Old timer needs help specing pc!!! :)

[BigRick]

Sorting out some old stuff I came across my old Voodoo2 SLI GFX cards and thought I'd like to get back into a bit of PC gaming & need to replace my media centre, trouble is that so much has changed that I don’t know where to start and what seemed like a simple task (spec a new PC) is quickly becoming one hell of a steep learning curve!!

I’d like a PC spec'd to have the following features:-

Media player (multiple output to LCD TV (HDMI) and 19" LCD monitor)
TV tuner/recorder
Gaming PC
Quiet
1Gbps LAN
Have some overclock ability
Upgradable in future with additional GFX card sli/crossfire


General questions:-

Will running the system in SATA RAID5 offer a noticeable performance increase? Do the onboard SATA raid controllers burden the CPU and system RAM? How does onboard SATA RAID performance compare with PCI based SCSI RAID?

DDR2 or DDR3?

What’s the point of having a window on the side of the PC with lights? Do modern PC's look that good inside?

What size (watt) PSU will i require to have 2 GFX cards (eventually)? What’s the point of this modular thingy?

Are modern games compatible with vista 64? Is 64 bit Vista worth the hassle?


I'm thinking along the lines of:- (Don’t be afraid to scrap any of my suggestions if I’m sucking the wrong one)

Basic case (no windows or lights) in black
PSU???
Motherboard ?????
Phenom x4 9850
ATI Radeon HD 4850
Harddisk(s)???
RAM ??? 4GB
Dual layer DVD RW
TV Tuner ???
Wireless keyboard & mouse that can operate from sofa but still be used for games???

no monitor required

Budget :- <£1500 but I’d like to have the biggest bang for my buck

If anyone could point me in the right direction it would be greatly appreciated !!!!



Thanks in advance,

Richard

 

[BigRick]

Thanx 4 reply

Don't get me wrong I'd prefer to spend some of the £1500 on the kids but I have managed to get the missus to agree to that spending limit if the cost is justifiable I'll buy it

I'm keen to get this thing on order and don't like the thought of paying WAY OVER the odds for next gen tech, especially as most of today's software wont take full advantage of it. I'd just like components that offer the best value for money = cost/performance (I'll admit to preferring the performance aspect over cost but don't want to stray too far from that central point) Please strike off corei7 from the list. It does not offer best bang per buck....

I didn't think that the case made that much difference.... It's just got to be black and have NO WINDOWS- any suggestions for a nice one with good air flow?

 

[BigRick]

Hi,

Here's the conclusion I'm coming to following your replys

I'm getting the feeling I've negotiated for too much cash with the missus!! When I think off all those good deeds I done for that limit lol

Re-Spec:

Antec Three Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case
Intel Core 2 quad Q9550
P5Q Deluxe mboard
4GB of DDR2 - 8500 1066Mhz RAM
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler
LG GGW-H20L Blu-Ray Rewriter & HD-DVD ROM Serial ATA Drive
Windows Vista 64
Drop SLI & crossfire and go for Powercolor ATI Radeon HD 4870 GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI 512MB or 1024MB?
Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 750W ATX2.2 Modular SLi Compliant PSU (can i get away with 650w?)

2x Samsung SpinPoint F1 640GB SATA-II 16MB Cache (IN RAID0)
or
Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache


That leaves harddisk(s) (yes, they are required) to RAID or not to RAID that is the question. I would only want to use the onboard RAID controller 1TB should be more than enough storage (media held elsewhere on LAN). Nobody has jumped in to defend RAID. I'll downgrade RAID5 to RAID0. I'm not sure what options are available with the onboard controllers?? or their performance



The way I'm looking at it following your guidance is that IF I spend half'ish of my budget then in 2 years I'll be able to buy another PC !!!! (maybe corei7 or better).

What do you think ???? Am I sucking the right one?

 

[BigRick]

Almost forgot about the dual TV tuner !!! any suggestions ????

 

[BigRick]

Thanks for the feed back!!!

Just when I thought the spec had been written in stone

The next generation of AMD cpu's will be compatible with AM2 but the next Intels won't be Skt775.

Thanks Wolvers a good point! has gotten me thinking again AMD / Intel which is best bang for buck taking into account future upgrade??

Spend the rest on a projector!!

already have a Sony VPL DS-100 that doesn't get used much

Originally Posted by wolvers69 View Post
That case is not very understated. I get the impression from your first post that you're not keen on 'flashy' looking cases?

Ummm - it's plain black.....

Why would anyone want lights in a PC case?? I still don't get it??
Does anyone know of anybody who has peered through an illuminated pc window and said "That looks the dogs balls"?

The intention is to hide the PC out of sight out of mind. We'll see how well I do once its built. Lights would make it more difficult Would prefer not to have duck tape blacking out windows