A few questions :)

[cracked_case]

Hello to everyone.
Ive just got a few questions regarding a new Pc im looking to get within the next 4-6 weeks.
(go easy on me if i ask dumb questions because im not very PC savy )
(BTW i'm custome building my PC from one of the sites, havent decided which site yet, just researching at the minute)

Firstly i'm thinking of getting either a dual core or quad core proccessor. Ive looked at the AMD ones but they seem to have a lot less cache than a intel one (512k compared to 4Mb or 8Mb on the intel). I dont know what Cache means but that seems a big difference to me, hence me swaying towards Intel. Is this a correct assumption?

Secondly ive been led to believe that its pointless getting 4GB Ram with a 32bit windows vista as it cant use all of it. Yet if i get the 64bit version of windows it can use all of it. Yet also ive been informed that vitually no games or applications are made yet for the 64bit version making it hard to play exsisting games. How true is this and are the benefits of 4GB over 2GB worth the hassel?

Lastly i'm thinking of getting the geforce 8800GTS 640MB card. Are there any plans for new cards to be released in the near future meaning the price of the 8800GTS will go down? Dont want to order it in the PC and the next week a new card comes out and they lower the price of the 8800GTS.

Also any other little tips that newbies trip over would be great

Thanx everyone
Lee

 

[V_R]

Hello to everyone.
Ive just got a few questions regarding a new Pc im looking to get within the next 4-6 weeks.
(go easy on me if i ask dumb questions because im not very PC savy )
(BTW i'm custome building my PC from one of the sites, havent decided which site yet, just researching at the minute)

Firstly i'm thinking of getting either a dual core or quad core proccessor. Ive looked at the AMD ones but they seem to have a lot less cache than a intel one (512k compared to 4Mb or 8Mb on the intel). I dont know what Cache means but that seems a big difference to me, hence me swaying towards Intel. Is this a correct assumption?

Intel Core 2 Duos are the best option at the mo. Do you need a quad core? Dual will be fine for games.

Secondly ive been led to believe that its pointless getting 4GB Ram with a 32bit windows vista as it cant use all of it. Yet if i get the 64bit version of windows it can use all of it. Yet also ive been informed that vitually no games or applications are made yet for the 64bit version making it hard to play exsisting games. How true is this and are the benefits of 4GB over 2GB worth the hassel?

You can get window to use up to 3.5gb, but 2gb is more than enough.

Lastly i'm thinking of getting the geforce 8800GTS 640MB card. Are there any plans for new cards to be released in the near future meaning the price of the 8800GTS will go down? Dont want to order it in the PC and the next week a new card comes out and they lower the price of the 8800GTS.

The next cards out are the nvidia G92's, they will be the 8700's, not really worth waiting for as the 8800GTS 320mb is a very similar spec.

Also any other little tips that newbies trip over would be great

run it by us first!

 

[cracked_case]

Intel Core 2 Duos are the best option at the mo. Do you need a quad core? Dual will be fine for games.

I was tryig to future proof myself as i will be spending around £1200 and wanting the PC to last 3 years

You can get window to use up to 3.5gb, but 2gb is more than enough.

So you would reccommend the 32bit version of windows? Also if it did have 4GB in it would it cause windows not to work?

The next cards out are the nvidia G92's, they will be the 8700's, not really worth waiting for as the 8800GTS 320mb is a very similar spec.

run it by us first!

Haha i will do. I'm glad i found this site Thanks for your help and quick reply

 

[V_R]

I was trying to future proof myself as i will be spending around £1200 and wanting the PC to last 3 years

Fair enough, but future proofing and pcs dont go together!

So you would recommend the 32bit version of windows? Also if it did have 4GB in it would it cause windows not to work?

The OS is your choice really. Get two for now and then another 2gb if you really need/want it. I am running 4GB of DDR2 6400 with no problems (XP 32bit, will be moving to Vista 64 later in the year. (See sig))

 

[V_R]

Some questions for you, what has the £1200 budget got to get you? Does it include the monitor, keyboard and mouse etc?

What monitor are you looking at?

 

[michael 118]

The next cards out are the nvidia G92's, they will be the 8700's, not really worth waiting for as the 8800GTS 320mb is a very similar spec.

basically, what V_R has said and;

The 320mb version runs exactly the same as the 640mb at resolutions lower than 1600x1200. (so thats a good few bob already saved for other hardware)

look it up in the reviews, i cannot remember direct links if you need proof

if you need any tips on where to buy from/how to build then by all means ask .

http://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/

that is a very reliable site, my current build is from there.

 

[V_R]

in fact, the 320mb version runs exactly the same as the 640mb at resolutions lower than 1600x1200.

look it up in the reviews, i cannot remember direct links if you need proof

But the 320mb memory is a big limiting factor for games even at 1280x1024, have you not read about the infamous memory overload? Games aint going to get lest hardware hungary, having double the memory on the card will help in the newer games.

