New PC - Need Some Advice

[NovaSphere]

For a basic case the Antec 300 looks quite good. (anyone know much about this one?)
Add in a corasir VX 550w Power supply
this appears to be a OEM unit for €60 excludeing BTW

The case is an ok one, it's the earlier version of that Antec Nine Hundred with all those huge fans, I first wanted to buy the Nine Hundred but than ran into the Sonata which looked fine and included a 500W PSU, which would mean I saved some money by buying that instead of a PC case and a seperate PSU.
I've seen some reviews about the Nine Hundred though, aswell as the Three Hundred, the Nine Hundred seems to me a nice case with extreme air flow, but also it takes a lot of dust. The Three Hundred is an earlier version without the big fans.
I must say though, the case(s) look better on the picture of the store than they do on the photo's they show at the reviews. But that's maybe just me.

I've changed my setup a bit;

1. Motherboard - Asus P5Q Pro

2. Processor - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 "Wolfdale"

3. Graphic Card - Asus EN9800GTX TOP/HTDP/512M (It's partly OC'ed, normally wouldn't take it as you can OC it yourself, but it only cost 4 euro more than the stock one, and I never OC'ed something before in my life, so that didn't matter that much)

4. Memory - Corsair 2GB XMS2-6400 DDR2 TWIN2X (4 4 4 12)

5. Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB 32MB Cache SATA2

6. PC Case & PSU - Antec Sonata III Quiet Super 500W

Adding to that an extra PC Fan - Antec TriCool Fan 120mm

7. Monitor - Benq G2200WA 22" 1680x1050

Or the - Asus VW202SR 20" 1680x1050

Or the - Iiyama ProLite E2003WSV-B1 20" 1680x1050


I've changed the Motherboard and choose a bigger/better HD, I think I'll stick to this RAM for now, I might buy another 2 GB later on.
This setup will cost arround 833 euro, still at the same shop, which leaves me some money to maybe still change some things. I'm going to look into some monitors also now, don't really know much about that either, but I guess looking for reviews wouldn't hurt.

Thanks again for all the nice replies.

PS: Only thing was now, with this new HD, it said it used NCQ, whatever that might mean, some sites said the Asus P5Q Pro supported this, others never mentioned it, so I'm not 100% sure that would work, but going to look into that a bit more today.

[Zhaoman]

how much are you paying for your 9800GTX? it should be around 200 euro, if it isn't wait 2 weeks and it should be less than 200 euro. Also your motherboard allows CrossFire which suggests an hd4850 might be a better choice, in future you can just buy another one and get the performance of a GTX280. everything else looks perfect!

[NovaSphere]

how much are you paying for your 9800GTX? it should be around 200 euro, if it isn't wait 2 weeks and it should be less than 200 euro. Also your motherboard allows CrossFire which suggests an hd4850 might be a better choice, in future you can just buy another one and get the performance of a GTX280. everything else looks perfect!

The current price for the 9800GTX TOP is 256 euro, while the 9800GTX retail costs 249 euro, I don't really mind that 7 extra euro for a little OC'ed extra (though you can do it yourself, that little difference doesn't really matter)
But yes I will wait a bit, I'm going on a holiday soon and depending on the weather, I'll be away for 1 or 2 weeks, after that I'm going to buy everything, hopefully by that time the prices have dropped a bit.

Anyone has some info about those Monitors? They all are a bit the same, just the Contrast Proportion and response times differ a bit and some other things like "so-called-fancy-extra's" and certificates.

This just came to my mind btw, what OS would be the smartest to run? Windows XP Home 32-bit, Windows XP Pro 32-bit aswell I believe, or getting Windows Vista? Would it really make a big difference when running either of those 2 OS?

I just saw on the site I'm buying from, they decreased the price of the ASUS GTX 260 Retail with over 40 euro, it's comming in on 257 euro, this is 1 euro more than the Asus 9800 GTX TOP, but what's 1 euro?
Now another question is, is it smarter going for the Asus 9800 GTX TOP or going for the Asus GTX 260?
I guess the GTX 260 is better, but will my original setup be able to handle this card when it comes to Power etc.?

[NovaSphere]

Sorry for the double post but this is a bump inside a post ^^

For the convience;

The setup I have at this moment + all the doubts;

1. Motherboard - Asus P5Q Pro

2. Processor - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 "Wolfdale"

3. Graphic Card - Asus EN9800GTX TOP/HTDP/512M

Or the - Asus GeForce ENGTX260

4. Memory - Corsair 2GB XMS2-6400 DDR2 TWIN2X (4 4 4 12)

5. Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB 32MB Cache SATA2

6. PC Case & PSU - Antec Sonata III Quiet Super 500W

Adding to that an extra PC Fan - Antec TriCool Fan 120mm

7. Monitor - Asus VW202SR 20" 1680x1050

Or the - Iiyama ProLite E2003WSV-B1 20" 1680x1050

---------------------

This is everything I have in mind at this moment, my doubt is with the Graphic Card, as the GTX 260 has just been decreased in price, it's very close to the same price as the 9800GTX TOP version.
Which of the two would be better? My guess is the GTX 260, but will my setup be able to handle that card, will my Power supply be enough etc?

