Is my new spec any good to go? Or should I alter it?

Hiya folks,

SilentSNake:

I will hopefully install this machine with a 64 bit OS. My plan is to get all the parts, install Vista Ultimate 64 bit and see how fast it runs. If I fins it is too slow, I will try Windows XP Pro 64 bit. But which ever of the two I stick with, I will only stick with as long as all of my apps work (Pinnacle Studio 12, Lotues Notes, Office 2003, Macromedia Studio, Zone Alarm Security Suite, Nero 7 Ultra etc). If all of my apps do not work on a 64 bit OS, I may have to resort to a 32 bit :( So testing will begin as soon as I get the kit together.

So 64 bit and video editing is the reason I am buying 8GB of RAM. I assume the editing will be faster is my video timeline is stored in RAM rathre than a pagefile.

Toxcity:

Hmmmm Games eh? I've never been able to get into computer games! If there was something more realistic than Tiger Woods Golf or Some Snooker game, then maybe! But I'm not into these games where you walk through towns or rooms looking for people to kill and the game goes on for months!

Lamboman:

Hey buddy, you're not making this linger on at all! You've been extremly helpful!

So change the fan eh? Which one would be better (I am using ebuyer as my price reference and google to search for solid reviews).

As for the case and power; I live in Spain, thus will be buying all the parts from the UK (as that is really my mental home:)) and the case+power from Spain as it's a pain to carry back. Can you reccomend anything from here:

http://www.appinformatica.com/torres.htm

(see the long list at the bottom)

I'm still undecided about the disks. Noise is something I do NOT get at all with my current Western Digital 500GB. It's great! So the idea was, get 2 SEagates and 1 more WD. Then see if the Seagates are noisey or not. If they are, I will use the Western Digitals for the OS and the Seagates for my CD's. But atleast I would have this option.

I can understand the RAID 5 being a great option, but I feel more safe have a mirror of my OS and Apps on 2 drives and a mirror of my CD's on another 2 drives. I even considered mirroring just 2 1TB drives - not ruled this out yet. I guess the downside is that I just have 2 drives (if 1 goes then I loose an entire mirrored drive) and the upside is less heat/power. Any thoughts?

Again folks, it's nearly all there! Just a few small bits to peiece together!

BTW - in my costings, I have a 512MB Nvidia 9600GT overclocked version graphics card for £90 inc vat. I have been offered an Asus 1GB Nvidea 9600GT for £105 inc vat. Worth the extra £15??

Jay
 
Don't bother with the 64 bit version of XP. It isn't great. 64 bit Vista is fine, and nearly all the problems have been sorted. That can't be said for 64 bit XP...

The Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme, coupled with a Xilence Red Wing 120mm fan. Best setup that you can get at Ebuyer, because they don't really have that many options for fans.

http://www.appinformatica.com/torres-nzxt-semit-matx-tempest-led-azul.php

The Tempest is the only case that I could find out of that list that was decent. I was hoping to find at least that case, so I am glad I could.

RAID 5 vs RAID 1: There isn't any difference in safety. If one drive fails on either setup, you aren't going to have any backup until it gets replaced. The advantage of RAID 5 is that you are able to get more space, and have as many drives as you want. The downside is that it is more expensive because you need at least three drives, and that the performance will be worse (not by a huge amount though).

The Seagates are loud. I would avoid them all together, and either stick with something you trust, the WDs in this case, or some Samsungs, which are the quietest drives you can buy. Mind you, the WD6400AAKS is still what I would recommend. Not that much more expensive, deadly fast, and really quiet.

The graphics card is completely up to you. Although there won't be any difference buying the 1GB card, it is a good deal for only £15 more.
 
