Computer Upgrade Time

[Thanee]

So, it's time to replace that old (ancient?) XP 1800+, even though it still works remarkably well, despite being a little outdated by now.

Here's what I thought, though I'm still not completely decided on every detail. Maybe some of you got something to comment on, which might change my mind, so here's the current plan... feel free to comment or give recommendations when you think something doesn't fit together well.

ASUS M2N-SLI DELUXE Mainboard
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ 65W CPU
OCZ 2x1,024MB DDR2 800MHz Platinum RAM
ASUS GeForce 8800GTS 320MB PCI-E Graphics Card
Twin Samsung HD321KJ SATAII 320GB/16MB HDDs
Samsung SH-S183L DVD Burner
BeQuiet 650W Power Supply
Thermaltake Tsunami VA3000BNA Midi-Tower
Dual Samsung SyncMaster 204B 20" LCDs
Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000
Logitech MX Revolution Mouse

That's about € 1,700 (€ 1,400 with just one display) currently, w/o OS (which will be Vista Ultimate 32bit, for another € 150).
The computer will likely be used with minimal changes for a few years.

Most demanding usage will (obviously) be games.
Anything else it should handle with ease, anyways.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Mycanid]

First thing that immediately comes to mind is the mouse ... I think I remember people saying that the mouse is a battery gulper.

You might look into a mouse that can sit in a re-chargeable stand?

Also, samsung hard drives run hotter than other hard drives in my experience. That may not be an issue for you. I have had lower temps with the generic seagate or maxtor brands. Also, if it were me I would get two smaller hard drives rather than one big one, and make fairly regular image and data backups of the hard drive with the OS onto the 2nd drive. That way should the first fail you can restore it from the second with ease and should the second fail you will have a copy of the data on the first.

I am using the X2 4600 cpu myself, and it handles most anything I throw at it (the most intensive being photoshop stuff). Why not get a 5000 though?

If you do intensive gaming you might look into a better cooling solution inside the case, like liquid cooling. At the very least spend a few extra bucks for a really good cpu cooler. Another help might be getting a bigger tower to allow for more air flow. Especially if the gpu card sits near the mobo or the cpu. If you are willing to sink some extra money into it, Lian-Li makes amazing cases (and a few silly ones - ignore the snail shell shaped ones).

Anyway, just my initial thoughts.

 

[Thanee]

You might look into a mouse that can sit in a re-chargeable stand?

Unless I am mistaken, that one comes with a re-charge stand.

Also, samsung hard drives run hotter than other hard drives in my experience. That may not be an issue for you. I have had lower temps with the generic seagate or maxtor brands. Also, if it were me I would get two smaller hard drives rather than one big one, and make fairly regular image and data backups of the hard drive with the OS onto the 2nd drive. That way should the first fail you can restore it from the second with ease and should the second fail you will have a copy of the data on the first.

Sounds reasonable. I will have two seperate partitions (OS+applications, games+stuff), anyways, going for two seperate disks seems like a good idea.

I am using the X2 4600 cpu myself, and it handles most anything I throw at it (the most intensive being photoshop stuff). Why not get a 5000 though?

Yeah, there's really not much point not to pick the bigger one, considering the price difference. Might even be the next step up, depening on prices at the day when I go buy the computer (at the end of the month), but that's not too likely.

If you do intensive gaming you might look into a better cooling solution inside the case, like liquid cooling. At the very least spend a few extra bucks for a really good cpu cooler.

Yeah, will do that, anyways (CPU is a Tray + a very good cooler).

Another help might be getting a bigger tower to allow for more air flow. Especially if the gpu card sits near the mobo or the cpu. If you are willing to sink some extra money into it, Lian-Li makes amazing cases (and a few silly ones - ignore the snail shell shaped ones).

Will take a look at those, thanks. I don't want anything bigger than a midi, though.

Bye
Thanee

 

[XCorvis]

Samsung drives have 5 year warranties. I prefer them for that reason alone.

Have you given any thought to soundproofing or noise reduction? After having a noisy computer, my quiet one is such a relief. Liquid cooling would certainly help with that. Hard drive suspension and a good case also help.

The only thing I really noticed there was that you're going to spend a hell of a lot on a computer that only has 2 GB of ram. That's supposed to be Vista's "sweet spot" for the moment, but I'm sure it'll increase with time. Are you going to wait for RAM prices to drop before getting more?

 

[Thanee]

Many of the components are chosen with low noise in mind, i.e. are said to run reasonably silent.

RAM: Do you need more than 2GB? Is the difference really noticeable?
The Mainboard has 4 slots, so I can upgrade that at any time, if it seems necessary.

Price: Don't forget, that this includes 2 LCDs and some other stuff, that's almost half the cost.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Redrobes]

I have 4Gb and its well sweet but I stress that ram a lot more than most. Right now 2 should be enough but its always just a matter of time. I want more already but my mobo tops at 4 ! Note well tho that you NEED a 64 bit OS to go with that 64 bit CPU in order to use more than 3GB and even then you have to use the simple PAE fix to get windows 32 bit past the 2Gb spot. I.e., go vista for DX10 and take the 64 bit version.

I use spinpoints and they are quiet. I don't have a lot of experience with other HDs to compare heat. I have two and use the second as a manual copy of the entire first HD. My data is extremely precious so I have multiple levels of backup but knowing that I have a clone of at most a few days back and knowing that I'm not susceptible to any RAID failure is comforting. As a games player you might not think its worth it tho.

