New System for Uni

InvaderGIR · 1 Jul 2006 at 16:36

Hi all, I'm looking at building a new PC for when I go to university in September. I plan on buying the parts in mid/end September so will probably get them just as I start, to hopefuly buy parts after new chips etc. come out.

The system I am looking at building is here. The pink highlighted is an AM2 main setup and the neon green is an Opteron setup. Which of the two setups would be best and are there any recomendations/changes that I should make to my shopping list?

I plan on OCing the PC as much as it will do with the cooling and it's stability, so I'm fine with it not being top spec. I also doubt I will go for SLi/Crossfire at any point, just figured the motherboard's chipset should match the graphics card.

Since making that image I have decided to not go for the speakers listed as well as to not go for the G15 keyboard. Could people recommend some speakers and keyboards that are stylish and hold strength/power aswell as being a low cost. I did look at the Enermax keyboard but it's a little high in price compared to what I should really be spending on a keyboard. I don't need fancy things like the LCD dislay or extra buttons really.

So yeah, please give me feedback about this system.

Cheers,

InvG

Stelly · 1 Jul 2006 at 16:49

If your spending that amount of money mate get a Conroe based machine mate... really it will be a whole lot better!!

Stelly

hp7909 · 1 Jul 2006 at 17:01

Stelly said:
If your spending that amount of money mate get a Conroe based machine mate... really it will be a whole lot better!!

Stelly

Ditto

& get a 19-inch monitor instead e.g...

Samsung SM-920N 19" LCD Monitor - Silver/Black (MO-043-SA) £183.24 incl. VAT

hp7909

InvaderGIR · 1 Jul 2006 at 17:09

I've been told this before...but I don't like Intel.

I'm into my gaming and have always run AMDs since I upgraded years ago from an Intel P2 333mhz.

The decent mobos cost a lot more than the AMD ones.

I won't be spending like £1700 (more like £1450 on the AM2 £1570 on the Opti) and I just posted an image that doesn't advertise my other sources for PC parts...what with this being a shop's forum.

Not trying to be arsy, just I don't like Intel and so far there is one person per forum I'm asking in telling me to go Conroe...I'd rather wait till Conroe is out and snap up a bargin with AMD.

With the monitor I'd like as quick a response time as possible, and from the looks of things that's with a 17" screen. I had been looking at the Hyundai ImageQuest B91D 19" LCD Monitor in Black, but figured it costs lots and Hyundai don't exactly give a clear view on the ms time, 4ms on their main site, then on the spec 8ms :confused:

Has to be said, that Samsung does look nice, I like 19" (on an unbranded 19" CRT at the moment), but it's the ms time that gets me, my brother had a samsung with 8ms and got some ghosting in games.

InvG

InvaderGIR · 1 Jul 2006 at 19:26

Oh yeah, one MAJOR problem with my shopping list...the Zalman PSU...it's only 460W and the PC will need like 510W to run fully if I OC it etc.

Anybody got a good one for me? I need quiet, and powerful...I've been told ideally your PC shouldn't run more than 70% of your PSU's potential so I'm guessing that's like a 600W PSU I'm going to need (my maths isn't good).

SOoooo, anybody know of a decent 600W PSU that is also really quiet?

Thankie in advance.

InvG

Phil99 · 1 Jul 2006 at 19:47

600W Seasonic

Yewen · 1 Jul 2006 at 19:48

I run this of a 400w PSU.

x2 4400
7800gt
2gb ram
Raptors 74gb x2
250gb Caviars x2
Audigy 2
2 case fans
Lian Li TR3a
DVD re-writer.

Never had any trouble, do not know what the fixation in GH is with big PSU's, never seen a rig in here specced that needs a 600w PSU, or even close.

InvaderGIR · 1 Jul 2006 at 19:59

Well I ran this on the specs that I plan on having for my pc, and it comes out as around 510W. I would rather have far to much power than nowhere near enough, yes it may run on a smaller PSU but not properly.

Yewen - Your power usage is around 350W as you don't run that much, if you read up on what I am connecting to the PC you'll see that it's going to draw a fair amount.

*I'm a numpty* - I ran the calculator with 'Dual Processor' forgetting the fact it's a single processor with Dual Core. Re-did the calculator and it should only be consuming 409W (roughly)...that's much nicer.

Yewen · 1 Jul 2006 at 20:39

Remmeber that is highly inacurate, my PC actually draws around 260w under normal situations and around 300w on boot.

Mikey1280 · 1 Jul 2006 at 20:41

What about on load yewen, e.g. folding and 3dmark/ati tool?

InvaderGIR · 1 Jul 2006 at 20:42

Yewen said:
Remmeber that is highly inacurate, my PC actually draws around 260w under normal situations and around 300w on boot.