Even at the modest resolution of 1280x1024, the GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB video card simply could not maintain a playable experience with 4x AA enabled in DX9.
Neither the GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB nor the ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT had any trouble, however. In fact, the ATI video card even managed to maintain its performance lead in DirectX 9, and outperformed the GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB by a sizeable margin.

http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTM4Nyw0LCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==

EDIT: and this...

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=1244117&postcount=55

 

[cracked_case]

Some questions for you, what has the £1200 budget got to get you? Does it include the monitor, keyboard and mouse etc?

What monitor are you looking at?

The £1200 is for everything. I currently have a Laptop thats on its last legs, so i will need the monitor, keyboard etc
Ive been looking on PcSpecialist and can get this spec for £1300. Its a little over budget but hoping it will come down slighty in the next 4-6 weeks

Processor (CPU)

Intel® Core™2 Quad Q6600 (4 X 2.40GHz) 1066MHz FSB/8MB L2 Cache

Memory (RAM)




4096 MB CORSAIR XMS2 800MHz - LIFETIME WARRANTY! (4x1GB)

Motherboard




ASUS® P5N-E SLI: Quad-core CPU Ready, NVIDIA® Dual X8 SLI



Operating System





WINDOWS® VISTA Home Premium (inc Genuine CD & License) (£59)

USB Options

6 x USB 2.0 PORTS (4 REAR + 2 FRONT) AS STANDARD

Memory - 1st Hard Disk




400GB SERIAL ATA II HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7200rpm)



2nd Hard Disk

80GB SERIAL ATA II HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (7200rpm)


1st CD/DVD Drive

20x DVD±RW/RAM/Dual Layer + Lightscribe (48 x CD-RW) (£16)

2nd CD/DVD Drive

16X DVD ROM WITH 48X CD ROM



Graphics Card




640MB GEFORCE 8800GTS PCI Express + DVI + TV-OUT


Sound Card

Sound Blaster® Audigy® SE with 7.1 Surround Sound: £15


Network Facilities

ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT


Memory Card Reader

INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (READS XD, MS, CF, SD, etc)

Case

Stylish Black Aluminium Trigon Case + 2 Front/Side USB

Power Supply & Case Cooling

600W Quiet Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£59)

Processor Cooling




SUPER QUIET 19 dBA INTEL CPU COOLER (£14)

Firewire & Video Editing




2 x IEEE 1394a FIREWIRE ONBOARD (1 in back + 1 on board)

TV Card

DIGITAL TV CARD (Watch Freeview on PC) £29

Monitor




WIDE 22 INCH TFT Silver/Black 1680 x1050 5MS D-Sub, DVI (£165)


Keyboard & Mouse

Logitech® Cordless Internet Pro Desktop Keyboard & Mouse (Black) (£16)


Speakers

CREATIVE INSPIRE 2.1 T3100 SPEAKER SYSTEM (£22)

​

 

[cracked_case]

Some questions for you, what has the £1200 budget got to get you? Does it include the monitor, keyboard and mouse etc?

What monitor are you looking at?

My current laptop is on its last legs so i will be needing the full hit (monitor, keyboard etc)

Ive been looking around and PcSpecialist.co.uk can do this one for around £1300. Its a liitle over budget, but im hoping it will come down in the next 4-6weeks

Processor (CPU) - Intel® Core™2 Quad Q6600 (4 X 2.40GHz) 1066MHz FSB/8MB L2 Cache

Memory (RAM) - 4096 MB CORSAIR XMS2 800MHz - LIFETIME WARRANTY! (4x1GB)

Motherboard - ASUS® P5N-E SLI: Quad-core CPU Ready, NVIDIA® Dual X8 SLI

Operating System - WINDOWS® VISTA Home Premium (inc Genuine CD & License) (£59)

USB Options - 6 x USB 2.0 PORTS (4 REAR + 2 FRONT) AS STANDARD

Memory - 1st Hard Disk - 400GB SERIAL ATA II HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7200rpm)

2nd Hard Disk - 80GB SERIAL ATA II HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (7200rpm)

1st CD/DVD Drive - 20x DVD±RW/RAM/Dual Layer + Lightscribe (48 x CD-RW) (£16)

2nd CD/DVD Drive - 16X DVD ROM WITH 48X CD ROM

Graphics Card - 640MB GEFORCE 8800GTS PCI Express + DVI + TV-OUT

Sound Card - Sound Blaster® Audigy® SE with 7.1 Surround Sound: £15

Network Facilities - ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT

Memory Card Reader - INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (READS XD, MS, CF, SD, etc)

