New PC Build

[Neutron]

Well, my wife let me pull the trigger finally on a new PC build.

I'm no longer interested in gaming on the PC (I have the Wii and PS3 for that), so this new rig is strictly for web surfing, light gaming, light productivity.

I had an Athlon64 2800+ with 2.5GB of DDR-400 and a GeForce 6600 AGP card.

I got a great deal on a mobo/CPU combo at Fry's. It's an Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 (2.2GHz, 2MB Cache). Got that for $118 total. Got 2 GB of DDR2-667 for $39 for the one stick, and picked up a PCI-E GeForce 8400GS for $59 before $20 mail in rebate.

The mobo is an ECS 945GCT-M/1333 micro ATX.

I have read about the pin mod done to these CPUs that will make them run at 266FSB vs 200FSB. I've thought about doing that.

Vista runs fine on the new rig! I'm quite surprised. It runs faster than my old box ran XP x64 bit. I'll be picking up another 2GB stick later this week though.

 

[KE4EST]

Good deal on the new rig......Yes I would put another 2GB in it for sure.

 

[Neutron]

The RAM is Corsair, so it's a good name brand.

I believe the mobo I have will do dual channel, which I hope will be a nice benefit to Vista.

 

[Neutron]

Will Vista 32-bit recognize 4GB of RAM?

 

[hancox]

I'm also in the market, my ye olde Athlon is a wee bit long in the tooth (believe I built it in 01!)

Have to admit, though - the prices for good stuff is making me seriously consider buying a store-bought machine.

Looking at building it with a :

Abit IP35 Pro
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600

 

[hancox]

Will Vista 32-bit recognize 4GB of RAM?

I **believe** yes

 

[Neutron]

From what I've been reading 32bit Vista can only see about 3.5GB of RAM.

I was going to get another 2GB stick for dual channel, but I may just get 1GB so that I don't waste money on an upgrade I can't take advantage of.

 

[hancox]

you can also add flash / SD memory for a super-fast page file - the coolest feature of Vista I've seen yet

 

[Neutron]

Do you think it would be better to forgo the dual channel and just get 1GB of memory so that I have a total of 3GB (2 DDR2 slots total on this board) and get a USB thumb stick to have Vista move it's paging file to it?

 

[LER]

Why not get a 64-bit OS and use all of 4GB?

 

[mike123abc]

4GB will not cause problem with x32, just perhaps it will all not be used, but almost all of it should be. Better to have a matched pair of DRAMs to get the best performance. If you do not have a matched pair you run the risk of the BIOS not going into the fast mode.

 

[Neutron]

Why not get a 64-bit OS and use all of 4GB?

I'm too cheap to get the x64 version, and our MSDN volume license is for 32-bit only.

 

[Dishpointer]

Congrats onyour new rig. I am just about to pull the trigger myself but I still need to research which vid card I should get for the HDTV/monitor.

 

[diogen]

Neutron,-
-your motherboard can support only 2GB of RAM
Newegg.com - ECS 945GCT-M/1333 (V3.0) LGA 775 Intel 945GC Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
-for 32bit OS and 4GB RAM read this
Ask Dan: What's with the 3Gb memory barrier?

Diogen.

 

[mike123abc]

Considering a 2 GB stick to match and give him the dual channel support is $39 it is silly not to spend the extra $10 to get the 2GB (instead of 1 GB) instead of running memory in single channel.

 

[Neutron]

Neutron,-
-your motherboard can support only 2GB of RAM
Newegg.com - ECS 945GCT-M/1333 (V3.0) LGA 775 Intel 945GC Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
-for 32bit OS and 4GB RAM read this
Ask Dan: What's with the 3Gb memory barrier?

Diogen.

The newer firmware supports up to 16GB when 8GB sticks come out.

When this mobo first came out it would only support 1GB sticks. I have a 2GB stick in slot 1 now.

Fry's sale ended, so I will be waiting for the memory to go on sale again.

For some reason my old IDE hard drive isn't being detected anymore in Vista. It was my backup drive, and I was in the process of moving all of the files to a newer SATA drive. The BIOS detects it fine. So I guess I have no choice but to get a USB enclosure for this drive.

