akashi's New PC

[akashi82]

Hi,

I am really struggling with what to get for my new PC. At the moment I have:

CPU: AMD64 Venice 3500+ @2.21GHz
Motherboard: ASUS A8N-SLi Deluxe
Memory: Crucial 2x 512MB PC3200 (400MHz Dual Channel Mode)
GPU: MSI Geforce 6600GT PCIe
Hard Drive: 3x 250GB Seagate

I have been quite happy with my PC for over 2 years. I do not play games, the Geforce 6600GT was a waste of money when I brought it and so was the ASUS A8N-SLi Deluxe as I never intended to use SLi.

I have 2 monitors at home, a 26" Acer LCD @ 720P (connected via DVI) I also have a 40" Samsung LCD @ 1080P, which has HDMI connection.

My problems started when I wanted to watch High Definition movies, which were encoded with x264 @ 1080P (mkv files) I tried CoreAVC codec as well as bunch of others codecs, but my current CPU was too weak to decode the picture. I can however playback x264 720P movies fine with no problems.

I would like to build a new PC that can decode x264 1080P movies without any problems. I also do a lot of RAR extracting as well as QuickPAR repairing and a lot of processing power is required.

I was thinking of getting an Intel E8400 given that it is clocked @ 3GHz, it should have no problems with x264 1080P encoded movies. The E8400 should also run cool.

I was also thinking of getting either a ATI 2600XT or the new ATI HD 3400 Series as it supports UVD and it would come in handy if I played any HD-DVD or Bluray movies.

My biggest problem is choosing a good motherboard. A single 16x PCI-E slot will suffice, minimum of 4x SATAII ports, 1Gb LAN and Digital Audio Out is my main requirements.

I have picked a Corsair HX520 PSU and was thinking of getting the Crucial Ballistix DDR2-800HMz PC2-6400 • 4-4-4-12

If everything could be cooled passively to prevent noise in the new PC would be a high bonus.

Thanks for any inputs.

[Cappie]

First off lemme suggest you buy another 250Gb seagate so you have 4 of these perps in your comp, then get a good ICH9 board and put all 4 of them in raid, RAID0 is what I would suggest(anyone stating its unsafe deserves a punch in the nose). So that will cover your quickparring and unrarring, when I par 15Mb large , it goes p.p.p.p.p.p.p where the dots are pauses of about 0.2sec and the p's are the files wizzing by, thats how fast it goes.

As for your CPU needs, I would also get an E8400 and overclock the hell outta it, well atleast to 3.8Ghz or something, which can be easily done on normal vcore. Memory I wouldn't spend alot on as it has not alot of impact on performance, so just get 4Gb of cheapish 800Mhz memory,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820220267

Crucial I have had very bad experiences with, had 4 sets, and all of them went bust in under 6 months time, and I wasn't even overclocking them nor was I giving them too much volt, everything just default

Good mobo's are whatever is listed in the main intel thread, anything with lotsa replies, just read up on those, can't suggest one cuz there's too many to choose from, I'd say go for Asus but thats just my opinion.

[Zucker2k]

First off lemme suggest you buy another 250Gb seagate so you have 4 of these perps in your comp, then get a good ICH9 board and put all 4 of them in raid, RAID0 is what I would suggest(anyone stating its unsafe deserves a punch in the nose). So that will cover your quickparring and unrarring, when I par 15Mb large , it goes p.p.p.p.p.p.p where the dots are pauses of about 0.2sec and the p's are the files wizzing by, thats how fast it goes.

As for your CPU needs, I would also get an E8400 and overclock the hell outta it, well atleast to 3.8Ghz or something, which can be easily done on normal vcore. Memory I wouldn't spend alot on as it has not alot of impact on performance, so just get 4Gb of cheapish 800Mhz memory,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820220267

Crucial I have had very bad experiences with, had 4 sets, and all of them went bust in under 6 months time, and I wasn't even overclocking them nor was I giving them too much volt, everything just default

Good mobo's are whatever is listed in the main intel thread, anything with lotsa replies, just read up on those, can't suggest one cuz there's too many to choose from, I'd say go for Asus but thats just my opinion.

How much are you willing to spend?

[akashi82]

Thanks for the inputs. I am not looking to spend too much, about £500 ($1000) My requirements are pretty basic. The main reason for the new PC is to play those x264 1080P movies.

Also I don't think I would really need 4GB of RAM. I was thinking of getting 2GB. I am using Windows Vista x86 now, don't have any reasons to use any x64 OS at the moment.

I am also trying to make the new PC as quiet as possible. Can anyone recommend if I should get a Arctic Freezer 7 Pro or a Thermalright 120 Extreme? They both seem to be popular :/

[Zucker2k]

I will get a P5E or Maximus Formula
A quadcore cpu (Q6600 or Q9450)
2x2GB ram
An extra hdd for 2x 2-disc raid 0
Thermalright 120 Extreme

[adamsleath]

Thermalright 120 Extreme

with a low rpm 120mm silent fan.

i spose the gcards you have in mind are exactly what you need.

