2007-12-23, 22:33
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Link #1 |
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freshly noob
Join Date: Nov 2006
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Building a computer
The computer I am using now is at least 5 years old, and I think it is time for an upgrade. First off, the computer that i am currently using is running on a Shuttle MV42N motherboard, Intel Celeron 1.7 GHz (single and not even a 775 socket core), 128+256mb PC100 SD-Ram, and Windows ME. I think that sums up the gist of my current computer. This computer is actually still good just to browse the internet, go on AIM, download anime (but cannot really fo anything else while downloading). But I'm sure everyone will agree with me that I badly need to upgrade or build a new computer. I want to build a computer that allows me to do more stuff, and also because I want to start going into gaming. I do not know what games are considered light/mid/heavy gaming yet, but I still want to build a new computer.
Well, so far I already have a motherboard. It is an Asus Maximus Formula Special Edition [spoiler]Comes with a Full VERSION of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. the videogame Shipping: Will be based off of where you live, and how fast you would like to receive it... Happy biddings. Spoiler for more info on board; for saving space:
First, what do people think of this board? is it too much? Too little? I'm also thinking about getting the DDR2 Single 2GB PC6400 ocz ram (might get 2 Dimms), and this one 400GB 7,200RPM WD Sata HD (is $50 a good price?). I'm lost when it comes to video cards, sounds cards, power supply, case, and monitor. Anyone wanna help? |
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2007-12-23, 23:24
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Link #2 | |
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I'll keep walking.
 Artist
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: This is FLORIDAAAAAAaaa
Age: 37
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Quote:
Jokes aside, I think that basically the first question to ask is: How much are you willing to spend? For a computer that will keep you going on Anime Watching, downloading and internet browsing, you're looking for around $400 to $500 for a fairly up-to-date system that should last some two years. ( We're talking Dual Core, 2 Gigs of Ram, 320-500 Gigs of HD and a low-end video card here ). On the other hand, if you want a gaming machine, then you're looking to spend a few more, although with the HD 3850 and 8800GTs out at fairly good prices, High-End gaming isn't very far from most users nowadays. The second thing I have to ask you is: Are you going to do overclocking and tweaking with your configurations, or running SLI/Crossfire? If not, then this motherboard is probably too much for you. It does cost $260, too, so it is pretty salty when it comes to price. Basically, if you don't plan on using two video cards at the same time ( and given I don't think this is a SLI/Crossfire-enabled card, I don't even know why it has two - unless Crossfire doesn't need such a thing as the NForce chipset to function properly like with SLI ), there's no reason to get a card with two PCI-E x16 slots. DDR2 1200 is still very expensive in my opinion, but it's always good to futureproof your purchases, so I wouldn't complain much about it. 1600MHZ FSB is still not really out there yet, and so if you don't plan on changing your processor anytime soon, it's also a bit of a waste. All in all, if you want to built a killer rig by purchasing such a thing as a Kentsfield processor ( about $1400 by itself ), then I'd recommend this Mobo you picked. If you're looking for a mid-range computer, even if for gaming, then I'd suggest looking at a less expensive option. Again, not knowing your price range doesn't give us a lot of ideas on which components to help you choose. Also if you have a list of games you're looking to play, it'd also be of help in choosing a video card for you.
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2007-12-24, 00:56
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Link #3 |
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Good-Natured Asshole.
Join Date: May 2007
Age: 34
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You're only starting on gaming? First of all, you want a motherboard less than half this price.
I recommend: ASUS P5N http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131142 GIGABYTE DS3R http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128050 You don't need to break your wallet if you're not heading for extreme gaming. Now a little more detail about how much you're willing to spend would be great. As for the light/mid/heavy gaming, I can give you a ballpark: Light: Run games on high quality from 4 years ago Mid: Run games on high from 2 years ago, still able to run the newest games on medium or low. Heavy: Run the latest. most demanding games (i.e. Crysis) on the highest quality. Crysis is a bad example, because absolutely nothing out there can run it on highest quality so far. |
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2007-12-24, 02:15
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Link #4 |
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I'll keep walking.
Artist
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: This is FLORIDAAAAAAaaa
Age: 37
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Well, though I think Claies is Right, I'd put Crysis on a level of itself as VERY HEAVY. We're talking Bioshock as Heavy gaming, Gears of War as Heavy Gaming. But your FPS will most likely not drop down to 12 playing those games with a 8800-series card, which is what happens with Crysis
 .Basically, that ASUS card has some bad reviews, and so I'd be compelled to go with the Gigabyte one, but it has a flaw: only one PCI-E slot. So it'll depend much on what you want to do.
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2007-12-24, 12:31
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Link #5 | |
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Good-Natured Asshole.
Join Date: May 2007
Age: 34
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Quote:
Here's one more: MSI P6N http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130081 The crux is that the $250 ASUS board that NibelungTaisa put up is unnecessarily expensive. I'd totally spare that money to use elsewhere.
