Build or buy...

[donnato]

One of the rules of computer building is:

There will ALWAYS be a detail you overlooked when ordering parts.

Heheh...as with most large undertakings...Ok...here we go...going to order MoBo, CPU, and case now.

[vometia]

Put it this way.

You may not really NEED a quad core. But from everything ive heard, once you have one, you never look back.

As for Hyper threading. It may be a gimmick, but I would put money on a single hyper threaded core outperforming a dual core for every-day use, simply because most programs we use are not coded for multi-core use, meaning that extra thread in the single core will be put to great use.

I wouldn't mind commenting on this one further, but I don't really want to make any further incursions into this thread - maybe I should start my own!

[donnato]

Ok, I`ve placed links for my components to the newegg item info so y`all can see what I`m buying. The list is down on page 2 of this thread. I`ll post pics of the biuld in progress and any problems/solutions I may find to provide help and inspiration to those who may follow. Thank you all for your input and encouragement.

[HeyYou]

Any particular reason you are not going with a MB that supports triple channel?

[donnato]

Are you referring to the memory? The MB is ordered and on it`s way. If there`s a problem with compatibilities between the components I suppose I can rectify it but if it`s just for more power...how much more? Worth the hassel? Cost more? My budget is topped out.

[HeyYou]

Ah, yeah, it would be an additional expense... (nother 2gb stick of RAM) Benefits are triple channel is speedier.

[donnato]

HY..the cost of a ram stick is ok but I`m talking about the mobo swap...

[HeyYou]

Hhhhmmmm..... Not able to come up with a triple channel LGA 1155 MB on newegg.... That's odd.

Don't worry about it though, I suspect that you will be VERY happy with your new toy's performance in any event.

[donnato]

Hhhhmmmm..... Not able to come up with a triple channel LGA 1155 MB on newegg.... That's odd.

Don't worry about it though, I suspect that you will be VERY happy with your new toy's performance in any event.

Yup I tried too...thanks HY...I`m sure this will provide me plenty of screenie goodness...aaand some expandability later...like hmmm...adding another GTX460 card maybe...???

[HeyYou]

I don't think your second PCIe-X16 slot actually operates as an x-16 slot though, that, and it shares bandwidth with the PCIe-X1 slots.... so, dual cards are probably not in your future. You CAN however install a two-cards-on-one-board solution.

I am not a big fan of SLI/Crossfire though..... For the cost involved, the performance difference isn't that great, not many (if any) games directly support it..... and for a fair few games, you can actually get better performance from a single card, without the dual card overhead...... (resource-wise.)

Aside from all that.... the 460 is a pretty powerful card to begin with. You should be quite pleased with the performance.

[donnato]

Thank you HY. That was one of my questions. The specs say 2x PCIe 2.0x16...but I don`t really know what that means. You have clarified someting for me. Instead of going dual cards...later I can go to a more upscale card for sure.. There are several areas I know I can upgrade to but I know I`ll be good to go for quite awhile...

[Artisanix]

Hhhhmmmm..... Not able to come up with a triple channel LGA 1155 MB on newegg.... That's odd.

That's not odd, but normal. You won't find any triple channel for 1155.

The reason is that triple channel is only supported by certain i7 and Xeon processors on LGA 1366 motherboards. And 1155 has no such feature at all.

EDIT:

As for GF 460 choice... well, it's a good card, yes, but it's not the best choice of all. For the same price or cheaper you can have Radeon 6850, which is just better (more performance and less power consumption)

[donnato]

Ok...I see it`s PCI Express 2.1x16....my MB has 2.0x16...???

EDIT:...Ooops found one...it does seem to have very good stats...power supply req`s are the same though...max rez looks a bit higher. Mine is ...however...already on the way (due tomorrow)...price for the one I see ia $5.00 cheaper so that`s not a factor. Maybe I`ll keep amd in mind for my next build....which I`m already thinking about.