Case - Stylish Black Aluminium Trigon Case + 2 Front/Side USB

Power Supply & Case Cooling - 600W Quiet Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£59)

Processor Cooling - SUPER QUIET 19 dBA INTEL CPU COOLER (£14)

Firewire & Video Editing - 2 x IEEE 1394a FIREWIRE ONBOARD (1 in back + 1 on board)

TV Card - DIGITAL TV CARD (Watch Freeview on PC) £29

Monitor - WIDE 22 INCH TFT Silver/Black 1680 x1050 5MS D-Sub, DVI (£165)

Keyboard & Mouse - Logitech® Cordless Internet Pro Desktop Keyboard & Mouse (Black) (£16)

Speakers - CREATIVE INSPIRE 2.1 T3100 SPEAKER SYSTEM (£22)

Any advice on whether this is value for money, or cuts corners in places is greatly recieved.



EDIT: What is the difference between a AMD and Intel? The AMD's seem to have lower cache than the intel? Is this a massive issue?

Processor (CPU)

AMD ATHLON™ 64 X2 5200+ (2.6GHz) 2 x 1MB L2 Cache (Socket AM2)


Processor (CPU)

Intel® Core™2 Duo E6750 (2 X 2.66GHz) 1333MHz FSB/4MB L2 Cache

 

[V_R]

Well if thats what you want but you want to save a few quid heres some suggestions...

2nd Hard Disk - 80GB SERIAL ATA II HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (7200rpm) - Loose it if you dont need it, that will save a few quid.

2nd CD/DVD Drive - 16X DVD ROM WITH 48X CD ROM - Again loose it you dont need it.

TV Card - DIGITAL TV CARD (Watch Freeview on PC) £29 - You need a TV card? If not loose it.

Power Supply & Case Cooling - 600W Quiet Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£59) - Any idea what the PSU is? You should really get a decent one.

Sound Card - Sound Blaster® Audigy® SE with 7.1 Surround Sound: £15 - Use the onboard sound or get an X-FI, the Audigy aint worth the money.

What is the difference between a AMD and Intel? The AMD's seem to have lower cache than the intel? Is this a massive issue?

Not a great deal tbh, but the intels do have the edge at the mo, and if your into overclocking, they do clock a lot better than the AMD's.

HTH's

 

[floppybootstomp]

Ok, listen up:

1) Listen to what V_R said about the RAM, you're wasting money getting 4Gb of memory, 2Gb is ample for both multi-tasking and any current game plus if you're using a MS 32 Bit system you're wasting around a Gig of that memory.

Plus, as mentioned, it's easy to add another 2Gb in the future.

2) The Asus on board sound is every bit as good as an Audigy sound card so adding an Audigy is a complete waste of money. If you want to notice any apreciable difference in sound, go for one of the Creative X-Fi series cards.

3) We've had some very bad reports about PC Specialist, I'd seriously recommend that supplier michael118 recommended - cyberpowersystem (though I have no experience of them myself, michael knows what he's talking about, you can trust him) or Novatech.

I don't honestly know of any other suppliers to recommend for off the shelf systems, except maybe overclockers uk, but they specialise.

4) The usual option with hard disks is to have a smaller hard disk (80Gb) for the OS (Windows) and a larger hard disk (400 - 500Gb) for storage. The second hard disk will often be partitioned for games, music, movies, documents, etc.

This is because if the OS becomes corrupted and you have to reformat, you won't lose all your precious stuff. Makes sense, yes?

5) The CPU should come with a stock cooler that will do a better or at least as good a job as any cooler that costs £14.00. Either save your money or spend around at least £30.00 for something superior to the stock cooler.

6) What make of PSU is that? There are a lot of crap PSU's about, insist on knowing the make of it.

A few good makes: Tagan; OCZ; Corsair, Enermax.

7) The motherboard comes with Firewire and Networking as standard, I don't know why they've made a feature of them

8) What make of Monitor is that? Just as a 'for instance' Samsung are good, Acer ain't usually, and there's a big price difference.

Well you're the one who mentioned future proofing

9) The keyboard and mouse you've selected ain't that good, If you're spending over a grand, you want something better.

10) Speakers ain't that good either - why spoil the ship for a ha' pporth of tar, as me old man used to say to me.....

Just hold on a while and don't order nothing hasty, ok?

For that money, the guys here can put you right

Mind you, it's your call.......

 

[V_R]

Ok, i've just had a quick look around, and come up with this, for about the £1300 you quoted for the other system above......

This as awesome system for the money and if i were in your position would not think twice about it.

The motherboard is concidered the best intel board at the mo, I know its nota quad, but honestly, you dont need one yet. The mouse and keyboard are designed for gaming.

The speakers are not the greatest, but you dont have to get them.

