I'm am lossed with the new stuff, need help building

[ozzfreak]

Ok, I've been using my computer I built for going on 6 years now. It's definitely time for an upgrade. I will mainly use it for photo applications (photoshop, Canon DPP, etc....) But the occasional game wouldn't be out of the quesiton. I'll be keeping my monitor I have now, since I just upgraded that this year.

I have no idea about any of the new processors now. I am using an AMD now, but I think I'll give Intel a try this time if the suggestions are more toward that. Here is a list of things I need, that I will be upgrading....

Case/PSU
Motherboard
Processor
HDD
RAM
Sound
Video

I may get new speakers, not sure yet. I am using creative inspire 5100 speakers now. Had them since day one with this build, it may be time to upgrade though. I'll just use my keyboard and mouse that i have now more than likely, but if not, I won't need help with them.

I use my computer on my tv a lot now too, so dual dvi is a must on the video card. Is heavy graphic applications reliant on processor power, or video card? I've always wondered this.

Oh and I'll be using my copy of XP Pro too. I haven't seen much good said about Vista, but maybe in time if it gets better, will upgrade to it, but as of now, it will be XP Pro.

I'd like to spend around $1000 on this, but a tad more is ok if need be. I'd appreciate help, ya'll helped me before years ago, and I wasn't dissapointed. I'm sure I won't be this time either. Thanks.

[shadowpr]

Can start with this:

MB: Asus P5Q
CPU: E8500 or a Q6600
HD: Seaget 7200.11 500gb sata
DVD: Lite-on dvd burner sata, retail
Ram: Corsair ddr2-800 2x2gb

I'm not sure what video card would be best for photo editing and things like that. Someone else should be able to make a good recommendation.
PSU: Corsair 650

[ozzfreak]

so far, I like the price of that setup. I did a search on the Corsair 650, and it didn't come up with anything on newegg. I look forward to other recommendations. Thanks a bunch.

[ozzfreak]

I think I found the Corsair 650, is this it? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139005

[ozzfreak]

Have a question on the motherboard. What are these expansion slots? Advantages? Are they on most motherboards now. Like I said, I'm outta touch, lol

Expansion Slots:
PCI Express 2.0 x16 - 2 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots, support ATI CrossFireX technology at x8 link (black at max. x8 link)

PCI Express x1 3

PCI Slots 2

[Alaron]

PCI-Express 2.0 is for your video cards. Using one card will use all the bandwidth available (the x16), while using two cards in Crossfire cuts that available bandwidth down (x8). But don't worry about that, one card is what we recommend going with.

PCI-E x1 are those tiny slots, designed to take over for the old tech PCI. Cards are slowly coming out for them, but its doubtful you'd ever need them, except maybe a soundcard.

Thats a great choice for PSU.

[XenaWP]

For photo applications, I think you'll find ATI video cards to be a good choice. Lower cost would be the 3850, with pretty good gaming performance. Better performance, slightly higher cost with 3870. 4850 is considered the "sweet spot" in price/performance, and 4870 at the high end of performance.

[ozzfreak]

Alright, sounds good. I used ATI years and years ago, and didn't like it that much. It was an All In Wonder. But I'm sure things have improved.

A couple of questoins. Would this be enough expansion slots on the P5Q? Also, any recommendations on a sound card? Or would onboard be sufficient? I'm thinking I'd need new sound. Onboard sound really isn't that good, at least it used to not be.

[tomtoon]

I'd imagine it isn't but mine sounds ok.

Theres nothing really wrong with it except, obviously a sound card like the Creative Sound Blaster 7.1 would probably be better.

[flanzig1]

On-board sound has gotten pretty good in the last few years. We generally say try the on-board first. If the on-board is mated with a good speaker system, then you can get good results.
As for expansion slots, most people don't use any due to a lot of stuff being on-board the motherboard. And, yes the P5Q has plenty of slots.

[ozzfreak]

Ok, keep the onboard sound, try it, and if I don't like, replace. Now another question. Since I'm very heavy in photo applications, I am starting to think that I need more than 4GB ram, which of course means that I need 64bit windows. Is there still a lot of problems with 64 bit OS's, namely Vista? Oh, and does the P5Q go up to 8GB ram or 16GB? I've read two dif things.

[tomtoon]

You will need 64-bit Vista for 4GB ram and up not just above it.

The Asus P5Q goes up to 16GB:

http://uk.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=...64&modelmenu=2

[ozzfreak]

Ok, thanks. And what about 64 bit vista? Still buggy? Will I run into software / hardware problems with it?

