My First Build (~£900) - Conroe Style

Tigjaw

Tigjaw

Tigjaw

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6 Oct 2005
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Location
West Midlands
Hello everyone,
I'm a home PC user and due to the frequent use I get from my poor eMachines 5240 I decided to treat myself to a whole new computer (bar 2 components).

I want to thank everybody for all the advice you've given me so far, I really couldn't have chosen the components by myself.

So, with my fingers crossed hoping that everything is compatible and without any further ado, here's the final system I've chosen (all from OC):

Motherboard:
Intel DP965LT 965 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-011-IN) £88
Processor:
Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (CP-128-IN) £250
RAM:
G.Skill 2GB DDR2 HZ PC2-6400 (2x1GB) CAS4 Dual Channel Kit (F2-6400PHU2-2GBHZ) (MY-013-GS) £174
Graphics:
Connect3D ATI Radeon X1800 XT 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-044-CO) £164
PSU:
Tagan TG580-U15 580W ATX2.01 Easycon SLi Compliant Modular Silent PSU (CA-009-TG) £82
Cooler/Fan:
Thermaltake Big Typhoon 4 in 1 Heatpipe (Socket 939/754/775/478) CPU Cooler (CL-P0114) (HS-007-TT) £30

I'll be using my own DVD/CD combo drive and Hard-Drive in the system if compatible:
Hard Drive: 160 GB Western Digital® Caviar® WD1600BB-00HTA0
CD/DVD Drive: Lite-On® SOHW-832S DVD/RW Combo drive

So if I've chosen everything then why am I posting yet again? I have 2 more queries:
1. I would really appreciate any suggestions anybody can offer even if it's just to confirm everything is indeed compatible!
2. I understand I will need to purchase a new operating system because I wont be able to use my eMachines software will I?

Anyway, I just wanted to know whether I'd be gaining anything by getting Professional instead of XP Home or whether I'd be gaining even more by getting a 64bit OS.

I think I've asked a few hundred questions over the last few days and I'm pretty sure it's probably becoming a nuisance :D But I just want to make sure I don't waste my ~£900.

Thanks again to all my little helpers, you know who you are :cool:
 
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All compatible as far as I can tell although I've not paid that much attention to Conroe in detail yet. XP Pro has better networking and some better administrative tools but I very much doubt you or most people would notice the difference over Home edition.

I don't know about using your old versions of Windows, it depends how they have given you the software I suppose i.e. as original disks or as a restore disk. I think that in theory you would be allowed to use it provided it was going to only be used on one PC at a time and the software key was valid but you might want to check up on that.
 
Thanks guys, sounds like I just need to sort out my OS then.

If I wouldn't gain much by moving to XP Prof I'll stick to Home and after skimming through the 64bit OS FAQ I doubt I'll gain much by getting that either.

Anyway, I'll go check out my OS software that came with my eMachines 5240 PC and see if I can use that, fingers crossed!
 
Xp pro has the followin
Remote Desktop - All versions of Windows XP--including Home Edition--support Remote Assistance, which is an assisted support technology that allows a help desk or system administrator to remotely connect to a client desktop for troubleshooting purposes. But Only Pro supports the new Remote Desktop feature, which is a single-session version of Terminal Services with two obvious uses: Mobile professionals who need to remotely access their corporate desktop, and remote administration of clients on a network. You can access a Windows XP Remote Desktop from any OS that supports a Terminal Services client (such as Windows 98 and, interestingly XP Home). XP Home can act as the client in a Remote Desktop session; only Pro can be the server.
Multi-processor support - Windows XP Pro supports up to two microprocessors, while Home Edition supports only one.
Automated System Recovery (ASR) - In a somewhat controversial move, Microsoft has removed the Backup utility from the default Windows XP Home Edition, though it is available as an optional installation if you can find it on the CD-ROM (hint: it's in the /valueadd folder). The reason for this the integration of Microsoft's new Automated System Recovery (ASR) tool into Backup. In Pro, ASR will help recover a system from a catastrophic error, such as one that renders the system unbootable. ASR-enabled backups are triggerable from XP Setup, allowing you to return your system to its previous state, even if the hard drive dies and has to be replaced. Unlike consumer-oriented features such as System Restore, ASR is not automatic: It must manually be enabled from within the Backup utility in Windows XP Pro. In any event, while there is a Backup utility available for Home Edition, you cannot use ASR, even though mentions of this feature still exist in the UI. Confusing? Yes. But it's better than no Backup at all, which was the original plan.
Dynamic Disk Support - Windows XP Professional (like its Windows 2000 equivalent) supports dynamic disks, but Home Edition does not (instead, HE supports only the standard Simple Disk type). Dynamic disks are not usable with any OS other than Windows 2000 or Windows XP Pro, and they cannot be used on portable computers. Likewise, Home Edition does not include the Logical Disk Manager
Remote Desktop - All versions of Windows XP--including Home Edition--support Remote Assistance, which is an assisted support technology that allows a help desk or system administrator to remotely connect to a client desktop for troubleshooting purposes. But Only Pro supports the new Remote Desktop feature, which is a single-session version of Terminal Services with two obvious uses: Mobile professionals who need to remotely access their corporate desktop, and remote administration of clients on a network. You can access a Windows XP Remote Desktop from any OS that supports a Terminal Services client (such as Windows 98 and, interestingly XP Home). XP Home can act as the client in a Remote Desktop session; only Pro can be the server.
Multi-processor support - Windows XP Pro supports up to two microprocessors, while Home Edition supports only one.
Automated System Recovery (ASR) - In a somewhat controversial move, Microsoft has removed the Backup utility from the default Windows XP Home Edition, though it is available as an optional installation if you can find it on the CD-ROM (hint: it's in the /valueadd folder). The reason for this the integration of Microsoft's new Automated System Recovery (ASR) tool into Backup. In Pro, ASR will help recover a system from a catastrophic error, such as one that renders the system unbootable. ASR-enabled backups are triggerable from XP Setup, allowing you to return your system to its previous state, even if the hard drive dies and has to be replaced. Unlike consumer-oriented features such as System Restore, ASR is not automatic: It must manually be enabled from within the Backup utility in Windows XP Pro. In any event, while there is a Backup utility available for Home Edition, you cannot use ASR, even though mentions of this feature still exist in the UI. Confusing? Yes. But it's better than no Backup at all, which was the original plan.
Dynamic Disk Support - Windows XP Professional (like its Windows 2000 equivalent) supports dynamic disks, but Home Edition does not (instead, HE supports only the standard Simple Disk type). Dynamic disks are not usable with any OS other than Windows 2000 or Windows XP Pro, and they cannot be used on portable computers. Likewise, Home Edition does not include the Logical Disk Manager
Encrypting File System - Windows XP Professional supports the Encrypting File System (EFS), which allows you encrypt individual files or folders for local security (EFS is not enabled over a network). EFS-protected files and folders allows users to protect sensitive documents from other users.
File-level access control - Any user with Administrator privileges can limit access to certain network resources, such as servers, directories, and files, using access control lists. Only Windows XP Professional supports file-level access control, mostly because this feature is typically implemented through Group Policy Objects, which are also not available in Home Edition
<LI>Networking features [font=Verdana, Arial, Times]
The following networking features are not included in Home Edition: The user interface for IPSecurity (IPSec)
SNMP
Simple TCP/IP services
SAP Agent
Client Service for NetWare
Network Monitor
Multiple Roaming feature
In short you dont need it just for home use

