Comments

• Creasian Member UncommonPosts: 112

  February 2008

  Goggle CPUZ.  Run it.  It will tell you everything we need to know here to help you get the best upgrades, or what other choices you have.

   

  It will give you the processor brand, name, speed, and steppings.

  It will give your mainboard<motherboard>'s name, model #, and Bios

  Post those two things as we can go on from there.

   

   

  P.S. Also please post your graphic card.  Model.  Interface dosent matter cause we will know what it is by your motherboard.  Please include the entire name.  Like there is a Geforce 7xxx series with MX,GT,GTS,GTX etc.  So if its a 7800GS, it is different than a 7800GTX. 

   

  Once you do your first successful build, you WILL know what to look for.  Trust me.
• Sophist Member Posts: 171

  February 2008

  Good deal will do and I'll bb with that info around 4:00pm eastern time.

  "The most important thing is to have the design support the players in setting their own goals in both cooperative and competitive interaction with one another." - Ironore -
• xxthecorexx Member Posts: 1,078

  February 2008

  this section at extremetech has some good information in it.

  http://www.extremetech.com/category2/0,1695,644478,00.asp

  not all of the build outs or articles are current so watch the dates on them.

  ____________________________
  TheCore
• goneglockin Member UncommonPosts: 706

  February 2008

  I'm psychic... I see a new motherboard in your future.

  Can you keep your case?  If your case has an "ATX" form factor (very common) you will be getting an ATX motherboard, so yes.

  I'll make two suggestions.  Here is what I would do for an bang/buck build right now:

  PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817159058

  MOBO: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128080

  CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115030

  RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231114

  GFX: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127329

  Here's what I like about each part: 

  PSU:  Not only are these units reliable as I own one myself, but they're modular- meaning you attach the cables you want to use.  Don't need a dozen 4-pin molex connectors sticking out of your PSU?  Don't connect em'.   

  Mobo:  Supports Quad-Core and has a 1600/1333Mhz FSB to allow you an upgrade path a few years down the road.  2 PCI-E slots should allow you to mess around with SLI or Crossfire somewhere down the line if you choose.

  CPU:  Benchmarks are very close to the E6600.  Likely just as overclockable and has the 4M cache that benefits gamers, and 50 dollars cheaper than the E6600.

  RAM:  Gskill RAM has always worked for me at the sticker's speeds/voltage.  They've also been decent overclockers to me but there's never guarantees on that.  Also good N' cheap.  : )

  GFX:  The 8800GT is the best bang for the buck card out there right now.  I like this model because you're getting a better cooling option for less money than the EVGA or XFX models.

  My second suggestion:

  Go to Dell Outlet (http://www.dell.com/outlet) and look for a refurbished computer with similar (or better) parts/specifications than what I've got up there.  You might be able to find a sweet deal on something that will look and work as good as new.

  I just got an inspiron 1520 laptop, with a 2ghz T7300 C2d (4M cache), 1 gig of ram, 80gb HD, 8600M GT GFX making up the core of the unit for 709$.  The parts would cost more than that.  I just got a 2gig stick in the mail today and I've upgraded my RAM to 2.5gb- and will probably get a new HD somewhere down the line.  But if you were to go to a brick and mortar store looking for a laptop like this, expect to pay over 1500 dollars, easy.

  My only complaint.  It's "sunshine" yellow.  But i've got a skin coming in the mail to fix that too.  It's otherwise good as new, a gaming laptop- for 700 bucks... laughing all the way to the bank.  Dell outlet. 

  Good luck. 

  Hope you got your things together. Hope you are quite prepared to die. Looks like we're in for nasty weather. ... There's a bad moon on the rise.
• Sophist Member Posts: 171

  February 2008

  Ok back guys sry for the late reply but i got tied up at work .

  Here is what i got for specs and thank you for the responses. Gone that was  a killer write up ty very much I was all over newegg all morning looking at stuff. But you seem to have hit the nail right on the head something that will be upgradable but not skyrocket new age stuff perfect ty.

  I will still post my specs just in case there may be hope for another year or so in this one. Mind you I will most likely build a new one but If i can get this to run A lot better cheap i may do both and have two box's running.(one for the more unsecure stuff in life on the webb)

  Here goes i hope this formats ok.

