Advice on building up a new rig please

[Bharat]

My first post here, so if it's in the wrong section, apologies to the Mods and everyone else (please move to the relevant section - Thanks !).

I currently have this system, since around 2003/2004 :

CPU: Intel P4 C1 2.4GHz @ 3.15GHz
Motherboard: ASUS P4PE/LAN/Sound
Memory: 512 MB of Corsair PC3500 XMS
Video Card: MSI MSI GF Ti4200 128MB DDR nVidia GeForce Ti4200
Hard Drive: Western Digital Cavair SE 250GB
Monitor: ViewSonic E70f+
CDROM Manufacturer & Model: LG 52x
DVD Manufacturer & Model: Pioneer DVR-107
CDR/CDRW Manufacturer & Model: LiteOn 48246S - 48x24x48x
Sound Card: Creative Audigy 2 (On board SoundMax disabled)
Operating System: Windows XP Professional
Other Components: Enermax EG365AX-VE(G)(W) FMA PSU (Active PFC Series)
Alpha8942 Heatsink, using Thermatake TT8025A-2B
+ 1 Chassis fan (Y.S Tech 80mm)
+ 1 System blower

The system has been great, but in the last year or so, it has struggled a bit in gaming performance, as I would expect it to be.

So I'm now considering building a new one. This will be my main PC, with more of a gaming base, but at the same time, stability is of utmost importance, as I will use it for everyday work as well.

However, this time, I'd like to have a quieter system, as I've had to leave the side panel off, and use a desk fan pointing at the PC to keep things cool

I've been an Intel person primarily because of the stability and heat issues that used to plague AMD. But off late, I have read that things have improved ?

I will be looking to have 2GB of RAM. What brand is recommended nowadays?

If possible, I will try and use the existing 250GB IDE drive, or maybe just buy a smaller S-ATA drive, as I have another 250GB external drive anyway. Not been too impressed with S-ATA technology in the 4-5 PCs I have built recently.

So this is where I need your help/advice.

I need suggestions for a platform, motherboard, CPU and graphics/sound card, please. Thanks in advance.

[Nox]

Depends on your budget

Nox

[Nobuo]

Think you're in the right section.

These days I've learned it's accepted that while Intel CPUs are a bit better at desktop stuff, AMD are miles ahead in terms of gaming performance. It's a general rule obviously, but it's one that won't steer you far wrong.

If you want a quiet system I wouldn't overclock the CPU as much as you have done on your old machine. While we're on that subject, have you tried adding another stick of 512 RAM in there? It would would be a cheap upgrade for a nice gain in performance, I'd imagine. Anyway for your new machine 2GB RAM is a good idea if it's for gaming, as that's one of the only times where 1GB isn't always sufficient. Good brands are Corsair, Crucial and Kingston, I think. I like Corsair myself. In any case, avoid budget stuff like the plague.

I like ATI GPUs myself, but this is purely fanboyism. Nvidia's software is much nicer though, I'll tell you that much. I'll let someone else recommend a model. For the SPU it kinda depends what you want, if you're just looking to take some strain off the CPU then that Audigy 2 should be fine, but if awesome performance is what you're after I've heard that X-Fi thing is meant to be impressive.

[Bharat]

Thanks for the quick reply guys.

Didn't mention a budget as I'm not sure how much hardware I'll end up changing. But let's say about the £350-£400 mark ?

Have been thinking of getting a new case as well. Do I NEED a new one ? Not sure !

I've just placed an order for 15 Biostar Ideq based Cube PCs for where I'm working currently, and was quite tempted to get one for myself, but I know for my usage, it would not be a sensible option.

I did consider adding some RAM, but I've got concerns that the PC may struggle with temperature issues this summer, as it has done for the last 2 summers. The only way out would be drop the overclocking and take it back to stock performance.

Hence the idea of building a new system really. Probably won't be overclocking heavily, as I would really like my room (and the house in general, considering I've got 3 overclocked PCs !) to be a bit quieter....

[Bharat]

How about these bits for a starter ?

A8N-SLI SE

OR

DFI LANParty nForce4 SLI-DR EXPERT (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ / 2.2 GHz - Socket 939 - L2 1 MB - Box

OR

AMD Opteron 148 2.2 GHz - Socket 939 - L2 1 MB - Box

Or go for Intel platform ?

Asus P5N32-SLi Deluxe nForce4 Socket 775 PCI-Express Motherboard

OR

ASUS AiLife Series P5WD2 Premium - Mainboard - ATX - i955X - LGA775

Intel Pentium D 930 3 GHz ( 800 MHz ) Dual-Core - LGA775

Enermax Liberty Series Power Supply Retail Boxed - ELT500AWT (500 Watt)

OR

Tagan TG480-U15 Easycon Modular 480W ATX PSU

Thermaltake Matrix VX VD3000BWA


Not sure about the memory. Do the AMD solutions use DDR instead of DDR2 ?

