New computer system.


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satay16

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Jan 14, 2006
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Hi guys:).

Lately, my 5yo com is starting to be erratic. Guess it's time to build a new com.

currently, i'm having problems deciding which to shift funds to. should i get a Q6600 with a 8600GT, or get a poorer processor with 8800GTS? i'm not a avivd gamer, but i do sometimes play the latest games like CC3 or hitman contracts(which sadly, was impossible to play on my FX5600 card, at 1fps:what:. should be able to play with a 8600GT card right?).

i posted this thread here because it is regarding photoshop performance. i do PS more than gaming, so i give more priority to it. would a quad core processor be more benificial to ps or a high end graphics card? or should everything be balanced?

thanks in advance!:D
 

correct me if I'm wrong but PS does not require gd graphic card .....it will utilize more on ur processor...so get a gd processor and big memory
 

oh, and anyone understand why in the world is a DDR400 ram more expensive than a DDR2 667? noticed the 667 has higher latency(at CL5). so does it means DDR400 performs better?



haiz....... after not updating myself for these 2 years, i slid from a geek to a noob.:embrass: can't believe how much things has changed. when i started to plan my new com, i was wondering............ "where the hell is the agp slot?":bsmilie:
 

u are not alone satay dude, after i built my last comp 2-3 yrs back i never touched it or research anything abt comp anymore, and recently this few weeks, i have been going down to simlim almost every weekend to look at the hardware and prices.. i planning to built one too now

and yes, nowadays gfx card are all pci-express already... and do u know now got sata harddisk and ide harddisk?

same as u, i do ps a lot...

currently this is the system i am thinking of building

Q6600
asus p5k-e wifi
seagate 320gb harddisk
4 x 1 gb ddr2 800 kingston hyperx
asus 8600GT
cooler master CM 690 casing
cooler master 480watt real power

Total come out to nearly $1.8-$1.9

although i dun play much games now, the temptation to get a 8800GTS is very very very strong :bsmilie:


for ur ram question, i guess at the time of the DDR400, there is not much demand for rams, so the manufacturers could not produce in a higher bulk qty to lower cost.. by the time of DDR667, many systems were using more than 1gb of ram, so = more demand for ram = manufacturers can produce more and lower the cost.
 

DRAM performance us not juz reading off the figures. Newer gen DRAMs have higher clock rate (frequency) but usually higher latencies (delays) as well. So, finally despite the nice frequency figures, improvements fr 1 generation of DRAM (eg DDR) to the next (eg. DDR2) is barely 10%.

DDR2 is current mainstream DRAM, so they benefit from the economies of scale. DDR1 is going obsolete, so not common => ex lor...

oh, and anyone understand why in the world is a DDR400 ram more expensive than a DDR2 667? noticed the 667 has higher latency(at CL5). so does it means DDR400 performs better?



haiz....... after not updating myself for these 2 years, i slid from a geek to a noob.:embrass: can't believe how much things has changed. when i started to plan my new com, i was wondering............ "where the hell is the agp slot?":bsmilie:
 

haha:bsmilie:. i was tempted to get the pre-made WCG system after almost giving up researching everything again. but then, decided to diy and regain my knowledge again since i have quite some time in my hands.

so far, i decided to spend more on my system, cos my current com survived for a whole 5 years (closing to 6), and i did not really find it unacceptably slow(other than when i played the hitman contracts game). my current system cost me 1.1k:eek:. haha. so maybe a 2k system can suffice me for 12 years?:bsmilie:

so far, i'm thinking somewhere along like this:

CPU: Q6600 (must find one with G0 stepping)
Mobo: not sure yet, but should be sticking to MSI (somehow, i like this brand)
RAM: kingston DDR2 800 hyperX 1GB x2
HD: hitachi 1TB..........haha, kidding. WD 250GB sata2
GC: unsure. dependent on this thread.
dvd: sony dru-835A
fdd: sony (yeah, i still use floppy sometimes)
monitor: finding in comex
speaker: finding in comex
casing: antec sonata lll piano (i loved this casing upon first sight:lovegrin:) +500W


any comments? this isn't the final specs cos currently, it is slightly above budget.
 