  -------------------------
  
    CPU-Z version 1.44
  
  -------------------------

  Processors Map
  
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Number of processors 1
  
  Number of threads 1

  Processor 0
  
      -- Core 0
  
          -- Thread 0

  
  
  Processors Information
  
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Processor 1 (ID = 0)
  
  Number of cores  1 (max 1)
  
  Number of threads 1 (max 1)
  
  Name   Intel Celeron
  
  Codename  Northwood
  
  Specification  Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU 2.00GHz
  
  Package   Socket 478 mPGA (platform ID = 2h)
  
  CPUID   F.2.7
  
  Extended CPUID  F.2
  
  Brand ID  10
  
  Core Stepping  C1
  
  Technology  0.13 um
  
  Core Speed  1995.1 MHz (20.0 x 99.8 MHz)
  
  Rated Bus speed  399.0 MHz
  
  Stock frequency  2000 MHz
  
  Instructions sets MMX, SSE, SSE2
  
  L1 Data cache  8 KBytes, 4-way set associative, 64-byte line size
  
  Trace cache  12 Kuops, 8-way set associative
  
  L2 cache  128 KBytes, 2-way set associative, 64-byte line size
  
  FID/VID Control  no
  
  Features  

   

  Chipset
  
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Northbridge  Intel i865P/PE/G/i848P rev. A2
  
  Southbridge  Intel 82801EB (ICH5) rev. 02
  
  Graphic Interface AGP
  
  AGP Revision  3.0
  
  AGP Transfer Rate 8x
  
  AGP SBA   supported, enabled
  
  Memory Type  DDR
  
  Memory Size  1024 MBytes
  
  Channels  Single
  
  Memory Frequency 133.0 MHz (3:4)
  
  CAS#   2.0
  
  RAS# to CAS#  4
  
  RAS# Precharge  3
  
  Cycle Time (tRAS) 6
  
  Performance Mode enabled

   

  Memory SPD
  
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  DIMM #1

  General
  
  Memory type  DDR
  
  Manufacturer (ID) Kingston (7F98000000000000)
  
  Size   512 MBytes
  
  Max bandwidth  PC3200 (200 MHz)
  
  Part number  K
  
  Serial number  761C744D
  
  Manufacturing date Week 02/Year 02

  Attributes
  
  Number of banks  2
  
  Data width  64 bits
  
  Correction  None
  
  Registered  no
  
  Buffered  no
  
  Nominal Voltage  2.50 Volts
  
  EPP   no
  
  XMP   no

  Timings table
  
  Frequency (MHz)  133 166 200 
  
  CAS#   2.0 2.5 3.0 
  
  RAS# to CAS# delay 2 3 3 
  
  RAS# Precharge  2 3 3 
  
  TRAS   6 7 8 

  
  
  DIMM #2

  General
  
  Memory type  DDR
  
  Manufacturer (ID) Apacer Technology (7F7A000000000000)
  
  Size   256 MBytes
  
  Max bandwidth  PC3200 (200 MHz)
  
  Part number  

  Attributes
  
  Number of banks  1
  
  Data width  64 bits
  
  Correction  None
  
  Registered  no
  
  Buffered  no
  
  Nominal Voltage  2.50 Volts
  
  EPP   no
  
  XMP   no

  Timings table
  
  Frequency (MHz)  133 166 200 
  
  CAS#   2.0 2.5 3.0 
  
  RAS# to CAS# delay 3 3 4 
  
  RAS# Precharge  3 3 4 
  
  TRAS   6 7 8 

  
  
  DIMM #3

  General
  
  Memory type  DDR
  
  Manufacturer (ID) Kingston (7F98000000000000)
  
  Size   256 MBytes
  
  Max bandwidth  PC3200 (200 MHz)
  
  Part number  K
  
  Serial number  05FFFFFF
  
  Manufacturing date Week 01/Year 04

  Attributes
  
  Number of banks  1
  
  Data width  64 bits
  
  Correction  None
  
  Registered  no
  
  Buffered  no
  
  Nominal Voltage  2.50 Volts
  
  EPP   no
  
  XMP   no

  Timings table
  
  Frequency (MHz)  133 166 200 
  
  CAS#   2.0 2.5 3.0 
  
  RAS# to CAS# delay 4 4 5 
  
  RAS# Precharge  2 3 3 
  
  TRAS   3 4 4 

   

  Monitoring
  
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Mainboard Model  D865PERL (0x21A - 0x9EF27C)

  LPCIO
  
  -----------------------------------------------------
  
  Vendor   NS
  
  Model   PC87372
  
  Vendor ID  0xFF02
  
  Chip ID   0xF0
  
  Revision ID  0x4
  
  Config Mode I/O address 0x2E

   

  Software
  
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Windows Version  Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition  Service Pack 2 (Build 2600)
  
  DirectX Version  9.0c

  
  
  Resources
  
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  "The most important thing is to have the design support the players in setting their own goals in both cooperative and competitive interaction with one another." - Ironore -
• Sophist Member Posts: 171

  February 2008

  The more I am looking at the system you found there I think that may be my best route as It leaves the door open to more learning and less replacement in the future. I think that may be my best option but I would still like to hear some feedback on the specs I have if anyone can.