EDIT: From here - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/index.php

 

[cracked_case]

Thanks V_R and floppybootstomp your help is really appricated

Looks like i would have been wasting money for the sake of it if i went with the PCSpecialist one. I just presumed that if i get the highest spec i would be getting a better computer.

Your advice has given me alot to think about, plus that set-up from OverClockers that V_R has shown looks very nice.
Does over clocking the components do any damage to them in the long run? Or are there any draw backs from having things over clocked?

 

[Abarbarian]

Does over clocking the components do any damage to them in the long run? Or are there any draw backs from having things over clocked?

Your stress levels go through the roof .

 

[floppybootstomp]

Does over clocking the components do any damage to them in the long run?

It can do, yes.

Or are there any draw backs from having things over clocked?

Your machine will run hotter and you'll possibly shorten the life of some components.

If you're not familiar with the ins and outs of overclocking and you don't get yourjollies from looking at a higher clock speed in your specs for very little gain in computer speed, forget overclocking.

The machine from Overclockers would be perfect for you.

If you really wanted to overclock your machine, do some research and reading on it first.

You could probably take the Core 2 Duo 6600 to 3Ghz with Air Cooling but you'd have to use a really efficient cooler, something like the Noctua NHI12F with two 120mm fans fitted to it.

 

[V_R]

Looks like i would have been wasting money for the sake of it if i went with the PC Specialist one. I just presumed that if i get the highest spec i would be getting a better computer.

That OCUK PC v's the Pcspecialist is no contest, the OCUK wins hands down, imo. Better motherboard, bigger hard drive, better case. (I have that case myself and its very good and has great cooling.) Built by people that know what they are doing with a good reputation. I shop almost exclusively with OCUK and have never had a problem, and i've spent a lot there too.

Your advice has given me alot to think about, plus that set-up from OverClockers that V_R has shown looks very nice.
Does over clocking the components do any damage to them in the long run? Or are there any draw backs from having things over clocked?

The machine is pre overclocked, so you wont have to worry about that as they will make sure its stable before they ship it to you. A 3Ghz oc on an E6600 is tbh average, they will do at least 3.3 and up to 3.6 on air with a good cooler, although 3.6 air cooled is starting to push it.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Ah - I didn't realise the machine came already overclocked, I thought cracked_case was going to try overclocking himself.

If OCUK have overclcocked it I would imagine it's a relatively modest overclock and quite stable.

 

[cracked_case]

Ive been looking about on the net for the last couple of weeks. Anyway ive took on board the excellent advice you guys have given me Ive decided that quad core is not neccessay for me at this stage and that 4GB of ram is also unneccessary at this point in time.

Anyway what do you think of this set-up from Cyberpowersystems.co.uk ?
Its comes in at £1150.
Any suggestions, reccomendations for it.

Thanks again in advance

Case: NZXT HUSH 420W Black Mid-Tower Case

CPU: (Sckt775)Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E6750 CPU @ 2.66GHz 1333FSB 4MB L2 Cache 64-bit

Motherboard: (Quad-Core Supports) Asus P5N-E nForce 650i SLI Chipset LGA775 FSB1333 DDR2 Mainboard

Memory:2GB (2x1GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Corsair XMS2 Xtreme Memory w/ Heat Spreader Memory (Corsair XMS2 Xtreme Memory w/ Heat Spreader)

Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB 16X PCI Express Video Card

Monitor & LCD: ViewSonic VX2021WM 20& quot; 5MS TFT LCD Display Wide Monitor

Hard Drive: Single Hard Drive (400GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)

Data Hard Drive: 80GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 8M Cache 7200RPM Hard Drive

Optical Drive: LiteOn LH-20A1H 20X Double Layer DVD+-RW Super Allwrite + Lightscribe Technology (Black Color)

Sound: Creative Labs SB X-Fi Xtreme Audio 24-BIT PCI Sound Card

Extras: Media Center Remote Control + Digital TV Tuner

Keyboard & Mouse: Logitech Cordless LX710 Desktop Laser Keyboard & Mouse

Case Fans: Extra 3-Color Neon Light LED Case Fan (2 fans)

POWER SUPPLY: Enermax Noisetaker EG701AX-VE(W) SFMA 24P (ALL IN ONE) SLI Supports 600Watt Power Supply

Cooler: Thermaltake Blue Orb II CPU Cooler

Speakers: Logitech S220 2.1 Stereo Speaker System

Operating System: Vista home premium 32bit
EDIT: I will also be having the hard-drives the opposite way around than what it says in that list thanks to floppys advice

 

[V_R]

Its certainly not a bad spec, If i was honest, i'd go for the OCUK one i posted above, better motherboard for a start, but its your money mate, your choice.

 

[floppybootstomp]

The OCUK one is a better choice.