[james_8970]

Flipping the PSU upside down will have no harm to it, to answer your question about screws, mine only has 2 out of the 4 in, because thats all the fits. Since it's resting on the bottom of the case it really doesn't matter.
James

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Yes, but my PSU slot is located on the top of the case, so as long as it doesn't matter still, then no worries. It's not like I'm going to go shaking my tower around to make sure nothing can work loose

Does that 120mm fan suck into the PSU or blow hot air out of the PSU? I'm just wondering because I'm also thinking of the internal air-flow, how best to set it up. The CPU will be right underneath it.

[Troy]

Yes, but my PSU slot is located on the top of the case, so as long as it doesn't matter still, then no worries. It's not like I'm going to go shaking my tower around to make sure nothing can work loose

Does that 120mm fan suck into the PSU or blow hot air out of the PSU? I'm just wondering because I'm also thinking of the internal air-flow, how best to set it up. The CPU will be right underneath it.

[james_8970]

Sucks air in, blows it over the capacitors and then through the "honeycomb" backing. I wouldn't worry about it, all the screws should fit in, I have a 850W PSU so it's abnormally large.
James

[Troy]

Yeah that's good, that fits right in with my air-flow thoughts. Thanks guys for all your help so far. I'm going to ring the accountant today to confirm that I am getting the tax return I'm thinking (hoping) I'm getting...

*FPVDriF6 has his fingers crossed...

[james_8970]

Good luck.
James

[Troy]

Well I've been ringing him for three days, only to speak to the secretary each time. Today she said "Is that you, Troy?" I even heard him call out to her that he's getting back to me today, so I'm onto it. This is very annoying though, but I'm getting this feeling that it might not be quite the amount I was hoping for In which case, it would be back to the drawing board...

*FPVDriF6 still has his fingers crossed...

[Troy]

Well I still can't get over it, I don't know what I did wrong, but somehow I'm getting $9000 tax return? I think I miscalculated something throughout the year (for my small business) which means I was paying too much, so they're sending it all back to me. Now I'm all for being honest, and I like it!

Okay, so now I'm finishing my build (the point of this thread), buying a new mobile phone (cell-phone, if you must) for my wife as hers broke, buying a video camera because I have a three week old son and we want memories, paying off the car loan, getting the car serviced, paying off the credit card, and hopefully have enough left over to go on a holiday.

So now to the point: More questions!

1) On the Gigabyte website, I only see revision 1.0 for the GA-P35-DS3, but if I do a Google search I can find drivers and BIOS downloads for revision 2.0 Anyone know what this means? Is there 2 revisions, which should I get?

2) My Samsung Hard Drive has just recently turned faulty, making loud scratching-type noises when it's seeking (really annoying). I'm returning it under warranty, but should I bother upgrading to one with a 16MB cache if I can? Think it would make any difference, even a little bit? Also I'm tempted to try and get a Seagate instead as they have a 5-year warranty, and I haven't had a good run with hard drives so far I've had both Western Digital and now Samsung fail on me...

3) For the RAM, I will probably end up getting the Patriot stuff you recommended James, but on the Umart website it has

Model #: PA2802GLLK

I can't find this on the Patriot website, I'm looking for the official webpage of the RAM I'd be getting. Can anyone find it?

4) The Intel E6750 processor, is there any revisions or steppings I should be aware of, which should I get? I can't seem to find anything, but just making sure.

5) Radeon X1950 Pro - is this the top ATI DX9 card? I think I've read something about XT instead of Pro, but Umart doesn't have it. Would it be worth finding one of these, or would it be overkill for the price/performance comparison?

Okay cool, thanks!

[jackflash1991]

1) On the Gigabyte website, I only see revision 1.0 for the GA-P35-DS3, but if I do a Google search I can find drivers and BIOS downloads for revision 2.0 Anyone know what this means? Is there 2 revisions, which should I get?

??? ???

2) My Samsung Hard Drive has just recently turned faulty, making loud scratching-type noises when it's seeking (really annoying). I'm returning it under warranty, but should I bother upgrading to one with a 16MB cache if I can? Think it would make any difference, even a little bit? Also I'm tempted to try and get a Seagate instead as they have a 5-year warranty, and I haven't had a good run with hard drives so far no.gif I've had both Western Digital and now Samsung fail on me...

It depends: http://www23.tomshar...om/storage.html

4) The Intel E6750 processor, is there any revisions or steppings I should be aware of, which should I get? I can't seem to find anything, but just making sure.

I would just be aware of the Intel Penryn. I am seeing more and more insider remarks about the Penryn and it may be worth waiting a little. At least until November 12th when they are released to make sure that it is not some kind of kick [bleep] CPU that you should have waited for.

5) Radeon X1950 Pro - is this the top ATI DX9 card? I think I've read something about XT instead of Pro, but Umart doesn't have it. Would it be worth finding one of these, or would it be overkill for the price/performance comparison?

The X1950 XT is a better DX9 card.

The X1950 XT is a powerful graphics card. Its core runs a mere 25 MHz slower than that of the X1950 XTX, and its memory runs a full 250 MHz (effective) faster than the X1900 XTX. It is on par with the previous X1900 XTX champ, and fast enough to run at high resolutions with nice eye candy. It will handily beat a 7950 GT, and even best a 7900 GTO or 7900 GTX at most things.

