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Soon-To-Be New Customer Needs Advice

Post Date: 2007-10-01
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Kyriani Agrivar View Drop Down
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  Quote Kyriani Agrivar Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Topic: Soon-To-Be New Customer Needs Advice
    Posted: 01 Oct 2007 at 12:06pm
Hello all,

I'm going to be ordering in the next few days and I was wondering if anyone could provide some feedback for me? Let me provide some background.

I'm homebound due to medical reasons. My main link to the outside world is my computer. I used to use an old dell dimension 4600 till recently when it just up and died. Their worthless tech support couldn't help fix the issue and eventually a more tech minded friend of the family told me the processor was shot.

I am somewhat tech savvy but in an idiot savant sort of way. I can install new parts (like video cards, cd rom drives etc) if I need to with no problems but my actual tech knowledge is limited. My funds are also limited as well since most of my money goes to my medical expenses.

I spend alot of time gaming with my machine and am looking to build a basic but powerful machine that will last for a long time and perform well. I don't need some sort of monster machine with bleeding edge power (and I couldn't afford one if I wanted it he he he).  I am trying to keep the price of my machine under 1500 (lower the better) but still let it have some staying power over the next few years.

While playing with the config options I came up with this... would this fit my needs? (it has no cd rom drives cause i am going to install the dvd writer from my old machine which is fairly new). Basically if you smart folk could chime in with your opinions and advice it would mean a lot to me.

Case: Digital Storm Twister VALUE (Black Edition)
Power Supply: 500W Thermaltake (Silent PurePower Edition)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 2.33GHz (1333MHz Front Side Bus) (4MB Cache)
Motherboard: nVidia 650i Core 2 Quad (By: eVGA) (nForce 650i Ultra)
Memory: 4GB DDR2 Corsair at 667MHz (Dual Channel)
Floppy / Media: - No Thanks
Hard Drive 1: 160GB (Western Digital / Seagate) (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA)
Hard Drive 2: - No Thanks
Raid Option: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks
Network Card: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Modem: - No Thanks
Video Card: nVidia GeForce 8800GTS 640MB (By: eVGA / Asus) (PCI-Express)
TV Tuner: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Motherboard Multi-Channel High Definition Audio (7.1 Channel)
Physics Card: - No Thanks
Cooling: Air Cooled Stage 1 (Certified Digital Storm Heat-sink)
Case Lighting: - No Thanks
Round Cables: - No Thanks
User Manual: Personalized Platinum Digital Storm Binder (Includes Paperwork/Benchmarks/CDs/Manuals)
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (64-Bit Edition) (For Enthusiasts)
Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based)
Protection: - No Thanks
Office: - No Thanks
LCD Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks my keyboard comes with a mouse
Warranty: 3 Year Platinum Care Extended Parts & Labor Warranty
Support: Lifetime Toll-Free Platinum Care Technical Support

this machine spec gets me what appears (in my not to tech savvy eyes) to be a fairly solid machine that should keep up with tech for a couple years and still last beyond for a bit with options to upgrade all for the easy to swallow price of $1,367.00

if any of you kind folk could look this over and tell me what you think and offer any advice I'd greatly appreciate it. Thank you kindly.

Kyri
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gdhart View Drop Down
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Posts: 131 		  Quote gdhart Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 01 Oct 2007 at 12:38pm
I would upgrade the memory to 800MHz, that would add about ~$100, if that is too much then you should drop to 2 Gb @ 800 MHz, that would save ~$45.  The faster memory will make more of difference.
 
Another thing to look at is going with the 8800GTS 320 MB video card as the 320 & 640 both perform pretty close and sometimes the 320 does better than the 640.  That would shave off another $100.
 
Another thing to do is to go up to the 250 Gb or 320 Gb as that is only adding $12 or $31.
 
I also see that you are going for the 64Bit version of Vista.  The one thing you need to look at before deciding on that is if you are using any legacy hardward from your old system (printer, Scanner...) that there are 64 Bit Vista drivers.  If you decide to go down to 32 Bit Vista, that would be another reason to drop you RAM down to 2Gb as the 32Bit version will only access about 3.2 Gb of the 4 Gb.
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Bill the Cat View Drop Down
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Posts: 1150 		  Quote Bill the Cat Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 01 Oct 2007 at 12:58pm
You don't mention what type of monitor you have or what screen resolution you expect to use, which determines what video card I'd get, but I would consider....
  1. Dropping from 4 Gig to 2 Gig of memory. It's easy to add 2 more modules later if you ever need to.
  2. Use 32-bit Vista instead of 64-bit.
  3. Drop from a 640 Meg to a 320 Meg 8800 GTS. This depends on your prefered screen resolution.
  4. Use the money saved to get a E6850 3 MHz CPU

Take the free advice here for what it's worth, then call DSO and let the pros suggest what's really the best combination for you.

