My first build - looking for feedback

[Stephen]

I'm going to do my first build early next year. The computer will be used for video editing, moderate gaming (e.g., occasional game of Half Life 2), web surfing, and general applications. My proposed parts are as follows:

 

Antec P180 case

Antec NeoHE 500 PSU

ACEDVio video capture card

Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS Soundcard

Plextor PX-755SA DVD/CD burner

ASUS DVD-E616A2 BK DVD ROM/CD reader

Sony MPF920 Black floppy drive

Western Digital Raptor 150GB HD (OS and applications)

Seagate 300GB SATA HD (storage - mostly for vide editing)

Intel D975XBX2 mobo

Intel Core Duo E6700 processor

Zalman CNPS9500 LED CPU fan

Crucial 2GB Kit - DDR2 PC2-6400 (CT2KIT12864AA80E) memory

ATI video/graphics card - don't know which one yet

Zalman VF900-Cu Video card fan

Windows Vista OS

 

I'm interested in ideas for a graphics card. I use Vegas Video for my video editing work, I don't do any graphics creation as part of that, so I don't need to worry about that for the graphics card.

 

I'm also interested in feedback on my memory choice - is it compatible with the mobo and processor?

 

Any feedback?

[CTskifreak]

Your motherboard and processor are compatible, but unless I'm reading this wrong, your memory isn't.

 

Official Intel Specs

 

They list other types, but not PC2-6400.

 

 

Four 240-pin DDR2 SDRAM Dual Inline Memory Module (DIMM) sockets

Support for DDR2 800, DDR2 667, or DDR2 533 MHz DIMMs

Support for up to 8 GB of system memory

Support for ECC and non-ECC memory

 

About your GFX card: I know that ATI makes the All-In-Wonder series, but NVIDIA's 8800 GTX is the most powerful card out there. Link 2 in SLI = amazing-ness. Just a little FYI.

 

EDIT- Your powersupply might be undersized. Not 100% sure on that.

 

AJ

[Stephen]

Your motherboard and processor are compatible, but unless I'm reading this wrong, your memory isn't.

 

Official Intel Specs

 

They list other types, but not PC2-6400.

 

 

Four 240-pin DDR2 SDRAM Dual Inline Memory Module (DIMM) sockets

Support for DDR2 800, DDR2 667, or DDR2 533 MHz DIMMs

Support for up to 8 GB of system memory

Support for ECC and non-ECC memory

 

About your GFX card: I know that ATI makes the All-In-Wonder series, but NVIDIA's 8800 GTX is the most powerful card out there. Link 2 in SLI = amazing-ness. Just a little FYI.

 

EDIT- Your powersupply might be undersized. Not 100% sure on that.

 

AJ

 

 

??? Isn't DDR2 800 the same thing as PC2-6400?

[lokoike]

Looks like a very nice system, Stephen. As far as your video card goes, I personally favor ATI cards for a number of reasons:

 

1. If you want multiple video cards, ATI's Crossfire setup is better than Nvidia's SLI in almost every category.

 

2. ATI has recently teamed up with AMD (major CPU manufacturer) which means that you can expect great things from them in the near future.

 

3. Nvidia cards have never been able been able to render both HDR (High Dynamic Range) lighting and antialiasing at the same time, which means in games you have to either use one or the other, and not both. ATI cards, on the other hand, can do both simultaneously, which makes for a much better gaming experience.

 

4. ATI has recently put out video cards using GDDR4 as video RAM, which is way freakin' faster than GDDR3. I'm not sure if Nvidia has embraced the new video RAM yet, but it sure is a beautiful thing.

 

Anyways, those are my personal reasons for favoring ATI over Nvidia. It is true that Nvidia has one DX10 card out on the market now, but ATI will be releasing theirs soon, and I've never known ATI to disappoint, so keep your eyes peeled.

 

What price range did you want to stay in for your video card? There are a few cards in different ranges that I've had very good luck with, so if you can give me a ballpark figure, I can post some links for you. Have fun building your new rig!

[Stephen]

Looks like a very nice system, Stephen. As far as your video card goes, I personally favor ATI cards for a number of reasons:

 

1. If you want multiple video cards, ATI's Crossfire setup is better than Nvidia's SLI in almost every category.

 

2. ATI has recently teamed up with AMD (major CPU manufacturer) which means that you can expect great things from them in the near future.

 

3. Nvidia cards have never been able been able to render both HDR (High Dynamic Range) lighting and antialiasing at the same time, which means in games you have to either use one or the other, and not both. ATI cards, on the other hand, can do both simultaneously, which makes for a much better gaming experience.