I'm still looking into monitors, those two are my choice at the moment, still looking.

When looking at OS, does it matter what OS I would be running? Will running XP Home/XP Pro differ from performance when comparing it with running Vista?

My main concern is still; is this new setup choice, with the GTX 260 capable of running smoothly? Or will I encounter 'possible' problems. As stated above, enough Power? Enough room? Enough ventilation?

Also what are any good 'pastes', like cooling pastes? From what I've read the ones that come standard with the package aren't that good and ussualy get messy?

Thanks to anyone who can answer any of those questions ^^

[NovaSphere]

Sorry for the double post but this is a bump inside a post ^^

For the convience;

The setup I have at this moment + all the doubts;

1. Motherboard - Asus P5Q Pro

2. Processor - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 "Wolfdale"

3. Graphic Card - Asus EN9800GTX TOP/HTDP/512M

Or the - Asus GeForce ENGTX260

4. Memory - Corsair 2GB XMS2-6400 DDR2 TWIN2X (4 4 4 12)

5. Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB 32MB Cache SATA2

6. PC Case & PSU - Antec Sonata III Quiet Super 500W

Adding to that an extra PC Fan - Antec TriCool Fan 120mm

7. Monitor - Asus VW202SR 20" 1680x1050

Or the - Iiyama ProLite E2003WSV-B1 20" 1680x1050

---------------------

This is everything I have in mind at this moment, my doubt is with the Graphic Card, as the GTX 260 has just been decreased in price, it's very close to the same price as the 9800GTX TOP version.
Which of the two would be better? My guess is the GTX 260, but will my setup be able to handle that card, will my Power supply be enough etc?

I'm still looking into monitors, those two are my choice at the moment, still looking.

When looking at OS, does it matter what OS I would be running? Will running XP Home/XP Pro differ from performance when comparing it with running Vista?

My main concern is still; is this new setup choice, with the GTX 260 capable of running smoothly? Or will I encounter 'possible' problems. As stated above, enough Power? Enough room? Enough ventilation?

Also what are any good 'pastes', like cooling pastes? From what I've read the ones that come standard with the package aren't that good and ussualy get messy?

Thanks to anyone who can answer any of those questions ^^

Small bump for my last questions ^^

[un1d3n]

I would go ahead and go for 4 gigs, ram is so cheap nowadays...

[Pob255]

if the gtx 260 is as cheap as the 9800gtx then go for the 260
Although I would seriously consider the ati HD4870, it should be cheaper than both preform around the same level as the 9800gtx which will leave you extra money to put someware else.
There's not a massive differnce between xp and vista 32bit versions, vista looks pritty and is needed for dx10. (although if you're used to xp trying to find things in vista is a pain.)
However if you can get it vista 64bit is what you want to go for, the reason is that that 32bit OS can only make use of 4gb, under 4gb, to be exact 3 and a bit gb (to save arguement)

Don't really know enough about monitors esp larger ones, general advice would be

22" rather than 20" (same resolution but larger is nice)

Check the brands warranty, 3year is common, "on-site" is better than "return to base" basically; on-site, they send out a courier to give you a new one and collect the old one. Return To Base, you have to ship it to them at your expense.

Faster response and higher contrast is good, but beware they lie! as with other things there are ways they can clame higher/lower numbers than is actually the case. however 5ms response fine, as is 1000:1 contrast. extra is a bonus but not vital.

You can always try going to a computer shop or electrical shop (in the UK we have PC world and Curries and such) don't go to buy but to have a looks at them and see what you think.


P.S.
I looked up the antec 300 gamer, seems to be Newer than the 900 (note there is an older antec 300 slimline, but thats a totally differnt case)
It looks like a smaller simpler version of the 900, it does have the same 120mm+140mm rear+top fan combo as the 900, slots for 2x120mm front and 1x120mm side fan (although the fans are not supplied unlike the 900)
So the cooling is the same, just smaller inside and no removeable drive bays. (although one review said a 8800gts just fits inside so a 9800gtx might be very tight)

P.P.S.
The PSU in the Sonata is an Antec Earthwatts 500w, which is made by seasonic, it's a decent PSU if a little plane looking.
It should be enough to power your PC with the parts you listed.

[NovaSphere]

if the gtx 260 is as cheap as the 9800gtx then go for the 260
Although I would seriously consider the ati HD4870, it should be cheaper than both preform around the same level as the 9800gtx which will leave you extra money to put someware else.
There's not a massive differnce between xp and vista 32bit versions, vista looks pritty and is needed for dx10. (although if you're used to xp trying to find things in vista is a pain.)
However if you can get it vista 64bit is what you want to go for, the reason is that that 32bit OS can only make use of 4gb, under 4gb, to be exact 3 and a bit gb (to save arguement)

Don't really know enough about monitors esp larger ones, general advice would be

22" rather than 20" (same resolution but larger is nice)

Check the brands warranty, 3year is common, "on-site" is better than "return to base" basically; on-site, they send out a courier to give you a new one and collect the old one. Return To Base, you have to ship it to them at your expense.