  Trash it?

  Rip it apart?

  Through it in a dumpster?

  Oh and goneglokin by ATX do you mean size/positioning of the MoBo if so yes i believe it is the most common type from what I have seen of box's.

  "The most important thing is to have the design support the players in setting their own goals in both cooperative and competitive interaction with one another." - Ironore -
• xxthecorexx Member Posts: 1,078

  February 2008

  turn it into a file server or something and put it on your network or let one of your kids, or family members use it as an internet surf machine. you're motherboard is a socket 478 which means you're not getting a newer processor into it. the memory can't be reused. the power supply will be too light. the harddrive would be scrappable, but why cripple a perfectly fine light use machine to save a few bucks on a hard drive, plus a new one will be so much larger than you prolly have, and have better performance. the best the old one can be used for would be a slave drive or a back up drive (and you don't really wanna use an old drive for something as critical as a backup drive). the case, yes, it's prolly reuseable, but what are the limitations of it, can you fit a 8800 card into it if you wanted to ?

   

  before you jump into building anything, do a little research. people here will tell you what THEY want from a computer, but do enough research so that you can form your opinions on what you want and why. ddr3 prices are falling, do you want it ? will your choice motherboard have pcie2 slots ? how much power are you actually really going to be drawing, will you be using dual... triple video cards later ? are you planning on overclocking your video card, memory and/or processor ?

   

  a lot of questions need a lot of answers. there's a great satisfaction to building a good computer that you KNOW you made the right decisions on and why you made them.

   

  good luck and have fun with it.

  

  ____________________________
  TheCore
• Sophist Member Posts: 171

  February 2008

  Yeh that seems to be what I have been leaning twards is just rebuilding. As for reserch hehe I have been doing so much input in the last 7-8 days or so my brains about to explode. I started the thread in here to see what the gamers thought. I'm not compleatly uncomortable inside the inards of a box. I pretty much just wanted to get a few more opinions and had a few on the likes of pcmech and so on.

  But I like talking to you guys the not so geek geeks like me. The gamer geeks i guess.

  Its funny I had not noticed the 478 socket info before i hit post here but as soon as i posted it i saw that and realized I couldn't do anything with it seeing as the past few day's all ive read about is 7XX or therabouts. I should have caught that but I guess I may be near info overload lol.

  The setup glock posted was very similar to things I was looking at on Newegg so thats pretty much all I was wondering. I wasen't looking at those exact items but was not to far from em. I did consider that same Mobo through my own reserch and data mining so I think I may just go with it.

  I figure as long as I go heafty on the Mobo/Cpu/Gpu and a decent amount of ram I should be ok for future upgrades.

  And I seem to have found info leading me to believe that If I want more then one Gpu I need an Sli compatable Mobo correct?I have yet to look at that mobo again since I made thins conclusion so I gotta go check that out now.

  Again Thanks for all the info and any more that may come along. I will for sure Post what I end up with regarless just to let you guys see what I end up with.

  "The most important thing is to have the design support the players in setting their own goals in both cooperative and competitive interaction with one another." - Ironore -
• Creasian Member UncommonPosts: 112

  February 2008

  Goneglockin made some good suggestions.  I will give my opinions on them.
  
   
  
  I own the motherboard he listed.  It is a rock solid motherboard.  Fully supports e8400 out of box without any bios flash required.  If your going to spend 160 bucks, might as well go to mwave or a local microcenter, or newegg if you dont mind the markup, and get a e8400. 

  For a strict gamer, it is the best and cheapest on the market. 
  
  The 8800GT is also the best bang for the buck.  Unless your gaming at extremly high resolutions, then it will be pretty much on par with the 8800GTX. 

  The psu i would change.   Corsair offers about the best reliable modular psu's for reliability, and price.  I myself use a silverstone single 12v etasis 560w design.  Sick thing is my 560w psu has been posted as 8800GTX's in SLI and i got it right now powering my rig.  38amps on the single 12v rail helps alot.

