# New Rig Advice Sought.



## Net Jockey (Oct 18, 2008)

All I have is an empty (new) case, and I want to build a powerful computer, that will not be used for gaming. Budget is probably 600.00 to 800.00 Dollars.

I want the extra speed for such things as defrag, scans EXC. 
I don't have much patience for the time it takes for these chores.

I have read a lot of the threads here, and find them educational.

I would like some opinions on the better brands of the components that I should use.

Main Board, Processor (Dual core), DDR 2 Memory, Video card, Sata Hard Drive, Power Supply.

I will have more queations later, but I think this is where I would like to start.

Thanks in advance for any help.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

MB Asus or Gigabyte
CPU Core2 Duo
Ram Crucial
Video depends on what you want to do if your not gaming then HDMI ?? or dual Monitors or graphics if your just using business apps and web/Email integrated may work for you??
HD Seagate or WD
PSU Seasonic - any model
Corsair - any model
Thermaltake - "Toughpower" series only
Coolermaster - "Real Power Pro" series only
PC Power & Cooling - any model
Silverstone - any model


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## Net Jockey (Oct 18, 2008)

Thanks I am using your info to put something together. Will be back later.


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## Net Jockey (Oct 18, 2008)

Well (to date) this is what I have come up with.

PS

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=666612116&affiliateid=4518391

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=19831&vpn=cmpsu-620hx&manufacture=corsair

Ram

http://www.frontierpc.com/ProductDe...ry Module&mfrpartno=CT2KIT12864AA667&version=

HD

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=18530&vpn=WD800JD&manufacture=Western Digital

CPU

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=29805&promoid=1084

I do feel secure enough with the main board, and I am wondering if I could get some help with selecting one that will accommodate the above... Buget 100.00 - 150.00 Dollars

Also I will gladly entertain any other suggestions on any of the above


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## Tumbleweed36 (May 14, 2005)

The Corsair is a better power supply than the 600 watt Toughpower, although both are very good. Unfortunately, it is difficult to tell if this will meet your needs until we know what kind of graphics card you are planning on using.

Also, don't select memory until you have picked a mainboard, because some boards are picky about the memory you put in them and then that limits what you can do with selecting a board.

A little above your budget, but the Asus P5Q deluxe is a nice board, so you might be looking for something similar that is not as expensive.

Another thought. If you don't plan on dual video cards, then take a look at the Asus P5Q pro board. It is a nice board also and on sale right now at NewEgg. Here is a link if you want to browse that area.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131299

In addition, if you can keep the price of the board down to this sale price, you might be able to move up just slightly with the CPU and get an e8400 which would do a better job IMHO than the one you have selected.

Have you had a chance to compare prices on NewEgg? If you live in the USA or Canada, this is about the cheapest and most responsive store most of us deal with.


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## grimx133 (Jan 15, 2008)

The corsair tx750 is even less expensive than either or those other two, not modular like the hx620, but it is one heck of a psu for the price. http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=26415&vpn=CMPSU-750TX&manufacture=CORSAIR&promoid=1084 

Like Tumbleweed36 said, you need to pick a motherboard before you decide on ram. The link you provided is not a good deal, you can get faster and better ram for less, or very close to that price.

Same for the hard drive, why get an 80GB drive with an 8meg cache? You can get a very much larger drive for 20 or 30 bucks more. This is 6 times the size and twice the performance, or more. http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=27144&vpn=ST3500320AS&manufacture=Seagate&promoid=1084

The E7200 is a fine cpu, if your looking for performance, you'd want the E8400 or E8500. For regular use, they don't call the E7200 "the king of budget processors" for nothing.

edit: btw, I buy all my stuff from ncix, takes about a week to ship to northern ont.


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## Net Jockey (Oct 18, 2008)

Going with the E8400 CPU
The corsair tx750 PS
The Seagate Barracuda 500GB Hard Drive
And the ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
Puts me at 508.00 dollars.

Another $100.00 for Ram and $60.00 for a DVD Writer places me pretty well on budget.