This motherboard chipset supports Intel Flex Memory, so even a 2GB stick and a 1GB stick can operate in Dual Channel Mode.

 

[mike123abc]

It should be seen by vista. Maybe you need a driver update for your IDE controller. Check the MB site for a vista driver.

 

[Anole]

e4500 , yes I think so!

I got a great deal on a mobo/CPU combo at Fry's.
It's an Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 (2.2GHz, 2MB Cache).
Got that for $118 total.
The mobo is an ECS 945GCT-M/1333 micro ATX.

I saw that deal earlier in Nov/Dec and was waiting for it to come around again.
It did last week, and I jumped all over it.

I figured this e4500 chip had better performance and overclock potential than the 915/925/940 stuff I'd been considering.
Since the source for them at giveaway prices had dried up, I went looking for the next best thing.

The 945 board is certainly a lot better than the usual ECS bottom-feeder boards they bundle at Fry's (with SATA I ).
I did consider using it to keep the cost down.
However, Fry's had some refurb Abit IP35 $59 and IP35 Pro $89 boards that caught my attention.
With maybe 20% better performance due to the P35 chipset, I went for one of those.
All stores had plenty of the non-pro, and they are a fine choice.
But I drove to Burbank (40+ miles) after Anaheim tracked down some Pros for us.

A December computer show had yielded some WD 500gb SATA II drives with 16mb cache for $85, so I had two on hand.
Actually brought the board up on a 300gb , though.
Xmas deals included a NewEgg offer on Sony/NEC SATA DVD burners for $26 shipped, and they arrived today.

I'd previously been lured by a cheap price on 2gb of fast memory last month, so that was laying around too.
Had a spare aluminum case, extra floppy, and 7600gt PCIe video card...
It's amazing what one collects

I have read about the pin mod done to these CPUs that will make them run at 266FSB vs 200FSB. I've thought about doing that.

I hadn't looked into this matter.
I'm assuming it's easy to locate, but do cite a reference if you have it handy.
edit: oh, Google comes up with all sorts of sites. Which is your favorite?

I'll be doing video editing and disc throughput is paramount (and compute-power is useful, too).
We'll have to compare notes when I get mine out into the fast lane.

 

[hancox]

Man, do I wish we had Fry's here. Argh!

Nice MB choice

 

[Anole]

if you missed it the first time . . .

I got a great deal on a mobo/CPU combo at Fry's.
It's an Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 (2.2GHz, 2MB Cache).
Got that for $118 total.
Got 2 GB of DDR2-667 for $39 for the one stick, and picked up a PCI-E GeForce 8400GS for $59 before $20 mail in rebate.

The mobo is an ECS 945GCT-M/1333 micro ATX.

The Los Angeles area newspapers list the cpu/board & ram deals again, just as described above.
I'd run with 2gb myself (and I am).
Prices effective Friday through Tuesday the 8th of Jan.
Board, with boxed chip (heatsink/fan/3 yr warranty) #5391858.
Probably in-store only, and one to a customer.

They also have a 4gb memory kit.
Two strips of 2gb, OCZ 800mhz, @ 99.99 - $20 mail in rebate = $79.99

Stores in my area also had Abit IP35 motherboards.
The plain version is $59 for factory refurb and $89 for the Pro.
Pro are very hard to find, and go for well over $150..175 elsewhere, new.
The non-Pro doesn't have optical input, 2nd SATA controller with eSATA connectors, firewire, and maybe the overclocking friendly bios (don't know for sure).
There are plenty on the shelves of four stores I visited.
The boards are complete with all accessories and manual, but are white-boxed instead of in a color sleeve.
We think they may have just had a round of bios update for dumb buyers, since the two I got don't really look molested.

The P35 chip-set is probably good for 15% better performance over the bundled 945 chipset board.
The Pro would make any sort of overclocking a breeze.

I'm not recommending anything. The choices are yours.
Do your own research, and buy wisely.
I popped for the Abit Pro board after my own research, and have no regrets.