Military Guy back from deployment needing some advice on new system

[Shaker8]

Hey Guys, it been about a year and half since I built my last computer for my uncle and your guys advice was spot on. Looking for some advice again so thanks in advance for your help. I really need help on Sound Card and Headphones/Speakers Please!!!

PLEASE when POST threads asking for input on system build tell us....


1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
Primary will be gaming (Eve Online, and any FPS RTS that catches my eye) Also just got an Iphone and have began the process of collecting and tranfering my CD libary to Itunes. Also complete side note I am interested in how to get dvd's from my home collection on the iphone

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

Under 2000 USD. The best bang for the buck is what I want I understand by the end of the year we will see a new chip from Intel and I want this to last for about 2 years minus a video card upgrade once a year probably. I like the idea of a year to year and half upgrade cycle maybe stretch it to 2 years. With that in mind i have tired to spend more money on stuff that will carry over to next build like case sound cards speakers

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

USA, prefer newegg but if you can build it all from another site cheaper then I will go with that as long as they have good Customer Service

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc, etc, etc, you get the picture.

I like ASUS had good experience with them in the past are they still good for Customer Service?

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

Already have a Dell SP2208WFP LCD which I love, also Mouse and Keyboard. I am upgrading from a Laptop right now since I gave my last rig to my parents (Gave my old rig to my dad so he can play Civ 4 as much as he wants )

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.

I researched alot all over the net but the main system components came from the sticky suggestion thread.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

Would like to get it to 4.0 Ghz without changing stock voltages if I don't have to.

8. WHEN do you plan to build it?

As soon as Possible


The above information IS NEEDED, in order that WE can help YOU make wise judgments on YOUR purchases (I like making wise judgments)


Here is what I got so far!!

- Case -

COOLER MASTER cosmos S RC-1100-KKN1-GP Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811119150

This is a big one for me never had a Full tower before so I hope I like it. It looks great, has great reviews, good airflow, and room for Radiators in top if i ever decided to watercool. Case are subjective but by looking at this you can see what my taste are like. If you can suggest a better one for around this price I will look it up and consider it so thanks in advance if you do.

- CPU -

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8500

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819115036http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115036

Went with this over the 8400 for the extra multiplier my reasoning is I can get to 4.0 Ghz easier by just upping the FSB is it worth it?

- MotherBoard -

ASUS P5Q Deluxe LGA 775 Intel P45 Intel Motherboard - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131297

Went with this one over the ASUS P5Q-E since the E model keeps going out of stock at Newegg I really have no idea what the differences are between the two. The deluxe is also recommended alot in overclocker guides and sites.

- RAM -

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231166

Went with this over the GSKILL DDR2 1000 thought that the higher memory will be better for overclock to 4.0 GHZ. I don't know how to set dividers on RAM and not sure I will be able to figure it out.

- Vid Card -

VisionTek 900244 Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814129113

The 4870 Seems great for bang for the buck concerned about the temps though so going to get the vga cooler below. Would it be worth it to wait for the X2 version? and I went with VisonTek for the warranty and supposed good Customer Service. Will the video card cooler ruin the warranty? Not going to overclock the card did that with a 9700 pro and messed the whole system up back in 2001 learned my lesson.

- PSU -

CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX 620W ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 Power Supply - 164.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817139002

Need help on this it might be overkill but I might put an 4870 X2 in a couple months or more power hungry. Definitely want modular cables and I do like Seasonic PSU's (was told this was a Seasonic re brand) Is this the best one for the money and will it last for a couple of years with ever increasing power needs?

- HDD -

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822136218

Seems to be best and most recommended going to get two. How do you use them best one for OS and Games the other for storage, or should I put the OS and Storage together and games by themselves?

- OS -

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English for System Builders 1pk DSP OEI DVD - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16832116488

Want to try out 64 bit some day maybe they will start writing programs in it. Worried about sound card drivers in it though.

- DVD Drive -

SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model SH-S223Q/BEBN - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16827151173http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151173

Couldn't find one that came with software only OEM!!! How do I get the lightscribe software?

- CPU VGA Coolers -

XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler - Retail with XIGMATEK ACK-I7751 Retention Bracket - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835233003http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835233019

Thermaltake CL-G0102 VGA Cooler - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835106112

Both of these coolers are highly recommended but is there anything better?

Tuniq TX-2 Cooling Thermal Compound - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835154003

Supposed to better than Arctic Silver-5? Can anybody say different?