[Khalil]

Save yourself some serious money and go with an AMD rig.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103773 $92.50 that is less than half the cost of the Intel E8500 and similar performance.
The Intel processor is awesome, but why pay twice the money, you will never see any difference between the AMD 6000 and the Intel E8500
Vista 64 bit is not buggy, software makers don't make a lot of software that works with it.
Games however work very nicely with 64 bit OS
If you go AMD look at the Asus M3A

[ozzfreak]

I thought about AMD, but I built with AMD this last time, and figured I'd give Intel a shot this time. And as you say, I've heard a lot of awesome stuff about the core 2 duo. So I think I'm going to try it out. Thanks for the suggestion though.

[shadowpr]

Vista 64 isn't that bad.

Just make sure the programs you want to use are compatible, and make sure tehre are drivers available for your peripherals.

Other than that, it's great.

[ozzfreak]

I just looked. The main photo program I use is not supported for 64bit. Which to me, and others is kinda silly since photo editing uses a lot of ram. Soooooo.....I guess I'll just stick with 2x2GB for now, and 32 bit windows xp. If it gets supported, I'll then upgrade the OS. Kinda stinks. But I'll live I guess.

[freakitchen]

Just because the software isn't 64-bit, doesn't mean it wouldn't be able to make use of all the RAM if you installed Vista x64. The problem is that a 32-bit OS can only address around 3.25GB, regardless of if there is more installed. x64 would see the full 4GB.

[ozzfreak]

the software just doesn't work with 64 bit from what I can understand. It won't even let you install it. I read somewhere that the 4GB limit also includes the video ram. Is this true? Like say, it won't recognize the 3.25 like you say, plus whatever the video is also.

[ozzfreak]

I didn't even think of a cpu fan/heatsink. What's a good recommendation on that?

[Khalil]

If you buy retail box CPU it comes with Heat Sink and Fan that work very well.

[freakitchen]

Originally Posted by ozzfreak the software just doesn't work with 64 bit from what I can understand. It won't even let you install it. I read somewhere that the 4GB limit also includes the video ram. Is this true? Like say, it won't recognize the 3.25 like you say, plus whatever the video is also.

This article might help you understand the addressing problem a little better:

http://blogs.msdn.com/hiltonl/archiv...m-problem.aspx

The 3.25GB figure I gave is an approximation - how much you see depends on a lot of variables, down to the individual motherboard chipset. It could be as low as 2.5GB or as high as 3.75GB, but you won't see all 4.

On my 64-bit system, there are two program files folders - one for 64 bit programs, the other for 32-bit. I'm yet to find a 32-bit program that won't install - it's fully backwards compatible.

[shadowpr]

I haven't had problems installing any program on vista 64 yet either.

I try to get a 64bit version, but usually I just get what I can, and it installs fine. Like FK said, there are two different program folders.

[ozzfreak]

Ok, I'll look more into it. I just seen the date on that page was over a year ago, so maybe it has been fixed. I'll report back on that.

Thanks for the info about the heatsink. Is that the general thought around here? Stock cooling is enough?

[tomtoon]

Usually Yes.

[shadowpr]

Stock cooling is enough, unless you overclock.

Plus stock cooling won't void your warrenty.

[ozzfreak]

Ok good, stock cooling it is. I just read a bunch more on the compatibility issue I thought I was going to have. Looks like I misunderstood it. I just can't view my RAW files in explorer, but can through the programs. It also uses a 32bit codec instead of 64, but will work fine they say. So back to Vista I go.

So now, RAM. I really would like as much as I can get, 16GB, but I'm thinking 8GB would be way more than enough for now. Corsair memory was mentioned, do they sell 4GB sticks? I can't find any. I'd like to get 2 4GB sticks for now, and 2 more later down the road when I think I need it. I tried newegg, and even crucial to see if they had 4 gb sticks, nothing. Only very few brands on newegg. So where would I find them at?

[tomtoon]

Get it from www.Crucial.com/uk (or just.com if your in USA)

Reliable, fast and you get exactly what you pay for.(I paid for 2GB and its exactly 2048MB)

Beware it says max unbuffered Memory 16384mb but then it goes on to say 2GB per slot in a 4 slot configuration = 8GB TOTAL.

It seems to say that for quite a few of the mobo's that apparently can handle 16GB

I've spoke to them about this and they say its a misprint as I'm buying the P5QL pro but surely not every page has a misprint(mobo's that support 16GB)

[tomtoon]

Originally Posted by ozzfreak I I'd like to get 2 4GB sticks for now, and 2 more later down the road when I think I need it. I tried newegg, and even crucial to see if they had 4 gb sticks, nothing. Only very few brands on newegg. So where would I find them at?

The motherboard only supports 2GB per slot. So they will not sell 4GB sticks for the MOBO only in Kits.

[ozzfreak]

Taken from Asus' site........

4 x DIMM, max. 16GB, DDR2 1200 / 1066 / 800 / 667 MHz, non-ECC, un-buffered memory

http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?mo...11&l3=709&l4=0