Hello there I have been a long time reader of the forums here and have yet to post anything significant or contributing to the site, but please don't take this to heart as I ask for your guidance in making new rig in Japan.
I have been here for a few years now and lived my first year using a macbook while my gaming rig was sitting in Australia gathering dust. A good friend of mine disassembled it and bubble wrapped the parts, stuck them into the lian-li case and sent them over. I then built it again from scratch and overclocked the video card and cpu a little bit as I only had stock fans.
This is my old computer:
CPU = P43.2GHz OC'd to 3.52GHz
RAM = Corsair 3200 1.5GB
MOBO = Gigabyte something or other
CASE = Lian-li 60
GPU = Radeon 9600pro 256mb AGP OC'd to 576Mhz
HDD = Maxtor 120Gb + ext. Buffalo 500Gb
Screen = 32v Sony Bravia LCD
Now that was my first time building a computer and I was still in college then and the funds were a little tight, now I am working fulltime I would like to put together something that I feel I haven't cut corners on.
This is my proposal and also the prices in Japan at the moment for each piece.
CPU - Core2Quad Q9450 @ 2.66GHz FSB 1333 12Mb CACHE = 37,980yen
MOBO - ASUSTek Striker II Formula = 40,480yen
Memory - Twin 2x4096-8500 CEDF XMS2-8500 2GB*2 CL5 (Corsair Dominator) = 17,980yen x 2?
HDD - ST31000340AS - 1TB 7200rpm SerialATA 32MB Seagate = 21,840yen
WD1500ADFD - 150GB 10000rpm SerialATA 16MB = 21,420yen
PSU - Thermaltake W0116-01 ToughPower 750W = 29,800yen
GPU - Galaxy GF P98 GX2 - 9800GX2 GDDR3 1GB - core clock 600MHz - mem clock - 2GHz
Case - OWL-PCCG-10 Crystal Gazer - 23,800yen http://www.ark-pc.co.jp/item/OWL-PCCG-10+Crystal+Gazer+%A5%C0%A1%BC%A5%AF%A5%D1%A1%BC%A5%D7%A5%EB+%C5%C5%B8%BB%A4%CA%A4%B7/code/15200440
or
Zalman ZM-GT1000 = 54,800yen
http://www.zalman.co.kr/ENG/product/Product_Read.asp?idx=188
Notes:
-------
CPU
-----
I chose the CPU because it has a larger CACHE that the Q6600 and I have seen people overclock the Q6600 to around 3.2-3.4, so I thought the extra CACHE might help things along. What do you think or recommend?
Cooling
--------
I need help with cooling because with the graphics card and the raptor HDD etc the rig will run hot, I was thinking some Zalman CPU fans, but then I heard water cooling is the way to go. I have never installed water cooling before so I would have to research more, but if you guys think it is the better option as far as keeping things cold and quite, then that's what I'll buy.
Mobo
------
I chose the mobo because I think the layout of the copper heatsinks looks nice and it is a little cheaper than the striker II extreme by about $100.
Memory and OS
-------------------
The memory was an easy choice, 4gigs of dominator ram for under $200, I was thinking about getting 8gigs do you think it is worthwhile? I intend to play games, watch HD movies and that is about it really, any thoughts?
On the note of memory, and I know about the 3.25GB limit of XP, do you think 8 gigs and using vista ultimate would be better than 4 gigs and XP pro SP3? I have an OEM copy of Ultimate that I installed for fun on my current rig and it was really slow, I assume because of the ram and other limitation like my GPU.
Would vista ultimate run fast on the proposed rig? I have the OEM edition and was wondering if x64 is included in it. I heard that ultimate has a seperate x64 edition disc included, and mine was not a store copy if you get my drift.
HDD
-----
ok so for around $200 I can buy a 1TB HDD that runs at 7200 with a 32mb CACHE I was thinking of getting two of these and partitioning one for the OS. Then I was also thinking of getting the 10,000RPM raptor and sticking the OS on that and any game that I would be playing.
Which is a better option and why? The faster driver might make the system run hotter, if so around how much in temp?
GPU
-----
I know the new generation chip is coming out in summer and I am actually thinking of holding the build off until the new cards hit the market, but for now the card that I would like to have is the 9800GX2. The main reason is that my screen is a 32 inch Sony Bravia LCD and it has HDMI as well as a PC VGA input, so I thought it would make more sense to run the GPU through HDMI.
Is this correct or not? the max resolution of the screen is 1366x968 so native 720p and 1080i, I know for these resolutions the card is a bit overkill but I have read that HDMI looks comparably better than the VGA.
This build comes to about 2,500-$3000 USD that is including a cooling system between $0-$500.