Hi Lamboman,

FYI - her are the specs for that case in English - the case looks nice! :)

Semitorre ATX, Micro ATX, ATX E -

• Compatible with Nvidia 8800GTX

• installation without screws

• Chassis steel

• acrylic window on the side panel

• Ventilation system:

-- 2 x 120mm blue LED front

-- 1 x 120mm rear

-- 1 x 120mm blue LED side

-- 2 x 140mm higher

• 9 bays:

-- 3 x 5.25 "external (expandable to 6)

-- 8 x 3.5 "internal

• Dimensions: 211.5 x 521.5 x 562mm (W x x D)

• 2 USB 2.0, Esat, audio and mic higher

• Weight: 11.2Kg

• Does not include power supply

Also, I have never heard of any of these power supplies (except for Gigabyte). Do you know any of them and are the worthy of a purchase? Or should I just pick on up from the UK (either way, I'm not fussed): http://www.appinformatica.com/fuentes-alimentacion.htm

I will check out the reviews for the WD640AAKS and report back! 640GB on 2 320 platters sounds good to me though. I am EXTREMLY happy with my Western Digital. I had Maxtor (too noisy and slow). I moved to Samsung SpinPoint and two of them died. I have had the WD for 1 year now; it is FAST, Quiet and thus far very reliable. All of that said, I have never had a Seagate as when I worked for a hard disk testing company, Segate had the highest failiur rate (but that was some 10 years ago).
 
Yep, the Tempest has had a little bit of hype recently, because it is like a cheaper alternative to the ANtec Nine Hundred (hence the design). From what I have read, it is a great case.

I would not buy a SINGLE power supply from that list. That store is truly crap. I would pick up a Corsair TX750 from herein the UK.

For failure rate, the Hitachi drives are the worst (you heard of the Deskstar drives, I presume. Deathstar is their more common name nowadays).
 
I assume that pointing me towards to WD and Samsung means that you are not altogether happy with the noise levels from your own Seagate 7200.10?
 
Yep :D

The performance from the Seagate drives is brilliant, provided you buy one of the models that is 500GB or lower. They are unbeaten. But, as you go past that, there are drives that are both quieter, and faster.
 
OK folks,

I had to change the memory as Ebuyer sold out of the 1066 HPC editiion (although it shouldn't make a huge difference).

So is this spec looking much better now??? Will it blow me away???! And most importantly, will it all fit/work together??

LAMBOMAN, as you can see, I have taken a lot of your advice :)

Sony DRU-190S 20X DVD±RW DL & DVD-RAM Serial ATA - Retail Multi Bezel & Nero 142274 287 in stock £17.49 £14.88 £17.49 £14.88

LG GSA-H55NBAL 20x DVD±RW/DL/RAM IDE Black Bare Drive - OEM 132560 122 in stock £14.99 £12.75 £14.99 £12.75

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 2.66GHz 1333FSB Socket 775 12MB L2 Cache (2x6MB) Retail Boxed Processor 144953 24 in stock £200.64 £170.75 £200.64 £170.75

Inno3D 9600GT OC 512MB DDR3 Overclocked Edition Dual DVI TV Out PCI-E Graphics Card 141670 14 in stock £89.99 £76.58 £89.99 £76.58

Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB SATA II 7200RPM 16MB Cache - OEM 124228 656 in stock £48.53 £41.30 £48.53 £41.30

Seagate ST3500320AS 500GB Hard Drive SATA II 7200rpm *32MB Cache* - OEM 130826 267 in stock £46.99 £39.99 £93.98 £79.98

Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound Thermal paste 3.5gram 126410 373 in stock £4.70 £4.00 £4.70 £4.00

Freecom USB2.0 Floppy Disk Drive Black 097462 20 in stock £17.20 £14.63 £17.20 £14.63

Toshiba 320GB Portable Hard Drive USB2.0 - Retail 140656 10 in stock £69.91 £59.49 £69.91 £59.49

Logitech Cordless Desktop S 510 - USB/PS2 094458 4 in stock £34.35 £29.23 £34.35 £29.23

Wacom Bamboo Pen Tablet 128284 7 in stock £49.99 £42.54 £49.99 £42.54

ASUS Rampage Formula Republic of Gamers Series iX48 Socket 775 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard 145362 3 in stock £181.80 £154.72 £181.80 £154.72

