Recommended parts 2...Still need more advice on first pc build....THX =)

[Spiritofliberty]

Well, i didn't have the time to build my pc (have to go back to campus !!!and study!!! ) when i asked for advice a few months ago in this forum. And the budget still remains the same $1000 or RM 3500. That time, i was advised to get the core 2 duo, asus p5k, the corsair value select and the corsair power supply. Many thanks to LeftyAce, Perkster and The_YongGrand.

But since now that the prices of those chips have dropped, is it possible to get a better cpu? Maybe, c2Q q6600 which is just RM 920...or about $300. Well, in my country i think i might get the parts from one shop and its price list is here...http://images.lowyat.net/pricelist/pczone.pdf.

There are lots of parts, most of which i could not make much sense about. So, i really hope that someone can help to look at the price list and recommend some parts well within my budget. Thanks a lot. I think i will just be needing a quad core, a good power supply, graphic cards, suitable motherboard (with LAN), wifi adapter, maybe 2 gb of ram, 320 gb of harddisk, 15 inch flat monitor, speakers...etc. Is it POSSIBLE??? Help meee, thanks, friends. Yeah, one more think... i would really like to know which wifi adapter has good speed and reception...those with antennas?

Btw, anyone has tips on what parts do we need so that the pc is still working fine after running for 24 hr?? lol...That's all.

[The_YongGrand]

Originally Posted by Spiritofliberty Well, i didn't have the time to build my pc (have to go back to campus !!!and study!!! ) when i asked for advice a few months ago in this forum. And the budget still remains the same $1000 or RM 3500. That time, i was advised to get the core 2 duo, asus p5k, the corsair value select and the corsair power supply. Many thanks to LeftyAce, Perkster and The_YongGrand. But since now that the prices of those chips have dropped, is it possible to get a better cpu? Maybe, c2Q q6600 which is just RM 920...or about $300. Well, in my country i think i might get the parts from one shop and its price list is here...http://images.lowyat.net/pricelist/pczone.pdf. There are lots of parts, most of which i could not make much sense about. So, i really hope that someone can help to look at the price list and recommend some parts well within my budget. Thanks a lot. I think i will just be needing a quad core, a good power supply, graphic cards, suitable motherboard (with LAN), wifi adapter, maybe 2 gb of ram, 320 gb of harddisk, 15 inch flat monitor, speakers...etc. Is it POSSIBLE??? Help meee, thanks, friends. Yeah, one more think... i would really like to know which wifi adapter has good speed and reception...those with antennas? Btw, anyone has tips on what parts do we need so that the pc is still working fine after running for 24 hr?? lol...That's all.

Hi there!

First of all, ask yourself what are you gonna do with the PC? If you are into heavy gaming, an E6750 will help, and save a little bit more money for some more new RAM sticks.

If you are a heavy photoshop user, media encoder and heavy multimedia stuff (or you can add protein folding) a Quad might help.

If you are heading towards an small, all rounder, get a simpler E4500, 2GB DDR2 RAM and a cheap 8600GT (DDR3) to go with.

There are many good boards with built-in WiFi, but usually they are a little bit expensive.

As your budget state, I think I can make an estimation here:

E4500 / E6550 processor
Asus P5KPL-VM (a simple and good one, but no wifi - try adding a USB adapter to go with it in the meantime!)
2GB RAM (this is the time the RAM prices gets too rock bottom!!)
250GB HDD
any 17" LCD screen
casing (PowerLogic Assura helps, and before the purchase, take out the onboard PSU and replace it with a better one)
Acbel PSU - at least 400W.
8600GT DDR3 videocard

That's all - the nearest estimation I guess. If it doesn't reach RM3500, you can push the processor from the E4500 to any of the lowest end E6xxx series. For the video card, if you want good pleasures of maximum gaming, get the 8800 series card - but it'll probably kill your budget.

edit: for 24/7 computers - try getting a sturdy power supply to start with first. Acbel, antec, enermax and corsair are the nice one to go.

