Building new droid...Any suggestions?

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StringJunky

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Great forums here folks. I hope you can help me out...

I'm currently deployed in Iraq, I redeploy to the states in about a week, and I need to put together another computer. I've been out of the loop for the past 14 months on what is out on the market, so I would really appreciate some help.

Budget is about $1600. I've built systems before, so I don't think that should be a problem (yeah, I know...I just jinxed myself...).

I would like to focus on cpu capacity (2 core? quad core?), memory (start out with 3-4G? exp to 8G?), and sound card (waaaay out of the loop here). I'm not much of a pc gamer. I'll be using a 32"-37" LCD TV for a monitor (this is priced outside of the computer budget), so I'm not too concerned with a built-in tuner on the vid card. After lurking the threads for a bit, I think I'm better off loading XP for now, and maybe moving over to Vista in 6 months or so.

I could also use some help on the best places to pick up components.

Thanks again folks.
 
StringJunky said:
I would like to focus on cpu capacity (2 core? quad core?), memory (start out with 3-4G? exp to 8G?), and sound card (waaaay out of the loop here). I'm not much of a pc gamer. I'll be using a 32"-37" LCD TV for a monitor (this is priced outside of the computer budget), so I'm not too concerned with a built-in tuner on the vid card. After lurking the threads for a bit, I think I'm better off loading XP for now, and maybe moving over to Vista in 6 months or so.
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A lot depends on what you plan to use the system for. Dual core machines are practically standard now for everything except budget/low power chips like the VIA ones. Similarly, practically everything on the market from AMD or Intel support's AMD's 64-bit architecture.

Now, the memory is a factor. You can upgrade to 8GB if you like but you'll need an industrial-strength OS to be able to use it, and all the problems that brings. Normal Windows XP and Vista are 32-bit which means (barring some kind of PAE paging which is probably only in the server versions) they can only address up to 4GB of memory. Of this, each application will only be able to see up to 2GB AFAIK. I don't know what you're hoping to do with the system which requires that kind of memory, but if you do need this kind of memory, you'll have to install something more than XP or Vista.

There are 64-bit versions of XP and Vista. I'm not sure how well they run existing 32-bit software. Word is that XP64 has poor driver support, and Vista64 has practically none since the drivers have to be Microsoft-certified or they won't work and this is extremely expensive.
In fact, Linux probably has better 64-bit support at the moment, but I wouldn't recommend that as it doesn't have the application support.

As I say, it depends what you're hoping to do with the machine, but for now you're probably best off sticking with XP (or maybe Vista). Buy the extra memory if you like but don't expect to be able to use any of it yet, and as you say, see what happens a month or a year down the line.
 
Ok, good stuff there. So I probably shouldn't sweat anything over 4G right now, and maybe just focus on efficient use of those 4G (matching mobo fsb with mem stick, etc)?
 
StringJunky said:
Ok, good stuff there. So I probably shouldn't sweat anything over 4G right now, and maybe just focus on efficient use of those 4G (matching mobo fsb with mem stick, etc)?
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Yeah, that's what I'd do. I'm currently running a system with 2G of memory and it's quite happy for what I'm doing (MIDI composition and Morrowind in Windows, everything else in Linux).
I don't use the PC to do much in the way of multitrack recording and mixing like many people here, so if I did I might need more. But for just general purpose use, 2G is more than I really need.
 
1600 will buy a hell of a computer right now for audio. You can use the 1k left over for some crazy ass video card and mics and stuff
 
I've pretty much narrowed down the components, and it looks like I'll be going through newegg for them.

Thanks for the help guys, I really appreciate it. Any other suggestions are definitely welcomed.
 
BTW, if you are going to use 32-bit xp, you may as well only worry with 2GB of the best memory you can afford. though xp will support up to 4, 1GB sticks, it may "see" it as 3.5GB or less. plus, running 4 sticks puts more stress on the memory controller, which can potentially cause problems. i see no need for more than 2, 1GB sticks of the fastest matching memory your mobo will support for 32-bit xp, especially for audio-only.

be sure to use free utilities available on the 'net to test stability, even if you arent overclocking. the UBOC (ultimate boot cd) is a good place to start.

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But, if you DO decide to go with 4 gigs of memory, make sure that the power supply is beefy enough to handle it. I'm running into issues on my machine where if I put in the fourth module, it won't POST. Tested all the slots, all the modules, and narrowed it down to undervoltage so it could be the mobo or the supply, but I'd put my money on the supply since it's only (I believe) 350 watts. Anyway, yeah, make sure you get more than you think you'll need in terms of power. 800 watts is a good number if you're running a number of components. Good luck on your build!
 
the UBOC (ultimate boot cd) is a good place to start.
Click to expand...
incidentally, i meant to type UBCD. not sure wtf UBOC is. sounds like a tv show.
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