Thermalright Ultra-120 EXTREME CPU Heatpipe Heatsink 128983 9 in stock £34.98 £29.77 £34.98 £29.77

Xilence Red Wing 120mm Quiet Fan - 3&4pin connection 138586 40 in stock £4.99 £4.24 £4.99 £4.24

OCZ 4GB Kit (2x2GB) DDR2 1000MHz/PC2-8000 Memory REAPER X EDITION ENHANCED BANDWITH CL5 138569 20 in stock £77.33 £65.81 £154.66 £131.62

Corsair TX 750W PSU - 120mm Fan, 80+% Efficiency, Single +12V Rail 134677 5 in stock £84.09 £71.56 £84.09 £71.56

Antec Nine Hundred 900 - Gaming Case with 200mm Top Fan - No PSU 118268 182 in stock £66.65 £56.72 £66.65 £56.72

Total Inc Vat £1168.94
 
The OCZ Vendetta 2 is a better cooler than the Thermalright Ultra Extreme. Just google for 'OCZ Vendetta 2 vs Thermalright Ultra Extreme' It's also 10 quid cheaper so much better value for money.

OCZ Freeze is a better TIM than Arctic Silver 5. Again just google for 'OCZ Freeze vs Arctic Silver 5'

:cool:

TOG
 
What I see with the Fan reviews is that is money is no option, then go with Lambomans suggestion of the Thermalright Ultra Extreme. Budget is not an issue for me :) I'm bang on budget!

I'm not sure if I actually need the extra tube of paste? Does the Thermalright Ultra Extreme already come with paste?

But you are right about the OCZ paste... Looks like it keeps a CPU cooler by atleast 3 degrees...
 
Don't get Reaper. The huge heatsinks mean that you won't be able to get four sticks in there.

As for the coolers, the TRUE is still the best. The OCZ is value for money, but the best performer is still the TRUE. They are pretty close. Every review of these coolers will give different results, because the mounting pressure and thermal interface application won't be quite consistent.

OCZ Freeze isn't as good as MX-2. Your heatsink will come with some paste, but you probably will want to replace that with aftermarket stuff.
 
Lamboman,

Any further advice on memory?? Which memory will impress me? I have read somewhere that the heatsinks are big on the OCZ, but also that they do a fantastic job of keeping the memory cool.

I want memory which is faster than 800mhz.
 
name='jaysbarbq' said:
Lamboman,

Any further advice on memory?? Which memory will impress me? I have read somewhere that the heatsinks are big on the OCZ, but also that they do a fantastic job of keeping the memory cool.

I want memory which is faster than 800mhz.
Click to expand...

The main problem with going for a kit that is faster than 800MHz is that they will be expensive. I would just go with a nice memory kit that is PC6400, that overclocks well. Most of the PC8500/4GB kits have really bad timings and don't overclock particularly well. The PC6400 kits are usually decent overclockers, and quite a bit cheaper.
 
Lamboman,

Could you give me two alternatives to the OCZ sticks with the big heat synchs from here:

http://www.ebuyer.com/cat/Memory---Desktop/subcat/DDR2-6400-4GB

Maybe Corsair or Kingston? As long as they will be FASSSSSTttttttt!

The memory on that link is actually roughly the same price as the 1066mhz OCZ HP addition and Reapers.

4 x ReaperX may not fit but the Reaper should. The ReaperX has the big silver heatsynch, but the Reaper has a more flat black heatsynch.
 
Yes the Vendetta 2 looks good and I guess means I don't have to buy and fit together heatsync and fan.....

My own supplier offered me a Gigabyte G Power 2 fan. It looks good, but also the size of a double decker bus!

Descisions decisions eh!
 
It is up to you. The Vendetta 2 is pretty damn close to the Thermalright, and it far cheaper. If you want the absolute best, go for the TRUE, but if you want value, go for the Vendetta 2. Fitting a fan to the Thermalright is easy, and takes seconds. The Thermalright option will be a bit quieter, but again, far more expensive.
 
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