Am I forgetting anything?
Is the heatsink fan exc. for the CPU an additional cost?

Thanks for your help

edit: btw, a ncix outlet is about an hrs drive from where I live.

PS. Just realized I have not included a video card. I recon $100.00 would be enough. Good thing my Budget can be flexible... If it is worth it.


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## grimx133 (Jan 15, 2008)

Aaagh, had a whack of text and links here, and I crashed. Was playing around to see if I could see a difference in Spore when overclocked. Couldn't tell, but it's not a real demanding game, should of rebooted after. Oh well, eh. 

Not sure what operating system you're going with, but if it's xp you really don't need more than 2 gigs of ram. If you did find a need at some later point, no big deal to pick up more. I checked with the Corsair memory configurator and their 800Mhz cl4 ram is compatable with the P5Q Pro. Either the dhx or the regular ram, the dhx runs cooler, but is more expensive. And the regular ram is on sale this week for $41 after something like 6 bucks knocked off for the sale and a 30 dollar mail in rebate. http://www.ncix.com/products/index....X2048-6400C4&manufacture=CORSAIR&promoid=1084 the 4 gig (2 x 2) dhx kit is $112.

As long as you get the retail cpu instead of the oem, it will come with the stock hsf. That will cool to acceptable levels, but an aftermarket unit is quieter. The Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro is supposed to be very quiet, though I've never used one. 32 bucks. http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=17225&vpn=FREEZER-7-PRO&manufacture=Arctic Cooling

Dvd writers are pretty much all the same and you can grab any from the weekly sale in the 25-30 range. Link is for the ones that are on this week, it'll be the same sort of thing next week too.http://www.ncix.com/promo/promosale.php?webid=supersale#DVD Writers

Video card is a tough one, really depends on what you want. If you never play any sort of games at all, you just need anything almost. I picked up an HD2400 for 25 bucks in one of the weekly sales. Should be able to get something that will do you in the 50-80 range or so. Need more of an idea of what you are looking for in that area. 

Gotta run for a minute, back in a bit.

Edit: Only other thing that I can think of that wasn't mentioned was a monitor, though I'm guessing that you already have one.


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## Net Jockey (Oct 18, 2008)

I want you to know that I really appreciate your help.

Yes I will be using XP

And yes...I have the best 18 inch LG flat screen monitor that money can buy, and I love it. 

One Question...I have...is that I have been unable to find the specs. for the main board?


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

These Specs?> http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=2269&l1=3&l2=11&l3=709&l4=0


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## Net Jockey (Oct 18, 2008)

Main Board Storage specs.

Southbridge
- 6x SATA 3Gb/s
- Intel® Matrix Storage Technology with RAID 0, 1, 5 10 support
Marvell 88SE6111
- 1 x UltraDMA 133/100/66 for up to 2 PATA devices
Silicon Image Sil5723 (Drive Xpert technology)
- 2 x SATA 3Gb/s
- Supports EZ Backup and Super Speed functions
*Drive Xpert function is available only when the hard disk drives are set as data drives.

Am I understanding this correctly? Does - 2 x SATA 3Gb/s mean that the Main board will not support the Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 3.5IN 500GB SATA2 8.5MS 7200RPM 32MB Cache NCQ Hard Drive?


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

The sata controllers are sata2 3Gig speed as opposed to sata1 1.5Gig speed nothing to do with size of the drive. It will run any sata drive sata 1 or 2.


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## Net Jockey (Oct 18, 2008)

According to the NCIX.com Forums the Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 3.5IN 500GB SATA2 8.5MS 7200RPM 32MB Cache NCQ Hard Drive...Which has been recommended here...Which I would like to purchase...has a high crash issue.

Dose anyone here have experiance with this drive? and is there anything one can do to lessen the chance of this occurring?


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Haven't seen that issue, may have been a batch problem.


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## grimx133 (Jan 15, 2008)

I haven't had any problems with mine in the 5 months that I've had it.


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## Net Jockey (Oct 18, 2008)

I think I would like to go with this RAM....Will it work OK?

Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500 DDR2 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-1066 CL5-5-5-15 240PIN DIMM Dual Channel Memory Kit
** Not compatible with Intel P35 based motherboards **

http://www.ncix.com/products/index....KIT12864AA1065&manufacture=CRUCIAL TECHNOLOGY


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## grimx133 (Jan 15, 2008)

Doesn't look like it. It isn't on the list of guaranteed compatible ram for the P5Q Pro. The ram manufacturers have configurators and list the ram they produce that will for sure work in your board. Here's what Crucial says works in that motherboard. http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=P5Q PRO 

edit: Look for the model number on the ncix page, that's the number from crucial. The ram you linked to was this - Part #: BL2KIT12864AA1065 and not on Crucial's list, but they do have a bunch that will work, 28 different listings.


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## Net Jockey (Oct 18, 2008)

Thanks It looks as though this one will work.
http://www.ncix.com/products/index....KIT12864AA106A&manufacture=CRUCIAL TECHNOLOGY

What are your thoughts on the RAIDMAX RX-700SS 700W ATX12V V2.2/ EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Modular Modular LED Power Supply - Retail?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817152030


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## grimx133 (Jan 15, 2008)

I guess the only way to put it is that the Raidmax sucks. The fact that it is a modular will catch the eye, but, they aren't a quality manufacturer. Look at the numbers, it has 2 x 20 amp 12 volt rails. Not sure what that equals, but it isn't 40 amps. For the same price the Corsair TX650 puts out 52 amps on a single 12v. rail. And that is 52 amps. For another 15 bucks the TX750 has a single 60 amp rail. Unfortunately, the 750 isn't on sale this week, could of got it last week for a hundred bucks. They aren't modular which means there are a lot of cables to stash, but the quality is there. 
It still depends on what you run for a video card, and if you plan on upgrading that it the future. You can go to a lower wattage power supply if you never plan on running more than a low to mid range card.

For the ram, the new linked 2gig kit will work, as it's on Crucial's list.


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## Net Jockey (Oct 18, 2008)

grimx133 said:


> I guess the only way to put it is that the Raidmax sucks.


Thank you....That is all I need to here. The reason I asked is because a local supply is attempting to sell that unit to me.


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## grimx133 (Jan 15, 2008)

Just looking at ncix's weekly sale, which I believe started a couple hours ago. If you are definitely not going to be doing any gaming, you can go lighter on the psu and video card. They have the Corsair VX450 on, it has 33 amps on a single 12 volt rail. That will power a pci-e card, except for the huge ones. Here's a review from SPCR. http://www.silentpcreview.com/article751-page1.html 
and the ncix link - 72 bucks after rebate, decent price http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=25472&vpn=CMPSU-450VX&manufacture=CORSAIR&promoid=1019 

And here's a 9400GT for 65 bucks after rebate. http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=32780&vpn=512-P3-N944-LR&manufacture=eVGA&promoid=1019 Could do some very light gaming with it too. That psu is about the minimum though, might want to go a bit larger.The Corsair VX550 is 92 dollaros and has 41 amps on the 12v. rail. http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=25984&vpn=CMPSU-550VX&manufacture=CORSAIR 
Too bad the 550 isn't on sale. Oh well, here's a link to this weeks sale in case there's anything else you're looking for. http://www.ncix.com/promo/promosale.php?webid=halloween08


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## Net Jockey (Oct 18, 2008)

I am happy with the numbers I got from NICX (locally)

27144 Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 3.5IN 500GB SATA2 8.5MS 7200RPM 32MB Cache NCQ Hard Drive OEM 

27784 Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Dual Core Processor LGA775 3.0GHZ Wolfdale 1333FSB 6MB Retail [Reg. $229.02] 1 

30418 ASUS P5Q Pro ATX LGA775 P45 DDR2 2PCI-E16 CrossFire 3PCI-E1 2PCI SATA2 Sound GBLAN eSATA Motherboard 
1 
26415 Corsair TX750W 750W ATX 12V 60A 24PIN ATX Power Supply Active PFC 120MM Fan 

32717 Crucial Ballistix BL2KIT12864AA106A PC2-8500 DDR2 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-1066 CL5-5-5-15 Memory Kit

$641.64 Before taxes....

