Want to build a new PC

sony007

sony007

sony007

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27 Feb 2007
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139
I'm no expert when it come to all this techy stuff, but I have manage to build a pc about 3 year ago, now I would like to build my second one.

What I would like to know is what my current spec are, processor name and alike. I'm sure I came across some site that scan the pc and informed you of your specification, or was that just a dream.

Once I have this information I will be able to post the info, all I know is that i've got a AMD 1.3 not sure the name of the processor but at the time (3 years ago) it was pukka...I think.

Is it possble to put 2 duo core processors on one M/B ? as you can see I am really looking for speed and realibility especially as I will construck a pc once every say 3 years.

If possible i'd prefer to stay away from all the water cooling stuff as i've never tried it and it looks like a nightmare to manage if your not use to all that thumbling around.

So what i need is a mind blowing processor I mean one that kicks arse and if it's a top end processor what would the processors below that one be like just in case there is not much of a difference.

I would like a pukka M/B, if having 2 processor would be a major difference on the board then I might consider this, if not then a pukka core 2 is sweet.

I'm not a gamer but I would still like at least a decent graphic card that can play HD 1080p comfortabaly...huh while encoding something else.

Everything else I think I can work out what to get.


PS: hi everybody i'm new here, hope you are all good !
 
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Welcome to the forums. A program like Aida32 should be able to tell you all the information you need about your PC although it is now out of development I believe. You could also press the Windows key + Pause/Break to get up system properties which ought to tell you most of what you have.

If you have an Athlon 1.3ghz then it is probably a Thunderbird with SDRam and it will have AGP graphics or maybe PCI if you are a bit unlucky. You are unlikely to find anything worthwhile keeping on a system that old.

You can get dual CPU motherboards but they tend to be very expensive and not worth it for most users so I'd just pick a good Core2Duo instead.

What is your budget? I'm sure someone can specify something suitable for you. :)
 
Cheers for that proggy m8,

Ok here is my current system specs:

Motherboard: Epox Ep-8RDA+

Video Adapter: Nvidia Geforce4 Ti 4200

CPU: AMD Athlon XP-A, 1300MHz (6.5 x 200) 1700+
CPU Alias: Barton

Ram: Corsair CMX512-3500C2
Module size: 512
Memory Type: DDR SDRAM


My budget is £1000 but if I can get a significant difference buy spending a bit more I will.


Basically I want to blow what i've currently got out the water, but I want to notice the difference. I do encode a lot and I might also use the new pc has a media centre.
 
I'm assuming you will want to get a new monitor, keyboard and mouse since you've had the system for quite a while. If so this should be suitable and comes in slightly under budget however I haven't included an OS as yet, if needed with a slight re-jig it could be done for around the budget though I think. :)

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB ST3250620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM £46.99
(£55.21) £46.99
(£55.21)
Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £173.99
(£204.44) £173.99
(£204.44)
Asus P5N-E SLi nForce 650 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £69.99
(£82.24) £69.99
(£82.24)
Logitech Cordless Desktop EX-110 - Retail £17.99
(£21.14) £17.99
(£21.14)
OcUK 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400 800MHz DDR2 Dual Channel Kit £94.99
(£111.61) £94.99
(£111.61)
Pioneer DVR-111BK 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter - (Black) OEM £18.99
(£22.31) £18.99
(£22.31)
Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Aluminium Midi-Tower Case - Black £49.99
(£58.74) £49.99
(£58.74)
Tuniq Tower 120 CPU Cooler £24.99
(£29.36) £24.99
(£29.36)
Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-520HXUK) £59.99
(£70.49) £59.99
(£70.49)
OcUK Value Hanns-G HW191D 19" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Silver £97.99
(£115.14) £97.99
(£115.14)
OcUK GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £163.99
(£192.69) £163.99
(£192.69)
Sub Total : £819.89
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £12.95
Vat : £145.75
Total : £978.59
 
I will overclock if it straight foward to do on the M/B but I don't really want all those water cooler stuff unless thing have moved on considerabaly since the last time I viewed one of those. Just want something straight forward, don't want to have to keep checking to see if my chip is fried. Am I being paranoid?
 
Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £173.99
(£204.44) £173.99
(£204.44)
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC) £104.99
(£123.36) £104.99
(£123.36)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB ST3320620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM £56.99
(£66.96) £56.99
(£66.96)
Asus P5N-E SLi nForce 650 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £69.99
(£82.24) £69.99
(£82.24)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB ST3250620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM £46.99
(£55.21) £46.99
(£55.21)
BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC 320MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £164.99
(£193.86) £164.99
(£193.86)
Pioneer DVR-111BK 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter - (Black) OEM £18.99
(£22.31) £18.99
(£22.31)
Creative SBS 350 2.1 Speakers - Retail £24.95
(£29.32) £24.95
(£29.32)
Antec TruePower Trio 650W PSU £64.99
(£76.36) £64.99
(£76.36)
Logitech Cordless Desktop EX-110 - Retail £17.99
(£21.14) £17.99
(£21.14)
Akasa AK-ZEN-01-BK Zen Black Case - No PSU £24.99
(£29.36) £24.99
(£29.36)
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g) £5.99
(£7.04) £5.99
(£7.04)
Scythe Ninja Plus Rev.B Heatpipe CPU Cooler (478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA755) £29.99
(£35.24) £29.99
(£35.24)
Asus VW192S 19" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £111.99
(£131.59) £111.99
(£131.59)
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66I-00715)

Sub Total : £979.81
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £24.95
Vat : £175.83


little over but you get complete system, with keyboard/mice and speakers

also nice all black and you will be OC to 3ghz with ease.
 
You don't need to go for water-cooling, neither my system nor Ronaldo's uses anything other than air-cooling and good air-cooling at that. There isn't a huge amount of difference between good air-cooling and water-cooling for most users so I'd just go for a Tuniq Tower or Scythe Ninja. :)
 
sony007 said:
How do those rigs compare to what hardcore uses use for performance ?
Click to expand...

That IS what hardcore uses are using performance. If anything they are buying cheaper CPUs and running loads of volts through them, but you get the idea :D

Both Ronaldo and Semi-Pro Waster have spec'd dynamite systems, and you'd do very well if you picked either of them.
 
If I decided to overclock the processor how stable would that make my system? How much does this reduce the life expectency of the chip if that question can be answered. Also above I mentioned that I would rather stay away from overclocking as it would be new to me and seem time comsuming getting the chip to the right temp as well as needing a bit of expertise knowledge in doing this correctly am I wrong in thinking this ? And what sort stuff would I be looking at to overclock.
 
sony007 said:
If I decided to overclock the processor how stable would that make my system?

You only overclock it to the extent that it's stable. An unstable overclock is crap and not for daily use. Your proc might do 3.6 ghz stable, but reach to 3.8 unstable. Stable is always better, and you can prove that it is through various stress testing tools.
Click to expand...

sony007 said:
How much does this reduce the life expectency of the chip if that question can be answered.
Click to expand...

It's not an exact science as there are too many variables. However it's pretty safe to assume that the proc will live far longer than you'll be using it.
 
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The best part of your system to overclock would be the CPU, and the best way of doing that would be to put a tuniq tower or scythe ninja on it. They are designed to remove the heat away from the CPU far better than the stock HSF (Heat Sink and Fan). Then just raise the FSB as in the Overclocking sticky in the overclocking section. Raise a little, test with Orthos, raise a little, test with Orthos, etc...
 
Cheers buddy,

Do I need to make sure of anything else M/B and alike or just run with one of the above specs and i'll be sorted? I think I will go down this road as this seem easy enough to control :rolleyes:

Just a quick question:

Is there a processor that I could overclock to 4.O GHz in this same manner by that I mean using tuniq tower or scythe ninja

What is on average the most you can overclock a CPU in this fashion so I can have an idea of what chip I might need.
 
Thank you kindy guys, I believe I have all the info required now to build my pc. No doubt I will update you with once I begin the process.
 
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