Remember? nobody told me this before hand

That's good to know. It means that I can run all of my gear overclocked etc. on the 460W PSU fine then do you think?

I don't really want to find out after that it doesn't work too well

Urmm...yeah I'll be loading mine up a lot, games, music, videos, video encoding.

Now I'm confused again :confused:

- see

Seriously, is the general consensus that the Zalman 460W PSU available from OcUK will be able to run the system specification I have layed out in my pictures whilst it is overclocked?

TheVoice · 1 Jul 2006 at 21:00

You could just spend an extra few quid and get a 480W PSU (or higher). I run my system on an Antec 480W TrueBlue II, and it's been perfectly solid.

For speakers, have a look at the Logitech X-530s - 5.1 system, very good quality and they don't cost much. There's also the 230s which are just 2.1. I do have to wonder why you're getting a top-end X-Fi sound card though, if you're apprently only going to be using fairly inexpensive speakers with it. Onboard sound is pretty capable these days, especially with a decent CPU.

As for monitors, I have a Samsung 19" 8ms display (913N) and there's no ghosting whatsoever. Most people will say there's no ghosting below 12ms. There are 4ms 19" displays available (albeit at higher cost), but having used my 913N for a while now, I can't say I'd justify the extra expense.

InvaderGIR · 1 Jul 2006 at 22:14

Well I'll mostly be using the X-Fi with the Medusa headset, I would buy a cracking set of speakers, but I just don't want to spend too much money and that's one thing I can skimp on.
The main reason for the X-Fi is the front ports etc. I will be wanting the inputs, I did want to get the X-Fi Elite Pro as it has better front inputs, but it costs that much more I didn't see the point.

The X-530's certainly do look nice, and have decent output, aswell as not costing the world. Problem is as follows...they arent in stock where I have found them, and I can find them anywhere else.
The X-230's are also nice, less power than the X-530's per channel, but still good. I may have to invest in some of one of these sets, especialy as they have one feature I really like, the volume control is in one of the front speaker. Creative's speakers have them on a seperate control line and I can never work out where to place it (I currently have some creative 4.1s).

Ok, the 913N isn't available anymore, but now there is the 920N, it is pushing up a bit on my pricing, but then it is a 19" display which is something I would prefer certainly.

daz · 2 Jul 2006 at 00:30

InvaderGIR said:
I've been told this before...but I don't like Intel.

Well it's your money - I just don't see the point in playing favourites to large multinational companies when the only factor should really be the best performance for the money; and for the money you're spending, that's more than likely to be Conroe.

TheVoice · 2 Jul 2006 at 00:36

InvaderGIR said:
Ok, the 913N isn't available anymore, but now there is the 920N, it is pushing up a bit on my pricing, but then it is a 19" display which is something I would prefer certainly.

Well there's also an Acer 19" widescreen which seems to be good - might be worth checking out the Monitors section of this forum to see what's being said. I'd definitely recommend getting a widescreen display rather than a standard one.

quickfix · 2 Jul 2006 at 11:27

There seems to be three reasons why a higher wattage psu could be seen as better for you. Firstly, the voltage of a system does not stay the same all the time. If you've left it on with IRC and MSN on in the background but that's about it then you'll be using much less power than if you're pushing your system maxed out with say the latest game on highest spec. Also the efficiency of a system changes with the relative level of watts being used: so a 600W will generally be more efficient at 250W than a 400W. And efficiency is good for you electricity bill and probably more besides. Finally you have the noise factor. When a psu comes under load it usually increases the speed of its fan(s) to accomodate. This change in the level of noise is often seen as being very annoying to the ears, so if you have a psu that has a higher wattage then it should bank less as the relative change would be less.

You might not give a damn about any of these reasons...

Yewen · 2 Jul 2006 at 12:14

Mikey1280 said:
What about on load yewen, e.g. folding and 3dmark/ati tool?

Folding 16/7 for 4 days now, nothing happened.

Played BF2 for 140 hours, no trouble.

21 hours on WOW no trouble.

Built this rig in October, Hiper PSU originally, which failed, so did the next. Switched to my old Antec PSU just fine, got a Seasonic 600w then and put the Antec in my old rig, just got a good price on the Seasonic so the Antec is back.

Enough said really, it works for me and any other rig I have made so I am quite confident in my power requirements.

SLI is when you need a 500w+ PSU, two high end cards at full load draw an awful lot of power, its the amps not the watts that makes the difference.

I have never used that Zalman PSU, can not really comment on how good it is sorry.

If you can afford a huge PSU, then get one as they will run slightly more efficent, only real pro to them is over three years they will save you the difference in money on your electricity bill.

hp7909 · 2 Jul 2006 at 12:25

Zalman ZM460-APS Review :cool: