Build Your Own PC

That's okay, Harby, my post was directly aimed at Kitrax.

I just finished building a computer, and I'm downloading all the needed drivers. Here's the rig I just assembled:

- Athlon 64 X2 4600+ 2.4 GHz AM2 Socket
- Gigabyte GA-M55plus-S3G
- WD Raptor 150 GB 10000 RPM 16 MB cache
- ATI Radeon X1950
- LG DVD+-RW
- 2 GB Corsair DDR2 800 MHz
- Sound Blaster Audigy 4
- Antec Overture II case

Truly a fine rig. I can barely hear it run, and the performances are truly awesome.

*EDIT* Got the sound card mixed up. A SB Audigy 2? Duh, DotW, duh.

[ November 01, 2006, 05:48: Message edited by: Disciple of The Watch ]

 

What is the benefit of having such a flash hard drive? Is it noticeably faster?

 

Yes, WD Raptors are way more performant than a regular SATAII hard drive... but significantly more expensive. The Raptor I installed chings at at CAN$300. A regular SATAII 160 GB hard drive chings at CAN$80.

Basically, if you want a truly high-end machine, the Raptor is the answer to your prayers, hard drive-wise. Otherwise, a regular SATAII will work fine.

 

OK, how is this build then? It comes out at close to my target price range but may still be crap:

Case - iCute 0408SL ATX Mid Tower NZ$104
Motherboard - Gigabyte GA K8NSIGMF NZ$135
CPU - AMD Athlon 64x2 4600+ 2.4g NZ$474
HD - Seagate Barracuda ST3160812A 160G 7200RPM NZ$127
Optical drive - Asus DRW DVD 16R 16W 8RW NZ$74
Memory - A-data 1gb DDR SDRAM NZ$232
Video - Palit 7900GS GeForce 7900GS 256mb NZ$382
Sound - Creative Audigy 4 7.1 NZ$136
Power - Raidmax 120m fan 420w NZ$80

 

Well, I see that you've gone against your better judgment and sided with DotW and his slower AMD CPUs.

For a few bucks *less* you could get an Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4GHz processor that is faster than AMD chips.

Of course, if you decide to take my and BTA's advice and go with an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, you'll also need to switch your motherboard. Don't worry, Intel based motherboards cost about the same as AMD based motherboards with the same (or very similar) features.

Oh, and speaking of motherboards, if you're still confused about them, take a sneak-peek at my motherboard page of my up-coming guide on upgrading a computer. It might help you understand them a little more...without going into *how* it works.

 

Yeah.

Go with Core 2 Duo. It's got a vastly superior price/performance ratio at the moment, nevermind the differences in power use.

I'd also suggest you go with 2 cheap 1gb Kingston memory sticks. The price difference between cheap and big brand memory is almost always worth it.

 

And Kingston isn't a 'big brand'? Just like any other brand of memory, Kingston has the cheapo "value RAM" but they also have their own "high performance RAM". They also offer lifetime warranties on their RAM.

Sure, Corsair and OCZ might offer sticks of RAM with fancy heat spreaders and lower CAS latency on certain models...but they are no better/worse than Kingston.

 

I don't see why you really need a sound card though. Mobo on board sound is usually fine.

 

@Kitrax: That box suggestion has A-Data ram. I was suggesting something like Kingston or Corsair.

 

Let the war begin once again...

I couldn't care less about the Core 2 Duo. I couldn't care less about anything Intel drops on the market. I couldn't care less if the Core 2 Duo rates higher in the benchmarks, because I couldn't care less about the benchmarks. I couldn't care less if the Core 2 Duo eats less electricity, because my own electricity is included in the monthly price of my apartment.

AMD CPU work great, quiet and cool, and that's good enough for me. My X2 handles my tasks with laughable ease, and that's good enough for me. Preach Intel to someone else. I'm fed up of this debate.

 

Hmm, I think I care. If the Intel Core 2 Duo is better, than I think I'd be silly not to choose one of those. If the AMD one really is better, than can someone please explain why?

I will almost certainly do something like that, even it costs a little bit more. But I still need to know what to ask for - and all the advice here is very useful - so thanks for all the responses.

Also, if I get a PC like this, and I decide I want more CPU power or more RAM or more Video Card-ness later on, can I just pull something out and insert a better one?

[ November 01, 2006, 19:23: Message edited by: Harbourboy ]

 

DotW just REALLY hates Intel products.

ATM the Core 2 Duo has less power usage, more processing power, and it's cheaper. It's superior to anything AMD has out yet.

And yes, if you go with DDR2, Core 2 Duo and a PCI-E card, you should be able to upgrade fine. Nothing is guaranteed however.

 

That sounds like a pretty convincing argument, Taza. Core 2 Duo sounds like the way to go - unless someone can convince me otherwise.

 

Not last time I checked. True about processing power, disputable about power usage (they're both about the same in this respect), but the AMD chips are still cheaper. Granted, the difference in both power and price isn't that high, and they pretty much cancel each other out.
When it comes to Core 2 Duo vs AMD X2, at the moment all it boils down to is personal preference really, ie whether you like AMD or Intel. I'd really go for AMD not because I like them more, but because some of the nForce 4 ones are better than anything else, not to mention cheaper than the intel chipset mobos.

If I had to build a system now I'd actually go for a plain Athlon 64 rather than either the X2 or the Core 2 Duo. The Athlon 64 is cheaper than both others, and although it's supposedly slower there's practically no difference in performance - nothing that a casual person uses takes advantage of 64-bit stuff anyway (never mind dual core). And the price difference between the Athlon 64 and the dual cores is noticeable. And while I do consider the Core 2 Duo to be a very good CPU, nothing else Intel has released in a while is any good.

To sum it up - if you want dual core, then the choice depends on your personal preference (as well as choice of chipsets). If you want anything else, go for an AMD non-X2 chip (ie Athlon 64)

 

Hmm, now I am confused again. Who is right? Kitrax and Taza and BTA? Or Ziad and Disciple?

 

I couldn't get that link to work.