Customized computer?

[Buffalobiian]

Hey Zabuza, can we clarify a few things first:

a) What will you be using the computer for?
b) Is it customisable, or is this the only package he'll be offering you and you're simply asking if it's a good deal?

[6Zabuza9]

well, i'll be mainly using my pc for games lol. my computer is quite old and i've been looking for a new one. i'm mainly asking if its for a good deal and also it is customizable but i know basically nothing about computers and my frd merely said its top of the line for a good price. also i'm hoping the computer would last and would be able to play new games coming out in the future for a couple of years without upgrading much . also i use the computer to watch anime as well lol

[darkshadow]

BoC's system is a far better choice then the one you just listed then.

[Buffalobiian]

BoC's system is a far better choice then the one you just listed then.

+1

See if you can get a quote on that:

Core 2 Duo E8400
Mid-range P45 motherboard
22X DVD±RW
4 GB DDR2-800
Radeon 4870 1 GB or GTX 260 216
Western Digital WD6400AAKS
2.1 Speakers/Mouse/Keyboard Included

Relisted for convenience. Do you know what case you're getting? It's not that important if you're looking into making it exceptionally quiet or overclocking, but you might as well get a look at it to see if it suits your tastes.

Power supply....they'll fix one up for you, lest you have specific requirements.

[6Zabuza9]

ALright thanks guys. I'll just copy and paste BoC's specs and see if the guy can make one for me . Also, should I go for Vista or Xp for OS? BoC's spec should be worth around how much canadian dollars?

[Buffalobiian]

ALright thanks guys. I'll just copy and paste BoC's specs and see if the guy can make one for me . Also, should I go for Vista or Xp for OS? BoC's spec should be worth around how much canadian dollars?

I just had this conversation with one of my roommates a few minutes ago. For $800, a good value system would be:

No idea if that's CAD or USD though.

Is the OS free?

I would get XP (should be cheaper too) or wait for Windows 7 (Out in April 2009 according to Wiki, but I'd expect delays). If you want it immediately, get XP then dual-boot Windows 7 when it comes out.

[darkshadow]

Yeah just get XP (32bit), and wait for W7 (64bit) when it get released, just pretend vista doesn't exist.

[Board of Command]

ALright thanks guys. I'll just copy and paste BoC's specs and see if the guy can make one for me . Also, should I go for Vista or Xp for OS? BoC's spec should be worth around how much canadian dollars?

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16819103649
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16813186150
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16820231145
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16814131120
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16822136218
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16817182150
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16827129032

Total: $861.94 without a case/keyboard/mouse/speakers

This is just all from Newegg. You can split it up and find cheaper parts elsewhere.

[Buffalobiian]

Well I think it depends more on his definition of "top of the line"
My system is
3.0ghz core 2 quad
hd 4870 512mb gddr5
4gb 667ddr2
2 7200rpm hdd's
1 10krpm hdd

And I consider it "high end", "top of the line" would be more like:
intel Core i7 920 ( just clock it to 3ghz)
hd 4870x2 2gb gddr5 crossfire
8gb 1600ddr3
hdd... well whatever

So yeah, it depends on what you want to be able to do with your next system.

On that note, how would you guys rate this (my) system? I'm expecting it to last at least a few more years before I get a new one.

Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz
3gb DDR2 667
9800GTX+ 512MB DDR3
1 7200rpm HDD

I personally think that's a fairly mid/high end rig. Probably aroud 7.5-8 on a scale of 10. Of course, that depends on what a 0.0 machine is.

[6Zabuza9]

Hi, guys i recently went to the guy with the specs BoC suggested and the guy simply said the only differences was basically the mother board, graphics card, and processor. This was the specs he gave me:

Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 @ 2.80GHz
3.00GB RAM DDR2 800
EVGA Nvidia GeForce 9800 GTX+
Asus P5QL FSB O.C. 1600
WD 640GB SATA-2 16M
ATX CASE 1290B 500W PS
7.1 Soundcard
2.1 Logitech Speakers/Logitech Mouse/Logitech Keyboard included
for 888$ after tax

He said his motherboard would be slightly better than the one BoC mentioned and also to upgrade the graphics card to GTX 260 216 (they don't have ATI cards) would take 120$ and he said he would upgrade the processor to Dual Core 3.2Ghz for 59$. Also, he said something that u don't need 4 gb of ram because xp cant handle or read it or something like that and 4 GB would be more money but i dont need it. Then the total in the end would be something around 1090$ + another 12$ for environmental fee after tax and it would include the casing (seems like a cheap stock black case to me) and would include an unlicensed version (which i think means fake) of windows xp made for me when i pick it up. So... do you guys think what this guy says is pretty legit and giving me a good deal?

[Board of Command]

Get the stuff I suggested, or something close to those.

Phenom II 720 is a better CPU than E7400 for the same price as you get an extra core and similar overclocking capabilities. If you're going to get a cheap CPU and overclock, then get the E5200. Otherwise, get the Phenom II 720 or E8400. I got a brand new E8400 on eBay for $125 shipped, and I have it clocked to 4.1 GHz.

The Asus P5QL is a low-end motherboard based on the vanilla Asus P5Q. It is NOT better than the Asus P5Q Pro or Foxconn 790GX. It only costs $10-15 to get one of the better ones, so there's no reason not to. Even the Gigabyte EP45C-UD3R only costs a little bit more and is a much better motherboard just by looking at the circuit layout.