oh, and anyone understand why in the world is a DDR400 ram more expensive than a DDR2 667? noticed the 667 has higher latency(at CL5). so does it means DDR400 performs better?



haiz....... after not updating myself for these 2 years, i slid from a geek to a noob.:embrass: can't believe how much things has changed. when i started to plan my new com, i was wondering............ "where the hell is the agp slot?":bsmilie:

DDR400 is obsolete tech, and no more in production or in really small quantites. Market has moved to DDR2 currently, and will progress to DDR3 soon.
Higher speed RAM tends to have higher latency, pure speed is more critical than latency, as its about higher memory bandwidth. Have to pay premium for high speed and low latency RAM, much like paying for a UltraIV 16GB CF card - excessive.

Cost effective processor will be AMDX2 3600+ or 3800+
For HDD recommend at least 2x 320GB SATA for us photographers.
 

Cost effective processor will be AMDX2 3600+ or 3800+
For HDD recommend at least 2x 320GB SATA for us photographers.

mmm... how is the performance of the AMD X2 3600+ and 3800+, if i use it mainly for ps and msoffice apps?

i tot abt getting an AMD system acutally, and i could make quite significant savings, but i dunno how good are them now.. used to be using athlon 1800+ xp and they were great back then ;p
 

Actually I was tempted to build a new system as well... But yesterday when I visited SLS, the mac looks so tempting. Better than a windows system.
 

Actually I was tempted to build a new system as well... But yesterday when I visited SLS, the mac looks so tempting. Better than a windows system.

:nono: nonono, you are not going to start a wintosh macdow war here.
 

haha... sorry... That is not intentional. I am not a Mac user in any case.

Do you really need to invest in QC? I'm sorry but between the price of a C2D and QC, I'd think I'd keep to former for the moment. New processors are always extravagant in price.
 

how about waiting for AMD upcoming quad core Opteron processors,scheduled for launch on September 10th.
 

haha... sorry... That is not intentional. I am not a Mac user in any case.

Do you really need to invest in QC? I'm sorry but between the price of a C2D and QC, I'd think I'd keep to former for the moment. New processors are always extravagant in price.

actually not really leh... there is a difference in price between the C2D and QC, but the difference is not a giant one..

the highest end C2D 6850 is in fact the same price as a QC6600(the low end of QC). As for the lower end of the C2D - C2D 6550, the QC6600 is about $170-180 more. In a way, less than $200 more and u can get 2 more cores to work with, its quite worth it in a sense rite?

of course unless u are getting QX6850, the quad core extreme, which is selling at $1700+++ prices, then thats a different story... that is too expensive.
 

how about waiting for AMD upcoming quad core Opteron processors,scheduled for launch on September 10th.

well........the problem was that i was planning to build my com a few months ago, and someone asked me to wait for intel's quad core.:confused:


but, then again, haha, i'm not really a fan of amd.:bsmilie:
 

For me, I don't pump my $$$ into processor technology. Will settle for probably E4500. But will spend more on ram if necessary. Especially when my home centrino mobile is working faster than my workplace duo core with higher clockspeed. Haha.
 

well........the problem was that i was planning to build my com a few months ago, and someone asked me to wait for intel's quad core.:confused:


but, then again, haha, i'm not really a fan of amd.:bsmilie:

hahhaha...if u were a user of the amd's athlon xp series, i believe u will still have faith in amd now... ;p
 

mmm... how is the performance of the AMD X2 3600+ and 3800+, if i use it mainly for ps and msoffice apps?

i tot abt getting an AMD system acutally, and i could make quite significant savings, but i dunno how good are them now.. used to be using athlon 1800+ xp and they were great back then ;p
if you want to consider 3600 or 3800, might as well take intel c2d e2160 or something, recently hardware zone just came out with a review of the overclocking ability... they managed to run it at about 180-190%+ of the original speed with air-cooling (probably need to get a better fan than the stock)

performance wise, it beat the e6850 by a little in some test. :thumbsup:

fyi that processor cost about $150 only... :thumbsup:

http://hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?cid=2&id=2332
 

ok. can sense we are building up a hardwarezone version of the canon and nikon war. let's try not to reach that stage since like the canon and nikon war, it oftens lead to nowhere. but since kcuf and me more or less settled on intel, maybe let's build the rest of our system from there?:)


btw, anyone has links to comparisions between the QXXXX and the duo cores? interested to see if i can maybe lower my cpu to gain funds for a better graphic card. (or a nicer casing:lovegrin:)
 

Hi guys:).

