New build - help with spec please?

sitruz

sitruz

sitruz

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Joined
1 Mar 2008
Posts
42
Location
Nottingham, UK
Hi all,

Had my current machine since 2005 I think :eek: (P4 3.4) and it's showing its age, keeps falling over and when it doesn't it still struggles.

Last machine was built for gaming, but I haven't used it for gaming in a long time, use my 360 for that. Looking for a good stable spec (No OC, stock only) as quiet as possible. I will be using XP OS.

Was hoping to re-use some existing components if possible. Can I still make use of these?

  • Akasa Ultra Quiet 400W Paxpower Active PFC ATX2.0 PSU
  • Radeon X800 XT (may upgrade later)
Was thinking maybe...
  • Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 3.16GHz or...
    Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 LGA775 'Yorkfield' 2.50GHz *What would be a good Motherboard to suit those? Why would I be better with one over the other?
  • Antec Solo Quiet Mini Tower *Really don't need anything bigger
  • Samsung SpinPoint F1 750GB SATA-II
  • Asus DRW-2014L1T 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer *When it's back in stock
Any suggestions on ideal components would be greatly appreciated guys and gals.

Many thanks

S.
 
Mainly just streaming my HD vid files and work (multitasking Photoshop/Illustrator etc).

Although I don't think I'll be gaming on it, it would be nice to know that it could hack it, if a game was released on PC only that I had to play.

S.
 
I dont think an upgrade is necessary for that but if you must then you should consider the 8400, the only difference between that and the e8500 is a big price difference and a half multiplier. Or a q6600.

And the samsung f1 640gb is faster than the 750gb one due to platter sizes. The fastest f1's are the 320gb, 640gb or the 1tb
 
Thanks for the replies guys.

It won't be OC'd, and I'll already have the rest of the gear, I just need the Mobo, CPU, memory and case.

Ordinarily I wouldn't be upgrading, but as I mentioned it's showing it's age now and I often get reboots and freezes etc. I've tried reinstalls in the past and it's still flakey so I thought I may as well bring myself up-to-date.

S.
 
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Decided on the E8400, but not sure about the motherboard. I have an ASUS now, and up until the recent problems I've been having it's treated me well so I'd like to stick with another ASUS board.

shaffaaf27 - You suggest the Asus P5Q Pro Intel P45, but I think I can get away with bringing it down a notch or two as I don't need RAID.

How about the Asus P5N-E SLi nForce 650, seems to have some good reviews?

Also what do I do about my Radeon X800 XT (AGP)? All the ASUS boards say PCI Express with no mention of AGP, so I'm guessing I can't re-use it can I?

S.
 
Yeah virtually all bar a few of those hybrid mobos are PCI-E express now so you won't have much use for it. They flog for around £25 maybe more if you have a custom cooler on MM. Nforce mobos expecially 6 series have quite a few issues (that's just what I gathered from these forums).
 
Oh right.

So I'm better paying a little extra for say the Asus P5Q Pro Intel P45 (this week only offer at the moment) as suggested by shaffaaf27?

Can I avoid buying a PCI-E graphics card at this time? I read something somewhere about an adapter AGP > PCI-E. Is that an option?

S.
 
Thanks Neoboy, that looks like a good option.

But I notice it says FSB1066/800/533MHz. The E8400 says its 1333FSB. I'm sure it would still work, but would I notice the performance difference between say this board and the previously mentioned Asus P5Q Pro Intel P45?

S.
 
Well if my maths is right it would run at 2.4Ghz. I wouldn't really bother with it tbh you'll have to upgrade that board later anyway in order to use new cards, I just sold an X800 Pro on MM for £20 so your XT should flog a few quid more and then get yourself a 3450 those are only around £25 new. So yeah go for P45 board with PCI-E 2.0 (P5Q Pro is crossfire too, so maybe a year down the line when cards sell for peanuts stick another one in).
 
Great stuff. Thanks very much, I really appreciate the help.

RAM wise, any suggestions on make/type?

I notice shaffaaf27 suggested 4Gb. I thought 4Gb wouldn't be recognised by a 32bit OS (XP Pro)?

S.
 
I think it would only use around 3.2GB of it but still when/if you'll upgrade to Vista some time in the future you can use it all. Also if you will then decide to go 8GB you can do as 4GB kits have 2 sticks.
 
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