3 GB memory = single channel, 4 GB = dual channel. You need a 64-bit OS to make use of 4 GB, so just run Vista 64-bit.

Even the Radeon 4870 512MB is better than the 9800 GTX+, and you can find them in the $210 range. The 1GB variant should be available in the $250 range. If "they" don't have ATI cards, then just buy one yourself.

BTW, whereabouts in Canada are you located?

[6Zabuza9]

I live in richmond, bc. Also i forgot to mention that its only a 500 W power supply. After discussing with you guys, I think i might decide to just buy parts you guys listed and try to assemble the computer myself to save some money lol. Would it be too hard? or is it just like building lego where pieces are easy to assemble.

[Kraco]

Might not be as easy as assembling lego, but there's certainly no magic there. Just take care not to fry any components with static electricity, don't apply unnecessary levels of force, and you are all set. Unlike lego that stick to each other in myriad ways, most components in a computer can't be assembled in wrong ways, and the few that can (like wires from the mobo to the case leds/buttons) don't really cause huge problems if you get them wrong the first time through. I'm sure there are also some tutorials out there if you feel like reading something before doing it.

Above all, remember that thousands of people do it succesfully every day.

[poopdeville]

I have two computers worth mentioning:

2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo iMac with 4 GB ram
2.5 GHz e5200 Wolfdale Pentium Dual Core with 4 GB ram (with Sapphire Radeon 3650)

The Wolfdale is a Linux workserver. I connect to it remotely, so the graphics are moot. I might go with a dual monitor set up some day though.

I regularly use 3.5 GB of ram on each machine.

[darkshadow]

On that note, how would you guys rate this (my) system? I'm expecting it to last at least a few more years before I get a new one.

Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz
3gb DDR2 667
9800GTX+ 512MB DDR3
1 7200rpm HDD

I personally think that's a fairly mid/high end rig. Probably aroud 7.5-8 on a scale of 10. Of course, that depends on what a 0.0 machine is.

Yeah I think thats fairly mid-high, it should be able to last as long as current gen of consoles.

[Board of Command]

I live in richmond, bc. Also i forgot to mention that its only a 500 W power supply. After discussing with you guys, I think i might decide to just buy parts you guys listed and try to assemble the computer myself to save some money lol. Would it be too hard? or is it just like building lego where pieces are easy to assemble.

If you live in Richmond, then you can just go grab the stuff from NCIX.

Building computers is easy. The hard part is debugging when things don't work as you'd expect. This is where you actually need to know your stuff.

[Buffalobiian]

The part that freaked me out when I put my first computer together was closing the latch on the CPU. After putting in the chip, I pissed myself because the latch cover wasn't flat, but bent upwards, as if the CPU was stopping it from lying flat. I thought the force I was applying to bend it flat would damage the pins.

Only after I took the cpu out and tried doing up the latch did I realise the cover is bent anyway - with or without the chip.

Everything else was easy.

[Board of Command]

The part that freaked me out when I put my first computer together was closing the latch on the CPU. After putting in the chip, I pissed myself because the latch cover wasn't flat, but bent upwards, as if the CPU was stopping it from lying flat. I thought the force I was applying to bend it flat would damage the pins.

Only after I took the cpu out and tried doing up the latch did I realise the cover is bent anyway - with or without the chip.

Everything else was easy.

I remember my first time mounting a socket 775 processor as well. It feels like you're breaking the CPU socket.

[Buffalobiian]

Have any of you guys ever used a 12v to 7v fan reducer?
Like this:
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?...roducts_id=885

Basically, the difference between this and standard 12v adpters is that 12v adapters draws current fron the +12v molex lead and feeds it to GROUND (12v difference). The reducer wires up to the 12v lead too, but connects to the 5v rail instead of GROUND, producing a 7v difference. (This can be seen as the black wire from the 3-pin adapter joins up with the red 5v lead on the molex)

Essentially, this is the same as the "7 volt trick" detailed by SilentPCReview here:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article6-page1.html

They, however, warn that when you're feeding current back into the 5volt lead, you have to make sure there's a component in there that draws even more current than what you're feeding in from the 12v lead so the net current is never flowing back into the PSU.

There's no such warning on these commercial "adapters" though, so I'm wondering:

1) Are the two methods (7 volt "trick" as per first article and the 12V to 7V reducer as per second link) the same thing?

2) If so, is there any worries about current feeding back into my PSU if THERE ARE NO COMPONENTS UTILIZING THE +5V RAIL. <- for argument's sake, let's assume that's true for this question.

3) If the answer is YES for (2), do I have to make sure that there are components that consume sufficient current on (i) the entire +5v rail or (ii) the molex cable which the fan adapters are attached to.

Note: I'm considering wiring up 3 Nexus fans in said method. The fans are rated at 0.3A max each, through testing shows them to use 0.62W @ 7v, meaning roughly 88.6mA.

-------------------------------------------
This probably isn't the best place to ask, but Corsair wasn't very helpful in the matter neither.

I have never heard of this causing any problems with the PSU, however this is not something that we have tested, nor is it anything that I have personally tried so I really couldn't guarantee anything. There is always going to be some sort of load on the 5v rail as long as you have the PSU connected to a motherboard.

You are welcome to try anything you like but this type of custom wireing is not supported or suggested I would suggest using a Fan controller module as that would be safer for the system.

Honestly, they of all people should know.

[6Zabuza9]

If you live in Richmond, then you can just go grab the stuff from NCIX.

ya i know. but after comparing the prices u linked in newegg compared to the ones on ncix. most of the exact product from ncix is like 2-20$ more expensive.