[Spiritofliberty]

would it be better and cheaper if i just buy this model http://www.acer.com.my/product/prod_...eries&diff=yes

[The_YongGrand]

Originally Posted by Spiritofliberty would it be better and cheaper if i just buy this model http://www.acer.com.my/product/prod_...eries&diff=yes

I guess if you build your own, and with the own parts - that'll be very easy for gaming and other uses. Jmho.

[Spiritofliberty]

Yeah, I agree cuz i don't quite like the graphic cards... but if i were to buy that is it easy to modify... I mean if i want to upgrade certain parts. How about the specs of the pc, is it worth the money for 3088 without monitor though ... i like the quad part though LOL.

Aspire M5630-466X


• Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium


• Intel® Core™ 2 Quad processor Q6600 (2.40GHz / 8MB Cache / 1066MHz FSB)


• Intel® G31 + Intel® ICH7 chipset


• 2GB DDR2 Memory (upgradable to 4GB)


• 500GB Hard Drive (Serial ATA)


• DVD SuperMultiplus Writer


• ATI Radeon HD2400PRO 256MB PCI Express with D-Sub / DVI / S-Video Output


• Integrated 10 / 100 / 1000Mbps Gigabit Ethernet


• Integrated High Definition Audio with 7.1 Channel Surround Audio Output


• 40-in-1 Card Reader


• 2 x PCI Slots, 1 x PCI Express© X1 Slot


• 6 x USB 2.0 (2-Front 4-Rear), 1 x Serial, 1 x Parallel Ports and 2 x PS/2 1 x IEEE 1394 Ports


• 2 x 5.25" and 2 x 3.5" External Drive Bays, 4 x 3.5" Internal Drive Bays


• Micro Tower Housing, 180 (W) x 360 (H) x 441 (L) mm


• Acer USB Keyboard & Mouse

[Spiritofliberty]

Btw i saw this on the lowyat forum...

Inte C2Q Q6600 - Rm925
Gigabyte P35-DS3 - Rm380
Kingston 4x 1GB RAM - Rm320
Silver Stone ST56F - Rm350
320GB HDD - Rm260
LV DVD-RW - Rm90
8600GT 256mb - Rm400
Casing - Rm150
Total Rm2875. cheaper and better than Acer

Is ACER really that bad????

[Alaron]

Acer PCs are fine quality, but that one you listed above is not a very good value. The quad-core is driving the price up, but the HD2400Pro is not going to cut it for gaming. Upgrading is not usually an option with store bought PCs because the motherboards are locked down, and/or the power supply cannot handle a new graphics card.

Just another example of why building your own is the best way to go.

[Spiritofliberty]

Will the price of quad drop? Cuz i can still wait for max. a month b4 i really need to use the new desktop...Btw what do u actually mean by the "motherboards are locked down", can we not change a new graphics card? And does anyone know how much is the power supply required? Thanks a lot...

[Spiritofliberty]

What motherboard can be used for the quad core... will the asus P5KPL-VM support that.

Roughly if i were to build one it would be like this...

kingston pc6400 2*1gb...rm 210
seagate 320...................rm 390
17 inch..........................rm 580
acbel 500w....................rm 325
8600gt 256mb ddr3........rm430
casing---------------------------rm 200
keyboard, mouse,
speakers, wifi adapter.....rm 300

Still have about 1000-1200 for the motherboard and the cpu. Any recommendations?

[Alaron]

The P5KPL-VM will support quad core chips. That is a very good motherboard for the price.

Pre-built PCs typically do not allow much in the way of upgrading. The BIOS can be customized to not allow as many CPU upgrades as a retail motherboard would allow. But the big problem is that they typically ship with weak power supplies that are only enough to cover what is in the box. So its always a better idea to build your own.

Your list looks fine, though I can't speak to the quality of Acbel power supplies. Check out our list here: http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=131195

I'd say the Asus board and a Q6600 would be a great combination if they fit your budget.

