[NeedMoDro]

Hello, normally I would take time out for pleasantries and such but I am growing increasingly consumed by my current dilemma so I will get straight to the point.

I decided its time to buy a new computer system. I have become overwhelmed by all the different choices available in terms of hardware.

I used to be in the know about all this stuff but it seems like anymore I have no idea what I need for what I want to do. I have tried to get help from several websites that sell computers but it has proven difficult and somehow more confusing.

I AM NOT LOOKING FOR SOME ONE TO TELL ME "BUY THIS COMPUTER" I JUST NEED SOME PROS/CONS OF DIFFERENT HARDWARE FOR DIFFERENT APPLICATIONS.


What I want is a desktop computer that has a DVI out so I can use my HDTV as a display. I will be using the computer for HD video, HD-DVD, and Blu-ray playback and some editing of video(mostly SD but some HD). I will be doing A LOT of tanscoding different video files mostly between DVD, WMV, and xVid. I will also be using the computer for gaming, I do not need the worlds best 3D gaming machine but I want something half way decent.


|Processor Problems|

I started out looking at AMD but I think I have finally settled on an Intel system.

The problem I have run into is for my budget I have figured I can go with either a 3 GHz Core 2 Duo(E6850) or a Quad Core 2.4 GHz(Q6600), possibly the 2.66 GHz(Q6700) if I stretch a bit.

They are all 64-bit processors right?

I just want what ever is best for fast transcoding and smooth gameplay. I cannont afford any of the "extreme edition" processors but if there are others you may know of that would work nicley for me please feel free.

I am not entirley set on Intel either, when comparing differnt motherboards I decided on Intel because it seemd you could only get the 600 series nForce chipsets on Intell motherboards or the AMD FX motherboards. I believe, but could be wrong that the AMD FX processors are out of my price range. I did find several of the 500 series nForce motherboards for AMD X2 processors. However, from extenslively reading Nvidia's website and looking at several differnt motherboards I have settled on the 600 series. Any, ummm, thoughts?


|Video Cards|

This has been a central focus of my problem. The differnt choics are very annoying and once I decide on a particular series of card i discover there are severl opitons on what one to get. I will post links to expamples below.

I have decided to go with Nvidia. On their web site they show the 8800 series as the "Extream Gamer" and the 8600 series as a good gamer card but with better HD playback. It seems the 8600 GTS is perfect for what I want because its good for games and better for playback, also much cheaper.

Now, the 8600 GTS comes in a ton of differnt configurations from differnt manufactures. The web site I think I am going to order from caries a few different choices. They are grouped into 256 MB and 512MB. I cant decide if I sould go with the 256MB EVGA Superclocked Powered by NVIDIA or the 512MB EVGA Powered by NVIDIA, they are about the same price.(the 512MB superclocked is back ordered and unavailable through the site I am ordering from)

Basically my question is can some one balance Power vs. Memory from me? and How would SLI play into it all?

Or should I just not get any cards in the pc and order them from ASUS or another company?(I am going with the Asus Striker Extreme nForce 680i motherboard,i think, if that matters at all *sigh*)

I have also been advised to get 2 cards and use an SLI setup, this is within my budget but I am not sure if I really need that. PLEASE SOMEONE tell me what the heck to do!



|Moving on|

There are several other concerns I have(see "Random Thoughts") but I realize this is a lot of stuff to respond to. Please, fell free to only address certain issues, this has taken over my life for the past two weeks, i just need some answers from some one who really know what they are talking about.


|Random Thoughts|


CyberPowerPC.com

-Scam or rip-off?


Vista

-32 or 64 bit?


Memory Matters

I have read that choosing the brand or type of memory is important because cirtin memory works better with certain motherboards or processors. could someone clarify this for me?

Any suggestions on how much i need?


Video Cards

-SLI?

-Video RAM

-Processor Power


Cooling

-Liquid?

-Better than Liquid?

-Overclock or not?
-Processor considerations for overclock?


Processor

-AMD vs. Intel

-Quad vs. Duo

-Motherboards


Memory Matters

I have read that choosing the brand or type of memory is important because certain memory works better with certain motherboards or processors. could someone clarify this for me?



I have many other questions but I think I will wait to see what sort of response I get before going on any further, Thank you all in advance for any help you can give!!!

