Core 2 Duo: what the shop suggested...

[nazimm]

Hello all

I did as all of you told me a couple of months ago and waited for the Core2Duo came out...

Went to the local shop and this is what they recommend:

Core 2 Due 6400
MoBo: ASUS P5N32 SLI SE Deluxe
DDR2, PC4200 (2x 512)
ATI Radeon X1600 Pro 256 Mb
PSU: Enerm,ax ATX 420 Watts Noisetaker EG425AX-VE

The rest is the usual, DVD writer, floppy and hard disk. I plan to canibalise these from my existing (old) HP Pavillion...

The case I really want to have is the NZXT Lexa... the reviews on this one are great and it looks the boom!

Pricy system really, Mobo over Euro 220 ($300 I think) and they say that the ATI would play all things and is nice and cheap. I am thinking that this is good as DirectX 10 is coming out in a few months so I do not want to overspend on GPU...

No idea if the PSU is good though, the guys told me better getter a brand name with 420 W rather than no name with 500W??

Thanks for checking this out.

 

[Giraffe]

yes a good brand 420watt should better than a generic 500watt
the gpu will be ok if u want to wait for dx10. but if u cant wait or wont be gettin dx10 for a while after its out u will want a better card.
a 7600gt would be nice.

im sorry but im not sure on the m/b

 

[PaulWJones]

Generally, ASUS motherboards have been pretty good, although I cannot say much for their download web-sites (the US and TW ones are pretty slow and intermittantly not available), and they don't seem to do BIOS updates out past a year or two, etc. Bus ASUS does a much better than average job of designing their boards, physical layout is very good, and they get the timing mostly right, ground planes are adequate, decoupling good. Definitely as a group some of the better boards.

I think the system looks like a reasonable combination. I guess the one thing I would maybe question slightly, is if you might not want to get a faster CPU. Granted, there is the 64 bit support and 2 processor advantage and all of the Core 2 Duo, so that might be enough alone, but the AMD X2 line, although maybe not as sexy on the high-end now, is perhaps cheaper. Better to get an Intel chip that's faster than the AMDs. If you're in a price/performance thing, well, Intel doesn't always win those, unless you go to the faster chips on the desktop (it does pretty much clean AMDs clock on the laptops, excepting 64 bit, until the new stuff gets out for real).

Tom's had a really good price/performance grid, that showed this well, but I could not find that. What I did find was this:

http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.html

It varies a lot with the benchmark, but AMD x2 4800+ and 5000+ are pretty cheap, and in general close to or better than the E6400 in performance. No question that the new Intel chips run the pants off of AMD at anything approaching the same clock rate, but they're still short on supply, so the price for what you get today is maybe not the best. If you go higher end, Intel rules, of course, but your'e in the mid-range, which is fine, much better bang for the buck, and there AMD and even the older Pentium Ds are competitive.

So that's something to think about.

 

[jaQa]

Hi,

somehow this doesn't fit.
A fast CPU, pricey MB, slow memory and slow graphics card.

What do you want to use this system for?

If its for gaming, this is what i would recommend:

the same CPU, a "cheap" MB, normal memory and a good graphics card.

e.g.
a reasonalbe priced 965 chipset motherboard (100-150$)
a better video card - Nvidia 7600GT (~150$) or a X1900GT (~200$)

If you want to overclock get DDR 667 at least, DDR 800 would be better.
With DDR 667 after FSB of 333 you'll start to overclock the memory, with DDR 800 you have to push the FSB past 400 to overclock the memory (assuming 1x memory multiplier). Memory prices don't differ that much anyway (~20-30$ difference between value 4200 and value 6400 RAM).

DirectX is not far away that is right, but software is always lagging behind hardware, i guess we won't see DirecX 10 only games hit the market before 2008 (expect Microsoft ones to push Vista sales).

So investing in a better midrange DirectX9 card now is not a bad idea, i think one can be happy with a X1900GT/X1800XT (upper midrange) or 7600GT (midrange) until DirectX10 really matters.

PSU: if you don't care about SLI (which you shouldn't if you don't play on a 24" monitor with a resolution above 1600x1200) a ~400W brand name PSU is just fine, if you care about noise I recommend a Seasonic PSU.

Christian

 

[enforcerfx]

personnally iw oudln't buy from a hop. they are obviously the same generic idiots who run every comp shop

i would hope you would build your own and get a decent comp for a little more money.

that ram might slow you down a little and that gfx card is not really for gaming. i know you don't want to overspend so i suppose it would do but even something of the x800 and x850's would probably be better adn maybe around the same price.

it is your choice but i would build your own if you are not already doing so and avoid advice from people who work in comp shops. that may sound strange but it is good advice from my experience.

Very True Strange, Personally to save the cash: Drop to a E6300, switch to a 7600GT or x800(whatever is in that 150 range) SLi motherboard isnt needed so drop that and get the Asus P5B version thats not Wi-Fi. Would suggest another Gig of ram to add onto what you have. The Lexa is a nice case, but can scratch easily. The 420w Enermax has a better chance of lasting longer than a junky Generic one. If the Lexa comes with a PSU, i suggest you toss it, or if its salvagable then hold onto it.

 

[nazimm]

thanks for all the advice!!!

I did not spot the SLI bit in the Mobo.... I really do not plan to have more one that Grap card in the rig. As far as WiFi is concerned, a USB dongle at the back of the case would do the trick if need be.

I am a little confused about the RAM though. I am not interested in overclocking, and I want to build this myself rather than have the shop do it for me.

On the CPU issue, looks like I should take a look at AMD as well.

I am looking at creating a serious game machine, but something which can plan the odd game at a very reasonable frame rate. I mainly play FPS (Halo, Serious Sam) and the odd advanture (Prince of persia that kind of stuff)

Thanks for all!!

 

[jaQa]

Hi,

.. I am not interested in overclocking ...

since you don't, one of these boards should fulfill your needs if you go Core2Duo:
ECS P965T-A
GIGABYTE GA-945P-S3
GIGABYTE GA-965P-S3

I am a little confused about the RAM though

since you don't intend to overclock DDR2 667 is fine -
DDR2 533 costs virtually the same anyway, so there is no point in getting 533 - e.g.
CORSAIR VALUE SELECT 1GB

if you went for 2GB, get 2x1GB instead.

I am looking at creating a serious game machine

Then definitly get a better graphics card than the X1600.

As said, in the 150$ price range the Nvidia 7600GT is very nice from a price/performance point of view, for 200$ the X1900GT is very good - it'll handle
every game, expect Oblivion which brings every card out there to it's kness, on the highest quality even with 4xAA and 16xAF up to 1280x1024 resolution.

Christian

 

[Mondoman]

The main problem with the PS is the model they are trying to sell you is a 2-3 year old design. It has since been replaced by a newer version, the EG425P-VE, which meets the latest specs and has the latest cable types, etc. Have them sell you this newer one instead, and leave the old inventory for someone else.

I agree on getting a better graphics card.

For RAM, get DDR2-667 with CL4. That will more than saturate your CPU's FSB (stay away from "value" lines of RAM).