Building rig

[OtterFox]

OPTION A

$120-Athlon 64 3000+

$100-AM2 mobo

$120-2*512 of the cheapest ram

$230-7600GT

$175-320GB HDD

$070-case and PSU off trademe

$815=total option A

OPTION B

$170-Intel Pentium D 805 2.6GHz Dual Core(upgrade to conroe later and buy a HSF)

$250-LGA755 mobo(a good one for that $$)

$230-2*512=1GB Corsair Value Select Dual Channel memory kit

$230-7600GT(until 8600GT comes out)

$175-320GB HDD

$150-PSU

$050-case

$1255=total option B

note-prices in NZ dollars

Wrong with my current rig you ask? Well first, it isnt mine its Dad's and... my Dad has become a control freak and I now have a limited account. I also want my own rig because I want to be able to play games, code, ect all holidays(NZ holidays have prety much started) instead of just afternoons(not allowed on in morning) and then I can take it to mates houses and play with him.

-Option A would be until halfway through next year when I would build something about the price of option B. Then I could turn it into a linux box, file server or a media center(then sell to Dad maybe because he just burns DVDs at the moment. expected gaming life 1 year.

-Option B would be upgraded until its not economical to upgrade when it to would become a linux box or server expected gaming life, 2-3 years(with upgrades).

I also intend to buy a cheap laptop sometime in the first half to next year and just use it for Linux.

I have $400 now and when exams are finished in two weeks I can earn $100 a week.

edit: Please post any other ideas and why you voted for each option.

[omega_ion]

I'd go with Option A, but possibly with less harddrive space to save money. Will you really store 300+ GB of files within a year? If not, you could get away with 240 or even 160 depending how games/files you're going to store on it. I currently have a media box with a 160 gig drive and a 60 gig drive and I have way more than enough storage to store my shows. Just my thoughts.

[OtterFox]

I'd go with Option A, but possibly with less harddrive space to save money. Will you really store 300+ GB of files within a year? If not, you could get away with 240 or even 160 depending how games/files you're going to store on it. I currently have a media box with a 160 gig drive and a 60 gig drive and I have way more than enough storage to store my shows. Just my thoughts.

Yes that does make sense but with HDDs being so cheap wouldn't it be best to go for a bigger one and not need to buy a new one for a server? My other plan was to buy a cheap 2nd hand 40GB HDD but that costs $50! Thats about >100c per GB as apposed to <50c a GB for the big HDDs?

[omega_ion]

I suggested to save money on the harddrive now so you have more money to spend next year. If you think you need the storage, go big, but don't go big just because its cheaper per GB, its a waste if you don't need it. Also, I wouldn't trust a second-hand drive because it would be older and have seen more action, making it more prone to fail.

One other suggestion, don't get a Pentium D, go right for a Core 2 Duo (just a comment on Option B is you end up going down that path)

[Spartain X]

I'd go with Option A, but possibly with less harddrive space to save money. Will you really store 300+ GB of files within a year? If not, you could get away with 240 or even 160 depending how games/files you're going to store on it. I currently have a media box with a 160 gig drive and a 60 gig drive and I have way more than enough storage to store my shows. Just my thoughts.

it's surprising how much space people are needing each year. i for example have a 250gb + 160gb + 120gb and several >80gb drives. this is mainly for back up but for a desktop you are probably pushing it if you are going greater that 300 unless you are mounting several games to virtual drive, editing video's or have a huge media collection or other high storage tasks :D

[OtterFox]

So a 120GB then?

[omega_ion]

That's what I have on my main desktop, and its served me fine for almost 2 years now. Plus if there are files you need to archive you can always burn them to a DVD or CD.

[cooper]

I've run *years* on 2 16GB SCSI harddisks. The only real trick to it is to prioritize, move shit onto DVD whenever you can and be aware of where your storage went. I didn't see a DVD writer in your list, so add one or have an alternative to it.

I too wouldn't invest in harddisks since you don't need the space yet. By the time you do need it capacities may have increased, and the price of a single drive will almost certainly have fallen. The trick to excellent harddisk performance is to have LOTS of them. So get a small-ish one now, and buy more of them as time goes by.

