My current one's actually fine, just that dad kinda stuffed up their computer (probably can be fixed, but I really can't be bothered with a Pentium 200MHz) and the rest of the family are trying to use mine (I must have my computer for at least 12 hours a day XD).

Anyway, that out of the way, I'm just planning to get a new computer and give them my current one (AthlonX2 4200+, 2x512M DDR500 RAM, 2x200GB SATA HDDs, NVIDIA 7800GT, onboard 7.1 audio) and get a new one for myself.
I don't really game much, so the build obviously isn't really focusing on that.  The main drain of system resources would probably be my video encoding.

Anyway, this is what I plan to get (prices are what I can get here in $AUD):

• Intel Q6600 QUAD CORE 2.4Ghz 8M CACHE1066 (G0 Stepping) [$195]
  
• Kingston DDR2 4(2x2G)PC6400 800Mhz - KVR800D2N5K2/4G [$85]
  
• Samsung 750GB 3.5" SATA II HDD 32M 7200rpm Hard Disk [$99]
  
• MSI GeForce 9600GT 512M DDR3 [$118]
  
• Omni ATX Midi towe case (1837) 500W Black [$69]
  
• Already have a DVD burner, will also be taking over my current TV tuner card
  

(total without motherboard: AU$566)

Haven't decided on a motherboard yet.  Probably going to go for a Intel P35 or later based chipset, probably a board from MSI or maybe ASUS.  Expecting price to be around AU$100.  If the board doesn't have onboard audio, I'll probably get the Creative SoundBlaster Audigy SE Sound Card 7.1 for $39.


Yeah, it's not really much of an upgrade, but what do you guys think/suggest?

(This post was last modified: 01/10/2008 05:49 PM by ZiNgA BuRgA.)

i think its pretty good, but i would suggest you get 2 HDDs and RAID 1... i don't really trust standalone SATA drives..

also, try a beefier PSU... probably 550w or more... the important thing there is the Amps through the 12v line

I Recommend you get an ASUS board, and a Intel P35 should be good enough for your needs

other than that, that config is pretty awesome

ZiNgA BuRgA Wrote:I don't really game much, so the build obviously isn't really focusing on that.  The main drain of system resources would probably be my video encoding.

That's pretty much exactly like my situation.

And my encodes often hit retarded speeds like 1fps or lower. So yeah, I need faster CPU.

Kaiser Wrote:i think its pretty good, but i would suggest you get 2 HDDs and RAID 1... i don't really trust standalone SATA drives..

Or if you do trust the HDDs, go raid0. Will increase speed.

%^^ raid0,. lol i have had no hdd trouble ever,..

get the new gefore 280!! but then you will need a 600W pewer supli i def go for a higher W anyway!! when you want to connect more USB's and other stuff,. 450W is kinda low,..

get ABIT motherboard!! not sure if they suport PCI-express 2 yet,..

if you going to encode video's with quad core make sure you have a good CPU cooler!!

(This post was last modified: 01/10/2008 06:48 AM by Vegetano1.)

Vegetano1 Wrote:make sure you have a good CPU cooler!!

(This post was last modified: 01/10/2008 10:51 AM by feinicks.)

Kaiser Wrote:i think its pretty good, but i would suggest you get 2 HDDs and RAID 1... i don't really trust standalone SATA drives..

also, try a beefier PSU... probably 550w or more... the important thing there is the Amps through the 12v line

I Recommend you get an ASUS board, and a Intel P35 should be good enough for your needs

other than that, that config is pretty awesome

I'm actually running RAID0 on my system right now (2 Segate drives), so personally have never experienced hard drive crashes.  Perhaps my main thing is that the RAID provided by motherboards is kinda poo poo, and I kinda want to ditch RAID right now.  But yeah, there does seem to be a fair number of people over the net who crash their HDDs somehow...
Hmm, how do you figure what PSU you need?  My current system actually has a 550W PSU - I can swap things around a bit.  Perhaps I should get a 500W instead to stick in my current comp and 550W for the new one.

Vegetano1 Wrote:get the new gefore 280!! but then you will need a 600W pewer supli i def go for a higher W anyway!! when you want to connect more USB's and other stuff,. 450W is kinda low,..

Lol, you strapped with money?

Vegetano1 Wrote:if you going to encode video's with quad core make sure you have a good CPU cooler!!

From what I've read, the Q6600 runs pretty cool even under heavy load - main reason why people say it's quite overclockable.

LaneLander Wrote:I would go with a little more power and definitely rethink the 9600 running the GDDR3 memory.  I did an exhaustive search to fine a good card/price and found that there were issues running the 9600 with GDDR memory.  Some reviews even found that the 8800 was better cost for the card.  But it is all up to you in the end.  I am an ATI guy, but was thinking of going SLI (I AM A GAMER).  Crysis runs fine on my rig so I did not have to upgrade "YET"

From what I've read, the 9600 runs around the same as the 8800 (in fact, one of the 8800's were rebranded as a 9600 I think).  The 8800's cost more here, and I really don't need something that powerful.  The ATi card at around the same price is the MSI ATI R4670 512M DDR3 Dual DVI Dual Link DVI for $119.


Anyways, thanks for the comments everyone :)

feinicks Wrote:what OS are you going to run?

though with your stated config, that is never gonna be an issue...

zinga will prob run 64bit xp and vmware or dual-boot the rest

Well don't forget the S-Video ports, fire wire ports, & at the vary lest 6 2.0 USB ports ;)