Looking for a few suggestions on a new computer

Thanks for the help but I think I am going to go with the 64 bit OS and stick with the P5Q3 board. I will pick up 4 gig's of the OCZ memory to start with then if later on, I do want more memory I will just pick up another set of the OCZ memory. and I am thinking about going with the Q9550, and hope I get the E0 stepping so I can overclock it later on if I feel the need. So now I guess it is on to Video cards,
Any good suggestions? I am thinking I want a gig of memory on my video card and I want to be able to setup a crossfire later on. i don't really want to spend a ton of money on it maybe 200 max.

 

Well you have come a long way but both Dalo and Dirty Polo are in the UK and sound asleep I hope. Pippy, who is now allheart55 and pchelp are probably gone for the evening as well.

Just one bit of assurance for you. You may see differences of opinion as to who may recommend what component, but each of these guys/gals are more than just a little competent to help you.

 

It's alright I am not in a hurry, Just trying to figure it all out, so all i have to do is buy it as the pay-checks roll in. And so you guys know you give great advice I asked a question on another computer help forum. the same question i asked about the mother board not working with more then 3 gigs. and the guy over there said " they are just not using a 64 bit OS, just install a 64 bit OS then slap in any ddr3 memory and it will work"

 

I won't ask which forum and would probably delete it if you said, but my suggestion is don't go back. We pride ourselves on combined years of practical experience and have little use for people trying to prove how smart or clever they think they are.

We are glad to have you here.

 

I can tell you what not to get. I helped Cindy put together her I7 Build. EVGA GeForce 9800 GT 512mb is not the way to go.

It's huge and very heavy. The first time we went to boot the machine outside of the box a tiny part of it slipped out of the PCI slot. Only a little but it was enough to so that it wouldn't boot.

The weight is too heavy for the slot and the size is too big.

 

Okay, well seeing as you are interested or thinking of having a crossfire setup later on, then it all depends on how much you want to spend on a Graphics card,

I would recommend either the ATI HD4850, or the HD4870

The HD4850 can be found for around $100 and is a very good card to use. You will find a 512MB and 1GB version, I would stick with the 512 as it tends to be cheaper and you wont notice much difference between the two.
Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100245L Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

If you opt for the faster and more expensive HD4870, then these can be found for around $140. These are faster obviously, than the HD4850 but can be around twice the price, sometimes more.
Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100259L Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

If you were looking to spend even more on a card then the next option is the HD4890 but these are new into the market and therefore still very expensive.

Be sure to let us know your price range to a card and we'll do our best to find the most suitable one for you.

This article reviews both cards along with a review of the lower card, HD4850 in crossfire with another one.
Review of AMD Radeon HD4850, HD4870 and HD4850 Crossfire

 

:huh:

Its all in the maths a 32 bit OS will support 4gig 2^32 lol here's the catch 64 bit OS should support 8 gig of RAM, 2^64, but it don't only 6gig making it a 48 gig OS.

the common problem with a board not supporting or running the RAM is normally caused through Voltage problems, I have 4 gig and to get it to work I had to increase my RAM voltage to 2v when the RAM says it should be 1.8v

Also when you have 4 slots slots 1 and 3 are linked and two and four, so your first two sticks should go in 1 and 3 and if you add any extra later they should go in slots 2 and 4

also one of the D in DDR stands for Dual, so you should have your RAM space out evenly across the slots so 1g should be two 512 sticks in two slots 2 gig should be two 1 gig sticks etc

the other consideration is the latency of the RAM, clock cycles that it take to access the locations as they are arranged in a Matrix, the lower the numbers the faster it works, and more it costs and the better for overclocking.

 

I just have to say this because it's worrying everytime i think of it , 64bit OS, in theory and with number crunching, should support 17.2 billion gigs of RAM

2^32 = 4294967296 = 4GB

if you * that by 2 to get 8GB, it is just 8589934592.