  
  
  e8400
  
  Zalman 9700 LED CPU HSF
  
  Gigabyte x38-DS4
  
  Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800
  
  8800GT 512 OC <idles at 42c with the SMALL fan>
  
  CM690 Case, w/ 7 120mm fans, and sunbeam 4 fan controller

  
  
  All I suggest is that just because a psu is 1000w dosent mean that it can handle that much pull. Also you can find a damn good psu cheap if you look around for sales. More expensive dosent mean better output.

  You want to look at your planned graphic card. Find a psu that can far exceed and reliably do so the AMPS on the 12rail, or rail+s. I prefer single 12v rails myself, but some like quad or more. Your biggest draw will me your graphics card. You want to far exceed the requirement for future proofing.

  Spend a extra 50 bucks now on a psu, and save that and more later on a new build. My psu has dropped 10 dollars in price 13 months after i bought it.

   

  So do this. Forget about your psu for now. Build a list of parts that you want. Put it all together, and list it here. Then we can look for the psu. How my psu suggestion will just be my opinion. Feel free always to go with any suggestion here! Its your money.

   

  So i agree on the mobo suggest. I suggest a e8400 with that mobo. I also suggest Corsair XMS2. I agree on the video card.
  
   

   

   

  BTW.. i hit over 12k 3dmark06 in winxp 32bit.  I havent oced at all, and am still burning in the cpu.  Once i get things where i want it I am sure I will climb a wee bit more.
• Zaxx99 Member Posts: 1,761

  February 2008

  Sophist, I am writing just letting you know that I built my first PC ever about two years ago and had only done things like add/change memory sticks prior to taking on that challenge.

  I used a PC Gamer magazine article on steps to building your own PC, and I used that as a guide. I was a little nervous that I'd blow up something as I spent about $1300 in all the parts.

  I am happy to let you know that it was VERY easy actually. I had completely assembled my first PC in about 1.5 hours and installed all the drivers, windows XP, and everything and had it up and running in under 3 hours. It was actually MUCh easier then I even imagined. Piece of cake to be honest...

  And the self pride you'll feel is worth a lot. You'll also value your self build computer MUCH more then anything you could buy already built for you. So even if you might get a little better deal buying a PC from Dell or something, I HIGHLY recommend building you own PC from parts you select.

  You'll also learn a LOT from it and know a lot better what exactly you want for your next computer down the road from your first experience.

  It's easier then you probably expect. Check out an online guide if you haven't already. This one looks okay if you don't have a PC building article in the recent PC Gamer magazine or something.... GUIDE to BUILDING your OWN PC

  Buy quality parts with 4 or 5 star ratings on Newegg.com. The overall ratings are a pretty good judgment of how well that part is made. Make sure all your parts are compatible with each other. Spend about the same amount on the CPU as you do the motherboard, and maybe just a little more on your video card would be my suggestion. Then buy atleast 2 GB of memory as well. ie don't buy a $900 CPU and only a $69 motherboard or vice-versa. ;-)

  
  Have fun and good luck. I guarantee you that you'll be VERY happy when you build your very own PC and watch it as it works like a charm! And even if you hit a snag or two, the lessons learned will be invaluable in your PC future.

  
  - Zaxx

  
• Sophist Member Posts: 171

  February 2008

  Sup guys,

  Back again just wanted to ask everyones opinion on this Mobo.

  GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3P LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Dynamic Energy Saver Ultra Durable II Intel Motherboard

  <http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128083>;

   

  Compared to the one Glock recommended.

  "The most important thing is to have the design support the players in setting their own goals in both cooperative and competitive interaction with one another." - Ironore -
• xxthecorexx Member Posts: 1,078

  February 2008

  with a quick look the one glock tagged has the X38 chipset  in it as opposed to the P35, the pcie slots are 2.0 and 2 of them are x16 rather than 1 x16 and 1x4. is it worth the extra 50 bucks to you.. the 2.0 pcie slots might be since there is a performance boost with ati cards, not sure about with nvidia cards.

  what's your budget ?

  ____________________________
  TheCore
• Sophist Member Posts: 171

  February 2008

  Budget is not something I'm really concerned about its more about the building my own really. But In that comes a  lvl of devotion I know.

  Put It this way I don't want to go over 0 if I don't have to but I will go as high as 1500 if need be if that tells you anything. In other words I don't really care about bleading edge but also don't want to be replacing stuff cause I HAVE too in 6 months. As for the GPU I'm pretty sure I will be sticking with the one glock recommended it has a very good value vrs. cost. (As everyone else would say Best bang for the buck in todays market.)