Any suggestions and all advice, comments are welcome and appreciated, thankyou in advance for the knowledge, help and guidance.
Gargamel
I have been here for a few years now and lived my first year using a macbook while my gaming rig was sitting in Australia gathering dust. A good friend of mine disassembled it and bubble wrapped the parts, stuck them into the lian-li case and sent them over. I then built it again from scratch and overclocked the video card and cpu a little bit as I only had stock fans.
This is my old computer:
CPU = P43.2GHz OC'd to 3.52GHz
RAM = Corsair 3200 1.5GB
MOBO = Gigabyte something or other
CASE = Lian-li 60
GPU = Radeon 9600pro 256mb AGP OC'd to 576Mhz
HDD = Maxtor 120Gb + ext. Buffalo 500Gb
Screen = 32v Sony Bravia LCD
Now that was my first time building a computer and I was still in college then and the funds were a little tight, now I am working fulltime I would like to put together something that I feel I haven't cut corners on.
This is my proposal and also the prices in Japan at the moment for each piece.
CPU - Core2Quad Q9450 @ 2.66GHz FSB 1333 12Mb CACHE = 37,980yen
MOBO - ASUSTek Striker II Formula = 40,480yen
Memory - Twin 2x4096-8500 CEDF XMS2-8500 2GB*2 CL5 (Corsair Dominator) = 17,980yen x 2?
HDD - ST31000340AS - 1TB 7200rpm SerialATA 32MB Seagate = 21,840yen
WD1500ADFD - 150GB 10000rpm SerialATA 16MB = 21,420yen
PSU - Thermaltake W0116-01 ToughPower 750W = 29,800yen
GPU - Galaxy GF P98 GX2 - 9800GX2 GDDR3 1GB - core clock 600MHz - mem clock - 2GHz
Case - OWL-PCCG-10 Crystal Gazer - 23,800yen http://www.ark-pc.co.jp/item/OWL-PCCG-10+Crystal+Gazer+%A5%C0%A1%BC%A5%AF%A5%D1%A1%BC%A5%D7%A5%EB+%C5%C5%B8%BB%A4%CA%A4%B7/code/15200440
or
Zalman ZM-GT1000 = 54,800yen
http://www.zalman.co.kr/ENG/product/Product_Read.asp?idx=188
Notes:
-------
CPU
-----
I chose the CPU because it has a larger CACHE that the Q6600 and I have seen people overclock the Q6600 to around 3.2-3.4, so I thought the extra CACHE might help things along. What do you think or recommend?
Cooling
--------
I need help with cooling because with the graphics card and the raptor HDD etc the rig will run hot, I was thinking some Zalman CPU fans, but then I heard water cooling is the way to go. I have never installed water cooling before so I would have to research more, but if you guys think it is the better option as far as keeping things cold and quite, then that's what I'll buy.
Mobo
------
I chose the mobo because I think the layout of the copper heatsinks looks nice and it is a little cheaper than the striker II extreme by about $100.
Memory and OS
-------------------
The memory was an easy choice, 4gigs of dominator ram for under $200, I was thinking about getting 8gigs do you think it is worthwhile? I intend to play games, watch HD movies and that is about it really, any thoughts?
On the note of memory, and I know about the 3.25GB limit of XP, do you think 8 gigs and using vista ultimate would be better than 4 gigs and XP pro SP3? I have an OEM copy of Ultimate that I installed for fun on my current rig and it was really slow, I assume because of the ram and other limitation like my GPU.
Would vista ultimate run fast on the proposed rig? I have the OEM edition and was wondering if x64 is included in it. I heard that ultimate has a seperate x64 edition disc included, and mine was not a store copy if you get my drift.
HDD
-----
ok so for around $200 I can buy a 1TB HDD that runs at 7200 with a 32mb CACHE I was thinking of getting two of these and partitioning one for the OS. Then I was also thinking of getting the 10,000RPM raptor and sticking the OS on that and any game that I would be playing.
Which is a better option and why? The faster driver might make the system run hotter, if so around how much in temp?
GPU
-----
I know the new generation chip is coming out in summer and I am actually thinking of holding the build off until the new cards hit the market, but for now the card that I would like to have is the 9800GX2. The main reason is that my screen is a 32 inch Sony Bravia LCD and it has HDMI as well as a PC VGA input, so I thought it would make more sense to run the GPU through HDMI.
Is this correct or not? the max resolution of the screen is 1366x968 so native 720p and 1080i, I know for these resolutions the card is a bit overkill but I have read that HDMI looks comparably better than the VGA.
This build comes to about 2,500-$3000 USD that is including a cooling system between $0-$500.
Any suggestions and all advice, comments are welcome and appreciated, thankyou in advance for the knowledge, help and guidance.
Gargamel