[/font]
 
Budabing said:
Multi-processor support - Windows XP Pro supports up to two microprocessors, while Home Edition supports only one.
Click to expand...

But I'm getting a conroe, does that mean I need XP Pro? Or is conroe just 2 cores and not 2 processors?

EDIT: nevermind, I just twigged. :D

Thanks mate.
 
Hi guys, I didn't want to start a new thread about this so here goes...

As conroe has been delayed again and the graphics card in my current computer has died I was wondering whether I should ring up OCuk and change my order so that everything but the CPU is in a separate order and delivered ASAP.

If I did this I'd be using my current processor, Prescott 2.93Ghz.

Would this work and would it void the Xp Home OS license I've bought? (I ask because I am obviously changing the processor when I get my conroe).

Also, do you think changing my Conroe order will change my place in the que to get my conroe?

Thanks again
 
One other thing, is your hard drive SATA or IDE?

If its IDE that means you'll have to chain your hard drive on the same cable as your DVD-RW. Something which may not be ideal.
 
FirebarUK said:
One other thing, is your hard drive SATA or IDE?

If its IDE that means you'll have to chain your hard drive on the same cable as your DVD-RW. Something which may not be ideal.
Click to expand...

You've got me worried now, the website I found my computer on says my HDD is SATA but I've just noticed they've got some other info wrong. My CD drive is TSSTcorp, not Lite On.

How do I find out whether my HDD and/or CD-DVD drives are SATA or IDE?

Thanks again.
 
Ooooh, thats quite unlikely. I'd suggest taking a photo as Stelly says.

Look at the ends of the cables that go into the drives, the cable itself could be rounded (braided in a way to make it neat). An IDE connector will be around 2 inches wide, a SATA cable will be around 2cm (roughly).
 
Tigjaw said:
{snip}Would this work and would it void the Xp Home OS license I've bought? (I ask because I am obviously changing the processor when I get my conroe){snip}
Click to expand...
OS license is tied with the mobo, so you should be fine until you change it :)

Dual-core (or multi-core) processors are seen as 1 chip...
Wikipedia said:
Another issue is the question of software licensing for multi-core CPUs. Typically enterprise server software is licensed "per processor". In the past a CPU was a processor (and moreover most computers had only one CPU) and there was no ambiguity. Now there is the possibility of counting cores as processors and charging a customer for two licenses when they use a dual-core CPU. However, the trend seems to be counting dual-core chips as a single processor as Microsoft, Intel, and AMD support this view. Oracle counts AMD and Intel dual-core CPUs as a single processor but has other numbers for other types. IBM, HP and Microsoft count a multi-chip module as multiple processors. If multi-chip modules counted as one processor then CPU makers would have an incentive to make large expensive multi-chip modules so their customers saved on software licensing. So it seems that the industry is slowly heading towards counting each die (see Integrated circuit) as a processor, no matter how many cores each die has. Intel has released Paxville which is really a multi-chip module but Intel is calling it a dual-core. It is not clear yet how licensing will work for Paxville. This is an unresolved and thorny issue for software companies and customers.
Click to expand...
 
Stelly said:
Can you take a piccie and post on here to make sure??

Stelly
Click to expand...

I've taken some pictures, hope they're okay...
My computer
Picture 1 (guided tour :D - my thumb is on the HDD and I'm pointing at the wide wire that is plugged into the CD drive.)
Picture 2

The HDD and CD drive are on the right, the CD drive is in the top right, HDD below lying vertically.

There's a thin red wire coming from the HDD as well as 4 little wires (2black, 1 yellow, 1 red) that are connected via a white plug (I think that is power).

A big wide wire that looks like tape is connected to the CD Drive.
 
The "big wide wire" connected to the CD is an IDE cable.

The 2 black, 1 yellow, 1 red wires are indeed power for your hard drive.

The thin red wire coming from your hard drive is the SATA lead.

Jon

Edit: Stelly got there first :D
 
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