- Sound Card and Headphones -

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional 70SB088600002 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Express Interface Sound Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16829102019

TRITTON TRI-AI712 4 x 3.5mm Circumaural AX 51 - Gaming Headset

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16826235003


Man I am clueless here? Okay sound cards are just alien to me!! I went with this one because it supposed to be the only creative card that works on 64 vista really good but its specs are rated under the professional series pci card it has on 96khz sampling or something not 196. Really any help you can give me on what sound card to get would be great I am so tired of trying to figure this out. I would go with the Asus but they don't support EAX 5.0 via hardware and some say you get bad sounds when using it? Does anybody have experience with it?

As far as headphone/speakers well I am clueless here too. I want some good speakers but until i can do more research I am going to go with headphones, these have good review (not on newegg but professional ones say they are a European rebrand called Medusa) If you know of better gaming headphones please help me I love good sound effects in games and movies!

If you read this far thanks! I hope you guys can answer all my questions and help me out. Did I forget about anything? The above build should be just under 1900ish! is there room for improvment?

 

[sonnygdude]

Hey dude-

First off, welcome back and thanks for your service! What branch? I was USMC 1991-95

I am only a novice at this stuff, I just finished building my first computer and got it running about two weeks ago, but if I could do it I figure the items I got must have made it easy! So here is my input for what it's worth:

Case - looks groovy and very industrial. Don't know squat about cases, so I'm just throwing in my opinion here.

CPU - I got that CPU. For $20 more (10%) than the E8400 I'd say it's worth it, I got it for $30 more. There's a LOT of debate as to whether it's better to go for dual vs quad core, but for my limited usage I was happy to go with the native higher clock on the E8500 over a quad. I am just starting to dabble in the overclocking, but getting it up to 3.6 GHZ so far has been effortless. Liek I said, this is my first build.

Motherboard - I got that motherboard and I like it. the Expressgate feature is awesome, updating the BIOS is cake (use EZ Flash, don't go through the OS), and it has made my (limited so far) OC'ing effortless. Price was better on MWave.com than the Egg when I got it, service was great

RAM - Got that RAM, 8GB worth just for the helluvit. Like it. Don't worry about setting dividers, that mobo makes it easy to set your RAM bus speed

Vid Card - Got that vid card, awesome so far. One of the old flight sims I like (IL2 Sturmovik) has all the eye candy turned up and still isn't stressing the GPU. Easy to do a fix in the CCC profile to up fan speed and lower temperature.

PSU - got the 520HX and really like it, quiet, seems efficient, nice long cables and the modular cables were nice for clean routing. If you're thinking of dual cards, definitely get the 620HX for the additional PCIe power connections

HDD - Got that drive, really like it. Using a 74GB WD raptor for the OS and the 6400AAKS with a partition for games/miscellaneous programs and a partition for data. Loads the OS fast. Loads games fast.

OS - I got Vista Ultimate x64 so I could use the 8GB of RAM. Yet to see an issue with anything (admittedly after only 2 weeks). See comments below about sound card, i think the 64bit is preferable to the sound card

DVD - I got the SH-203Q/BEBN. I think the BEBN suffix indicates that it comes with software (including the Lightscribe software), mine came with Nero 7. Really like the drive so far, much better than the one in my HP work computer for speed

CPU VGA cooler - can't say, i used the CCC profile edit trick to up the fan speed and lower temps on the card. Idles about 50-55, loads to about 70 with the fan at 36% instead of the default 23%

Sound card - didn't get one. The P5Q Deluxe has on board HD audio, didn't see much of a need for adding a card. Sounds good to my admittedly undiscriminating ears

Hope this helps. Again, I'm a total noob, but if I could get it all to work then i must have gotten the right stuff to start - the hardware seems to have made up for my cluelessness.

Good luck with your build!

EDIT: Whoops, I forgot to mention that my entire build including OS came out to about $1700 - including shipping:

Antec P182 case - Newegg
Corsair CMPSU-520HX - Newegg
ASUS P5Q Deluxe - MWave.com
E8500 - Newegg
8GB Gskill DDR2-1066 - Newegg
AC Freezer 7 Pro - Newegg
Visiontek HD4870 - Newegg
WD 74 GB Raptor WD740ADFD - CompUSA.com
WD 640Gb WD6400AAKS - CompUSA.com
Samsung SH203N - Newegg
Windows Vista Ultimate x64 - Newegg
Saitek Eclipse keyboard - Amazon.com
Logitech MX518 mouse - Amazon.com (DealBarn store)

 

[DSF]

The extra price of the DDR2-1066 isn't really worth it. Think about it...it's a 66 out of 1000 MHz speed increase. That's less than 7%, for a 25% increase in price. Besides which, RAM speed doesn't do much for you aside from providing overclocking headroom, and DDR2-1000 has enough headroom for overclocking any processor out there.