PS:
 
The 250 Gig hard drive is a good idea too.


Edited by Bill the Cat - 01 Oct 2007 at 1:00pm
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Tyler Lowe View Drop Down
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Posts: 0 		  Quote Tyler Lowe Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 01 Oct 2007 at 1:05pm
 
$1285
 
I'd opt to have at least a dvd reader so you can get your OS up and running for certain. If, for whatever reason, the drive you're moving doesn't like where it's going to end up, you're going to have a problem. For $25 I'd as soon have the peace of mind.
 
I went with the Corsair PSU because it's a very high quality build and should give you great performance over many years.
 
667 RAM is fine if you won't be trying to overclock.
 
You can always buy more RAM later if you decide you need to move to 64 bit. With DDR3 as the standard of the future for Intel, the prices of DDR2 will only get cheaper with time. For the moment, 2GB should serve you well, and the 32 bit OS will give you the least hassles particularly if you are migrating some old parts to the new machine.
 
The GTS8800 @ 320MB is just as capable as it's 640MB big brother if your monitor is ~20" or less. The extra RAM on the 640MB version could give you a bit longer useful life span, or you could go with the 320MB card, pocket that ~$100 and save it towards your next GPU in 2 years.
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Kyriani Agrivar View Drop Down
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  Quote Kyriani Agrivar Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 01 Oct 2007 at 1:21pm
I really appreciate the input here...

I have a question... I was told that for more future options it might be better to go with the Q6600 processor over a duo...

I think you guys may be right about going with 2g ram instead of 4 for now. My previous machine had only 1 gig and it ran really nicely

Can you guys give me your opinions on the ram? the 667 is cheapest but i am told that getting ram closer to the processor speed is better

but is it absolutely necessary for decent performance to have that more expensive ram? Like would I be hurting if I went with the cheaper ram over the the more expensive?

I can see getting the better processor but I am not sure about spending the extra money on ram when I could always upgrade ram much easier at a later time.

I was also told that vista premium is better than vista basic for gaming? Is this true and if so how much of a difference does it make?
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Bill the Cat View Drop Down
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Posts: 1150 		  Quote Bill the Cat Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 01 Oct 2007 at 3:39pm
Originally posted by Kyriani Agrivar


I have a question... I was told that for more future options it might be better to go with the Q6600 processor over a duo...

Can you guys give me your opinions on the ram? the 667 is cheapest but i am told that getting ram closer to the processor speed is better

I can see getting the better processor but I am not sure about spending the extra money on ram when I could always upgrade ram much easier at a later time.

I was also told that vista premium is better than vista basic for gaming? Is this true and if so how much of a difference does it make?
 
All of this depends on your time horizon. At this moment IMHO, you'll do better with a faster Core 2 Duo processor than a with a slower quad core. At some point in the future, that's going to change. I don't know when that will happen. I'm betting it will be later than people think. I went with the fastest Duo.
 
667 MHz DDR2 memory is fast enough to run at the native speed of a 1333 MHz FSB motherboard, but no faster. The actual system clock is 333 MHz which is half the memory data rate and 1/4 the FSB data rate.
 
Apparently Vista Basic is kind of crippled. You'd be better getting XP. I'm sticking with XP for another year or two. You probably should get Vista Premie.
 
Once again, I would ask the pros rather than basing my purchase on the advice of amatures.


Edited by Bill the Cat - 01 Oct 2007 at 3:45pm
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Kyriani Agrivar View Drop Down
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  Quote Kyriani Agrivar Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 01 Oct 2007 at 5:11pm
So after talking to a sales rep...
He kinda sold me on the quad... but I am not really sold on the "performance" ram

How's something like this look?