Where as, 2^64 = 1844674407370951616

1GB = 1073741824

so 2^64 / 1073741824 = 17179869184 = 17.2 billion GB
Now find me a mobo with that number of RAM slots!!

Just had to put it in there as I was so shocked when I first heard it and still am everytime I think about a PC big enough to hold that number of RAM sticks!

Now, time to get back to the inital problem of this thread and await a reply from Patrick when he awakes from his slumber.

 

well looking around the 4870 is right in my price range. so i think I might go with that. I have enough picked out to last me a month before I am able to get it. but this is my list of what I am going to pick up with the mother board being next.


Newegg.com - Antec Three Hundred 430 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 430W Power Supply - Computer Cases I already ordered this case, it should be here in a couple days.



Newegg.com - ASUS P5Q3 LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards I am going to pick up this mother board next payday.

Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz 12MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops This will be after the motherboard

Newegg.com - OCZ Platinum 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ3P1600EB4GK - Desktop Memory I think I will order this with the mother board


Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100259L Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards And go with this for the video card


What else do i need to get? besides a hard drive.

 

A good selection of pieces so far, and as for what remains, a basic list of a PC's parts are as follows:

- Case
- Motherboard
- Graphics Card
- RAM
- Processor
- Hard Drive
- CD Drive
- Power Supply Unit
- Monitor
- Speakers
- Operating System [Windows]
- Pepherials [Keyboard, mouse etc]

 

Well I already have everything else that I would need what kind of little items will i need? Do i need to order any cables?

 

When you say you have everything else, you stated in your intial post that you don't mind it not coming without an OS and as it is a self build it will.

But how do you plan on getting RC7 in the first place to put it in your machine? Just checking that you have thought of this beforehand.

Have you looked at hard drives yet or do you want some suggestions?

As for small things... you should not need to buy any cables as the Mobo should come with a few SATA II cables itself allowing you to connect your CD Drive and HDD unless your CD drive you are using is IDE, in that case it should also come with an IDE cable aswell but make sure you have one just incase it doesn't.
Other than that, I cannot think of anything that you will need to buy.

I am guessing that you are not planning to overclock the Q9550?

 

I have a new sata HD i was planning on using for now it's not that big only 320 gigs but it will do okay for now until i decided to upgrade. I also have a brand new hp lighscribe dvd-rom i was going to use. and I have a windows 7rc 64-bit with key already from the microsoft web site. I also have a 32-bit win 7 rc. if needed. I don't really plan to do any overclocking for now if I do get the E0 stepping which is good to overclock with from what i have been reading, I might consider doing some overclocking. but so far this build will fly compared to my current setup.

 

Sounds good, only reason I asked about OC'ing is that I wouldn't recommend OC'ing on the standard CPU fan from Intel, but an upgrade fan is only about $25 for an excellent one if you ever decide to.

 

Do you think it would be a good idea to buy a new Q9550 Processor from Ebay so I know for sure I get the E0 Stepping, Or should I just Gamble with newegg?

 

Alarm bells Ebay

I have heard many a tail of problems with electronic stuff bought of ebay, normally along the "it was working when posted"

I normally like to buy from known online/High street stores so at least I have some legal protection, but as your in the states not the uk I'm not sure how the law works there, but I personally would not buy stuff that I can't see working off ebay.

 

I would agree with Match on the whole eBay thoughts, but after looking around it seems that Newegg are only sending out C1 stepping Q9550's and they don't give you a choice,
I would look around and see if you can find a E0 stepping from a known store, ring them up, including Newegg, if you must, just to get them to check so that you have a verbal proof from them that it IS what you want.

You need to look for an Intel Q9550 E0 stepping, also known as SLB8V

 

Yeah since I can't find out what it is, I think i will just go to Fry's Electronics, down the street and pick it up there if they have the E0 stepping.

 

sorry - I have been away a while - you only need the E0 stepping if you are planning on overclocking LOTS

 

Yeah I know I only need the E0 If i want to overclock, But i want to keep that option open. So I figured I would just spend the extra time looking for it now, instead of regretting it later on.