New computer

[BrianG]

I recently got an EEEPC and was gonna use it as a home webserver (WinXP running IIS6 and SQL Express) for some home stuff, but the lifespan of the SSD drive makes me not want to do this after all. Makes a good workbench PC to research stuff while tinkering though.

So, I started looking around online for a basic desktop system instead, but then got to thinking that anything I got would assuredly be better than my main box. So, I'll probably use my current box as the web server and get a new PC.

I can get pretty decent discounts for HP and Dell from the state because I work for the Iowa Lottery, but I usually prefer to build my stuff so I get exactly what I want. So, I went to TigerDirect and Newegg and looked around. Trouble is, I've been out of the computer loop for some time now and am not up to date about what is good and what is not. These are my questions:

- AMD or Intel? I want dual core, which doesn't seem to be a problem since everything is moving that way now.
- nVidia or ATI? And what speeds/memory should I be looking for?
- Is RAID0 still a viable performance booster? I currently run a set of ancient WD 35GB Raptor drives in Raid0 and they work fine.
- What is a reliable yet fast and feature-rich mobo?

In the past, I found the best bang for the buck to be two notches from the fastest in pretty much anything (CPU, memory, graphics, etc). Still true now?

I don't do a whole lot of gaming, but wouldn't mind being able to throw a fairly current game in and not have horrible framerates. I mostly like driving games (Need for speed, etc). I don't feel I'll need dual video cards for what I like to do. I obviously don't want integrated video.

I don't do that much video editing either. I may "back up" () a DVD every now and then, but that's not editing.

Integrated sound is fine though.

Mostly, I do development work, surf; you know, the typical stuff.

[Arct1k]

Get an i7 2.66 - Go to tomshardware and select their midrange package...

Just get a fast 750/1gb drive and be done - Raid not worth it IMO

[eovnu87435ds]

I do believe Asus covers the SSD life outside of the warranty... but I am not exactly sure... but then again it does definatley work great for those situations where being able to pull a laptop outta your pocket can really save the day

[BrianG]

Chris: I'll take a look at TH. I should have thought of that. Doh! It's been a while since I've been shopping for a PC. I already have a monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, etc, so all I really need is the box itself. When my current PC has been reconfigured for server tasks, I won't need those items since it will just be sitting on a shelf near my routers and modem, and I'll just be remotely logging in (found a hack for XP that allows multiple concurrent logins).

eovnu: The SSD drive is part of the mobo on this EEE PC, so if it goes south, I'd have to send the whole unit in for repair. Someone over at forum.eeeuser is gonna send me a socket that I can solder in to use add-on SSD drives. The solder pads are there, just no socket. When it comes, and if I am successful, I'll be using a new 32GB SSD drive for the main boot, and then put the swap file on the 4GB SSD. Of course, soldering in an expansion drive will definitely void any potential warranty. Even with the added space, there's not quite enough CPU speed to run a web server and SQL server and have decent response times. I'll keep it for trips and as my workbench PC. I got a wireless keyboard/mouse set, and am using that 15" LCD on it, so it's like a desktop when it is parked at home. Fine for browsing sites, looking at PDF manuals, etc.

[squeeforever]

I would go with:

AMD dual core for sure
nVidia graphics card for sure. You don't have to get a nVidia name brand though. There are tons of companies like BFG Tech that make good cards with the nVidia chipset.
And I'd get something like a 7200rpm 1TB HDD. I got mine from GearXS for $100
Also, while your at GearXS, NewEgg, etc. I'd go ahead and look into a sound card. You can get a good one for about $30.

[bdebde]

The bottom of the line core i7 or even cheaper yet, a core 2 quad. I like AMD (still running one) but at current price/performance, I just can't recommend one. I like the ATI cards for vid get one of the midrange should be fine for most use. Sound card is alway a must for me, my trusty old Bose speakers sound like SH** on most onboard audio set ups.

[Unsullied_Spy]

Intel vs. AMD I'm not sure anymore, Intel was on top when I was researching my latest build but I think AMD's latest processor has pulled ahead. I got out of computers when I went RC though.

I've always favored nVidia video cards over ATI for several reasons. NV drivers are much better and less of a hassle, they run on less power, run cooler, and have been more reliable for me.

RAID is nice, but I would rather run a WD Raptor or a SSD to get the speed you need on your boot drive. I run normal SATA drives for storage and a Raptor for Windows. If you run Vista it really only needs the hard drive for boot up and loading big stuff as long as you have enough RAM. I can't stand going back to XP computers now, contrary to internet drivel Vista runs considerably faster (you might lose a couple FPS in games because some drivers may not be totally refined for Vista use). Make sure you pack it full of RAM if you're running Vista, it'll make a huge difference in how well it runs.

I've been using integrated audio for a long time now, I've had some issues with affordable sound cards and the ones that have worked right didn't sound any better than the integrated. Sound cards are dead technology IMO, the integrated audio on my ABIT IP35 Pro beats any card you're going to find for a decent price.

For motherboards I went to Newegg.com, selected an Intel-compatible board (for my quad core build), then refined the search by quad-core capable boards, then ABIT as a manufacturer (buying an ABIT board instead of most other boards is like getting a Neu rather than a HobbyCity motor), and it only came up with a few options so I picked the best one they had and it's been an amazing board so far (been running it right about a year). One thing you don't want to skimp on is the motherboard, like putting a cheap motor in an RC car you'll restrict performance and cause more problems down the road than if you had gotten the better board to begin with. If you can't afford a good board then cheapen up somewhere else (CPU and RAM are good places to cheapen up, you can always swap them out in a few minutes for better units).

