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The Official PC building thread!
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28. April 2006 @ 13:50 |
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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28. April 2006 @ 13:53 |
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Yeah the Smart Power isn't bad. Not top notch as we've seen but certainly above those horrible lesser brands like Magna, Qtec and Mercury.
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Member
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28. April 2006 @ 13:56 |
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I see it as a way to save money without getting junk by getting that case and power supply. They make good products.
Where would i notice a difference in the CPU with L2 cache sizes of 1MB on each core on the AMD X2 4800+ instead of 512KB on the AMD X2 4600+?
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 29. April 2006 @ 05:16
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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29. April 2006 @ 03:58 |
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I thought the 4800 was 2x 1MB?
Generally with cache sizes you don't see a lot of difference.
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29. April 2006 @ 05:15 |
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The X2 4800+ is the one that has 2x1MB cache sizes but the X2 4600+ is the same exact processore except 2x512KB cache sizes on L2 and the 4600+ is $85.00 dollars cheaper so i am trying to decide which one to buy by knowing where a performance difference is and is it really worth $85 dollars?
What performances would notice a difference with one half the cache size on the CPU?
And the Manchester and Toledo core only mean different cache sizes or is their more?
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 29. April 2006 @ 05:17
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Senior Member
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29. April 2006 @ 05:21 |
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Quote:
The X2 4800+ is the one that has 2x1MB cache sizes but the X2 4600+ is the same exact processore except 2x512KB cache sizes on L2 and the 4600+ is $85.00 dollars cheaper so i am trying to decide which one to buy by knowing where a performance difference is and is it really worth $85 dollars?
What performances would notice a difference with one half the cache size on the CPU?
well......you'll notice it's about 200+ slower
ok ok no you won't it won't make almost any difference at all
save the bucks and put them into a better graphic card
i7 3770 12GB ram terrabyte sata drive 1 750Gb sata drive 285GTX graphics Sony dvdwriter same NZXT Nemesis case
Still playing Black Hawk Down why did I upgrade?
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29. April 2006 @ 05:22 |
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And what is a good all in wonder video card that is PCI express 16 meant for video editing and light gaming.
Probably close to 300 dollars?
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 29. April 2006 @ 05:22
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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29. April 2006 @ 06:50 |
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Member
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29. April 2006 @ 12:59 |
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That is a big price increase, is it worth it?
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mmay256
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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29. April 2006 @ 13:04 |
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I am looking for advice - After struggling between buying an HP a1450n computer or building a custom computer, I have decided to put one together - I have never put a computer together before, but I have added hard drives, installed lots of cards, memory, etc.....
This computer will be used for normal household computing - word processing, database, financial records, etc. I also do CAD work (Keycreator, Acad Mech. Desktop), light photo processing and once in a while, video processing and DVD creation.
I have a 300G IDE hard drive that I have been putting music and photo files on that I will want to put in the new computer - probably as a second drive.
I have read through this thread (or at least the postings since Jan'06) and feel pretty good about the components that I have selected - but before I pull the trigger, would like some comments on the specific items I have chosen:
CPU - AMD X2 4200+
Motherboard - MSI K8N Platinum Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 - I picked this motherboard because it has several PCI slots available and has on board Firewire.
Graphics Card - XFX PVT42EUDE3 Geforce 6800 XT
Case - Antec Sonata II case - looking for lots of drive bays
Memory - CORSAIR XMX 2GB(2x1GB)
Hard Drive - Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250 GB SATA
Optical Drive - LITE-ON 16X DVD+-R Burner
Operating System - Windows XP Home - ??Any reason that I should go for Windows XP Media or XP Pro??
Do I really need a floppy drive?
Any comments are welcome.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 29. April 2006 @ 13:07
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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29. April 2006 @ 13:07 |
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You won't be able to use both cores of your X2 unless you use Mediacenter or Pro, since Home only supports one processor. Floppy drives are largely unnecessary these days, but given how cheap they are, should you need to install some software from them (usually system related) then you may as well.
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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29. April 2006 @ 13:08 |
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After the rebate that's $309, so close to your $300 limit. It's quite a powerful card though. If you don't need that much power, then go for the X800XL version rather than the X1800XL as here.
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mmay256
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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29. April 2006 @ 13:43 |
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Thanks, sammorris.
Any preference for XP Pro over XP Media Center?
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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30. April 2006 @ 04:36 |
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Er, not having used MC I'm not sure of the great differences, but since they're similar prices I'd guess that MC doesn't have a few things that Pro does.
