Questions about Building my first PC

[navi310]

Hi everyone!

I'm planning to build my first PC & have a few questions:

1) What's the best video card for 24" monitor? By best I mean the best value because I'm not going to use my PC for gaming only for video editing (Adobe After Effects, Premiere Pro). So what I want from that card is to cope with 1920x1200 Resolution, have HDCP & be reasonably priced. I read somewhere about GeForce 8600 (since I probably won't need 8800 for video) but I don't know about which one exactly would be best.

2)Read a lot about 2GB of RAM v 4GB: So my question is - is it possible to install 3GB = more than 2 & no issues with Vista 32bit?

3)I'm going to buy this combo:

Case
Mobo
CPU
RAM

& I'm wondering do I have to use this heatsink for this CPU or the fan supplied with CPU should be sufficient since I'm not going to overclock it? I know it will provide better cooling but I'm not sure if it fits in my case?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot in advance.

[Midzuki]

I advise you to NOT install Windows Vista on your PC,
unless you really love headaches.

=====

[videobread]

Have you considered buying a workstation instead of building your own. I swear by HP:

http://h71016.www7.hp.com/dstore/MiddleFrame.asp?page=config&ProductLineId=433&FamilyI...D=19701&SBLID=

You can get one with any processor you want - Q6600, etc....

[redwudz]

For RAM, most times you want to install RAM in pairs to enable dual channel support, which I would recommend. So if you want more than 2GB of RAM, go ahead and install 4GB. It won't hurt anything and most times there will only be a little less than 4GB that can be used, so you should still have about ~3.5GB available.

BTW, I really don't have any major complaints about Vista. Make up your own mind.

You didn't mention hard drives. I prefer 3 hard drives. A small one for the boot/OS, a second one for editing and the third for storage/archive. The last two are usually 320GB in most of my setups. I also prefer SATA all around for hard drives. I also only use one partition for each drive.

With your CPU cooler, you have options. You could start out with the stock cooler and see if it suits you, then upgrade later. It is more difficult to install a cooler with the MB in the case, though. And some coolers are more difficult to install than others. If that cooler is very tall, and a 120mm fan is installed, you will have to consider how much weight/stress that would be applied to the CPU cooler mounts.

[navi310]

Thanks a lot, redwudz for your advices.

So if you want more than 2GB of RAM, go ahead and install 4GB

I see your point. Probably will get 4GB.

You didn't mention hard drives

I'm going to get WD Raptor as a system drive & Samsung 500GB SATA2 for editing. For archive I have WD My Book 500GB.

And any thoughts about that Video Card?

Thanks again.

[redwudz]

Nothing specific about the video card. You understand that the video card is only for display and has nothing much to do with processing of video as in encoding, etc. With that said, most any video card with 256MB of RAM should have no problem with 1920x1200 Resolution.

You might try a site like NewEgg. I know you can't order from them, but just as a information source, they have a large selection and you can sort down though it to narrow down what you would like to use. This is the search criteria I used: Home > Computer Hardware > Video Cards & Video Devices > Video Cards (x) > Interface : PCI Express x16 (x) > Chipset Manufacturer : NVIDIA (x) (1-20 of 274 Results)

That gives you 274 possibilities. The 8800 is probably overkill unless you are a gamer.

This is the link, which should work: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048+1069609641+1305...48&name=NVIDIA

Set a price and that should narrow it down to a reasonable number. Then see if you can find a review of the card by using the card name, followed by the word 'reviews' in a Google or other search engine. Probably for what you need, a 256MB card would be a good choice. That could narrow your search considerably.

And see what inputs your chosen monitor uses. I suspect DVI would be your choice. Most any of those cards likely have both DVI and VGA outputs, so that shouldn't be a problem. And with NewEgg, you can read the customer comments and maybe get some insight there.

Hope that all helps.

And I do have a computer build guide if you have never assembled a computer before: http://pages.suddenlink.net/sredwudz/index.htm Sorry, hasn't been updated in a while.

[navi310]

Can't thank you enough, redwudz for your help.

Following your advice, will be going for XFX GeForce 8600GTS.

You might try a site like NewEgg.

I'm always refer to this site if I need some more info on products. The best site I've ever seen.

And I do have a computer build guide if you have never assembled a computer before

Actually, the funny thing is that because of this guide I'm building my PC (didn't notice it was yours ).

So again, double thank you for your help & for giving me the inspiration for DIY PC in the first place.

[redwudz]

Building your own PC is rewarding and teaches you a lot about how the machine works. Just take your time and double check each step. If you have any problems with the build, just get back to us. We have many members with a lot of experience, so someone should be able to answer most any question. Good luck.

[navi310]

Thanks a lot.
Will be ordering parts tomorrow so hopefully will be building next week.
Will definitely get back.
Cheers.

[edDV]

Ignoring gaming, the display card plays a role for decoding video, video output, deinterlacing and scaling. You will want a card with NVidia PureVideo or ATI AVIVO capability. All PureVideo cards are not created equal. Only a few of the highest end cards support AVC h.264/VC-1 decoding and current cards still lack the ability to fully decode AVC without loading the CPU. I've been delaying purchase until the card can do the full job but recently had to add one more card so I settled for a 7600GT for now.

http://www.nvidia.com/page/purevideo.html
http://www.nvidia.com/page/purevideo_support.html
download the PDF



Higher end compositing and effects software use OpenGL cards to add vector wireframe preview support. See the Quadro cards.