Case: Digital Storm Twister VALUE (Black Edition)
Power Supply: 500W Thermaltake (Silent PurePower Edition)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz (1066MHz FSB) (8MB Cache)
Motherboard: nVidia 650i Core 2 Quad (By: eVGA) (nForce 650i Ultra)
Memory: 2GB DDR2 Corsair at 667MHz (Dual Channel)
Floppy / Media: - No Thanks
Hard Drive 1: 250GB (Western Digital / Seagate) (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA)
Hard Drive 2: - No Thanks
Raid Option: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks
Network Card: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Modem: - No Thanks
Video Card: nVidia GeForce 8800GTS 320MB (By: eVGA / Asus) (PCI-Express)
TV Tuner: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Motherboard Multi-Channel High Definition Audio (7.1 Channel)
Physics Card: - No Thanks
Cooling: Air Cooled Stage 1 (Certified Digital Storm Heat-sink)
Case Lighting: - No Thanks
Round Cables: - No Thanks
User Manual: Personalized Platinum Digital Storm Binder (Includes Paperwork/Benchmarks/CDs/Manuals)
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows XP Home (Includes Service Pack 2)
Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based)
Protection: - No Thanks
Office: - No Thanks
LCD Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks my keyboard comes with a mouse
Warranty: 3 Year Platinum Care Extended Parts & Labor Warranty
Support: Lifetime Toll-Free Platinum Care Technical Support
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thecomplex View Drop Down
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Posts: 230 		  Quote thecomplex Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 01 Oct 2007 at 5:15pm
Looks good to me. If you aren't going with Vista64, no need for 4GB of RAM. You can always pop two in the slots later.. I, like Bill, have ordered a faster duo over a quad, but people seem pretty split on this. Nice that you added some extra hard drive space - that's always good. Smile

Chris
Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 @ 3.52GHz
4GB DDR2 Corsair 1066MHz Dominator
(2) 150GB WD Raptor (10K RPM)
(1) 120GB Maxtor (7200RPM)
nVidia GeForce 8800GTX 768MB
Vista Home Premium 64
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Kyriani Agrivar View Drop Down
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  Quote Kyriani Agrivar Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 01 Oct 2007 at 5:30pm
Thanks i have a feeling this config is what I may end up buying

can anyone tell me how long DSO has been in operation?
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skyR View Drop Down
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Posts: 2220 		  Quote skyR Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 01 Oct 2007 at 6:24pm
since 2001.
The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star.
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Phreak View Drop Down
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Posts: 118 		  Quote Phreak Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 01 Oct 2007 at 7:24pm
i would upgrad to a larger PSU is you want it to be futureproof. maybe the 620W corsair.
Core 2 Quad Q6600 OC @ 2.7Ghz
2GB DDR2 Corsair 800Mhz XMS2
GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB
nVidia 680i LT
Stage 3 w/ TwisterBoost
EXTREME DS case
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  Quote commast Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 01 Oct 2007 at 9:19pm
The Quad core cpu is a good choice since newer software will be able to take advantage of the extra cores and the core 2 duo can't. Try running DvdShrink ( a very old software that use the extra cores) and you'll be amaze at how fast a Quad core can run. If you don't plan to OC your system a 667 Mhz ram will be fine but if you do, you would want to get the ram to have a 1:1 ratio with the cpu FSB for easier overclocking.
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Kyriani Agrivar View Drop Down
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  Quote Kyriani Agrivar Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 02 Oct 2007 at 10:27am
Just a few more questions since you guys seem so knowledgeable and cause I am ordering in like 2 hours ^_^

How vital would a better power supply be for the rig I have shown previously? I mean i dont plan to overclock anything and I prob wont upgrade the vid card (or anything else) for a long time. Would I be unable to upgrade my vid card with the basic power supply?

Next question... should I go with XP or vista?

I keep hemming and hawing on this... I like the stability and "old faithfulness" of XP but I know vista will be necessary eventually... I'm not sure if I shouldn't just go with vista now to get acclimated to it.

How hard would it be for me to upgrade to vista from xp when the time comes if i went with xp for now?

And finally if I did go vista should I just go with 64-bit right off the bat? Someone told me that 64 vista doesnt run all the programs that 32 vista will run... i'm a bit overwhelmed with all this info and no clear idea of whats best. Confused
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Tyler Lowe View Drop Down
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Posts: 0 		  Quote Tyler Lowe Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 02 Oct 2007 at 10:56am
Sticking with XP just means you won't have DX10 support. It might even be advantageous to wait since by the time you really need to have Vista, the choice between 32 and 64 bit may become much easier to make.
 
Upgrading later just means backing up data. Other than that, it's as easy as popping in the disk and following prompts.
 
Your initial build didn't need a larger PSU to function, I suggested it only because the Corsair is more efficent (80%+), won't work as hard to do the job, and will run cooler/quieter.
 
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skyR View Drop Down
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Posts: 2220 		  Quote skyR Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 02 Oct 2007 at 12:03pm
Stick with 32 bit Vista. No point in going 64 bit Vista if the majority of your time on the PC is spent on gaming.
The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star.
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Kyriani Agrivar View Drop Down
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  Quote Kyriani Agrivar Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 02 Oct 2007 at 3:14pm
yay my machine is ordered now the arduous waiting process begins lol

thank you all for your input it was most helpful in my purchase :D
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