Need someone to double check my comp spec

nsx_23

nsx_23

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I'm helping a friend build a computer later this week, and it looks like this atm:

Motherboard: Asus P5Q3 Deluxe wifi

Processor: Intel Q9400

Aftermarket CPU fan: Zalman 9500A - LED

Ram: 2 x 1GB DDR2-800 Transcend

Case: Lian li PC8

Power supply: Antec Earthwatts 500W

Hard Drive: Western Digital 1TB 32MB 7200rpm

Graphics card: Asus 1GB 9400 GT

DVD drive: Asus DVD-RW SATA x 2

Any suggestions? Does it look ok?
 
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What exactly is the system going to be used for? Gaming, just general use? Video encoding?
 
In his original post he said his friend wasn't a gamer, so for anything else, this will probably suffice. It's not like you need the highest end video cards in SLI to watch facetube or make movies or type in notepad or what have you.
 
As long it isn't meant for games you're okay. The 9400gt, 9600gt < 8800gt.
 
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9400GT, argh.. rather stick with the onboard option.

780GX or nVIDIA both offer some nice onboard gfx performance.
 
I mean, he doesn't do anything graphics intensive and stuff, so he doesn't need a high end graphics card.

Could see if I can get him an 8800 card for cheap....

Is the 500W power supply not enough???
 
500W power supply is fine, and a good brand. BUT, 1 GB on a 9400GT?????? That is just a waste of money. A 512 MB higher end card would be much better performance (e.g. 9600GT). I'd also go 4 GB RAM, just because it's not expensive. And the Q9550 is probably the best core 2 quad right now, price to performance, but you could save some money and get a high end dual core, or an AMD Phenom II.
 
^He plans on bumping it up to 4GB later on, and I also suggested maybe we should cut to just the 512mb 9400GT, and he can always upgrade it later.

We're buying parts from here: http://www.cpl.net.au/

So all suggestions from that parts list (LHS link) would be great as we're trying to keep all purchases to just the one store.
 
nsx_23 said:
Is the 500W power supply not enough???
Click to expand...

It's more than enough.

Only part that I would replace is the 9400GT. I would buy a mobo with gfx onboard.. You can get 9300/9400GT onboard on some certain nVIDIA boards.
 
nsx_23 said:
I mean, he doesn't do anything graphics intensive and stuff, so he doesn't need a high end graphics card.

Could see if I can get him an 8800 card for cheap....

Is the 500W power supply not enough???
Click to expand...

If you were here, I'd give you a brand new 8800GTX 768MB card for even 1$

Also, remember that older ram gets expensive as time goes by. DDR1 costs WAY more than DDR2 now. So maybe better to get 2x2GB ram now, rather than wait a year when its expensive. Just a though.
 
zeroSignal said:
Lmaybe going for 2x500 gb drives instead of 1x1tb - if it ever fails, 1 terabyte of data is a huge loss.
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You could partition the drive to have an OS portion and a Data portion to prevent data loss. But I'd recommend having a 250GB or 500GB drive for the OS and have the 1TB drive solely for data. This way you're safe if your OS drive crashes, plus you're not using the heavy 1TB disc constantly.

TechZ said:
So maybe better to get 2x2GB ram now, rather than wait a year when its expensive. Just a though.
Click to expand...

Word, 2GB of DDR2 800 is only $25~$30. And if you're running Vista you'll really want 4GB or more.

:thumbup: to the Lian Li case. They're expensive, but you really do get a top quality product.
 
But I am running 2 x 1GB DDR2 800 ram................

He's planning on running XP, and I figured he can switch over to DDR3 when prices drop even more. Those 2 sticks of 1GB DDR2-800 I'm essentially giving him for free.
 
Paco said:
You could partition the drive to have an OS portion and a Data portion to prevent data loss. But I'd recommend having a 250GB or 500GB drive for the OS and have the 1TB drive solely for data. This way you're safe if your OS drive crashes, plus you're not using the heavy 1TB disc constantly.
Click to expand...

If you partition a drive, and the drive fails, you still lose both partitions.
 
So otherwise, everything looks cool?

The 2GB DDR2-800 ram is only there to hold him till he can afford 2 sticks of DDR3 ram. We decided to blow most of the budget on a decent mobo and processor first.
 
nsx_23 said:
I mean, he doesn't do anything graphics intensive and stuff, so he doesn't need a high end graphics card.

Could see if I can get him an 8800 card for cheap....

Is the 500W power supply not enough???
Click to expand...

Yea a 1GB 9400GT is probably not the best choice. A better card with 512MB will probably perform better for similar cost.

Also 500W will be WAY more than he will ever need (it's probably double of what his system will draw at full load).

Also why are you buying an aftermarket CPU heatsink and fan? Unless you are overclocking (in which case zalman is a poor choice anyway) there is absolutely no need to stray from the stock heatsink and fan.
 
thevictor390 said:
If you partition a drive, and the drive fails, you still lose both partitions.
Click to expand...

Yes, and if you partition a drive into separate OS and Data partitions, and the OS partition becomes corrupted or infected with malware (which occurs more frequently than a hardware failure), you can reformat/reinstall your OS partition and retain your Data partition.


nsx_23 said:
The 2GB DDR2-800 ram is only there to hold him till he can afford 2 sticks of DDR3 ram. We decided to blow most of the budget on a decent mobo and processor first.
Click to expand...

Is this the MOBO you're planning on getting?

That board is DDR3, which means you're not going to be able to use the DDR2 sticks in the DDR3 slots as they won't fit. I have seen boards that have both DDR2 and DDR3 slots, but you can only run one type at a time.

If you plan on using your existing DDR2 RAM, you will need a MOBO that has DDR2 DIMMs, otherwise you will need to get DDR3 RAM to fit in that MOBO.
 
Replace 2GB of RAM with at least 4GB
Replace 9400GT 1GB with 4550 (if not gaming), 4670 (if light gaming), 4850 or 4870 (if heavy gaming)
Replace 1TB HDD with 640GB, since I doubt he'll fill it, and if he does, he can always buy another drive
Don't get the Zalman heatsink (unnecessary unless you plan on overclocking)

Otherwise it looks fine. No need to upgrade to DDR3 on such a low-end computer either.
 
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low strife said:
Replace 2GB of RAM with at least 4GB
Replace 9400GT 1GB with 4550 (if not gaming), 4670 (if light gaming), 4850 or 4870 (if heavy gaming)
Replace 1TB HDD with 640GB, since I doubt he'll fill it, and if he does, he can always buy another drive
Don't get the Zalman heatsink (unnecessary unless you plan on overclocking)

Otherwise it looks fine. No need to upgrade to DDR3 on such a low-end computer either.
Click to expand...

The mounting system on the stock intel heatsinks is garbage though, spending the $50 or so dollars is worth it to get a proper screw mounting system.
 
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