I would also suggest against the idea of Option A that you should get a case with PSU. Those PSUs are dirt cheap for a reason. Get a cheap-ass case (check out the Sharkoon Rebel) and add your own quality PSU. Getting a brand one doesn't add _that_ much to the price, but can make all the difference in terms of stability as well as upgradability. Make sure it has lots of SATA power plugs.

Try to get the stuff that tends to retain its value well (cheap case, cheap RAM, quality PSU) off of eBay (or your local equivalent thereof) for an extra saving.

[VaKo]

Option A: You can't afford a Core 2 Duo by the sound of it.

[uber_tom]

hmmmm do i want a 486dx4 100 or a p60?

[renegadecanuck]

I'd have ot go with option A, just for the simple fact that you mentioned you wanted to play games.

Pentium D's aren't good for gamings, and I have yet to hear an acceptable reason for going dual core with gaming. Unless you want to burn DVDs or host servers while playing games, I can't see the point in going dual core as of yet. Video games still do not support multiple processors or dual core CPUs (and I'm not sure they will), so you're paying for a 5.2 GHz (give or take a few bucks) CPU, but getting a 2.6 GHz when it comes to actual games.

Correct me if video games CAN use both cores, and it DOES increase performance, but I have yet to see sufficient evidence to prove so to me.

[omega_ion]

I'd have ot go with option A, just for the simple fact that you mentioned you wanted to play games.

Pentium D's aren't good for gamings, and I have yet to hear an acceptable reason for going dual core with gaming. Unless you want to burn DVDs or host servers while playing games, I can't see the point in going dual core as of yet. Video games still do not support multiple processors or dual core CPUs (and I'm not sure they will), so you're paying for a 5.2 GHz (give or take a few bucks) CPU, but getting a 2.6 GHz when it comes to actual games.

Correct me if video games CAN use both cores, and it DOES increase performance, but I have yet to see sufficient evidence to prove so to me.

Well regarding dual-core gaming, Valve recently released a patch for the Source engine to take advantage of the dual-coreiness right before the launch on the Core 2 Duo. Personsally ,I just don't think Pentium D is the way to go dual-core, Core 2 Duo is better.

[OtterFox]

Option A: You can't afford a Core 2 Duo by the sound of it.

Nope not really. Even if I did work extra hours from 1800-0030 last nite :)

Yep Cooper Im going to buy a DVD writer as soon as Ive brought the computer. The advice about the PSU was great, I had a look and yes there are some reasonable PSUs going at quite good prices, BTW I dont think we have any Sharkoon Rebels in NZ :( they look cool though.

As for HDDs Im going for a WD 160GB HDD for $90 which works out to be quite good value per GB and I have also seen people recommending it quite a bit.

renegadecanuck I did read somewere (maybe anandtech) that playing oblivion with a dual core increases performance somewhat.

[cooper]

DO NOT I repeat DO NOT go with a standard Western Digital drive when your intention is to end up with a multi-disk setup that is comprised of more than 2 WD drives, unless you specifically bought the Raid Edition.

My original idea for my massive fileserver (12x 200gb WD in RAID6 = 2TB) failed miserably because after a while a drive (which one was totally random) would just, out of the blue, shut off.

I opened a technical support issue with WD that lasted for about 3 months and all the time the only advice they could give me was to get the RE drives that are specifically intended to be used in a RAID setup.

So I followed their advice and bought some PROPER drives. 10 Seagate Barracuda ES's. Probably not what the WD techs had in mind, but I felt screwed over. I can understand the performance of a desktop drive not being as good in a RAID setup as it's not really what it's designed to do, but just out of the blue shutting down?

So please do yourself a favor and buy either the RE model, or a different brand. The Samsung Spinpoints tend to offer better size for money ratios.

[OtterFox]

Ahh right...*goes searching www.pricespy.co.nz* 160/250GB samsung, that's a nice speedy HDD, which one?

http://www23.tomshardware.com/storage.html...74&chart=49

[OtterFox]

Just did some looking at PSUs and all the different voltage rails and the amps stuff confuses me :? I know that I need about 20A+ but to get that 24A would 8A over triple 12V rails be the same? I also hear that dual rails have some compadiablilty issues, is this true? What about the 3.3V and 5V rails, that do I need to look for there? Can anyone recommend me some PSUs?