  Not to mention it looks cool as hell whoever though to put headers on a GPU rocks. lol jk that in no way made up my mind guys really I did read up on it and liked what people where saying.

  Really like I said before Glock did a really good job of pointing out those pieces as they are all right around where I wanted to be. ( just over mid but not bleeding edge.)

  I think I may pick it all up next weekend so I'll be back and forth looking around and getting opinions all over all week.

  The slot difference was the only thing I really noticed that was different. and to tell you the truth even though I saw the difference I'm still not sure I see the ramifications of those differences. what would that mean in terms of equipment. I'm assuming like having only one slot for a wireless card and so forth. (witch I don't use BTW)

  "The most important thing is to have the design support the players in setting their own goals in both cooperative and competitive interaction with one another." - Ironore -
• Sophist Member Posts: 171

  April 2008

  Welp I didn't go full upgrade just yet cause I thought my car was going to cost a lot to fix seeing as it broke down like 3 weeks ago now. And after buying....

  New PSU

  New Evga 256mb agp card

  P4 3.0 prescott (Got the heat under control)

  And a new Rosewill CPU Heatsink/fan 90mm

  I am curently getting in the range of 35-40 FPS in eve in areas that I had about 3FPS in before.(one of the most Wreck heavy areas of the game IMO) And in GW I got a steady 45-50 in any area.

  Thank god for new gear huh!

  I still do plan on building a new rig seeing as my car would not run due to only a fuse lmao. to bad I still have to pay for the tow.

  But anywho I'm flying in most games and hope to run the next batch good as well so I can continue to bash your face in properly and see all the gore in the future.

  I would like to mention I feel I have learned a hell of a lot in the process of trying to and succeeding in building a better rig and would advise anyone wanting to learn more about how PC's work to do this for yourself as well.

  Cyall later!

  "The most important thing is to have the design support the players in setting their own goals in both cooperative and competitive interaction with one another." - Ironore -
• Yukkione Member Posts: 618

  April 2008

  I'm getting ready to build a new computer for my son. the budget is around $1000, and it needs to be upgradable. Going with AMD you know that the Main Board will support the next couple generations of CPU, if you go Intel, you'll need a new board to upgrade. Also someone mentioned a $120 + dollar psu...Thats spending way more than you need to. Here is what I've prices just from NewEgg. I'm sure i will change a few things as i get closer to ordering but here is a highly overclockable system that is upgradable, is SLI ,4 GB of fast ram and has Windows Ultimate 64. All for under $1100.

   

  Qty.	Product Description	Savings	Total Price
  1	Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound Item #:N82E16835100007 Return Policy: Consumable Items Return Policy Add this item to your cart		$5.99
  1	AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ 2.6GHz Socket AM2 65W Black Edition Processor Item #:N82E16819103194 Return Policy: Processors (CPUs) Return Policy Add this item to your cart		$95.99
  1	ABIT AX78 ATX AMD Motherboard Item #:N82E16813127046 Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy Add this item to your cart	$15.00 Mail-in Rebate	$99.99
  1	OCZ SLI-Ready Edition 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Item #:N82E16820227269 Return Policy: Memory (Modules, USB) Return Policy Add this item to your cart	-$5.00 Instant $30.00 Mail-in Rebate	$96.99 $91.99
  1	Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive Item #:N82E16822148136 Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy Add this item to your cart		$99.99
  1	ASUS Triton 77 92mm Vapo Bearing CPU Cooler Item #:N82E16835101020 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy Add this item to your cart	-$5.00 Instant $15.00 Mail-in Rebate	$54.99 $49.99
  1	XCLIO A380PLUS-BK Fully Black High Gloss Finish Computer Case With Side Panel Window Item #:N82E16811103014 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy Add this item to your cart	-$30.00 Instant	$139.99 $109.99
  1	Rosewill RP600V2-S-SL 600W Power Supply Item #:N82E16817182032 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy Add this item to your cart	-$10.00 Instant	$79.99 $69.99
  1	Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Ultimate for System Builders Single Pack DVD Item #:N82E16832116215 Return Policy: Software Return Policy Add this item to your cart	-$10.00 Instant	$189.99 $179.99
  2	ATARI Gift - The Witcher PC Game Item #: N82E16800198002 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy Add this combo to your cart   MSI GeForce 8800GTS NX8800GTS 320M OC Video Card Item #: N82E16814127328 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy	-$10.00 Instant -$49.99 Combo $20.00 Mail-in Rebate	$399.96 $279.98 ($139.99 each)
  Grand Total:			$1,083.89