Only problem is they do not have the RAM in stock and want to sell me this one.... Kingston HyperX PC2-8500 4GB 2X2GB DDR2-1066 CL7-7-7-20 240PIN DIMM Dual Channel Memory Kit
http://www.ncix.com/products/index....500AD2K2/4G&manufacture=Kingston&promoid=1019

Your thoughts Please?


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

for 1066 you want 5-5-5-15 timings 7 is kind of high.


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## grimx133 (Jan 15, 2008)

I'm having a hard time finding out on this one. Didn't show with Kingston's configurator and it isn't on the Asus P5Q Pro QVL. Which doesn't mean that it won't work, but it's better if it's there. If ncix is guaranteeing compatability ok, but I'd be a bit leery of that. Corsair also has some great memory, I'll check their site and ncix. Will edit or do another post in a few.


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## grimx133 (Jan 15, 2008)

Aaagh, should of copied before I hit the save changes on the edit. Lost it all because was over 30 minutes. Short and sweet. Can't find anything about HyperX compatability at the Kingston site, confusing to say the least. Did find 2 gig kits from Corsair and G. Skill that are on their lists. The corsair is about 116 bucks and the g skill 85 dollars. 
First the loony kingston list, maybe there's a trick to it, but I can't get to any hyper x. http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/con...+Pro+Motherboard&distributor=0&submit1=Search 

Corsair Memory Configurator http://www.corsair.com/configurator/product_results.aspx?id=589456
ncix 2 gig kit http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=20533&vpn=TWIN2X2048-8500C5D&manufacture=CORSAIR

G. Skill Qualified motherboard listing http://newgskill.web-bi.net/bbs/view.php?id=g_ddr2&no=114 
ncix 2 gig kit http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=28190&vpn=F2-8500CL5D-2GBPK&manufacture=G.SKILL 

That's the last time I'll do an edit, unless it's something real quick. From now on new posts.


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## grimx133 (Jan 15, 2008)

What I meant by couldn't get to any Hyper X was that I could get a list of that ram, but not a list that says it works on the P5Q Pro.


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## Net Jockey (Oct 18, 2008)

Of these two that will work...Which one would you recommend?

G.SKILL F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ PC2-6400 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-800 CL5-5-5-15 240PIN Dual Channel Memory Kit
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=21164&vpn=F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ&manufacture=G.SKILL

Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X2048-6400C4 2GB 2X1GB PC2-6400 DDR2-800 CL 4-4-4-12 240PIN Dual Channel Memory 
http://www.ncix.com/products/index....X2048-6400C4&manufacture=CORSAIR&promoid=1084


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## grimx133 (Jan 15, 2008)

I would go with the Corsair, no question. That's the exact same kit I put in my father's machine when I did a rebuild of it while on my annual visit this summer.


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## Net Jockey (Oct 18, 2008)

I have purchased all the parts (locally) from NCIX including the EVGA E-GEFORCE 9400GT 550MHZ 512MB 800MHZ 128BIT DDR2 Dual DVI-I HDCP HDTV Out Video Card.

I am very pleased and impressed with NCIX. There service is next to none. My budget was 600.00 to 800.00 dollars.

Total price (including taxes)...$781.94...With $50.00 coming back in rebates.

I am indeed grateful for all of your help...everyone.:wave:


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## grimx133 (Jan 15, 2008)

You're most welcome. I think you'll be very happy with the performance of all those parts. Good luck eh.


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## Net Jockey (Oct 18, 2008)

grimx133 said:


> I think you'll be very happy with the performance of all those parts.


That is an understatementray:


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

raidmax = sucks ......................... thats being very kind to raidmax in actuallity


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## Net Jockey (Oct 18, 2008)

Thanks lindermanray:


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