 

4. ATI has recently put out video cards using GDDR4 as video RAM, which is way freakin' faster than GDDR3. I'm not sure if Nvidia has embraced the new video RAM yet, but it sure is a beautiful thing.

 

Anyways, those are my personal reasons for favoring ATI over Nvidia. It is true that Nvidia has one DX10 card out on the market now, but ATI will be releasing theirs soon, and I've never known ATI to disappoint, so keep your eyes peeled.

 

What price range did you want to stay in for your video card? There are a few cards in different ranges that I've had very good luck with, so if you can give me a ballpark figure, I can post some links for you. Have fun building your new rig!

 

 

I'm not sure about the price - partly because I'm not sure if I at what point to get a DX10 card. I guess I'm in the $200 - $300 price range.

[lokoike]

 

I'm not sure about the price - partly because I'm not sure if I at what point to get a DX10 card. I guess I'm in the $200 - $300 price range.

 

Right now Nvidia's DX10 card runs in the $500-$600 range, so if you do want DX10 capabilities, you'll be better off waiting a few months for ATI's card to come out. The competition should bring down the price on both company's cards.

 

But something to keep in mind, DX10 isn't even really in use right now (other than by Windows Vista), so if you buy a DX9c card, you'll still be just fine. Also, I've heard (and don't quote me on this) that DX10 runtimes won't even be made for Windows XP, so if you want to use a DX10 card to it's full potential, you'll be forced to upgrade to Vista. Once again, I'm not positive on that, but that is what I have heard.

 

There are plenty of fantastic DX9 cards in the $200-$300 range. I have to head off to work, but if I get time tonight, I'll drop you some links to cards that I like.

[lokoike]

Here are a few cards that I found Stephen:

 

~ High End ~

Sapphire Radeon x1950XT - This one is the fastest, but it takes up two slots; I'm not sure if that makes a difference to you, but I thought I should mention it

 

ATI Radeon x1950XT - This one is a little bit slower, a little less expensive, and it only takes up one slot

 

~ Mid Range ~

ATI Radeon x1650PRO - This one's got 512 MBs of GDDR2, and a pretty decent core, although significantly slower than the x1900 series

 

ASUS Radeon x1650XT - This one is the slowest, but not by a very big margin; not to mention, it only costs $150! If you want to save some cash, and sacrifice a little performance, this is by no means a bad card

 

There were tons of other cards that fit your budget, but these are all from companies that I really like. Diamond and HIS Hightech also had some pretty good deals, but I've never bought from them before, so I can't really recommend them. Let me know what you think.

[Stephen]

Here are a few cards that I found Stephen:

 

~ High End ~

Sapphire Radeon x1950XT - This one is the fastest, but it takes up two slots; I'm not sure if that makes a difference to you, but I thought I should mention it

 

ATI Radeon x1950XT - This one is a little bit slower, a little less expensive, and it only takes up one slot

 

~ Mid Range ~

ATI Radeon x1650PRO - This one's got 512 MBs of GDDR2, and a pretty decent core, although significantly slower than the x1900 series

 

ASUS Radeon x1650XT - This one is the slowest, but not by a very big margin; not to mention, it only costs $150! If you want to save some cash, and sacrifice a little performance, this is by no means a bad card

 

There were tons of other cards that fit your budget, but these are all from companies that I really like. Diamond and HIS Hightech also had some pretty good deals, but I've never bought from them before, so I can't really recommend them. Let me know what you think.

 

 

The link for the x1950xt actually brought up a 1950 pro - which I've read on some reviews is noticeably slower than expected. The Sapphire card is one I hadn't looked at before. I definitely will consider it. Thanks!

[lokoike]

The link for the x1950xt actually brought up a 1950 pro - which I've read on some reviews is noticeably slower than expected. The Sapphire card is one I hadn't looked at before. I definitely will consider it. Thanks!

Oops! Sorry about that; I knew what it was, I just typed the wrong thing. But yeah, the reason it is slower is because it has 4 pixel pipelines disabled (which is also the reason it runs cooler and therefore only takes up one slot). Still, not a bad card.

 

I've used Sapphire cards a few times. I did have one that I bought go bad after a short while, but the other couple that I've used had no problems. They were all Radeon x1000 series cards as well. If you spend a little more, you could get the 512 MB version of the Radeon x1950XT. I've got a Radeon x1900XT w/ 512 MBs of GDDR3, and in Half-Life 2 with all settings maxed and a resolution of 1680x1050, I get almost zero lag. I think right now my card is in the $350 range, but if you want the extra video memory, the extra money spent is definitely worth it.