Faster response and higher contrast is good, but beware they lie! as with other things there are ways they can clame higher/lower numbers than is actually the case. however 5ms response fine, as is 1000:1 contrast. extra is a bonus but not vital.

You can always try going to a computer shop or electrical shop (in the UK we have PC world and Curries and such) don't go to buy but to have a looks at them and see what you think.


P.S.
I looked up the antec 300 gamer, seems to be Newer than the 900 (note there is an older antec 300 slimline, but thats a totally differnt case)
It looks like a smaller simpler version of the 900, it does have the same 120mm+140mm rear+top fan combo as the 900, slots for 2x120mm front and 1x120mm side fan (although the fans are not supplied unlike the 900)
So the cooling is the same, just smaller inside and no removeable drive bays. (although one review said a 8800gts just fits inside so a 9800gtx might be very tight)

P.P.S.
The PSU in the Sonata is an Antec Earthwatts 500w, which is made by seasonic, it's a decent PSU if a little plane looking.
It should be enough to power your PC with the parts you listed.

Thank you very much for this reply.

I think I will stick with XP for now than, hence I don't have Vista myself, if I ever get Vista I'll also get another 2 GB of RAM.
Just a side note from what I've seen, Vista recently got an update, Service Pack 1, this way the 32-bit version sees more than the 3.034GB it normally shows, it shows the full 4 GB RAM now, I don't know if it shows more than that.

Thanks again, I will look into the Monitors a bit more.

[Noxvayl]

Thank you very much for this reply.

I think I will stick with XP for now than, hence I don't have Vista myself, if I ever get Vista I'll also get another 2 GB of RAM.
Just a side note from what I've seen, Vista recently got an update, Service Pack 1, this way the 32-bit version sees more than the 3.034GB it normally shows, it shows the full 4 GB RAM now, I don't know if it shows more than that.

Thanks again, I will look into the Monitors a bit more.

That's impossible. 32bit operating system CAN NOT read more than 3.25Gb of memory because its not able to allocate more memory then that. Its a restriction of 32bit processes not a silly bit of code that can be changed. You have to have 64bit in order to use 4Gb of memory.

As for Vista vs XP... Vista is FAR better. Vista has better memory processing to make programs and general moving around vista smoother and faster than on XP. Vista also uses DX10 which is required if you enjoy gaming because its far better than DX9(don't kid yourself saying there isn't much difference because there is ). Vista has better file management which helps keep derfraging at bay as well as aiding anti-virus software find viruses easier. Windows built in protection has been revamped with an improved firewall and windows defender which combine to keep hackers out as well as spyware and generally unwanted software.

I could go on about more reasons that Vista is an improvement over XP. Vista just doesn't boast about everything it does. It just does it, does it well and no-one ever notices. I'd get vista 64bit even if I only had 2Gb of memory

[NovaSphere]

That's impossible. 32bit operating system CAN NOT read more than 3.25Gb of memory because its not able to allocate more memory then that. Its a restriction of 32bit processes not a silly bit of code that can be changed. You have to have 64bit in order to use 4Gb of memory.

As for Vista vs XP... Vista is FAR better. Vista has better memory processing to make programs and general moving around vista smoother and faster than on XP. Vista also uses DX10 which is required if you enjoy gaming because its far better than DX9(don't kid yourself saying there isn't much difference because there is ). Vista has better file management which helps keep derfraging at bay as well as aiding anti-virus software find viruses easier. Windows built in protection has been revamped with an improved firewall and windows defender which combine to keep hackers out as well as spyware and generally unwanted software.

I could go on about more reasons that Vista is an improvement over XP. Vista just doesn't boast about everything it does. It just does it, does it well and no-one ever notices. I'd get vista 64bit even if I only had 2Gb of memory

Hmm, ok I'll believe you on that RAM thing than, but I'll try to get a screenshot of his OS and his RAM, maybe I was wrong, I'm curious now ^^
Guess I have to look into getting Vista than aswell, ah well, never tried is always a miss.

[NovaSphere]

That's impossible. 32bit operating system CAN NOT read more than 3.25Gb of memory because its not able to allocate more memory then that. Its a restriction of 32bit processes not a silly bit of code that can be changed. You have to have 64bit in order to use 4Gb of memory.

I've asked him, he recently bought a new laptop which had a pre-installed Windows Vista on it, without any updates though, this is how it looked when he just got it, this is the screen he send to me on MSN; (hid a few things for his privacy ^^)



Now after he updated Vista, to Service Pack 1 as I recall, the information screen shows this;


Now I don't doubt what you are saying though, since I've heard a few more people say it =p
Just howcome his system does suddenly see the 4 GB of RAM? Or is it just that the system sees the RAM but won't use it? Just asking this out of curiousity =)

About my setup, I think I found everything I think, I've chosen for the GTX 260 for now, when it comes to the monitors I'm still looking a bit, but I've found a Samsung Monitor 20" which looks promising.

Might be I'll be back with some more questions, and else you might see me in 2 weeks when I order everything (or prices dropped so much I'm able to upgrade something) and start to build the system, might run into some problems ^^

Once again thanks for all the suggestions, advices and good care!