Lately, my 5yo com is starting to be erratic. Guess it's time to build a new com.

currently, i'm having problems deciding which to shift funds to. should i get a Q6600 with a 8600GT, or get a poorer processor with 8800GTS? i'm not a avivd gamer, but i do sometimes play the latest games like CC3 or hitman contracts(which sadly, was impossible to play on my FX5600 card, at 1fps:what:. should be able to play with a 8600GT card right?).

i posted this thread here because it is regarding photoshop performance. i do PS more than gaming, so i give more priority to it. would a quad core processor be more benificial to ps or a high end graphics card? or should everything be balanced?

thanks in advance!:D

From what i know now, amd processor is still the best bang for money, if you dun overclock.

For graphic card, x1950pro is value for money. 256mb for 20in LCD, 512mb for LCD above 20in.

Photoshop wise, ram is more impt, either amd or intel is fine.

So i suggest a AMD processor, X4000+, 1GB x 2 of DDR2-667 ram mininium, x1950pro 256mb graphic card, 430watt of PSU.

DDR2 ram is cheaper because its the more common now, DDR production has stopped, however demand is still quite high, therefore the high price.

intel budget sytem
http://forums.hardwarezone.com/showthread.php?t=1355868&highlight=x1900xt

amd budget system
http://forums.hardwarezone.com/showthread.php?t=1354427

HWZ buyer guide
http://forums.hardwarezone.com/showthread.php?t=1093205

All these are rough guide, it depends on your budget.
YMMV.
 

Yep no way we should start a silly AMD/Intel fanboi war.
I DIY-ed 3 systems last year - 1 x AMD, 2 x Intel. My builds were based power consumption, price and reliability - that means no top end processor, graphics and no overclocking.
Overall I felt Intel better for games and AMD better for applications, no benchmark done, just based on long usage so its not scientific.

I Chose Intel's E6300 and E6400 (2MB cache) with 2GB DDR667/800. AMD X2 3600+ (2x256kb cache) with 1GB DDR533. Low power consumption processors @ 65W. Note that L2 Cache is not everything, its how efficient the memory controller is, wont go into details as it will stir a controversy.
The difference between AMD 3600 and 3800 is 0.1GHz (1.9 vs 2.0).
Graphics: NVidia 7600GT and 7900GS.
When choosing processor I calculate 'price per GHz' much like 'price per GB' for HDD. Get one at optimum price point.
I doubt any programs support quadcore at the moment, some games perhaps soon. And they are all power hungry even the upcoming AMD Barcelona.

Reliable motherboard choice is another big headache! I'm using Abit and GigaByte.

Next question is: "What OS will you be using"
I wont touch Vista til they patch it, too many hardware and software I use dont support Vista, so its XP for me. This will affect the graphics platform you choose. Vista = DirectX 10, XP = DirectX 9.0c.
Most power efficient DX10 is the 8600GT, for gaming heavy at least a 8600GTS. The ATI 2600XT is giving the 8600GT a run for its money at <S$200

Frankly, get a mid-range processor, it will last you 3 years and save $$ for more glass and less grass. AMD and Intel have been lowering prices like crazy for the last 1 year, sound familiar in camera land? Again we benefit as customers.
My recommendation: Intel for laptops (pwned), AMD for desktops.
I was a PC nerd before a DSLR nerd. That makes 2 expensive hobbies. :bsmilie:

http://techreport.com/articles.x/12872
http://techreport.com/articles.x/12808
http://techreport.com/articles.x/12772
http://techreport.com/articles.x/12091
 

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