# Is My Build Ok?



## MicroVirus (Feb 14, 2008)

Hello

I think its about time to upgrade my computer and ive decided that building it will teach me something and be fun. edutainment  Anyway this is the first time ive ever considered anthing like this and ive studied up lots so hopefully it will all go smoothly. I havnt chosen all my parts yet but i have the vital parts chosen. 

Can you guys inform me of anything i could improve on for roughly the same price, really bad parts or any comments? I would really appreciate it, kinda scared ill waste all my money  I use australian ebay too so ill be showing some things im looking at on ebay.com.au

So far ive got..
*
Tower*

Ive been thinking of a thermaltake soprano case, preferably with a clear side. I like the..

- The Soprano VB1000SWS

*Motherboard
*

- ASUS P5K Pro - this motherboard is a bit cheaper but doesnt support DDR3 RAM which i might use in the future so i also found 
- ASUS P5KC Which supports both DDR3 and DDR2 RAM
*
CPU
*
- Intel core 2 duo E6550 2.33ghz -
Ive always wondered, my current 5 year old computer Is a Intel Pentium 4 CPU 3.20 GHz - 3.2? does that mean its faster than this one?

*RAM *

Corsair XMS2 2 GB PC2-6400 (TWIN2X20486400)
This is DDR2 RAM

*Power Supply*

- OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI ATX12V 700W 
- Antec trio 430/500/600W (these are pretty expensive but seem to be very good, i dont want overkill on anything though)

My CPU seems a bit underpowered so any suggestions for anything would be welcome. Once i get these main parts figured out ill worry about my hard drive etc.

Thanks!


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## ShosMeister (Jan 19, 2008)

I'll leave the absolute pro/con of items to the really smart guys, but, my opinion, based on my own build, was the mother board that supported DDR2 and DDR3. Why? I'm thinking I can upgrade the RAM in a few years when DDR3 comes down in price without having to purchase a new mother board.


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## MicroVirus (Feb 14, 2008)

yeah thats why i was thinking of spending a bit more o have a more versatile motherboard, anyone else?


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## forcifer (Nov 20, 2005)

the OCZ will work great. i have its little bro and its a beast. as for cpu, thats an amazing one. will blow away most (NOT ALL) competition. for comparison to your current one, there isnt one. it is that much faster. for video card, either the 8800GT 512, 9600GT, or 3870. im just guessing basing off what you have posted. for the motherboard, im getting the P5K-E in my next build and would recomend it to you. ive heard it clocks great.

good luck, and if you need links just post


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

DDR3 is way ahead of it's time. My only concern is that it will become mainstream, thus making a future RAM upgrade difficult if you are restricted to DDR2.

If you plan on getting more than 2GB of RAM you can safely stick with a DDR2 board. Otherwise, get a DDR2/DDR3 board. The P5KC is a good option, but I would personally look at the Gigabyte P35C-DS3R or EP35-DS3R.

That CPU there will definitely blow away a Pentium 4 of any speed many times over.

Forcifer made some good video card recommendations. Pair it with an Antec Trio 650W or the OCZ GameXtreme 700W and you have a good setup. Also look at the PC Power & Cooling 610W.


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## 1 g0t 0wn3d (Jan 31, 2007)

just to show you howmuch of a p4 you wpuld need i would estamate you would need a p4 clocked at 19-20ghz (impossible)

the conroe's take netbursts lunchmoney


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

1 g0t 0wn3d said:


> the conroe's take netbursts lunchmoney


:laugh:


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## forcifer (Nov 20, 2005)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127315 - 3870 and i CANNOT believe its price. $160? wow.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130334 - $150 for the 9600GT. this card and the 3870 split most benchmarks. the 3870 has the advantage of being able to crossfire on stable, overclockable motherboards however. for raw performance, you wont notice much though
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130334 $170 for 8800GT. this card splits a few benchmarks with the 3870 but wins a few more. again, you wont see much difference.

those 3 cards are all but equal, with the 8800GT being an FPS or 2 ahead. now, if you can afford it, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127325 will beat all those cards by quite a bit. 

however, i must reiterate that with intel chipsets (excluding skulltrail but that doesnt matter right now), you CANNOT go SLI. however, you can go crossfire.


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## MicroVirus (Feb 14, 2008)

Thanks for the replies guys, im glad that the parts that came out after all my studying seem to be good  

So far im pretty sure ill be getting

- OCZ GameXstream 700W power supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341002

- ASUS P5KC LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131188
(i looked at the other suggestions but the p5kc seems better with its 2 pcie slots and 2 types of ram etc.)

- Radeon HD 3870 512MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127315

- Intel core 2 duo E6550 2.33ghz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115030

- Corsair XMS2 2 GB PC2-6400
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145177

Not sure if they will all fit together and nothing much has come up about the tower so ill still leave that up for discussion, So if my memory serves me right ive still got..