[Spiritofliberty]

Guess so...thanks. One question though, after putting all the parts together as this will be my first, how do i install the os, just by booting up a vista/xp cd ? as for the bios configuration are there any guides esp for overclocking?

BTW, which will be better... enlight 550W or Enermax FMA Iron Power 535W?

TQ.

[shadowpr]

For overclocking these are the best guide's I've found:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/24...ds-duals-guide

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/22...perature-guide

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by Spiritofliberty Guess so...thanks. One question though, after putting all the parts together as this will be my first, how do i install the os, just by booting up a vista/xp cd ?

Check out this web site. It has instructions on how to do fresh installs for most versions of Windows.

Originally Posted by Spiritofliberty as for the bios configuration are there any guides esp for overclocking?

The Definitive BIOS Optimization Guide. Just so you know, overclocking will void all your warranties. And before you overclock make sure you understand the risks and know how to clear your CMOS after a failed overclock.

Originally Posted by Spiritofliberty BTW, which will be better... enlight 550W or Enermax FMA Iron Power 535W?

The Enermax. If you're going to be overclocking make sure you get a really good power supply...my suggestion would be to get a Seasonic or Corsair with more wattage (550 to 650 or so).

Cricket

[Spiritofliberty]

Thanks a lot.. if i hav anything i will ask . Corsair is expensive(sigh) so i guess i will try Enermax...or if anyone else hav any suggestions of cheap n good psu, I'm all ears. Thanks folks

[Spiritofliberty]

There are lots of graphics card.
For eg. nvidia has msi 8600 what is the difference with asus 8600 or XFX or PALIT? Besides the ASUS 8600 are there any other graphic cards roughly similar in terms of performance and price...

Are there alternatives to the P5KPL-VM cuz my local stores do not sell those...how about MSI i heard those m/o are good too? But they hav the P5KPL.. how different is it compared to the VM?

Is Western Digital comparable to Seagate? The shop only hav WD 320 sigh...

So many questions this time round... hope u folks don't mind. Thanxx..I appreciate every single bit of advice!

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by Spiritofliberty There are lots of graphics card. For eg. nvidia has msi 8600 what is the difference with asus 8600 or XFX or PALIT? Besides the ASUS 8600 are there any other graphic cards roughly similar in terms of performance and price...

In terms of performance they'll all be pretty close to one another because they're all using the same GPU. Can't help you with the price question.

Originally Posted by Spiritofliberty Are there alternatives to the P5KPL-VM cuz my local stores do not sell those.

I see it in the price list.

Originally Posted by Spiritofliberty how about MSI i heard those m/o are good too?

They're okay.

Originally Posted by Spiritofliberty But they hav the P5KPL.. how different is it compared to the VM?

The P5KPL doesn't have on-board video.

Originally Posted by Spiritofliberty Is Western Digital comparable to Seagate?

Yes.

Cricket

[Spiritofliberty]

Ok that help alot....Thanks Cricket.

Sorry about the pricelist, cuz that store is in another town quite far fr my home...
And then my parents will definitely object to my building a pc if they hav to go that far just for the parts. My local store will be here www.navotech.com.my/pricelist.pdf. I apologise again. Real sorry.... .

On board video? Does it help a lot even if I have the graphics cards?

So is there any other motherboards just as good? How about MSI P35 Neo-F(http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p...o-F&class=mb)? How does it fare against the asus? Cuz some alternatives will really help to make things easier. If its not found easily, i won't be allowed to build

Help...Thank u..

[Alaron]

No need to buy a board with onboard video if you're using a graphics card. Onboard is for people who don't use separate cards.

We generally recommend Asus because they have the highest quality products. MSI is 'ok' but Asus would be better.

[Spiritofliberty]

So if i bought the MSI 8600 GT 256MB DDR3 I can use the Asus p5kpl instead right?