I also do a lot of RAR extracting as well as QuickPAR repairing and a lot of processing power is required.

quad core.

it'll stomp all over that 3500+

[Ancient_1]

Here are the specs of what I just put together Friday. I will probably get a different vid card in the next month or two but as is will do just what you want.

DFI LP LT P35 T2R
E8400 Wolfdale
TRUE w/Sanyo Denki 1011
A-DATA Extreme Edition DDR2 800 4-4-4-12-2T
Antec True Control 550
HIS Radeon HD 2400PRO 256MB
2x 250g WD sata
1x 250g WD ide
2x 400g WD sata
2x Dvico FusionHDTV5 Gold digital capture cards
1x Hauppauge WinTV PVR 250
LIAN LI PC-A05B
Onboard Sound & NIC



Even the HD2400 has UVD so would be enough.

I use my puter very much like you do except I do a lot of recording of HDTV and re encode to xvid for archiving (reason for so many HDs).

The reason I picked the board I did was it's 6 layer design ,8 phase power (I might upgrade to a quad if xvid ever starts seeing a benifit from multi cores) and 3 pci slots with none being blocked if I used a dual slot vid card (a hard combo to find).

[akashi82]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Those motherboards seem to be overkill for my requirements.

I would rather save the money on motherboard features that I will not be using and using that money on other components.

I was looking at the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R, any comments on this board?

[Zucker2k]

You need a strong foundation buddy.

[akashi82]

I am very interested in these motherboards:

1. Abit IP35-E (Is the integrated LAN on PCI or PCI-e?)

2. GA-P35-DS3R (rev. 2.1) Seems it has got just what I need. The RAID feature may come in handy very soon.

PS: Does anyone know of any good online stores to order computer components here in the UK? (apart from ebuyer.com)

[zfactor]

look at the dfi blood iron or dark dk-p35 models imo.. they have raid and are really inexpensive

blood iron - http://www.motherboardpro.com/DFI-Bl...775-p-337.html

dark - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813136043

[zanzabar]

the 2400 may the uvd but its dosnt have the bandwidth for teh video files u need the 2600pro or xt to get really good video, and the xt is like $75 so its not much

[Cappie]

You could try www.komplett.co.uk they'r pretty good and have an all around european storebase(norway, denmark, belgium, holland, etc). As for the amount of ram, if you really like your parring to go quickly then know that quickpar does like a fair amount of ram, and if your budget is 1000$ then you won't lose much on my suggested ram. My list,

http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.aspx?sku=335661 73£
http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.aspx?sku=338594 39£ x 2
http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.aspx?sku=320110 32£ (quiet as a mouse)
http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.aspx?sku=342781 74£ (passive)
http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.aspx?sku=339186 40£
http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.aspx?sku=344772 129£

would bring you to a grand total of,

426£ = 848.303$

Still 150$ below your margin, so you can spend a bit more on other stuff, and I even took a better mobo then the one you suggested.

[akashi82]

Thank you very much Cappie for the list you complied for me, greatly appreciate it

This is what I have picked so far:

CPU: Intel E8400 3.0GHz
HSF: Zalman CNPS9500AT
Motherboard: Abit IP35
Memory: 2x 1GB Crucial Ballistix DDR2-800HMz PC2-6400 • 4-4-4-12
GPU: ATI 2600XT 256MB or ATI HD 3650
PSU: Corsair HX520
Hard Drive: 2x 500GB Samsung SpinPoint HD501LJ (RAID)

If anyone thinks I should change something with a better alternative, please say so.

I was thinking of getting a DFI P35 motherboard, but I can not find them anywhere online here in the UK!

[zanzabar]

those zalman are kinda expencive ide rather get a tuniq or enzo and save some cash or spend the extra $15 for the TRUE120, i know that prices might not be the same in the UK but the tuniq should be cheaper or the same and its better


other than that it looks good

[akashi82]

The Abit IP35 was out of stock at the store I was ordering from. While I was searching for alternative places to order from, I came across forums stating this board has problems

I thought I will get a Gigabyte P35-DS3R or a P35C-DS3R and found out they have a bigger issue (constant reboot) Even the Abit IP35 Pro apparently has VDroop issues?

Anything like the ASUS P5K-E, but without the Wifi built-in?

I am now stuck! Don't know what to get!

Please advice.

[YukonTrooper]

Are you sure the Gigabyte P35 reboot problems weren't just first revision problems? I think they probably would have fixed those issues with later revisions and BIOS updates.

[akashi82]

I have read reports of people using revision 2.0 and still have the problem. People updated to the latest BIOS have still got reboot problems.

I know there are many people out there who are using the DS3R happily without any problems. However, knowing my luck I will most likely end up with a problem board and instead of using my new PC, I will spend all the time trying to fix the problem