Also Ive decided to go for a $120 motherboard so i get 4 SATA connecters, and $80*2=$140 for the RAM and go for the cheapest RAM that I could find that has a brand name that Ive heard of...GeIL, to avoid incompadiablility issues.

edit: Yea I am going for option A

edit...again: dont worry about the rails thing I understand that now. I still need recommendations though

[VaKo]

My PSU cost £15 from a store run by a Nigerian who spoke little English, and its never been problematic.

[LiquidSpikes]

Yeah get option A.

but I wouldn't waste my money on the old Athlon 64, get the Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 3800+ Processor...its only $30 more

:D http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...TC-pr1c3grabb3r

[omega_ion]

Would anyone who voted for option B explain why? Unless you didn't put thought into your vote.

[renegadecanuck]

I'd have ot go with option A, just for the simple fact that you mentioned you wanted to play games.

Pentium D's aren't good for gamings, and I have yet to hear an acceptable reason for going dual core with gaming. Unless you want to burn DVDs or host servers while playing games, I can't see the point in going dual core as of yet. Video games still do not support multiple processors or dual core CPUs (and I'm not sure they will), so you're paying for a 5.2 GHz (give or take a few bucks) CPU, but getting a 2.6 GHz when it comes to actual games.

Correct me if video games CAN use both cores, and it DOES increase performance, but I have yet to see sufficient evidence to prove so to me.

Well regarding dual-core gaming, Valve recently released a patch for the Source engine to take advantage of the dual-coreiness right before the launch on the Core 2 Duo. Personsally ,I just don't think Pentium D is the way to go dual-core, Core 2 Duo is better.

Ok, do so far I know of Splintercell and Half-Life 2 that support dual core... I still think a good single core would be better for gaming because it's gonna be a while until all games support it. Until then, you've got games you can't play because they detect a 2.4 GHz, not a 2.4 x2

P.S. I have an Antec True Power 2, and it works flawlessly.

[OtterFox]

Hey guys I have it... Its mid way between both...

CPU $146 Intel Pentium 4 524 3.06GHz Socket 775-will replace later with a core duo 2 CPU, also buy a proper HSF later too

MoBo $219 Gigabyte GA-965P-S3 Intel P965-Same features as Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 but without solid capacitors

RAM $150 ADATA 512MB DDR2 533 DIMM Memory-Buying 2 separate 512MB DIMMs for $85 each to make up 1GB

Graphics $153 7300GT 256MB DDR3-Ill buy a 8800GT when they come out(until then will be overclocked

HDD $250 Samsung 250GB 7200rpm SATA-Great performance, very speedy, good price too

PSU/case $85 Raidmax Elite 208 Case, 420W PSU-Looks good* will upgarde to a proper PSU later

Total $1,003!!

Its not as fast but I can upgrade it when I have some more money...I still have to buy games to play on it too anyway lol, and some T-Shirts from www.jinx.com

[renegadecanuck]

Just so you know, 85*2 (memory) is 170, not 150.

Oh and I wouldn't recommend raidmax cases. Maybe it was only the model I bought, but they're not the best. I bought a Scorpio (or w/e it's called) a few years back, within two months the lights died. My firend bought hte same model, same problem.

[Rab]

i dont like the idea of 'with intention to upgrade later' coz in the end thats gonna cost u more.

looks like ur spending too much on hdd.

buy a good power supply to start with, or you'll have to upgrade everything that melts!

and a p4HT should be just fine. this is better than the other builds.

[OtterFox]

Just so you know, 85*2 (memory) is 170, not 150.

Oh and I wouldn't recommend raidmax cases. Maybe it was only the model I bought, but they're not the best. I bought a Scorpio (or w/e it's called) a few years back, within two months the lights died. My firend bought hte same model, same problem.

The raidmax case Im looking at doesnt have any lights. But, I found a nice PSU in Aussie and will get it shiped over the ditch.

Antec Neo HE (http://www.antec.com/us/pro_p_NeoHE.html) Neo HE 500 (http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=28500) 500w

Ohh and that HDD thing was a miscalculation its achualy $150, same with the RAM it is $170 :)

I cant get a 7300GT 256MB DDR3 RAM in NZ but I can get a 7600GS 256MB DDR3 in NZ for just a little bit more.