 

[Shaker8]

Thanks for the input Sonny, was starting to think that my thread had an odor since no one was replying.

Simper Fi! but since your a Marine you won't like it when I say I am in the Navy but if you can still bring yourself to talk to me I am not that bad. My brothers and I just got back he is a Coreman and I work with the Marines too just can't say what I do over this medium. I have been in since 1999 got out in 2006 and got called back up while serving in the reserves.

Seems like your build is pretty close to mine so novice or not thanks for the inputs. I will definitively try the expressgate feature I hate waiting for a system to reboot, and thanks for the other pointers on the motherboard I will look at Mwave site but unless the whole build is cheaper will probably stay with the Egg becasue shipping will be less. Also if you got to 3.6 without trying yet well then hopefully I am on the right track for getting to 4.0ghz

What are the Temps on you 4870? if you don't mind me asking just worried about voiding my warranty putting on the aftermarket video card cooler

Good point on the onbaord audio, I guess I don't need the Soundcard never had one in my old rig but when I played BF2 with an EAX soundcard (going back a bit) that my friend had on his rig, well to say the least I felt that I was missing out on alot. So would like an EAX soundcard just don't want to have to mess with a driver headache that seems to be the soundcard problems in Vista 64. Also since the Iphone changed my life I am starting to have the routes of audiophile just hope I never get to bad in it since I can only afford one hobby right now and thats Gamming.

Thanks for you help, hopefully with some more people I will be able to get all my question answered before pulling the trigger.

Edit: DSF...Thanks for the input.....I know its only 66 out of 1000 but I thought you got the 1066 becuase it was better to run the memory in sync with the FSB? I am noob at seroius overclocking but everyone on the OC sites say they have 1066mhz is there no real reason for this.

Also DSF, do you have any more advice saw you post in alot of these threads and you seem to give good advice.

 

[sonnygdude]

I agree - but the Egg ahd a good sale on it a month back for only $5 more than the DDR2-800. Maybe the sale will come back? There seems to be some cyclicism to their sales (is that even a word)?

 

[Shaker8]

No idea on the cyclicism it should be one sounds good to me. I think there sale just has to do with making room in there warehouse's and no other reason

 

[sonnygdude]

hey Shaker - NP, I have lots of Navy friends (even if secretly many of you wish you were Marines)! You a crippie perhaps? And hey, I owe your bro a beer. The Corpsmen are good people

I manually set the fan speed to 36% or 38% on the HD4870 (can't remember exactly - it took my idle temps from high 70's to low 50's, and the load temps from high 80's/low 90's to low to mid 70's. I haven't upped the speed yet since it gets a little noisier and I'm pertty OK with those temps.

 

[Shaker8]

Hey Sonny - My brother will definitely take you up on the beer, and yeah I am a crippie...you might be right the Navy definitely has a wannabe Marine problem you see our new uniforms yet

So your changing the fan settings in the control center? didn't know you could do that maybe I don't need the VGA cooler after all. How noisy is the stock fan? not to concerned about noise but don't want another vantec tornado in my case either.

 

[sonnygdude]

At 38% the noise ain't too bad - it's at the same level or slightly less than the CPU cooler. At 40% the noise was starting to get noticeable over the CPU cooler, but still not too bad. (These are just my opinions)

here's a good thread that explains the CCC gimmick to fan speed:

HD4800 fan fix through Catalyst

 

[Shaker8]

Awesome, I just bookmarked that and will try it when I get the card. Maybe I don't need the VGA cooler at all, would still like to know if it does void the warranty though tried to look it up on the visontek site but all the legal mumbo jumbo couldn't find it.

Just looked at the two Gskill Ram at Newegg, seem they have the same timings so maybe I will just go with the 1000mhz one. Should I get 8GB too, do you even use a quarter of that with your system never had more than 1.5gb so going to 8gb just seems like overkill, 4GB seems like alot to acutally?

Still looking for advice on the Soundcard and Headset! if anybody reads this please give me your input thanks in advance.