-Tower (preferably with a clear side)
-Hard Drive (200gb or so would do)
-CD/DVD burner/reader

If anyones got suggestions about those parts or any part please post 

Thanks for the help so far!


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## forcifer (Nov 20, 2005)

only thing i would change is ram, and that would be to save money. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145175 is virtually as good (only difference is CAS) for alot cheaper.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136113 is a pretty good hard drive by a pretty good brand. 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118002 cheap SATA dvd drive

for case, thats really a personal decision. ill post a few recomendations but thats as far as i can help =/


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## MicroVirus (Feb 14, 2008)

ill have a look at them, thanks for the reply!


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## forcifer (Nov 20, 2005)

how much would you want to spend on a case? i take pride in my cases but not everyone does (case modding ftw) but anything really will work. heck, 







was my case at one time. it worked though


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## MicroVirus (Feb 14, 2008)

100 aussie dollars sounds good to me, and im looking for one with less of a cardboard look and more of a metalish look 

Also does anyone know of a website where i can buy computer parts that get delivered to australia? i was going to buy my parts off newegg.com but they dont mail overseas


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

I knew a few but I can't remember the URLs. Hopefully Blackduck will jump in here and recommend some stores.


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## rrr1992 (Apr 5, 2008)

MicroVirus said:


> Hello
> 
> - Intel core 2 duo E6550 2.33ghz -
> Ive always wondered, my current 5 year old computer Is a Intel Pentium 4 CPU 3.20 GHz - 3.2? does that mean its faster than this one?
> ...


The Intel core2duo E6550 is a duel core CPU which means your getting 2.33GHz*2
which is 4.66GHz
which is faster then your old 3.2GHz


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## forcifer (Nov 20, 2005)

rrr1992 said:


> The Intel core2duo E6550 is a duel core CPU which means your getting 2.33GHz*2
> which is 4.66GHz
> which is faster then your old 3.2GHz


not quite. for every clock on a core 2 duo, it will do about 10 operations. on a p4, it will do about 2. you would need a 10 ghz p4 to get close to c2d...


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## 1 g0t 0wn3d (Jan 31, 2007)

i figured it was 
4 netburst
6 Amd
8 conroe


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

It depends what kind of instructions. Simple load/store and arithmetic (ALU) operations will have the least performance increase. SMID (SSE) operations will however will see a much bigger performance increase. Load/store operations will also be better for large chunks of data in AMD (K8 and above) processors.

If you guys want, I can get out one of my microprocessor books and tell you exactly how much faster every type of instruction will be on the P4, C2D and K8 processors (in another thread of course). :grin:


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## 1 g0t 0wn3d (Jan 31, 2007)

TheMatt said:


> It depends what kind of instructions. Simple load/store and arithmetic (ALU) operations will have the least performance increase. SMID (SSE) operations will however will see a much bigger performance increase. Load/store operations will also be better for large chunks of data in AMD (K8 and above) processors.
> 
> If you guys want, I can get out one of my microprocessor books and tell you exactly how much faster every type of instruction will be on the P4, C2D and K8 processors (in another thread of course). :grin:


Sure just to let me know how much my cpu sucks lol


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## MicroVirus (Feb 14, 2008)

lol ok now im completely sure its faster. Ive chosen everything with the help of you guys apart from the case (im hoping they will all fit together) im still open to suggestions about online aussie shops but yeah ive decided im getting..

- OCZ GameXstream 700W power supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817341002

- ASUS P5KC LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131188

- Radeon HD 3870 512MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127315 

- Intel core 2 duo E6550 2.33ghz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115030

- Corsair XMS2 2GB DDR2 RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145175 

-Western Digital Caviar SE SATA Hard Drive 250gb
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136113 

- Lite-On LH-20A1S DVD/CD burner/reader
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106057

and then a case of some sort.

Can someone confirm that they will all fit together?
Also i seem to recall that there are 3 case sizes, a small standard and large size i think, which one would i get to store these components?


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## forcifer (Nov 20, 2005)

there are a bunch of case sizes. how much would you want to spend on one?


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## MicroVirus (Feb 14, 2008)

100 dollars or less, My motherboard says 

Physical Spec
Form Factor ATX
Dimensions 12.0" x 9.6"

So itll fit in standard atx cases im assuming? whats a good one to choose?


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## 1 g0t 0wn3d (Jan 31, 2007)

That is standered atx so here are a few good ones

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156077
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163093
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112154


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Those look good, but make sure you have more exhaust than intake airflow. Also look at these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133021


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## MicroVirus (Feb 14, 2008)

That Antec nine hundred looks good  a bit of overkill for my purpose so if there was a less ****ed up version of it that would be good. But i think thats about it so ill see if i can put it together then ill post pictures later  Thanks again guys!


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