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System build - your input wanted
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JustJohn



Joined: 18 Oct 2007
Location: Your computer screen

PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 3:39 pm    Post subject: System build - your input wanted Reply with quote

Building a system in the states about a month from now. Looking for most bang for the buck on a decent gaming system. I'm thinking something like


E8400 processor
4-8Gb RAM
Radeon 4850 video card
Fast hard drive
Xonar sound card
Decent case
Apropriate mobo and psu

I'm least up to date on HD and case stuff, so advice there would be especially helpful.
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spliff



Joined: 19 Jan 2004
Location: Khon Kaen, Thailand

PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 3:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Looks good...why don't you just up it a little and get the 4870? Which xoner card r u getting, the D2? Make sure it has good drivers for X64. Oh yeah, what OS r u planning on using? Also, I suggest an Ultra 600w PSU. Good prices on that stateside. MBO - ASUS P5K PREMIUM. The E0 stepping should be out now so u should get that E8400.

Last edited by spliff on Sat Aug 02, 2008 4:00 pm; edited 1 time in total
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I_Am_The_Kiwi



Joined: 10 Jun 2008

PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 4:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Vista Ultimate 64 i assume.......has to be if your using ram above 3GB.

the mobo and psu suggested would do the trick, maybe a bigger PSU though if youve got money spare....always good to have more juice on hand if you upgrade or ad things later....extra hdd, bluray burner etc etc.

how much do you have to spend on a case???, all depends really.
you can get something simple and do it out with fans yourself, or buy something a bit more prim and proper that has a cool look to it too thats already fanned out.
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Demophobe



Joined: 17 May 2004

PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 4:07 pm    Post subject: Re: System build - your input wanted Reply with quote

JustJohn wrote:
Building a system in the states about a month from now. Looking for most bang for the buck on a decent gaming system. I'm thinking something like


E8400 processor
4-8Gb RAM
Radeon 4850 video card
Fast hard drive
Xonar sound card
Decent case
Apropriate mobo and psu

I'm least up to date on HD and case stuff, so advice there would be especially helpful.


JJ, there is nobody here who can give you advice. I think you know your stuff...we could only give you some food for thought at best.

Anyhow, so far it's looking good.
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JustJohn



Joined: 18 Oct 2007
Location: Your computer screen

PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 5:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I_Am_The_Kiwi wrote:
Vista Ultimate 64 i assume.......has to be if your using ram above 3GB.


Not true. Linux. Wink But I'll probably have to put Ultimate on there for gaming. Still mulling over how I want to work that.


Quote:
how much do you have to spend on a case???, all depends really.
you can get something simple and do it out with fans yourself, or buy something a bit more prim and proper that has a cool look to it too thats already fanned out.


I'm still deciding whether or not I want to try to use this box for recording music. If I do I'm going to want a silent build, and I don't trust the noise/cfm ratings on case fans. That would lead me toward a "fanned out" case that I could check reviews to make sure it's quiet.
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JustJohn



Joined: 18 Oct 2007
Location: Your computer screen

PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 5:28 pm    Post subject: Re: System build - your input wanted Reply with quote

Spliff, I might get the 4870. Depends on how satisfied I am with the price after everything else. Or if there's another price drop I'll probably get it regardless. Smile


Demophobe wrote:

JJ, there is nobody here who can give you advice. I think you know your stuff...we could only give you some food for thought at best.


No, I really don't know anything about hard drives these days. In fact, I'm only really up to speed on video and I guess processor stuff.


Btw, toying with the idea of waiting for Nehalem but I don't think I can afford one so it would just be for the price cuts. Any thoughts?
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eamo



Joined: 08 Mar 2003
Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.

PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 5:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Your suggested system looks pretty good.

If you're worrying about case fans and noise............don't worry about the case fans, it will be the GPU and HSF which will cause 90% of the noise. I'm using one of these case fans..

Correction: I'm using this case fan...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999099
....and I really can't hear it over my GPU and HSF. But then, that case fan has a CFM of just 44. So it's barely moving air. The RPM is only 1000.......but it's virtually silent.

If the HD4850 runs as hot as most people out there say it does, then you'll need some effective case cooling.

I would suggest case fans of over 40CFM in an HD4850 system.....maybe like this one....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999061

I've got one of these as the exhaust fan in my main computer. It's been doing a great job for almost 2 years now.


It's a hard, hard road you're taking if you really want a silent PC. I've found that I prefer my PC to run cool with a little noise, than to to run hot with very little noise.


Last edited by eamo on Sat Aug 02, 2008 6:15 pm; edited 1 time in total
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JustJohn



Joined: 18 Oct 2007
Location: Your computer screen

PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 5:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah eamo, that's what's making the decision rough. I want the 4850 cause it's awesome for the money, but it running hot will make it extra hard to do a quiet system.

I could always find a way to string the mics to a separate room, but that's usually a pain in the butt.


