Upgrade due - decisions, decisions -help please.

F4810

F4810

F4810

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Joined
8 Nov 2004
Posts
138
Hi all,

I need some advice. I am coming to the 2 yr mark on my computer and would normally do an upgrade to see me through another year. But I dont think there is much available for me that will make much of a difference, so I am thinking of a whole new system. I mainly use my machine for internet, gaming and video encoding. I like quiet computers and hate slow and sluggish response. I find the HD is the main culprit for this and have had problems with RAID before so not sure if I want to go down that route again.

My current system is the Shuttle SN26P which is socket 939 (hence no real upgrade path for processor). I have an AMD X2 3800 clocked at 2.5 mhz, 1 gig ram, 7800GT graphics card, a 74gb raptor for windows XP and 160 gb WD for everything else. I got the shuttle as it was compact and quiet, but to be honest its not that silent which is more important than size to me.

So I think I am pretty stuffed down the upgrade path and need a new platform. I would have about £1000 max to spend on the system. Only need the case and components as I do not need a monitor etc.

I was thinking of getting myself a cheaper P35 / DDR2 / Core 2 Duo Dual Core system which I could upgrade in a couple of years. However, I have now seen the X38 / DDR3 / Core 2 Quad systems (even Penryn). I am drawn between the 2 as the second option quite a bit more expensive but faster and a little more future proof with the DDR3 option and good overclockability. However with option 2 maybe I should wait for Penryn in which case I probably cant build it all for x-mas which is my main aim.

As far a cases go I am thinking of the Antec P182. Are these that quiet and will it be more silent than my shuttle? PSU will probably be the Corsair 620 watt PSU. Will probably go for the 8800 GT for graphics and 2 or 4 meg of ram. HDs are to be decided as I have no idea what is good, quiet, and fast at the moment.

Finally, is it worth the jump to Vista 64 while I am doing all this or will XP be fine?

Help!!!!

Sorry for the long post but any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
 
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Add to this the 8800 GT of your choice.
 
Thanks for the quick response. Some questions:

1. Nice idea with the giga mobo as I can get cheap DDR2 now and then stick in some DDR3 when it gets cheaper. But will it overclock as good as the X38s esp for when Penryn chips come out? Or are there and X38s that take DDR2 and DDR3?

2. Will the Antec P182 be more quiet than my shuttle especially with the components you have selected?

3. Is the HD faster than my raptor? And is RAID not worth it then as maybe 2 x 250 HD may be the better option? (Can keep my raptor for backup with 2nd OS install).

4 Finally should I go for Vista 64 or stick with XP.
 
  1. X38 is, IMO, a waste of money for a small, single-digit performance increase. This 'board should do just fine.
  2. Yes, it should be quite good. If you want it even more quiet you could invest in a set of Yate Loon D12Sl-12s.
  3. It is not as fast in seek but it's pretty close otherwise. If you're willing to try another RAID, the disks to get are the 7200.10 250 GiB. They're capable of 80 to 95 MiB/s sustained transfer.
  4. With 4 GiB you'll need a 64-bit OS. I prefer XP for a variety of reasons, but Vista might be a more prudent choice since you'll have a DX 10 GPU.
  5. It is, but the cost is significantly more since it doesn't come with a fan.
 
2 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
(£89.28)
Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - OEM
(£159.79)
BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC 320MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
(£182.11)
Samsung SH-S203BEBN 20x20 DVD±RW Dual Layer Serial ATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM
(£19.96)
Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/LGA775)
(£42.29)
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g)
(£7.04)
Antec P182 Super Midi Tower Case - No PSU (Gun Metal Black)
(£79.89)
Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-620HXUK)
(£93.99)
Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66R-00838)
(£119.84)
Gigabyte GA_P35C_DS3R (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 & DDR3 Motherboard
(£76.36)
2 x GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC)
(£75.18)

Total : £960.94

Notes -

1. Will the Geil ram allow me a good overclock on my CPU?
2. What fans should I get for case and CPU cooler as the ones you mention are not on OcUK?
3. Gigabyte onboard sound seems to be good spec. Or is there something I dont know?
4. I will swap the 8800 GTS for the 8800 GT next week.

Apart from those questions am I good to go?
 
In short you take a screenshot, upload it to a web host, then paste the image's URL between tags.

The specific method I use is this:
  1. Reduce window width until the scroll bar appears at the bottom of the page. This means that the list is as narrow as it's going to get which is helpful to readers who don't have wide monitors. I'm occasionally forced to browse from 1024 x 768 and looking at fullsize screenshots from larger monitors breaks the forum by widening the page.
  2. I use the ScreenGrab extension for Firefox to capture a lossless .png of the part of the page I want to save.
  3. I open the .png in the GIMP and save it as a lossless .gif. This typically reduces file size by about 50%, usually from about 180 kiB to 70 kiB. This can be helpful for readers with slower Internet access.
  4. I then upload the .gif to imageshack.us.
  5. Finally I paste the "direct link" URL between my tags.[/list]:)

    Regarding your spec, it all looks good.[list=1][*]Yes it will. You'll be able to run at 1:1 or lower all the way until the CPU's at 3.6 GHz.[*]I hear the lower speed Scythe S-Flexes are pretty good.[*]It is pretty good. You had a large budget so I included a sound card to allow for fancy EAX effects in games without using much CPU time.[*]Good call[/list]

    I think you're good to go.
 
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