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2007-12-24, 15:18
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Link #6 |
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You could say.....
Join Date: Apr 2007
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That's an overclocking board. You better be overclocking to the max if you want to spend that much on a motherboard. You don;t need 1/2 the features of that if you're not. You better be trying to reach some overclocking records like overclocking a e6750 to 4.0ghz. And also it's the first of the next generation of motherboards - Not good value. it will still be buggy as all hell
best value going around processor e6750 -$200USD 2 gigs DDR2 800 RAM - About $80 go with Corsair, Kingston or OCZ NVIDIA 512 8800GT - $260 (or 256mb 8800gt @ $220 or ATI 3850 @ $160) depending on your gaming requirements, do you want the works in terms of eyecandy like 16xAA, 4xAF, softshadows etc etc or are yo willing to turn some of them off? Do you plan on playing at really high resolutions 1920x1080 or are you planning to play at 1366x768? Gigabyte ds3r - $130 For gods sake don't buy a cheap POS Power supply go with Seasonic/Antec/Silverstone/OCZ 600w PSU - $100 Read all of the these recent threads http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=58772 more relevant http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=59510 Stalker is cheap enough to buy on it's own not a real big selling point. IMO it's a pretty zzzz game. Most graphics cards will have a game bundled anyway
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Last edited by hobbes_fan; 2007-12-24 at 15:30. |
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2007-12-24, 19:56
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Link #7 |
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freshly noob
Join Date: Nov 2006
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well the thing is that i already have the board. i heard that this board was discontinuedand was kinda hoping that it can fetch me some money...i talked to some sales people and they said that this board is kind of rare in a way even though it barely came out. some say that it was discontinued because of that cooling thing within the board. at first i was thinking about building it up slowly. get the e6750 core2, a single module 2gb pc6400 ocz ram, an okay video card that isn't worth much money but is decent enough, etc. gaming wise too. as i get more money i will start playing lighter games then move onto more heavy gaming. if i decided to opt out of gaming im thinking about reselling my motherboard, which is still brand new btw, or just keep it right now and build it later.
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2007-12-24, 20:50
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Link #8 | |
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I'll keep walking.
Artist
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: This is FLORIDAAAAAAaaa
Age: 37
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Quote:
Basically, it seems like the board IS having cooling problems in which the MCP/SB overheats very easily and to many extremes. What I would recommend is that you initiated an RMA process to get yourself a board that will not overheat. That's the smartest decision, IMO. What you can do if you can't RMA it is to change the thermal compound in the Heatsink of the NB and SB and hope it fixes the problem. Note that this is complicated and not very advisable unless you have experience with handling hardware. I did this on my EVGA 680i because the thermal paste used in the NB/SB was of very poor quality and very badly applicated. The board got around 6-8 C cooler after that and never goes past 45C nowadays, which is fairly good. One thing you might consider is: What OS will you be going with? If it's not a 64-bit OS, then why are you considering a single 2GB stick of Ram, instead of two 1GB sticks? Unless you found a very good deal on it, I wouldn't really think that the price for a single 2GB stick is worth it. After all, you can get two gigs of DDR2 800 for roughly 35-40 bucks nowadays. The e6750 is good, as hobbes_fan suggested, and the 8800GT at $220 is one hell of a buy. Really, you could play Crysis on very high, depending on your resolution, and still get some very playable 25-30 FPS. Not to mention how it performs much better in other games. There aren't a lot of cards in the $50-80 range that will help you with gaming, especially some of the newest games. So why spend that money when you can save it and just get something that will serve you for a while? I'm not sure about reselling your motherboard, because it is one hell of a good board. Not sure where you got it or if you payed for it, either, so it might work better for you to keep it and just be futureproofed for a while. In my case, I'm sending in $90 bucks to EVGA in a couple of months to return my 680i and get a 780i, which will enable me to use a Kentsfield core when they get cheaper, along with triple x16 SLI ( which I'll probably never use but bragging ftmfw) and higher-speed DDR2.
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2007-12-24, 23:27
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Link #9 |
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freshly noob
Join Date: Nov 2006
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well, the board is still unopened right now so i'm not sure if it has any problems with it yet. i actually misphrase the part when i mention the cooling thing. i heard that this SE was discontinued because of the Fusion Block System that comes with it which is supposively have a "47% Thermal Enhancement" and not saying it was discontinued because of cooling problems. From what I understand, the regular Maximus Formula (non-SE) doesn't come with this Fusion Block System that the SE has; like as if this FBS is special in a way. I don't really like Vista because some of the lighter games that I do have crashes on Vista, but worked on XP. I don't know if there is a 64-bit XP, but if there is non then I will go for the 64-bit Vista (don't know which version yet). That singule module 2gb OCZ that I mentioned many times, I saw some selling for like $44.00. I saw some single 2gb pc6400 patriot which was a bit cheaper, but I think I will stay away from them. I actually bought this motherboard at Fry's a few days ago, and some of the sales people were surprised that there was one still available because they had some customers asking for this board before. Maybe I should hold onto it now, and build it later or sell it. If I do build it, I'll wait until the next time I see the E6750 combo with a cheap ECS board going for like $189 or less or something, the next time another single 2gb OCZ is available for less than $50. And, yes, I would like to eventually max out this board. And for curious people, I bought this board because, yes I want to go into gaming, but also because it was it is a special edition and heard it was rare and that that Fusion Block Sysytem was very valuable.