I would not have thought that the 8800GTS would have been all that quiet tho. It will be about 15% slower and less power hungry than the GTX which is rated at 185W. I have a similar X2 also and it is about 120W tops. Your power supply is probably enough but mine is fanless though I have fitted an akasa fan on the front to shed excess heat. My PSU does run quite warm and your system will be more power hungry and in a more condensed space too. You will be making a box and putting at least a 300W heater in it so plan for heat. You could go water cooled but not internally in a midi and the GTS would be tricky though not impossible.

Yeah, it looks good but I would be concerned about the heat. You can get SpeedFan (http://www.almico.com/sfdownload.php) and it will pick up the on board temperature sensors of the CPU, the ASUS mobo sensors and also the spinpoints. Mine are running 33 to 43 deg C HD with mobo at 47 and CPU at 43 deg C though its warm this time of year. I get concerned after 50 and I take action over 60 - I have very good cooling too.

My 2 penneth/(euro)cents

 

[drothgery]

Many of the components are chosen with low noise in mind, i.e. are said to run reasonably silent.

Given that, on the CPU side I'd either stay slower with the 5000+ (where the cooler-running 65nm 'Brisbane' versions are available), or jump over to the Intel camp, where you'd be looking at a Core 2 Duo E6300, E6320, E6400, or E6420 in that price range.

 

[Thanee]

Given that, on the CPU side I'd either stay slower with the 5000+ (where the cooler-running 65nm 'Brisbane' versions are available), or jump over to the Intel camp, where you'd be looking at a Core 2 Duo E6300, E6320, E6400, or E6420 in that price range.

Did you mean 65nm, or 65W? Both seem to be 90nm. The 5600+ is available as a 65W version.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Thanee]

I have 4Gb and its well sweet but I stress that ram a lot more than most. Right now 2 should be enough but its always just a matter of time. I want more already but my mobo tops at 4 ! Note well tho that you NEED a 64 bit OS to go with that 64 bit CPU in order to use more than 3GB and even then you have to use the simple PAE fix to get windows 32 bit past the 2Gb spot. I.e., go vista for DX10 and take the 64 bit version.

Yeah. I will definitely go Vista (I already have an XP Professional, if required).

I use spinpoints and they are quiet.

Had to look up what 'spinpoints' are (the Samsung HDDs).

I don't have a lot of experience with other HDs to compare heat. I have two and use the second as a manual copy of the entire first HD. My data is extremely precious so I have multiple levels of backup but knowing that I have a clone of at most a few days back and knowing that I'm not susceptible to any RAID failure is comforting. As a games player you might not think its worth it tho.

Most of the content of the HDDs is probably not really backup-worthy, since it's easily re-installed, but the self-written content (documents and stuff) will also be backupped in some different ways, for sure.

I would not have thought that the 8800GTS would have been all that quiet tho.

Well... that one probably is not too far in the silent camp. But it seems to be the choice for a graphics card, that is going to stay useful for a few years, given it's one of the few DX10 ones, and the smaller cards (8500/8600) aren't that great apparantly.

Your power supply is probably enough but mine is fanless though I have fitted an akasa fan on the front to shed excess heat.

The PS has a 120mm silent fan. The housing has front and rear fans, too.

My PSU does run quite warm and your system will be more power hungry and in a more condensed space too. You will be making a box and putting at least a 300W heater in it so plan for heat.

Yep, heat will be considered. I won't put together the components myself (the nice people in the shop where I get it will do that, they are absolute pros so I'm not overly concerned, that something won't work out well in that regard; and if so, the whole system will have a 2-year warranty as well ).



Thanks for the input, guys!

Bye
Thanee

 

[Bront]

Many of the components are chosen with low noise in mind, i.e. are said to run reasonably silent.

RAM: Do you need more than 2GB? Is the difference really noticeable?
The Mainboard has 4 slots, so I can upgrade that at any time, if it seems necessary.

Price: Don't forget, that this includes 2 LCDs and some other stuff, that's almost half the cost.

Bye
Thanee

For that kind of rig, I'd get 2 GB to start with in a 2 x 2GB set. The difference will be noticable.

You also might want a small USB flash drive to leave on there for the flash ram add on for Vista, which can speed things up a bit as well.

I personaly think the E6600 Core 2 Duo is a good chip at it's price, but AMD might have a slight price edge at the moment. The core 2 will be a bit less heat intensive though, so might be quieter and cooler.

I'd go with 1 HD, as you can always add another one later. RAID is cool, but it basicly increases your failure rates on your computer due to HD problems exponentialy, since either one can take you down. If you weren't going to raid, well, the space difference isn't that great on the 500 vs 320s, and the 500s are likely slightly faster. Personaly, I buy Western Digital HDs, but that's a personal preference.

The GTS cards aren't too bad on noise, but if you realy want, you can always get a low noise GPU heat sink, or, heaven forbid, throttle it and the fan down a bit to save heat and noise.

I'd recomend a bigger PSU. It will likely be more reliable, produce less heat (A PSU running near capacity will produce more heat), and therefore run quieter. It also can help add some extra stability to the machine, as PSU problems are a pain to diagnose and often show up as other problems. I'd go into the 650-800 watt range.