The X1950 XT is a great deal at the $200 price point. Many are $250 or higher, though, and at that price it begins to tread too closely to the 8800 GTS, which is more powerful.

http://www.tomshardw...oney/page3.html
Tom's Hardware may have a lot of adds but it is the only way they can get their hands on all of the different computer parts for a test drive.

[james_8970]

I'll answer this very quickly as my homework is killing me, literately.

There are revisions 1.0, 1.1 and 2.0 if I remember correctly. As far as I know, you won't know what you'll get till it's in your hand, there is a sticker on the side of the box mentioning which revision it is, however there is no difference in the serial and I have yet to see a website post which revision they had in stock. Hit and miss basically.
Before you overclock be sure that you update your BIOS, otherwise you won't have a 1:1 ratio, I'm happy I finally do have it on my board Unleash the GHz! (time to get my aftermarket cooler when, if I can ever get away from university work)

All E6x50 chips are the G0 stepping.

Not sure if this is being released in Australia presently, it's just being released in north america, but the HD2900 pro is a very atractive card for the price, 2 free games and half of the HD2900XT, could potentially be overclocked to Hd2900XT speeds, however I not sure if this is a lower binned GPU chip (probably is, but you could still probably get it to XT speeds). It's really worth a look.

I'm planning on getting a Penryn myself, but only because I want to get a quad (I can wait till the winter). Unless Intel has a ace up it's sleave Penryn will only be 5-10% faster then Core2duo per clock, however I'm thinking it'll be around the 5% (or lower) range, not a significant difference. Remember, Penryn isn't a completely new micro architecture, just a die shrink and a increase in cache. These are the only major differences, Nalehem is going to be the big jump, but thats probably a year away, so not worth taking about just yet in terms of upgrades.

Cache on harddrives doesn't make a significant difference, there are many other factors that make a good hard drive, which is why the benchmark system that jackflash posted is very important to look at closely. Also note that if you don't like loud hard drive the 7200.10 from seagate are quite loud when seeking, however I'm not sure how it compares to hitachi, WD and samsung with their current generation of hard drives.

Congrats on the LARGE tax return.
James

Edited by james_8970, 20 September 2007 - 08:12 PM.

[Troy]

1) Okay so it seems I have no choice in the motherboard revision. I'm assuming either one would be good?

2) If the Seagate is always a little bit noisy, then no problems. The Samsung was always whisper quiet, then suddenly very loud scratchy noises...

3) I'm assuming it doesn't really matter which RAM I get (Geil, Patriot, G.SKILL) as long as it runs nice and tight (800MHz, 4-4-4-12). I'm not extremely interested in overclocking at present.

4) E6750 sounds good to me.

5) Australia is way behind America in everything being released - from computer components to movies (cinema releases) and other things also. If the 2900 Pro captures my attention when it gets here, I'll see it then. At the moment $500 for the 2900XT is way too much!

[Troy]

Okay change of plan for the graphics card. I am upgrading the budget to $400 max, so some 8800GTS (320MB) versions are now available. Any suggestions? This one looks good to me, anyone agree or want to suggest a different one?

James, now that I'm going with an Nvidia card (possibly), will the EPP on the Patriot RAM work, or do I need an Nvidia-chipset motherboard for that? Would it be worth it?

Currently what I'm going for:
Antec TruePower Trio 650W PSU
Intel Core 2 Duo E6750
Patriot 2x1GB 800MHz LL EPP RAM
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit, OEM)
MSI 8800GTS 320MB version (?)

Any thoughts?

[jackflash1991]

Okay change of plan for the graphics card. I am upgrading the budget to $400 max, so some 8800GTS (320MB) versions are now available. Any suggestions? This one looks good to me, anyone agree or want to suggest a different one?

Any 8800GTS is good. The 8800 is WELL worth the money.

PS: Your system is almost the same as mine. Same PSU, probably going to upgrade to that CPU but waiting to see the Penryn, Vista and upgrading to Premium, and the 8800GTS.

Edited by jackflash1991, 21 September 2007 - 05:40 PM.

[Troy]

I don't know about any 8800GTS, there are some dodgy brands out there on the market, but the MSI I linked to seems alright.
Yeah pretty close except you've got the 640MB version of the 8800GTS. Even so, it goes to show we have good taste

Hey Jackflash, I'm wondering what you think of the BenQ 20inch you've got, I'm considering the BenQ 22inch widescreen, I recently read some good reviews on it and it's at a very respectable price. I have previously heard that BenQ monitors are rubbish, but just wondering on your experience?

EDIT: What brand is your 8800GTS?

Edited by FPVDriF6, 22 September 2007 - 05:04 AM.

[Titan8990]

One cheap monitor brand to stay away from is Sceptre. I havn't seen any of the BenQs. Usually the cheap monitors that catch my eye in the stores are Acers.

[jackflash1991]

I have had no problem with it. Good contrast ratio of 1000:1, 20", and 5ms. It was a pretty good price for those specs. BenQ is like a mid-range monitor like Acer and is trusted. BenQ is also better quality then the Viewsonic but it places bellow the expensive Samsungs.
#1 Samsung
2. LG (about the same price as the Samsungs but quality is just a tad better then the BenQ and Acer)
3. BenQ/Acer
4. Viewsonic
STAY AWAY FROM SCEPTRE and other unknown brands.

My 8800 is EVGA.

Edit: There is a rumor that there Nvidia is going to release a 8700 card soon.

Edited by jackflash1991, 22 September 2007 - 08:30 AM.