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2007-12-25, 00:27
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Link #10 |
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You could say.....
Join Date: Apr 2007
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See I don't understand why you'd do it this way. It's an excellent board for overclocking, moreso at the extreme levels requiring phase cooling/water cooling not your regular overclocking, but if you don't well all that cooling etc is pointless. It's the type of board I see at benchmarking competitions where phase and water cooling are standard. Your board/components and cpu will never get hot enough to make use of the special features. Being a gamer does not mean being an overclocker. And there are plenty of sub $150 boards that can do just as well with air cooling. NOTE: The fusion Block system looks like it will only be of any use to you if you plan to watercool your pc. So add the cost of a watercooling system to your budget if you want to use this feature.
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2007-12-26, 10:26
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Link #11 |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2007
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If you want a good overclocking board than MSI Neo2 P35 is awesome for 100$
Here is a good review http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3169 |
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2007-12-27, 01:52
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Link #12 |
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freshly noob
Join Date: Nov 2006
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I think that I am just going to give up on this board and return it, unless someone wants to buy it off me. Since I didn't get my family anything, I am thinking of using the money I used for this board and buy the gas range that my mom had wanted since the oven part broke 2 years ago. I am not gonna give up on gaming just yet. I'm waiting for a while before I start building a computer. This time I'm planning to go with an AMD. Anyone know how good the Phenom 9500 or Phenom 9600 is?
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2007-12-28, 01:05
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Link #15 |
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I'll keep walking.
Artist
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: This is FLORIDAAAAAAaaa
Age: 37
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One thing you have to remember when considering the Phenom is that you can't use an Intel board along with it ( different sockets and processor types, yare yare, although I'm sure you know that already ). If I remember correctly, an AM2+ socket was needed for the Phenom to work correctly and at full speed, although it seems to work with AM2 sockets too. The thing is that most of the Tech reviews I've seen don't give the Phenom a grade that matches the hype. Rule of the thumb is that compared to the Quad-core processor in its price range, the Phenom performs roughly as slower as it's cheaper.
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2007-12-29, 11:34
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Link #16 |
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You could say.....
Join Date: Apr 2007
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See this is what I don't get. There doesn't seem to be a plan of any sort to what you're trying to do. You need to organise and prioritise your parts. CPU, Video Card, motherboard in that order. You have to ask why a quad? when a dual core at around 2/3rds the price is only 10% slower if that. For a gaming rig conventional wisdom is spend 2x the price on a gfx card as the cost of the cpu. You've said you've wanted to go into gaming but it makes no sense as you could spend around 5k for a gaming rig.
So basically you need to organise your plan 1. What's you budget 2. What king of PC do you want to build? Gaming? Home THeatre? Encoding? 3. What Operating System do you plan to use? XP? ME? Vista? Linux? OS/x? 4. What games/software do do you want to play/playing currently or run regularly. What tasks are you running that you can't do right now.
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2007-12-29, 22:08
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Link #17 |
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freshly noob
Join Date: Nov 2006
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i decided that i will indeed keep this board, but build it like in 1-2 months from now. If what the sales person told me is true about the new intel that will come out next months for around the same price which would also work on my board, then i think i might buy that one instead. Outside of the motherboard, i already bought a 2gb pc6400 dual OCZ ram because it was on sale (might buy another pair on a different time after I recieve the rebate). In a way, I might buy all the other components at once (video card, power supply, case, cpu, etc), or whenever I see a sale I might buy it individually. Seeing as how I'm a person who doesn't return stuff, unless defective, even if I buy the wrong item I still keep it. If I do buy everything else all at once, say next month, there is a chance that the prices for the items recommended here to drop or a better model will be released at the current prices orf the current products. Rest assure, When I finish building my computer I will try to take advantage of the features as much as I can. Budjet-wise, let me see, just say that I am a huge consumer and I am easy to sell when it comes to electronics (why and how do you think I got sucked in to buy this board?) Of course I want to build a gaming PC. Not sure what Hobbes mean by encoding (like video or picture editing?). I do plan to watch a few movies and videos here and there. OS would probably be vista or XP. Who knows which games I will be playing. Most likely I will get sucked in it easily no matter the game. Who knows, by the time I finish building my computer, I will probably spend like over $2000 on it. I sure as hell wouldn't be surprised if I did too.
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