New PC specs .... opinions welcome.

Well this is an initial draft of a specs list for a new PC I will build in the next month, Listed at present is top spec I may go for but will most likely loose a few bits as they are not needed for my PC usage ie. CPU may end up being an Intel Intel Core 2 DUO E6700 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.67GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5200+ 2.60GHz (Socket AM2)* and the GFX will most definatly be lost for a lower specd model.

Dont think I missed anything out but opinions are welcome











*if going AMD then obviously a new mobo is needed, not chosen yet and AM2 board.

 

Hi Bazza

Case is one I have now in the Coolermaster ATCS 201 http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=433

Keyboard and mouse will likely be these
http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouseandkeyboard/productdetails.aspx?pid=080

 

Yeah the AMD FX62


May go with one of them, but undecided, think the Quads are overkill at present, so will stick with the duals in either

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5200+ 2.60GHz (Socket AM2)
Intel Core 2 DUO E6700 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.67GHz (1066FSB)

and from Bazza's link I think the Zalman CNPS9700LED (Copper) maybe the cooler of choice.

Just need to pick an AMD mobo for that chip above, then I will have either Intel or AMD specs to go with once I decide which way to go but Intel is choice at present, you know me MK and Intel PCs ( have an AMD bases laptop already )

Really wanted Hybrid HDs to be available as I'd pop a Hybrid 2.5" drive into the desktop... but think a Raptor will do as the main OS HD, with backup from a 320GB WD, may get a converter plug and use my Maxtor 120GB drive as well.

Cases well never really liked that Antec Bazza but cheers for the link, I'll stick with the Coolermaster, really easy to work on and looks nice in brushed aluminum


GFX will likely be one of these as I dont game alot these days, but if I do hopefully these would suffice.

Sapphire ATI Radeon X1950 Pro 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
Leadtek GeForce 7950 GT 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)

Need to still look more into PSUs as they are a key component in a PC... always like Enermax, but ideas would be nice on this.


Cheers for the feedback guys.. keep em coming

 

Nice prelim specs MK


You gave me somthing to think about Muskin Mem and more so the PSU!

 

Superb ASUS.. cheers, I agree with you on the modular design, only using the cables you need is a major PLUS

Checked an this one is available in the UK.


@MK.. Nice Chip the new Quad AMD, and the board I see you still an MSI guy looks feature rich, I still tend to go Gigabyte or ASUS, but may look at the others.

Not a bad review by [H] http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTIzMywxLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA== ( Need to read the conclusions on the Power usage of that Chip, without GFX card inserted.... with SLI x3 GFX cards the power requirements will be 700Watts, I know your not going to likely go SLI MK, but Tim the Toolman Taylor's catchphrase springs to mind )

 

Yes on Ati Chipset, MK, I have the RS480 Chipset in my laptop and I like it, no issues, woudl honestly concider a mobo with an ATi Chipset in.

 

You dont know how good or bad my current PC is but its going to be a test box.. sorry mate.


Yep the Zalman CNPS9700LED (Copper) is the current fav at present, water toyed with and decided against.

have tweaked the specs a touch ( will post later once finished ) as I dont think as yet as I mentioned Quads are the way forward, main reason is price against no software that really utlises multicores... I will get the Quad compatible Mobo tho and wait till prices drop and more softwares become avilable, so heading for a Core 2 Duo.

Cheers guys for the feedback and suggestions, many have made it to the list

 

Near as dammit final specs,

Case is sorted as in my already Coolermaster case, I do have a DVD Writer to add as 2nd DVD, plus a couple of IDE drives I could add with converter cable and will Install my Vista Ultimate onto this and most likely get Vista Home Premium to install on laptop.

Sadly no lights Bazza as I have Blackpool Illuminations not far from me if I need lights do have a few blue fans that i could pop in if needed tho

have your final say as to yay or nay with the various components and have viable alternatives if not



I do have an AMD spec'd PC in this as an alternative......

and then everything else the same, but favour the Intel.

 

Well finally done and ordered the below:

 

Hi Bazza

Yes, Vista will be the OS of choice on that PC, no dual boot as I will have this desktop I'm typing on now as an XP backup PC as I know at this time some applications I do use are not Vista compatible fully or at all.

Fortunatly I already have 1 copy of it in 32bit and 64bit Ultimate Full Retail RTM version form, but I will be getting a copy Vista Home Premium for my laptop as the test versions performed well on it.

Home Premium, would be the best option choice I would suggest to virtually all users as it does all the things many will need, Ultimate is a tad overkill to all but the serious as many of the options will never be used and at the price it is, its pretty expensive, but Home Premium will be th emost common choice I feel.

 

Yes on the rewards... contrary to popular belief MSFT is not as evil as you'd think!

UK online retailers have started to take pre-orders of Vista, best option is OEM Home Premium 32bit at £80 the OEMs are split into 32bit and 64bit separate disks unlike the full retail version which encorporates both 32 and 64bit versions @ £211 so its well worth having the OEM versions as who needs the fancy case and small manual as the manual is near as dammit covered in the downloadable guide I posted in Interesting Links a while back.

 

Fair point bazza and I agree wit you by SP1 most OSes are normally good to go, but do not read into all that is posted about Vista, as much is FUD, with compatible hardware and software its fine and very stable, similar to how XP was when it first arrived ( price of progress is not being compat with all )

I certainly would not be migrating to it if it wasnt stable and did all I need to do, yes some software is not compatible but we see the same with XP compatible softwares that is not compatible with win98/me now a days.

I know that many who early adopt will read too much into UAC and it being intrusive and disable it as being a pest.. TBH more fool them and good luck to them when infected with malware as I will not be assisting at all with advice.

 

Yes no problems, this Technet guide is good http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsVista/en/library/0d75f774-8514-4c9e-ac08-4c21f5c6c2d91033.mspx

and the UAC teams blog http://blogs.msdn.com/uac/

My own experience is that its not as intrucive as you'd think, yes on first contact with it it seems a PITA, but many core OS applications that have UAC as security measure like Control Panel items, are not daily usable items, others at present are poorly written applications that need to access core components.

UAC however gives a level of support to aid blocking malware from installing... but you need still to be cluey as to knowing what not to install, it will block an application not known from installing but if you click the OKs to continue you will possibly install malware.. its more a walk up call to say hey "do check this out before installing" so in the end as usual the onus IS on the user.

 

Cheers DAKz,

I toyed with a few various burners, but wanted a litescribe one, many as I'm notorious for not labeling any disks and come time I need to find one, its a 2hr job, but stuck with LiteOn as I've never had any issues with the last 3 I've had.

Coolers.. well trying my best to go quiet as possible ( decided no to O² ) , hence the Zalman and its half the dB of most others and I'm not really going to overclock at all, may play a bit, but stability is paramount for me these days, my pushing the hardware to the max days are over

No changes now sadly as its a done deal and parts all being well will be with me this week.