Spec me a new computer

Post by **ProfHawking** » May 6th, 2006, 22:49

Im thinking of building a new PC, but im a bit out of touch with whats new and good.

Ideally I want a small form factor machine. So a shuttle or the like, matched with a decent graphics card and cpu.

Anyone got any opinions?

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » May 6th, 2006, 23:32

price range?

and am i to assume drive speed over size?

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » May 6th, 2006, 23:51

Shuttle SN25P -Or-

Case of your choice
Asus A8N32-SLi Deluxe nForce4 SLi X16
Tagan TG530-U15

Athlon 64 3700+ or 3800X2
2Gb of your fave premium memory (2x 1gb sticks)
74 or 150gb raptor (or a pair, in raid 0)
7900GT of some kind (a pair if you want, in the tower at least)
Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum

eion · Post by **eion** » May 7th, 2006, 0:00

Shuttle SN25P
Athlon 64 X2 3800+
Decent 2GB matched memory kit
150GB Raptor (just the one - RAIDed Raptors aren't worth it in my experience, and two of them in a Shuttle put out a lot of heat)
7900GTX
RME Hammerfall DSP 96/32 (or a Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum if you absolutely must)

edit yet again: for repeated stupidness. I'm running out of excuses.

Post by **ProfHawking** » May 7th, 2006, 1:22

okies looking good, this is the plan so far:

Shuttle SN25P S939 Barebone System
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Socket 939 , Toledo Core, 2x 2.4GHz , 2MB Cache, Retail
256Mb BFG Technology 7900GT Overclocked, Mem 1360 MHz, GPU 475 MHz,24 Pipes, Dual DVI-I, HDTV
2GB (2X1GB) Corsair TwinX Pro LED, DDR PC3200 (400), 184 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 3-3-3-8
NEC ND-4570A-GNB Black 16x16 DVD±RW/RAM Dual Layer DVD-Writer OEM UK
150 Gb Western Digital WD1500ADFD Raptor Enterprise, SATA150, 10000 rpm, 16MB Cache, NCQ, 4.6 ms
500 Gb Seagate ST3500641AS Barracuda 7200.9, SATA300, 7200 rpm, 16MB Cache, 8.2 ms, NCQ
Shuttle PN18 - 802.11g for P series 54Mbps Wireless Upgrade Kit

add on a pci-e tv card instead of a sound card tho.
cpu load cant be much, and i dont use it for music.

i dunno if i should just buy it all, or if i should do some speculation that prices will come down soon. im not one for caution normally tho

Stoat · Post by **Stoat** » May 7th, 2006, 2:24

SN25Ps have been out for aaages.
I know this only because I have one*. Is there nothing nicer out by now?

*This means they're uncool.
*If you do get one, for the love of god don't install the drivers you get with it.

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » May 7th, 2006, 2:35

they're pretty old, but NF4 is still the best you'll get, especially if you want a shuffle.

Post by **Dog Pants** » May 7th, 2006, 7:50

ProfHawking wrote:
256Mb BFG Technology 7900GT Overclocked, Mem 1360 MHz, GPU 475 MHz,24 Pipes, Dual DVI-I, HDTV

I've got one of these and it seems very woo. Maybe even yay.

Post by **ProfHawking** » May 7th, 2006, 10:07

Stoat wrote:SN25Ps have been out for aaages.
I know this only because I have one*. Is there nothing nicer out by now?

*This means they're uncool.
*If you do get one, for the love of god don't install the drivers you get with it.

Hmm. It seems to be a reasonable performer from them. Without using their sli version the sn26p.
What do you mean about the drivers?

Dog Pants wrote:
ProfHawking wrote:
256Mb BFG Technology 7900GT Overclocked, Mem 1360 MHz, GPU 475 MHz,24 Pipes, Dual DVI-I, HDTV
I've got one of these and it seems very woo. Maybe even yay.

Thats reasurring, as i wasnt sure that getting a non-sli system in this day and age would be a good idea.

Sheriff Fatman · Post by **Sheriff Fatman** » May 7th, 2006, 10:47

Personally, I would be a wee bit warey about putting both those drives in a Shuttle. They will kick out a lot of heat and, whilst it might not be a problem, it is fairly cramped in an SN25; ally this to a top end graphics card and CPU, and it might start to get a bit toasty.

If you do go for a Shuttle make sure you get the latest chipset drivers from the website and whilst you are there, have a good read of all the support and FAQ bits and pieces; there is lots of good advice.

Post by **ProfHawking** » May 9th, 2006, 22:49

Just a little update.
Ive decided im gonna listen to the little white man on my right shoulder not the red one on my left, and wait for AM2 to come out.
Will buy one then, either an am2 system or a newlycheapified s939.

Post by **FatherJack** » May 9th, 2006, 23:02

Just curious as to why you want/need so much storage in there. I understand you also have a fileserver, which I would have thought covered most of your permanent storage needs. Sure, you want the shuttle to have enough space to hold all the stuff you need when you take it somewhere, but I would have thought most of it could live on the server and you could maybe use imaging tech to customise the shuttle's config depending on where you're taking it.

Erm... ? 'cos I think there was a question in there somewhere

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » May 9th, 2006, 23:05

That.

not to mention you're gonna be paying through the nose for 500gb, even compared to 400gb i expect.

Post by **ProfHawking** » May 9th, 2006, 23:18

gah
well i *might* need that much storage. i suppose 400 would do.

its for when im not next to my server yeah. i want to be able to have a copy of my music on my shuttle. also, programs/apps/installables. amazing howmuch i miss those when im not on my network. maybe a few vids possibly.

the other reason is video editing/ripping. Part of the reason i want a new decent cpu, hence machine. I tend to decript dvds to the hdd, and they stay there until i get my ass in gear and encode them. If i could store more and encode faster it would make it all a bit easier to do.

Allsoo, i want to be able to keep an image or two of the raptor. it is handy to have when things go tits up.

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » May 10th, 2006, 2:39

this might be handy too

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2006/0 ... 0gt/1.html

Post by **ProfHawking** » May 10th, 2006, 8:45

great - thats a one slot ATI!

please tell me that it will be as good as a 9800gt

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » May 10th, 2006, 8:51

ProfHawking wrote:great - thats a one slot ATI!

please tell me that it will be as good as a 9800gt

quoted so you can't edit.

and that review compares it to a 7900GT, but not to that card you just invented.

mrbobbins · Post by **mrbobbins** » May 10th, 2006, 10:31

Dr. kitteny berk wrote:
ProfHawking wrote:great - thats a one slot ATI!

please tell me that it will be as good as a 9800gt
quoted so you can't edit.

and that review compares it to a 7900GT, but not to that card you just invented.

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » May 19th, 2006, 9:01

looks like AM2's release got bumped up at some point.

tis now tuesday. (23rd)

Hehulk · Post by **Hehulk** » May 19th, 2006, 10:57

Dr. kitteny berk wrote:looks like AM2's release got bumped up at some point.

tis now tuesday. (23rd)

Really? Sweet! I'd heard it got delayed until next year (blaim Maniac chicken!)