Edited March 30, 2011 by donnato

[donnato]

Well it looks like my tax return will see this done...and more. Soo...opinions here...more ram? extra HDDs? Dual monitors with the rez? Aftermarket CPU cooling?PCI expansion? Sound card?...Where would be the best place be to put my extra penny...?

[Meo]

I would double the ram, and if you have money left, you should consider something called self-contained liquid cooling, like the Corsair H60 or Antec H2O 620 or a CoolIT kit. With that in your tower, you wont have to worry about your cpu temperature anymore.

Im contemplating buying this.

[HeyYou]

I would double the ram, and if you have money left, you should consider something called self-contained liquid cooling, like the Corsair H60 or Antec H2O 620 or a CoolIT kit. With that in your tower, you wont have to worry about your cpu temperature anymore.

Im contemplating buying this.

I agree, double the RAM.

I think liquid cooling is overkill for your purposes though.

I would consider getting a hardware accelerated sound card..... ANYTHING you can do to free up CPU resources is a good thing. Even going with a 25 dollar Sound Blaster Audigy II, and the complimenting software (alchemy), would give you a boost. Whatever card you buy, make sure it is hardware acclerated, and has some method of translating directsound to OpenAl.

[donnato]

Ah, good stuff folks thank you. Meo that`s a really nice choice. HY I agree about the cooling for right now. My CPU choice uses 65W and comes with a good looking cooler. This is something I can easily upgrade if I find that I need to and in the future I`ll definately need to. I like the self contained liquid idea. The sound card thing makes sense too.

[Meo]

Dont forget, if you buy a soundcard, buy a PCIe one.

[donnato]

Ah thanks Meo...I`ll be sure to note that too.

[donnato]

Well here we are...comming down to the final ordering and I`ve found another issue. My mobo (asus P8P67LE) says it has a "mem ok" feature that makes RAM cards acceptable. In the manual it says that "mem ok" won`t work with windows. Sooo...I went into the recommended RAM card list but it seems none of my choices are available anywhere...newegg...best buy...frye`s...and several off the wall suppliers....I`ll call the support number tomorrow but in the mean time I`m curious to hear your thoughts on this.

I`m looking for DDR3 ...4GB(2x2GB) 2000 (O.C.)MHz capacity...hopefully Kingston...or even Corsair...

Thanks All

[Arthmoor]

Not sure what that "mem ok" thing is all about.

A word of caution on the active cold plate cooler. You'll need to be absolutely sure there's no chance for condensation to build up underneath that thing. I had a cooler once with an active cooling plate that I wasn't aware was generating condensation. The end result was bad, very very bad. It fried the motherboard and harddrive, and severely corroded the pins on the CPU. That was an expensive lesson to learn and I for one will never use something like that again.

[HeyYou]

According to the specs, the board supports DDR3-1066/PC3-8500 memory. So, supposedly.... ANY DDR3 memory up to 1066 should work. You can get memory that is faster, but, the MB will only run it as fast as it is able. If that makes any sense.....

[donnato]

Arthmoor thank you...good thing to consider. The "mem ok" is a feature that`s supposed to work around RAM card incompatibility.

Edit new info: Ok Arion put me onto the Corsair site and thi is supposedly guarenteed to work with my mobo...LINK..soooo...what do you think...looks good to me.

Edited April 15, 2011 by donnato

[Meo]

Those are the best sticks on the market, go for it. You can always buy another kit later for a crazy total of 16gb of ram.

[Vince]

Well who do you call in 2 years when the prebuilt junk craps out and your support has run out?

That's a function of who prebuilt it. You may remember that a year ago I had a massive virus attack, including a root kit, on my old Falcon NW computer. After Arion helped me get it to where I could run it a little in safemode, I called Falcon NW. They spent many hours with me over the next several days until it was completely virus free--I still use it today. I bought that computer in February 2004, so it was more that 6 years old at the time! Now the Falcon NW are not cheap, so you are paying for that level of support.

My point it, you can build your computer from scratch. The good parts are you can save money and, more importantly, have the satisfaction of building it yourself. Or, if you have the funds, you can buy a computer with essentially unlimited support and build a sail boat instead.