[Advertisements]

Well, 2 days and no response.... perhaps I was to general in my post. I'm just gonna build one and hope it works well for what i need, from reading older posts here the 8600 gts is crap for the price. I guess I'll just bite the bullet a get the 8800 ultra. still don't know what to do with the processor but w/e.

Edited by NeedMoDro, 13 August 2007 - 01:09 PM.

[NeedMoDro]

Well, 2 days and no response.... perhaps I was to general in my post. I'm just gonna build one and hope it works well for what i need, from reading older posts here the 8600 gts is crap for the price. I guess I'll just bite the bullet a get the 8800 ultra. still don't know what to do with the processor but w/e.

Edited by NeedMoDro, 13 August 2007 - 01:09 PM.

[Titan8990]

AMD is now more of a buget build brand as of now. The core 2 duo chips are much better than the X2s but the X2s still are not bad for their cost. Between the e6850 and the q6600 I would go with the e6850. I know there are people who will disagree with me though. As far as MOBO chipsets they don't make a Nvidia 600 series for socket AM2. If you go Intel look for P35 or 680i. These are the chipsets that will support quadcore. Even if you don't get a quadcore it is best to have the option later.

I wouldn't recommend getting the 8800 ultra. Get the 8800 GTS 640mb if you plan on running high resolutions. You can overclock it yourself for free. It will void the warrenty though.

I wouldn't go through cyberpowerpc.com but I wouldn't call it a rip off.

Get the 32bit version of Vista. The times havn't caught up with 64bit yet. Many drivers and software don't work correctly on it.

I always suggest getting quality RAM because I didn't my first time and I had a stick die not long after the 1yr warrenty expired. I use Corsair but there a lot of good brands such as Kingston, OCZ, and Crucial. 2 GB should be fine for Vista.

What PSU do you plan on using?

[NeedMoDro]

AMD is now more of a buget build brand as of now. The core 2 duo chips are much better than the X2s but the X2s still are not bad for their cost. Between the e6850 and the q6600 I would go with the e6850. I know there are people who will disagree with me though. As far as MOBO chipsets they don't make a Nvidia 600 series for socket AM2. If you go Intel look for P35 or 680i. These are the chipsets that will support quadcore. Even if you don't get a quadcore it is best to have the option later.

I wouldn't recommend getting the 8800 ultra. Get the 8800 GTS 640mb if you plan on running high resolutions. You can overclock it yourself for free. It will void the warrenty though.

I wouldn't go through cyberpowerpc.com but I wouldn't call it a rip off.

Get the 32bit version of Vista. The times havn't caught up with 64bit yet. Many drivers and software don't work correctly on it.

I always suggest getting quality RAM because I didn't my first time and I had a stick die not long after the 1yr warrenty expired. I use Corsair but there a lot of good brands such as Kingston, OCZ, and Crucial. 2 GB should be fine for Vista.

What PSU do you plan on using?

wow, thanks alot man.

I was worried about cyber power because I would build a PC and then go add all the parts up at Newegg.com and it would always come out to at least a few hundred more at newegg. Had me worried that cyberpower was a scam or something.

Is that the only difference between the ultra and gts? overclocking? What about the 8800 GTX 756mb? alot of posts here seem to suggest that one.

I notice that the HD 2900 xt is about 150 bucks cheaper than the 8800 ultra but has more (1GB) and faster(DDR4) RAM and does 24x AA. but then I would need a nice p35 mobo prolly right? I so in love with the striker extreme I dont wanna dive into the mobo hunting again.

GOD! why cant someone just show up at my house and say "Here, this is the best video trancoding and game rig you can get for around $2500, and its completely optimized for best performance."- like that'll ever happen


I am going to post a new topic with what i think is going to be my final build and see what ppl think, that seems the best way to get advice.

PS. The PSU I am looking at is the Apevia ATX-LCD650W Quartz Aluminum LCD w/ Voltages and Fan Speed Controller & Display, I am not doing SLI right now but may decide to buy another card a few months down the road so thats why i chose an SLI-Ready PSU, plus it looks really cool.

[Troy]

Hi there, just thought I'd add some info in: For video editing, you want two main features: CPU speed (you have already discussed some top-notch processors) and hard drive space. You probably have an idea of how much space you need, so if you need 1TB of space it possibly would be better to get 4x 250GB drives and run them in RAID 0.

