# Time for a new computer



## 0siris85 (Mar 5, 2008)

There has recently been a large influx of new processors into the market so I think that there must be some price cuts around the corner. I think now is the perfect time to start thinking about components for a new computer :smile:

I have been following and listening to feedback about the C2Q processors ever since they came out and to be honest I still don't see what all the fuss is about. Having a C2Q system in the house I can honestly say that it's rather dissapointing. Most applications are not written to make 100% use of all 4 cores. The machine rarely exceeds 25% CPU usage...and when it does it's when it spikes, only for a second or so. Why don't they just make a single core processor with 7Ghz frequency? :laugh: 

Having said that, I'm really stumped as to what kind of processor I should get. I have no experience with C2D since C2Q was all the rave when it came out. I used to be a heavy gamer, but recently toned down a bit. I plan on playing Guild Wars 2 when it comes out sometime in the distant future...same with SPORE. Games like Crysis really don't interest me, even though the graphics are absolutely stunning. I think they focused too much on making a pretty game, but failed to take into account that not everyone wants to go out and buy new computers for that game alone. Let's face it...if you're going to play it...play it on max settings :tongue:

OK enough babbling...here are the components I'm thinking about at the moment...

 EVGA 122-CK-NF68-A1 - Looks like a solid motherboard, 4x Customer Choice award has to mean something right? :4-dontkno The only thing that bugs me about it is that I would like to use DDR2 1066 memory, as far as I can tell this board supports DDR2 800. The SLI is always nice...room for a future video card upgrade.

 CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC-6400 If I go with the eVGA board I posted above, this is probably the memory I'll go with. Dirt cheap, stable and they're always renewing their rebates :tongue: This is what we have in our C2Q machine.

 Western Digital Caviar 250GB SATA 3.0GB/s A couple of these should be more than sufficient. It's almost a steal at only 80 bucks a piece.

eVGA GeForce 8800GTX They went down in price recently...and at 289 dollars a piece after rebate they are finally down to a very appealing price.

 Antec True Power Trio 650W I'm not quite sure about the power supply yet, 650-700W should be more than sufficient. I'm not quite up to date on the hottest PSU's, so any advice is very much appreciated.

I've got a cd/dvd burner combo in my dying sigh Athlon XP 3000+ Rig that I plan on using in the new machine. I'll use the case from it as well.

That brings my total to what I think is a very respectable $806 after rebates. $900 even before rebates, and before shipping.

This leaves me about 300 bucks for a processor. I think I'll pass on C2Q for now...unless someone can make a believer out of me :laugh:

What do you guys think?


----------



## Computer_Doctor (Feb 14, 2008)

I would check out the 3.0GHz Wolfdale processor. Really good performnace and it doesn't even cost that much. I would look into purchasing this processor.


----------



## redsunx (Apr 5, 2007)

But first, I've got some questions. 

1: Will you _ever_ go SLI?
2: How badly do you game? (Meaning, are you a "hardcore" gamer? Or Just a casual player?)
3: How much space do you _truly_ need?


----------



## 0siris85 (Mar 5, 2008)

The E8400 Wolfdale looks like a very solid processor. How do you think it compares against; for instance, the E6850? The Wolfdale has more cache, supports 64-bit, among other things, yet it's cheaper than the E6850 :4-dontkno

If I go with the Wolfdale, I'll probably need another motherboard since in order to use it with the eVGA one I posted I would need to update the bios - something I have had nothing but bad experiences with in the past :embarased

I'm not really sure if I'll ever go with SLI...but having the option to do so if I ever decide is nice :smile: I'm a very casual gamer, but I like to try out a lot of games to see which peak my interest. I'd like to have no less than 250GB of storage, as I download a lot. The more the better I think :smile:


----------



## redsunx (Apr 5, 2007)

The e8400, comes close in performance with the C2Q! As for going SLI if you want a SLI board _and_ 45nm support, look into a 780i board. Also, I honestly don't think a GTX is worth it seeing as an 8800GT comes awfully close to it. And it's 200$ cheaper. As for a hard drive, I'm pretty sure any 400GB would you do you up just right.