 

[Markfw]

First -- ANG (Air National Guard) 1972-1978 and 1985 to 1990, but Semper Fi anyway !

On to the good stuff.
You won't be getting 4 ghz on stock vcore, but you can probably get there wilh good cooling and reasonable vcore. Choices look good to me (except case, but thats always a personal choice)

 

[sonnygdude]

Hey Mark - thanks! Good on you too - ANG's done/is doing a lot of the fighting around the world right now

Shaker - I asked around, and the general consensus is that 8Gb is overkill, especially for a dual core. On the other hand, RAM is cheap right now, and I was looking at an additional $85 on a $1700 system, so I got it just to have it. What it does do is give me the ability to run a lot of applications at once in the future, especially if I want to go with a quad core later on. After Nehalem comes out, the C2Q's might get cheap in a hurry?

Oh, and of course, if you run a 32 bit Windows, you'll never see even the full 4Gb of RAM, so the two extra sticks will be worse than useless

 

[Shaker8]

Hey Mark, ANG is all good doesn't matter what service you are now a days anyways everybody's an Indivdual Augmentee when it comes to deployments. When you have sailors in the desert with guns you start thinking what the hell is going on.

Also what is considered a reasonable vcore for an 8500? and thanks for the input!

and Sonny I am going to go Vista 64 so I will see the 4gb. Don't think I will go 8gb memory might be cheap compared to 2 years ago but the 1900 price tag already has me thinking i should cut corners

 

[Markfw]

Originally posted by: Shaker8
Hey Mark what is considered a reasonable vcore for an 8500? and thanks for the input!

and Sonny I am going to go Vista 64 so I will see the 4gb don't think I will go 8gb memory might be cheap compared to 2 years ago but the 1900 price tag already has me thinking i should cut corners

Well, thats debateable. 1.35 should be fine (and this all depends on vdroop), 1.4 is probably OK, above that is where everybody disagrees. over 1.5 is definitly a killer. When I get my P5Q tomorrow, I will play, but I am probably not going over 1.365 loaded vcore.

Edit: and cutting corners... Things to keep quality, PSU, CPU, HSF, motherboard and MEMORY. no cutting quality on those. The rest is fair game.

 

[sonnygdude]

no other takers on this thread so far? Maybe the former/reserve warmonger hugfest is scaring them away:beer:

Hey Shaker - just a thought: Maybe you could put off buying the sound card and see what the sound is like through the motherboard, or through HDMI off the video card. If the HD audio on the mobo is good enough, that could save you $140, and if you think it isn't up to par you could always add the sound card later, that's the nice thing about peripherals.

I have a selfish motive, I'd like an assessment as to just how much better a sound card is over the on-board audio these days.

 

[Shaker8]

Ah I will take advice from military warmongers who have beeen there any time but yeah hope its not scaring them all off lots of good people here who have sound advice.

Thats a good idea on the sound card, beside just read that you need a special program from creative called ALchemy or something to play EAX affects from legacy games on vista, it converts them to OpenAL the new EAX or something and sometimes it doesn't work right on some games.

This review Linkage show that the ASUS board can stand up to creative in EAX but apparently isn't 100% as good.

This card show the PCI Express cards against each other and its the same ASUS card is better but not in EAX
2nd Review

What I would really like to see is a preformance test between the two cards in the new OpenAL games but no one seems to have done that.

Would rather go with the ASUS card more expensive but so bad ass looking and also its ASUS which I trust more than Creative.

If I do get a card I will tell you what I think I am far from an audiophile but I will give you my take on sound card vs onboard when i get the build done

 

[Shaker8]

Hey Mark,

Sorry didn't even see your post, I will leave the vdroop on stock if I can I will keep it under 1.365 I hate messing with voltage setting though. Thats how I ruined the 9700 Pro years ago almost fried the motherboard to at the time. If you could when you get you P5Q all set up post your finding here on what you could push it too with out messing to much with voltages.

And I probably won't cut any corners first time I ever didn't have to worry to much about money when building a computer. I am used to keeping it under 1300 with out monitor so 600 dollars more is big deal to me, and i know its minimal in preformance gains but give me a little more quality.

 

[Markfw]

Well, I think my chip is bad. I had the old motherboard stable@3400 on a Q6600, and and E8400 even at 4 ghz should take more power than that, so I know all my hardware is good. On the new chip it does well over 4 ghz IDLE. If I put FE\@H on it, even @stock it reboots in 10 minutes.

So I have to get a new chip.