64-bit Vista will mop up 32-bit in application speed, but Titan is right, there are plenty of programs and peripherals that don't work properly yet. You need to work out exactly what you have and if everything will work with 64-bit.

The Striker Extreme is exactly that - very extreme. You can spend a fair bit less and still get pretty much the same performance. You could pull up a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3x version (where x indicates the SLI possible version, not sure exactly which one that is) for a bit cheaper. Then you could use the extra $$$ saved and get 3GB RAM instead of 2. You would want your RAM to be in matched sets, so you would have 2x 1GB kit and a 2x 512MB kit. Ultimately, you should have all the same brand of RAM, and Titan is right again - quality is very important. Don't get generic, and don't get "Value series" either. You should be going for PC-6400 (800MHz) or better.

If I were you, I would go with the HIS version (quality brand-name) of the HD2900XT as it's cheaper. You have said in post #1 that you don't necessarily need a top-drawer graphics card, yet that's what you're considering... If you want Nvidia, the minimum we have been recommending on the forums is the 8800GTS (320MB) version. The 640MB would be better (obviously).

I'm not too sure if the Apevia brand is very good for PSU's, you would probably want to consider something a bit better like SilverStone or Antec.

[NeedMoDro]

sweet, thanks to you aswell

I know i jump around alot with what i am talking about. I don't necessarily want the top of the line stuff buy my budget has become a bit more flexible in the last few days, I still cannot afford any $1000 CPU's but I figured i can get 4GB(4x1GB) RAM and still spend about $600-$800 on the GPU.

And I still haven't decided if I want to overclock or not. I prolly wont right away but I would like to leave myself room if I wanted to.

I have been comparing stuff on tomshardware.com, all the tests seem to favor the 2.4 GHZ quad(Q6600) over the 3.0 GHZ core 2 duo(E6850). So I think I'm going to get the quad core. Unless the E6850 is better for video processing???? I think thats what you meant.

[Titan8990]

Don't get 4gb of RAM. The 32bit OSs can only support 3.2gb or RAM. If you are looking to spend that much on a GPU than go with the 8800 GTX. It is nearly double the cost of the GTS and is not close to double the performance but it is still the best available. When I said I would go with the e6850 that was just my preference. They are both good CPUs. I don't trust the new quad cores because they are simply two dual core processors glued together. This was the same with the Pentium Ds being two CPUs glued together and in the end they wern't that great. The e6850 will probably have more overclocking ability than the Q6600 but that is all in the luck of the draw. You could get one that runs 30C stock under load or you could get the short straw and it will run at 55C out of the box.

I agree with troy about the PSU. Get either a Antec, a Silverstone, or a PC Power and Coooling. The PC Power and Cooling PSUs are the highest quality but their price also reflects this. If you go with Antec or Silverstone I recommend the Antec Trupower Trio series or the Silverstone Olympia series. All these PSUs will have good amounts of +12v power. Here is a guide I found to be very helpful: Power Supply Guide.

Edited by Titan8990, 14 August 2007 - 01:40 PM.

[NeedMoDro]

Don't get 4gb of RAM. The 32bit OSs can only support 3.2gb or RAM. If you are looking to spend that much on a GPU than go with the 8800 GTX. It is nearly double the cost of the GTS and is not close to double the performance but it is still the best available. When I said I would go with the e6850 that was just my preference. They are both good CPUs. I don't trust the new quad cores because they are simply two dual core processors glued together. This was the same with the Pentium Ds being two CPUs glued together and in the end they wern't that great. The e6850 will probably have more overclocking ability than the Q6600 but that is all in the luck of the draw. You could get one that runs 30C stock under load or you could get the short straw and it will run at 55C out of the box.

I agree with troy about the PSU. Get either a Antec, a Silverstone, or a PC Power and Coooling. The PC Power and Cooling PSUs are the highest quality but their price also reflects this. If you go with Antec or Silverstone I recommend the Antec Trupower Trio series or the Silverstone Olympia series. All these PSUs will have good amounts of +12v power. Here is a guide I found to be very helpful: Power Supply Guide.

OMG, I thought picking a power supply was the easy part. Now I'm even more confused. I'll have to read that article again when I get home. thanks again