's appreciated.

I do have one last question though. I didn't buy a new UPS/surge protector. I'm still using my UPS Powerware 3110 from my Alienware I bought back in early 2003(6 yrs old now). Is there anything I should be concerned about with this old UPS? Anything about voltages or burnouts I should be aware of? Can a UPS that dies harm my PC, is this possible?

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Nope, I don't think you have to worry about the UPS. As long as the batteries are good it will do it's duty, and when they get older, you have less safety reserve for shutdown, but still no power spikes or problems. Our Server Rack UPS is now 3 years and I have not heard anything that I need to replace it from my specialists.

Why are you going Vista 32bit? You are wasting RAM that way since 4GB (including Vid memory) is all the system can handle, so 512 of yours are not used. Not sure if it's an easy upgrade to W7 64bit either afterwards. 64bit Edition Drivers is not a problem as it was with XP, and 32bit Apps run still flawless.

You won't regret the nForce chipset (from my experience with three of them so far).

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You mean "bad" as in badly designed or as in "bad condition"? I'm curious...

Both.

I had power fluctuations from a lousy (new) UPS. Cyberpower or something.

At the same time I had a RAID made from Maxtor Diamondmax 9, a harddrive series that is known to die on power fluctuations. That was the only time I ever lost data due to harddrive crashes in my life (it took down two drives in a raid-5 fast enough after each other that I only got parts off).

I only use APC these days. And no Maxtor drives, obviously.

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Yeah I know Vista 32-bit will only recognize the 4GB minus the graphics card memory. So I'll get to use 3.5GB of my 4GB installed. From what I read though, for gaming anyway, 3GB or more is whats really needed and 2GB is the minimum. So I'm not gonna sweat that 512MB of wasted memory.

The battery in my UPS has been dead for quite awhile. Just lost power the other week and had only about 5 mins of power. Where can I get a new battery? Looked in the manual for it and it says to contact your local dealer. Do they sell new batteries at Best Buy?

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Yeah I know Vista 32-bit will only recognize the 4GB minus the graphics card memory. So I'll get to use 3.5GB of my 4GB installed. From what I read though, for gaming anyway, 3GB or more is whats really needed and 2GB is the minimum. So I'm not gonna sweat that 512MB of wasted memory.

The battery in my UPS has been dead for quite awhile. Just lost power the other week and had only about 5 mins of power. Where can I get a new battery? Looked in the manual for it and it says to contact your local dealer. Do they sell new batteries at Best Buy?

Ebay for the battery.

Any 32 bit OS with working PAE will use more than 4 GB RAM just fine. XP SP0 and SP1 had working PAE, but SP2 removed it. I don't know (and don't care) whether they re-enabled PAE in Vista 32 bit.

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