[nvening]

If you are after a case get the antec p180, great cooling and very quiet.

The opterons were OC like crazy but i dont know what the new ones are like. You will also probably need a new PSU but keeping your HDD/ CD drives is fine.

BTW Heat issues now plague intel but conre will save them from the firey pits of hell.

[Nox]

I think to get a have decent noticable improvement out of your system, you will need to spend a bit more, or oddly, a bit less.

Either ugprade the ram and the GFX card, leaving the rest 'as is', up to a series 6 nvidia card and 1GB

or

look at going the whole hog and a skt 939 system, mobo £60-70, opteron 146 - £100, memory £100-£150, gfx card, well try and find a cheap (lol) 7900GT, failing that a 7600, and to top it all off, you'll probably need a new PSU.

ie, over budget. Anything less and I think you'll be left wondering why you bothered...

Nox

[Bharat]

Nvening : Cheers for the Antec suggestion. Read some very good reviews about it. Will probably go for that, unless I find something as good or better from another manufacturer.

Nox : Well, I have considered both options for a while now, and I strongly feel that I have to just go ahead and build a new system, that I will hopefully not have to worry about for at least 2 years, once it's built and stable.

I understand that I will have to go over the budget a little bit - you almost always do when you want to do things right.

Just need to get my head around the various CPU options, and the actual chipset configurations (SLi, Crossfire, etc, etc).

[Bharat]

After a fair amount of deliberating, I've gone and bought the following bits :

AMD Opteron 165 CPU
ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe nForce x16 Motherboard
XFX GeForce 7900GTX PCI-E 512MB 665MHz card
Tagan EasyCon TG530-U15 530W Modular PSU
Corsair TwinX2048-3200C2 DDR4000 (2x1GB kit)

Now, still trying to decide on the HD - tempted to use the W.D Raptor 74GB drive, but there are 2 versions : WD740GD or 740ADFD. Which one is which ?

Or should I simply stick a small S-ATA drive for Windows and use my existing 250GB external drive for everything else ?

Also, can someone please advice on a good HSF ? Should I consider Water cooling ?

[herulach]

for a first build i wouldnt bother with water, its overrated unless youre driving for complete silence. The scythe ninja is supposedly very good.

As far as drives go, if youve got room in the budget for a raptor and arent bothered about the noise go for it, otherwise, you should be able to pick up a 300gb+ drive for the same price

[sawyen]

Tagan 530 is a good pick..

The rest of the config seems pretty enough.. but that 7900GTX is really going to hurt your wallet..

I'd go for a X1900XT myself..

Get the 74GB as a boot drive.. and a large drive say a samsung 250GB as your storage..

[Bharat]

Hmm. Will check out the Scythe.

Already purchased the bits, so my wallet is pretty much empty anyway

[vicar]

For cooling Try the Zalman CNPS 9500, vey great cooler, but check if your case can accomodate it. Very quiet and great cooler.

For PSU why not try the Seasonic S12 Series, nice, quiet, powerful and stable.

Happy building

[Syd]

I have the seasonic 500W and it's very quiet, much more so than my previous enermax units - after all it uses a 120mm fan.

On the hard drive view I use a 36GB raptor to boot and a 200GB samsung spinpoint for storage - gives u quick performance and the samsung is whisper quiet. I also water cool, but in hindsight I would probably go for a scythe a/c or similar as I am not really overclocking atm.

[Bharat]

Ok, just need to decide on a case and HSF now.

The CPU I have is an Opteron 165, CCBWE 0551 WPMW, which sadly is not a very good overclocker

Wondering if I should sell it and get another one. Or just o/c a little bit and live with it.


Case-wise, I'm debating between the Antec P180 or the Akasa Eclipse 62.

And for the HSF, it's a toss-up between the Scythe Ninja Plus or the Zalman CNPS 9500.

I don't know if the Zalman will fit in either of the above cases. Does anyone know for sure ?

Anyone have experience of X-Case ?

I really want a case with a good 120mm fan on the front for intake, and another 120mm on the rear for exit, and if possible, another fan on the side panel, so the maximum amount of hot air can be pushed out of the case with as little noise as possibe.

Or how about one of these ? Somebody I know has one of these, brand new, for about £120.

[Syd]

Or how about one of these ? Somebody I know has one of these, brand new, for about £120.

For 120 quid that looks like a bargain, the case alone is pretty much worth that price, never mind all the kit with it, or do you mean just for the case and not the cooling system???

As for the eclipse, its a very nice case, although it has a very large footprint, I had the decision between the eclipse and the CM stacker and went for the latter in the end just because I preffered the look and the layout.