As the price for the MSI, XFX and the GIGA is about the same which is the best, or is it better for me just to choose the cheapest since there is no significant differences?

Btw, I just wanna confirm whether can the p5kpl overclock, is it suitable?

Instead of Kingston DDR2 800 can i use Kingmax DDR2 800? Is Kingmax known to be problematic? That's all.....hehe

[hitchface]

Kingston has a knockout warranty, so I'd stick with them. If you are indeed planning on overclocking, stick with DDR2 800, but otherwise step it down to 667.

You're mobo choice is crucial because it will determine stability. Get your paws on the Asus board and you won't be let down.

[Spiritofliberty]

Yup, there is the possibility of OC...but in another thread kingston is said to be unreliable? So how about Corsair Twin 2X...?

Yeah, another thing, are there any important things i need to know, those precautionary measures so that i don't short circuit or spoil any sensitive parts? Any links, or guides will be of much help. Thank yea

[hitchface]

I'm not so sure I'd agree with that. Kingston is a very high quality brand. I was using them until I upgraded to 2 gigs of Corsair XMS2, which is also quite good.

As for guides, read the stickies in the BYOPC section, and you should know everything you need to. For a very comprehensive walkthrough, PCMech.com does sell a BYOPC DVD for a nice price.

Also, from earlier in this thread, Cricket was right about video card performance being mostly the same. However, BGF Tech and eVGA are known for their quality. BFG cards also tend to come factory overclocked, so you might calculate that into your build as well.

[Alaron]

Kingston had some quality control issues a while back and sent out a big batch of defective sticks. I don't know if that problem has been fixed yet, but thats why they were on our watch list. Corsair has been stellar for some time now, so we recommend them currently.

[Spiritofliberty]

I hav a few last queries about Quad core and the core 2 duo? which is actually better... I mean although Q6600 has 4, but only 2.4 Ghz... while certain core2 duo reaches more than that? Tq

Besides I hav also read that the Q6600 if overclocked won;t be that bad after all, so can i overclock it to 3.00 GHZ, without any cooling features... just the specs I hav decided:

Enlight 550W
Asus p5kpl
Corsair XMS Twin 2x ddr2 800
8600gt.....

Do i need a cooler?

[Alaron]

You can compare CPUs here: http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu_20...=871&chart=434 I compared the Q6600 and the E6750, and they are basically even. The advantage comes with multi-tasking. Then the quad is going to pull away. I would go that route for the future. But you can always upgrade to a quad if you need to later on.

Your list is fine. If you buy your CPU "Retail" it will come with a heatsink and fan. "OEM" chips will not.

[Spiritofliberty]

Hopefully, more applications will be tailored for multi-core cpus... then it would really be worth it to hav the Quad core Thanks

[Spiritofliberty]

I have bought the p5k...

I just wanna confirm that i want to use the dual channel for the pair of Corsair 1gb, should i place the ram yellow-yellow, black-black or black-yellow? Same colour right?

Dimm_A1/Dimm_B1(Yellow)
Dimm_A2/Dimm_B2(Black)

And for the DRAM frequency since I am using a ddr2 800, if i set the operating frequency to 800 what will be its effect? Faster? Unstable?

And can I get some clarifications on certain terms...
Eg.
Resume on Ring/By PCi, etc
repost video on s3 resume
ACPI 2.0 support
Memory Remap Feature...

Thanks..U r all AWESOME!!!

[shadowpr]

Place them both in the yellow.

I would set the ram to the manufactures settings manually. If they say it's 800, go into bios and set it as such along with the timings and voltage.

I think memory remap is only needed if there's 4gb or more.

[Spiritofliberty]

Ok thanks a lot... as for the other mind-numbing settings will it be fine to leave it at its factory default...anything in particular that MUST be changed for performance or to better squeeze the juice out of the build so to say.

[Spiritofliberty]

So is there any bios configuration i MUST really pay attention too? TQ