[RabidDog]

You might want to get the 512mb version of your chosen card (8600gt/s) as you are going to be using high resolutions. Not sure how much it would affect the speed but from what I see the difference in price is a matter of a few pounds (ie £74 256mb £80 512mb). It cant hurt to have the extra gfx mem and it would probably help to speed up some operations.

[rhegedus]

This is a wierd coincidence but I built a very similar system for myself this weekend:

Antec Nine Hundred case
Intel Q6600 2.4Ghz
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3P mobo
2x1Gb Corsair DDR2 6400
XFX 8600GT
1x160GB WD Caviar SATA
2x500Gb Samsung Spinpoint SATA



It absolutely flies. I can't max out the CPU even with two separate windows of VirtualDub doing encodes on normal priority

IMHO:

1) I'd stick with 2Gb of RAM since I think you're unlikely to notice the benefit from the extra 2Gb.
2) You don't need the 8600 GTS for desktop work - as pointed out previously, a 7600GT will suffice. However, the price difference between the 7 and 8 series is so small you may as well got with the 8.
3) I'd also be tempted to go with a normal HD instead of the Raptor. I was going to get one myself, but the benchmarks don't justify to price premium.

Following the above, you should be able to save about 300E.

Try www.dabs.com - if you register for their e-mails, they send you some e-vouchers. I got £20 off my purchase which was £660 in total.

[navi310]

Thanks, rhegedus for your advice.
This's really wierd coincidence

Actually I'm going to order 1 item from www.dabs.ie & it's (you'll probably be loughing) a card reader. Not going to order anything else from them because they seem a little pricey & they don't have everything I'm looking for (their delivery charges are low though).

As for Raptor I've decided not to go with it & instead get 3 Samsung SpinPoints because, like you said, it doesn't justify the price & Samsungs are supposed to be quiet (btw can you confirm that) and I want to keep my system as quiet as possible (just can't stand the noise ).

Mostly I'm going to order stuff from pixmania - their prices are OK & delivery only €17 no matter how much you order. And a few things, which I can't find anywhere else, from OverClockers.

And rhegedus, is your system running quiet & cool? Which cooler are you using for your Q6600?

Thanks a lot again.

[rhegedus]

Some suppliers might be cheaper than others, but more suppliers means more delivery charges.

I compared prices between dabs, overclockers, scan, yoyotech, komplet and a few others. Only dabs had everything in stock at that one time, and the e-voucher paid for Saturday delivery (just as well because dabs f*cked up for the original Friday delivery, but that's another story).

System temps vary acording to which software is used. Gigabyte's own software reports idle temps at around 35-40C but CoreTemp reports temps of 50C. Full load temps during torture testing is about 60C with CoreTemp. Reading the forums, these are normal.

I'm using the stock HSF and paste but bought some Arctic Silver 5 Premium to keep in reserve if things get too hot or I change the HSF - probably for a Zalman CPNS9700. The stock HSF is quiet.

I've been looking for a card reader myself but there are very few that read XD cards as well.

[redwudz]

I just finished putting together a new HTPC myself. Lain Li desktop case, 5200+ AM2 Athlon X2 running at 2.8Ghz at present, using a Thermaltake TMG cooler. 2GB Corsair XMS DDR-800 RAM, two WD 320GB SATA drives, Thermaltake 500W PS. Very quiet. I changed out the case fans for Enermax 120mm's, but I still think I may slow them down about 75RPM as they are the only source of noise, though minor.

CPU is 27C at idle, case is 32C. I'm still adding software, so I haven't encoded anything, but CPU temps should still stay ~42C max. Since it's a HTPC with a HDTV tuner going out to a video projector, I used a uATX MB with on-board video with component and HDMI out, a Gigabyte GA-MA69GM-S2H. So far I'm happy with it. A few finishing touches and it should be ready to go.

[Soopafresh]

That's some mighty nice cable bundling! I like Lian Li cases a whole lot. Aluminum, but thick.

[budz]

redwudz I was wondering if you got your newest HTPC built. Nice setup in that Lian Li case.
If only I could make my cabling nice and neat like yours!

[redwudz]

That case helped a lot with the cable arrangements. I was able to run some cables under the raised drive platforms to keep them out of the way. The modular power supply helps also. I cut off the unneeded PS cable ends.

For a aluminum case, it's surprisingly sturdy with no flex. Desktop cases are usually easier than tower case for cable arrangements, but it took a bit of trial and error to clean up the cables.

I added a dual external SATA connector for SATA and E-SATA external drives.

[ahhaa]

just a thought- AVID has a nice free version editor, but it won't be available after September 1st:

Available until September 1, 2007

Effective September 1, 2007, Avid is discontinuing the Avid Free DV application offer, and has no immediate plans to make an updated version available.

more at: http://www.avid.com/products/freedv/index.asp