If you're building your own and are looking for power supplies there are a lot of good ones out there but I've been running ThermalTake power supplies in my own computers and the ones I build for others since ~2000 and haven't had a single one fail. PC Power and Cooling are awesome PSUs from what I've heard, but I've never run one. Antecs are good, but their fans SUCK. I recently had one burn up because the fan failed and the owner didn't notice, it didn't catch fire or anything but it cooked the internals. My brother always likes to buy the ones with the flashy lights and cool-sounding features but he's had 3 failures in the last 2 years, so I got him a ThermalTake and he hasn't had a problem since.

[Arct1k]

Its funny - Still think intel are kicking amd... I'd go evga for MB and graphics. They have a lifetime warrantee or everything with the exception of physical damage.

[brijar]

I agree, Intel is kicking . I have an EVGA MB and it's 100% amazing, except I unfortunately slacked on it, so no DDR2 1066 for me :(. And no SLI or Crossfire.

For a video card, I would highly suggest an ATI 4830. I just got one for about $85, and it kicks butt!!! Easily pwns my year old $75 Nvidia 8600GT. Easily. And it's at a great price.

If you want to go all out on the video card, an ATI 4870 X2 w/ 2GB DDR5 is about top of the line in my book. lol some new ones probably came out in the last 5 seconds that can beat it tho .

RAM is really cheap, so not much room to scrimp on it lol. $35 for 4GB of DDR2 1066 is a pretty darn good deal. I think that's some corsair stuff, but not sure. My dad just got 4GB of DDR2 800 for like $28, so RAM shouldn't be a problem.

Good luck,
Brijar!!!

[rchippie]

Sorry for the highjack but i have a computer ?. I upgraded my computer to 1 gig of ram about 4 or 6 months a go from the stock memory . If i upgraded to 2 gigs's of ram would i gane any performance on my computer ?. Thank's

This is what i got when i upgraded .
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820141429

[brijar]

Originally Posted by rchippie

Sorry for the highjack but i have a computer ?. I upgraded my computer to 1 meg of ram about 4 or 6 months a go from the stock memory . If i upgraded to 2 megs's of ram wold i gane any performance on my computer ?. Thank's

(First, I think you mean gig (GB) lol)
You would most probably gain some performance, though it depends on how fast the ram is and what OS you are running and what all you do with the computer.

If you are going to upgrade, make sure you have enough RAM slots for all your RAM, and that you get the right kind of RAM. If you had to upgrade to 1GB of ram, I would guess that it is DDR RAM, which, for some reason, is more expensive than DDR2 RAM.

Good luck,
Brijar!!!

Edit: oops you added something. Yup, if you got another one of those, then you could put it in there with the 1GB you already have and you'd probably see some performance boost.

[rchippie]

Originally Posted by brijar

(First, I think you mean gig (GB) lol)
You would most probably gain some performance, though it depends on how fast the ram is and what OS you are running and what all you do with the computer.

If you are going to upgrade, make sure you have enough RAM slots for all your RAM, and that you get the right kind of RAM. If you had to upgrade to 1GB of ram, I would guess that it is DDR RAM, which, for some reason, is more expensive than DDR2 RAM.

Good luck,
Brijar!!!

Edit: oops you added something. Yup, if you got another one of those, then you could put it in there with the 1GB you already have and you'd probably see some performance boost.

Yes i ment gigs . this is what i used when i up graded. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820141429 Yes i have 3 avalible slots left to use . I was told before that if i got another 1gig stick. To put it in slot #3 & then put the two stock memory sticks back in slots #2 & 4 . My compuier has a pentium 4 proseser .

[BrianG]

OK, so the Intel vs AMD "war" is still going strong eh? Well, as I'm not into hardcore gaming, a dual core CPU that is plenty fast and doesn't double as a space heater is more important than which is fastest. My main rig is using an Athlon64 on socket 754 (yeah, that's old) on 1GB of DDR400 RAM. The motherboard is a Gigabyte with a Via chipset. At the time, this mobo had the best integrated components; SATA RAID along with 4 IDE ports, 6 USB, 1Gb LAN AND 100Mb LAN, etc.

Anything here strike anyone as a good bang for the buck, but yet a little higher up on the performance scale? Still undecided if I want to build my own (usually expensive) or get a customized pre-fab unit. I would rather not run Vista, but it would make me more...ummm... "legal" than I am now using XP.

[Arct1k]

Get you 7% of any dell after any dell discounts...

[snellemin]

I work at HP BPC and Intel is still topdog in my department.
Personally I use the 10K rpm WD drives, 160GB capacity. Freakin fast and even faster in Raid-0 (built in raid). 3gb Qaudcore and it's on. Video is all up to the user. I like speed and when I click on something I want it now. I don't have time to wait for 5 minutes to open up a Excel spreadsheet. I still us xp(setup to look like Vista) as I dislike the worthless Vista. Windows 7 is something else though. Well worth the wait for upgrade.



BTW, I still run a scsi workstation with dual xeon 2.4ghz processors(w/hyperthreading), with rambus. The thing never dies and if it ever did, I still have a motherboard as backup.