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Senior Member
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30. April 2006 @ 10:39 |
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I've used media center before and it has choices that you normally only get with the software installed with whatever devices you use for audio/ video capture, and if you dont have the devices installed its useless. If you have the devices its overkill because it adds extra programs when you install the software. Pick your poison. Media center I believe was meant for people who bought a computer at the local store with a TV card in it. If you DIY its not necessery.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 30. April 2006 @ 10:40
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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1. May 2006 @ 03:50 |
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That's what I thought. XP Pro is probably the best bet, but above all, NOT 64 edition.
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*agent47*
Suspended permanently
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2. May 2006 @ 00:23 |
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whats the best intel processor to use when building a pc? what about the dual core version??? any links? i am thinking of putting it in my pc, thanks
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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2. May 2006 @ 08:23 |
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Which socket are you using, 478 or 775? The best Intel processor overall will be the Dual Core Extreme 965, but single core, the 3400mhz Northwood Extreme. Of course these are 775, but If you only have 478 available, you're limited to pretty much what you have already.
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pitbull07
Newbie
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12. May 2006 @ 16:17 |
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Im building a pc for my friend. His into animation and stuff. He uses alot of heavy programs like 3DMAX and Photoshop CS. Now i think for a cpu i would get him a AMD Athlon 64(939)+3800. Now i think that i should get him a 256MB pci express video card but i dont know if it to much for him. I Know that heavy gamer have them but I dont know if this would benefit him. Should i just go with a AGP? Also is that a good choice for a cpu? THANKS!
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ddp
Moderator
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12. May 2006 @ 17:29 |
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agp & pci/e are usually on 2 different motherboards tho there are boards that have both agp & pci/e video slots.
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Red_Maw
Senior Member
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13. May 2006 @ 15:46 |
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If I'm doing stuff like pitbull07 as well as gameing, what should I look for in a GPU and do you have any suggestions for a card around $200? Also, what is your opinion on the Radeon® X1600 PRO 512MB PCI Express® and Radeon X800 XL DVD Edition 256MB PCIE.
Thanks
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bridq
Member
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14. May 2006 @ 23:40 |
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Hi guys,
I am planning on putting together a pc for my brother.I'm updating my pc and going to use my old components to build a new one.
He will have my old mother board which is a Gigabyte GA-7VT600(-L)and my old athlon xp2600 cpu. I also have a Geforce 5600 128 mb which I'm planning to give him as well. I'm trying to build a pc in the range of $300-400 and will look for the cheapest online deals including ebay.
I have never built a computer before, but I'm assuming the remaining items I need are: a network adapter, dvd/cd writer, sound card, hard drive, ribbon cable, RAM (1 gb), Keyboard, mouse, power supply, speakers, and a case. Did I forget anything else? I think I can get away with all of these items within my price range.
He doesn't need anything too fancy, just something to surf the web and play occassional games. The reason that I'm upgrading is to get a chip that has SEE2 to use adobe premiere elements; something he'll probably never use. Any help you could provide would be appreciated.
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Senior Member
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15. May 2006 @ 08:15 |
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one of you is gonna need a monitor
i7 3770 12GB ram terrabyte sata drive 1 750Gb sata drive 285GTX graphics Sony dvdwriter same NZXT Nemesis case
Still playing Black Hawk Down why did I upgrade?
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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15. May 2006 @ 08:31 |
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pitbull07: The CPU is good if you can afford that. Graphics-wise it's really a question of what will you be doing and how much can you spend. A 256MB X800GTO is a sound purchase for light gaming and all multimedia. You can go for an X1600XT or 6800GT if you like, but that may be a bit overkill.
eparker89: Unless you crave Pixel Shader 3 ultra quality, the X800XL will be better a its faster, and sometimes cheaper. An X1600XT will top an 800XL, but not the 1600 pro.
bridq: 1GB of RAM for casual surfing is probably ott, and a 5600 isn't going to do much with it anyway, that's a slow VPU. 512 would do I should think.
Pcrepair: I rather hoped everyone would realise that themselves!
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bridq
Member
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15. May 2006 @ 09:22 |
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Sammorris, you think 1GB of RAM is too much? I figured that since 1GB is pretty much the norm these days might as well put it in there. I'm giving him a geforce 5600 because it's the only card I have laying around. I used to play Battlefield 2 with it (even though detail wasn't that great), but it should do the trick. What is VPU? Video processing unit?
What about all the other components? Do you think I could get them all between my price range of $300-$400?
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