I guess what I'm hoping for at the moment is to find parts with controllable fan speeds. Then I could still have good cooling but make it quiet when I want to do recording.
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eamo



Joined: 08 Mar 2003
Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.

PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 6:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

JustJohn wrote:
Yeah eamo, that's what's making the decision rough. I want the 4850 cause it's awesome for the money, but it running hot will make it extra hard to do a quiet system.

I could always find a way to string the mics to a separate room, but that's usually a pain in the butt.


I guess what I'm hoping for at the moment is to find parts with controllable fan speeds. Then I could still have good cooling but make it quiet when I want to do recording.


Keeping your PC behind some kind of improvised baffle might allow you to do mic work in the same room. Also, directional mics would help a lot.

The Enermax Warp range of case fans have a built-in speed knob for contollable speeds.....

I really don't know why ATI and nVidia don't allow the ability to turn up and down fan speed in their GPU software. Everybody out there is messing around with Rivatuner to adjust their GPU fanspeeds. Pain in the arse.

My Western Digital 500GB is the quietest HDD I've ever owned. The Seagate 250GB in my second computer sounds like an angle grinder compared to the WD.
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I_Am_The_Kiwi



Joined: 10 Jun 2008

PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 6:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

you should look into case linings as well, i know there are a few brands that specialize in sound proof linings for the kinda thing your thinking of.
basically a mat that goes on the inside of your case to dampen the sound getting out. apparently works quite well.

http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l2/g33/c117/list/p1/Ultra_Quiet-Case_Silencing.html?id=uUcLLUQ6&mv_pc=3350
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JustJohn



Joined: 18 Oct 2007
Location: Your computer screen

PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 11:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yah, I've heard of that, but I think some easily controlled fans would give me both the good cooling and low noise when I needed it without the hassle of putting that stuff in.

Also looking for a reasonably priced backlit keyboard. Can't be too bright, black with blue lighting preferred. I'd probably be able to find one if you could search by backlit on newegg, but you can't.

Anyone know of one?
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chevro1et



Joined: 01 Feb 2007
Location: Busan, ROK

PostPosted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 1:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

JustJohn wrote:
Yah, I've heard of that, but I think some easily controlled fans would give me both the good cooling and low noise when I needed it without the hassle of putting that stuff in.

Also looking for a reasonably priced backlit keyboard. Can't be too bright, black with blue lighting preferred. I'd probably be able to find one if you could search by backlit on newegg, but you can't.

Anyone know of one?

Yea, I used to have this one, it was pretty nice. Has adjustable backlighting (dim/ bright/ off):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823175103

As for the cooling on the 4850, you can tweak the profiles in CCC to up the fan speed only when the card enters 3D apps, so it cools when its needed but quiet when not gaming. And, I'm sure that an updated version of RivaTuner can't be that far off either.

If you want a quiet case, the Antec P182 is worth looking at, but its not cheap. If you want a great case for cooling, the CoolerMaster Stacker CM690 is reasonably priced and has slots for up to 7 - 120mm fans.

If you are gonna be buying your parts in the states, look into the Yate Loon fans from Petra's Tech Shop. They are a great company with a strong reputation and the only authorized dealer of Yates in N.A. Great fans, really quiet if you opt for the low rpm models, and reasonably priced too.
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PeteJB



Joined: 06 Jul 2007

PostPosted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 5:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I need a gaming system built for less than 200,000 Won. Could someone list what kind of specs I could achieve with that? It doesn't need to be ultima elite gaming, just good enough to perform great with older games and fairly ok with newish ones.
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kprrok



Joined: 06 Apr 2004
Location: KC

PostPosted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 6:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

PeteJB wrote:
I need a gaming system built for less than 200,000 Won. Could someone list what kind of specs I could achieve with that? It doesn't need to be ultima elite gaming, just good enough to perform great with older games and fairly ok with newish ones.


Probably impossible for a new machine. A dual-core CPU is over 100 and so is the VGA. You might be able to go and get a built system in Yongsan, but it'd be super cheap and probably built from crap components.
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rocklee



Joined: 04 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 7:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Don't get a Maxtor for a hard drive!

My Samsung has been pretty good but that's a 2.5" drive, I'm amazed that it just works and took all the knocks. For 3.5" there's the Samsung SpinPoint F1 with a 32MB cache. Samsung is definitely getting better and still quite cheap.

I've also read some good things on the Seagate Barracuda SATA II models, which I myself am considering to replace my screwed Maxtor. I'm not sure if its quiet but man reliability is something I put above everything else.

Do you really need more than 4GB of RAM? I'm assuming you'll be using 64bit Ubuntu which can address more RAM but what are you doing? Smile

As for casing, Lian Li?

Quote:

I really don't know why ATI and nVidia don't allow the ability to turn up and down fan speed in their GPU software.


Use Ntune or RivaTuner for Nvidia.
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