New Setup

[extrarice]

Hi!
im not that familiar with technical computer stuff and i just asked a friend to give me a quote of a good setup. would this setup be good? ill be mostly doing 3d, video and alot of graphics work and a little bit of gaming. Is the Intel Q9400 C2quad worth it?

I also need help on the cooling system. Im on a tight budget, around $1000. thanks guys!

Intel Q9400 C2Q
Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R
2GB Kingston DDR2 PC800 (2pcs)
500GB Seagate
HEC 550w Win+ power supply
LG DVD writer (lightscribe)
Geforce 9800GT

 

[pr2thej]

mmm at a glance i do not think this is great value for money. Im pretty sure you can do better. Do you know if that RAM is 2x2GB or 2x1GB? Also find out the Case he will use, and the Operating System along with any aftermarket cooling.

 

[pr2thej]

Build costs $676 minus $35 mail in rebates at www.newegg.com
So thats $641 to buy the above

 

[extrarice]

mmm at a glance i do not think this is great value for money. Im pretty sure you can do better. Do you know if that RAM is 2x2GB or 2x1GB? Also find out the Case he will use, and the Operating System along with any aftermarket cooling.

the RAM is 2x2GB. i dont know much about the computer hardware though all he gave me were these specs. What stuff can you recommend me to improve the parts? thanks.

 

[pr2thej]

3D graphic work isnt something im really that knowledgable about.

You definitly want the following as a minimum however:

Quad core processor
Vista 64 Bit
LOTS of RAM, and a good brand. Kingston is shoddy.
DX10 Capable GPU (?)
Good brand PSU. HEC are a company called Compucase. They make deathtrap PSU's

What else is needed? For example do you have monitor / keys / mouse / old HDD, Opticals that you can reuse?

 

[extrarice]

3D graphic work isnt something im really that knowledgable about.

You definitly want the following as a minimum however:

Quad core processor
Vista 64 Bit
LOTS of RAM, and a good brand. Kingston is shoddy.
DX10 Capable GPU (?)
Good brand PSU. HEC are a company called Compucase. They make deathtrap PSU's

What else is needed? For example do you have monitor / keys / mouse / old HDD, Opticals that you can reuse?

Yep i have a stock monitor, keyboard and mouse. hmm.. Ill try a little more researching on current stocks here in the philippines. ill update in a bit

 

[rooseveltdon]

You could get better value for a lot less but let us get down to business

quad core processor: this is a good choice the core 2 quad will be able to handle all the stuff u need to do just fine. So stick with that

Motherboard: You could get some very solid deals here if u look around however the one you got isnt bad either. Check their website and see how yours compares 9remember you are using a quad core cpu so you want a mobo that will work well with it especially intel)

RAM: For what you are doing you will need at least four to get the best performance, corsair and OCZ make pretty solid and reliable products so i would stick with those


Your harddrive is fine seagate is a known and reliable brand

I don't know much about HEC PSU's i would go with antec or coolermaster (they will still fit well in your budget so you will be fine) these are reliable names as far as power supplies go and they will last for a while.

your optical drive is good especially if it comes with light scribe

The 9800gt is a pretty good card,if your motherboard supports SLI (which u can easily get within your budget) you will be able to use a card like this in tandem with another 9800gt or even with the integrated GPU (hybrid SLI) for even better performance especially if you work a lot with 3d rendering and graphical design work you will really see the difference there.

overall your build looks good, and remember to get at least 4 gigs and the 64 bit windows vista (or seven if you can wait for it)

 

[pr2thej]

Oh christ Phillipines. I did a build for a chap not so long ago and it was a nightmare. Anyway you should shoot for something like this.

Q9950 $282
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R $110
HIS Radeon 4870 1GB $224
Mushkin 4GB 800Mhz$40
Antec 900 $110
PC Power & Cooling 500w $70
Seagate 500GB$65
LG Dvd Burner $22
AS5 $6
Vista 64 Bit OEM $100

Totals $1039. Probably the regional differences will make a differences if they do you can look at saving by going for a Radeon 4850 / Antec 300 combo instead with perhaps a 420w Silencer. Further savings by using the Windows 7 Beta till Sept if you need to.
Ive tried to stick to the same parts where i can, but upgraded the GPU and cooling / power along wit the RAM.

 

[pr2thej]

lol 9550*

 

[extrarice]

prthej: thanks for the input! but i cant find some of the parts you recommended though. like the HIS Radeon 4870 1gb. however there is the Palit ATI HD 4850 Sonic (OC Version) 1gb (256bit) Gddr3. Which is better for 3d and graphic applications, ati or nvidia?

i tried to build around the price list of one reliable computer store. let me know what you think:

Intel Q9400   C2Q
Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R
Corsair 4Gb XMS2 DHX CL5
500GB Seagate
ATX casing 
Corsair 520watts (HX520) HX Series
Geforce 9800GT
Arctic Cooling (Freezer 7 Pro) LGA775 PWM
Samsung dvd burner
Vista 64-bit

The total is around $1100 i think. Is there a cheaper power supply compatible with this system? also, the ram brands available are only OCZ, kingston, corsair and transcend.

 

[blackpanther26]

I would see if you can fit a Core 2 Quad Q9550 just becuase of the extra L2 cache.

 

[pr2thej]

Ati Vs Nvidia is not really a great argument. They are companies that produce good and not so good cards.

Personally im an Ati guy hence i recommend the 4870. However the 4850 is considerably cheaper and is the best value for money for what it offers.
The 4870 is the better card, the 4850 will do you good though.
I selected a card with 1GB internal memory which i think enhances rigs that need to do lots of rendering. A 9800 is comparable to a 4850, with a slightly higher power requirement.

Regarding PSU's...this is the last component you would look to save on. Consider all other options first. The best advice i can give is go with a named brand. A bad PSU is sucseptible to power surges that can release too much voltage into your other components. The results are usually fried CPU's, Mobos, GPU's. Not good.

Regarding Memory. I chose Mushkin on the good price point. OCZ and Corsair are comparable (and G.Skill if you can get it). Kingston and Trancend are trash.
Look for PC6400 (type of RAM), 800Mhz (Speed of RAM) and also consider the memory timings. Standard for PC6400 is around 5-5-5-18, with lower settings being better.

You dont need an AC Freezer 7 Pro as long as you get a Retail CPU, as it will come with a Heatsink Fan. However, if you buy an OEM CPU then you will not get a Heatsink Fan with it and will require an aftermarket purchase.

Casing is important, for cooling. If you are not getting a 4870 then look at the Antec 300. Cheap and lovely!

Good that you stick with Vista 64 bit. You can also use the Windows 7 beta to save $100 for a few months. Both allow more than 3.4GB RAM to be used, whereas Vista 32 bit, and XP are limited to 3.4GB RAM.