----------



## 0siris85 (Mar 5, 2008)

the 780i boards are pretty pricey though =( 220 for the one I posted above is pretty steep in my opinion, but it is a quality product.

Are you thinking about something like this? EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1

I was considering the 8800GT video card originally, and after reading some reviews and benchmarks comparing the two I may end up getting the GT after all.



> As for going SLI if you want a SLI board and 45nm support, look into a 780i board.


Are you saying that the Wolfdale won't run on a 680i board? If so, why not?


----------



## redsunx (Apr 5, 2007)

Not at all, 680i board has 45nm support. Just *might* need a BIOS flash. Although, if you get lucky and get a newer manufactured board shipped, it may come with the proper BIOS.


----------



## 0siris85 (Mar 5, 2008)

Ok thanks for clearing that up :smile: I'd like to get an SLI board because somewhere down the line I may consider running SLI...but getting one of the more expensive 780i boards seems kind of silly for something I "MIGHT" do, you know?

I may have to suck it up and try to flash the bios, (if I get a board that needs it of course) something I'm not looking forward to but it seems as though I don't have many options. 

I found an XFX 780i board with some decent ratings and a nice price after rebate. I have no experience with XFX boards though...are they any good? I always get XFX graphics cards, and have never had a problem with them but it may be different with motherboards.


----------



## redsunx (Apr 5, 2007)

I know a couple people who own that board, they're satisfied. Although, you have a very good point if you MIGHT do SLI I wouldn't bother just get a 680i and flash it. (If you have to.) Just don't flash it with an overclock4-thatsba) and all goes well. And you shall be up and running 100%!


----------



## 0siris85 (Mar 5, 2008)

ok, I think I'll do that. I'm looking at the eVGA 122-CK-NF68-A1 again and I'm kind of confused as to what type of memory it supports. Newegg says the standard is PC-6400, and when I go to the eVGA website and they say that all their 680i boards support PC-8500 memory. Is someone fibbing here or am I just not reading it right? :4-dontkno

Also, you mentioned that I will need to flash the bios in order to get the motherboard compatible with the E8400 Wolfdale...So you mean that the processor will not work at all with the motherboard? How can I flash the bios without a working processor? :normal: These are probably silly questions, but bear with me...I'm a virgin when it comes to updating bios :laugh:


Oh by the way, ironically my Athlon XP 3000+ rig finally died about a half hour ago. Probably due to my recent water cooling accident :embarased It served me well though, over 6 years :smile: Anyhoo...I'll be buying this new rig sooner than I thought :laugh:


----------



## redsunx (Apr 5, 2007)

That board will support any DDR2 240-pin RAM. As for the flashing part, yeah It think that's the case... :| Although, you MAY(MAY MAY) be able to boot and flash without the CPU but I'm not 100% sure. (someone wanna correct me?) Other than that, looks likea good build.


----------



## 0siris85 (Mar 5, 2008)

I've been doing some reading on the evga forums and found out that you have to have another processor to flash to the P32 bios. 

http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.asp?m=230599&mpage=4&key=

I'm not planning on buying another processor just to update the bios, so I think I'll be looking for a different motherboard.

or maybe I could contact newegg and request that they send me a board with the bios already updated...


----------



## 0siris85 (Mar 5, 2008)

wow the wolfdale C2Ds are hard to find. I've been camping newegg since last night since they were supposed to be getting more today. So far all they have done is removed their (ETA 3/28) tag :sad:

About the motherboard...I found this Asus P5N-E and it kind of peaked my interest. What do you guys think about it? The newegg reviews are pretty horrible...over 50% are 4 stars or less. Yet most of the articles I've found reviewing the board stated that it was a very nice and stable board.

I'd like to look at the detailed specs of this board on the asus website but for some reason this laptop doesn't want to open their site :upset:


anyhoo, let me know what you guys think about that board :smile:


thanks in advance

Osiris


----------



## 0siris85 (Mar 5, 2008)

wohoo! just picked up an e8400 for $229 + shipping from www.antaresdigital.com

Let's hope it's a good batch number :scared:


----------



## 0siris85 (Mar 5, 2008)

Well the parts are slowly starting to arrive.

Just got the processor today, I'm expecting the motherboard tomorrow as well as the PSU. I'll order the ram today so everything should be here by friday or saturday.

I went with:

Intel e8400 (batch: Q750)
Gigabyte P35 D3SL (rev.2) for OOTB 45nm support.
OCZ Game X Stream 700W PSU.
eVGA 8800GT

Still undecided on the memory. The D3SL is supposed to support PC-8500 memory but I had some problems getting it to work on a C2Q machine. I think I'm gonna stick with PC-6400 to avoid the whole RMA drama (hopefully :tongue

I'll be keeping my old IDE hard drive and CD drives. Which reminds me...is it possible to hook up an IDE hard drive and a IDE DvD drive with one cable? I know you could connect 2 of the same device, but is it possible to connect 2 different devices?

Thanks for all the help :smile:


----------



## redsunx (Apr 5, 2007)

No problem on having the two drives on the same channel, just make sure they're on Master and Slave. As for RAM it's up to you, on a few other forums we've come to the conclusion qaunity>speed... as for the DS3L, it's great board. I had to use it sine my Blood Iron just decided to quit trying. Anyways, have fun!


----------



## 0siris85 (Mar 5, 2008)

I decided to go with the Mushkin 2x2GB Dual Channel Kit. I've never tried Mushkin before, but they seem to get good reviews and have a decent base of happy customers. I hope I won't be disappointed.

Unfortunately the PSU won't be here until monday :upset: so I won't be able to get to work on the machine until then 

I'll post updates when I get it all together :smile:


----------



## 0siris85 (Mar 5, 2008)

Just need to run prime95 for a few hours and I can dub the machine stable :smile:

I'm running 44-45*C idle, I think that's respectable for a stock HSF.


----------



## redsunx (Apr 5, 2007)

Replace the goop on the HSF, the temps should drop rather well.


----------



## 0siris85 (Mar 5, 2008)

yeah, I repasted it with some AS5.

There's only one thing that is bugging me...when I open up my system properties it is telling me that I have 3.50GB of RAM installed...when I actually have 4GB. Why is it telling me that?


----------



## redsunx (Apr 5, 2007)

Uhh, kinda just noticed it says "Pentium III 3000Mhz", anyways, if you're using a 32bit OS all 4GB of won't show up. It has 4GB's of address space. So 4GB-512VRAM from graphics=3.5 GB's of memory.


----------



## 0siris85 (Mar 5, 2008)

yeah, in memtest it says Pentium III for some reason, any idea why?

so as far as the memory goes, you are saying that it's all there and being used, just not showing up in the system properties?


----------



## 0siris85 (Mar 5, 2008)

what do you guys think about these temperatures? they seem a little hot to me :normal: At first I checked the temperatures through Sandra, but curiosity got the best of me so I downloaded coretemp and speedfan to make sure...nonetheless they came up with some interesting readings. Looks like I may have to reseat the HSF. Now the weird thing is that I keep my computer room cold...I'm talking about 60*F, and for now I'm running the machine with an open case.











Bios Readings
Current System Temperature: 34*C
Current CPU Temperature: 27-28*C
CPU Fan RPM ~1700RPM


----------



## 0siris85 (Mar 5, 2008)

I just got a bsod reboot for some reason...The machine has been running fine for the past 10 days or so, this is the first time this has happened. I'll try another overnight memtest to make sure, but this has really surprised me to be honest...it was really random, just as I opened up firefox :normal:

I'm still not sure about whether or not the temperatures are where they should be, 

again any help or input is much appreciated :smile:


----------

