Building new PC, the thrill is gone.

[Doug]

Finally, I broke down and made a decision for components for a PC. Your expecting 5.0 ghz, 18 gig of ram, 8 video cards, right? :biggrin:

Oh contrare. 2.6 ghz AMD X2 5000 "Black Edition CPU, Asus basic Mobo, 3 gig of Crucial RAM Memory is only 667mhz. Rather have 800, but that's the kit, comes with 667, so I'll try it first. , basic systm and software 160 gig SATA HD (not really first choice, but I'll try it.) Only 8 cache instead of 16. Basic SATA CD/DVD writer, a disposable case, that I intend to do just that with, and use an aluminum case of mine. 450 watt disposable power supply. Basic fan.

Cost after rebates delivered? 269.00. Just add video card Will probably use an existing card I have for now. I think it will do ok, a Gforce 8200 or something like that. Or is it higher number, not sure.

I just needed something with better processing power, more ram for photoshop. It's not really rocket science. This is a Tiger Direct bare bones kit. I'll put it in my spare aluminum Coolmaster case, and see how it does.

My existing machine's been locking up, has zero tolerence for high demand graphics. It's time to put the old girl out to pasture.

Edit, after a failed build, the parts went back, except for a DVD writer. I kept it is all. The mobo was a real piece. Apparently poorly designed, since my video card would not seat properly without taking the board loose from case. I couldn't believe it, and I never could get it to post. It beeped once, then 4 times, never showed anything, and I checked both DVI and standard video. maybe just a bad board, no matter, I was frustrated after 5 hours work, I Gave up, boxed it up and shipped it back. back to the drawing board.

 

[demosaic]

I Gave up, boxed it up and shipped it back. back to the drawing board.

Yeah, computer building just isn't as compelling as it used to be. You might consider just buying a Dell something, or if you're done messing around with Windows, buying a Mac.

 

[Nancy Elwood]

I just got my new Dell XPS 630i and man oh man, WONDERFUL!! I ordered it with no additional software, 4 gigs ram, two 750 gig HD's and Q6600. I had them load it with Windows XP pro, but my package also came with the Windows Vista Ultimate disk, for when I want to go that route. NX2 loads my nef's so much faster than my 4 year old Dell XPS, which I still have, connected to the new one, via a KVM switch. Just a suggestion, but Dell is having lots of good deals going on.

Nancy

 

[williadw]

I just upgraded... ugh

I just upgraded from a self-built AMD FX-57 CPU with ASUS MB and 4 gigs of RAM.. to a Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.40gz. and 4 gigs RAM, Gigabyte MB, New Antech PS. I kept the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS, case and drives.

I cannot honestly say.. I don't see THAT much of a difference. I was kinda dissapointed. I was expecting a huge boost in performance.

Both were/are running windows XP Pro. The older system actually booted faster, but this new one does seem to load programs faster.

The only real plus was I made a deal with my sister to sell her my old PC for 1/2 the price of the upgrade.

Her old one was the slowest Dell I have ever seen, even when it was new. It was dog slow. It was a Pentium 4 of some degree.

 

[fks]

i used to enjoy building my own PC (started with a 286, all the way up to a pentium). but dell's prices and support make it more cost-effective to buy from them than to assemble one from bits and pieces.

my brother still builds his own as he's a major gamer.

ricky

 

[StL_Don]

I was real close to a new system when I decided to clean house on my old one.
Did a format and fresh install of XP Pro and my main use software ... what a difference.
Capture NX, View NX are finally stable (touch wood). Bridge loads in 1/3 the time it used to. Everything is peachy and fast again
and I've saved some $$... at least for a while.

Don

 

[turtile]

Edit, after a failed build, the parts went back, except for a DVD writer. I kept it is all. The mobo was a real piece. Apparently poorly designed, since my video card would not seat properly without taking the board loose from case. I couldn't believe it, and I never could get it to post. It beeped once, then 4 times, never showed anything, and I checked both DVI and standard video. maybe just a bad board, no matter, I was frustrated after 5 hours work, I Gave up, boxed it up and shipped it back. back to the drawing board.

The beep code is telling you what is wrong. It doesn't mean the motherboard has a problem. There should be a list of the beep codes for your BIOS which will identify the problem.

I've had similar problems with video cards. They fit but they have to be in perfect.

I cannot honestly say.. I see THAT much of a difference. I was kinda dissapointed. I was expecting a huge boost in performance.

Your older hard drive is likely the problem. Loading won't be much faster if the system is waiting for data from the hard drive. The drivers will also cause the system to take longer to boot.

 

[andreasb]

Sounds like very sound advice for anyone!

I'm considering doing the same thing, Tigerdirect has some very compelling offers, I'm waiting for a great Q6700 + MB + Ram offer, and I will go for it. $269: sounds hard to beat!!!

let us know how it goes!!!

 

[williadw]

The C drive, where the OS is, is a WD 74 GB Raptor 10000 RPM SATA drive...

That is definatley not the holdup

I'm not saying it is not a fast system. I am saying I didn't see the marked increase in speed as what I was expecting.

Your older hard drive is likely the problem. Loading won't be much faster if the system is waiting for data from the hard drive. The drivers will also cause the system to take longer to boot.

 

[wingspar]

The beep code is telling you what is wrong. It doesn't mean the motherboard has a problem. There should be a list of the beep codes for your BIOS which will identify the problem.

Agree. It sounds like you could have had a bad stick of RAM. Did you run memtest?

I used to buy Dell’s all the time, but I finally broke down, and built this one from scratch. It’s been running like a rocket for over two years. I had so much fun building it, I wanted to start another build as soon as I finished this one, but couldn’t justify the cost.

I’ll never buy another pre-built system again. The only software on this computer is the software I want on it. Not a bunch of junk some manufacturer wants you to have, but I realize building is not for everyone. I also looked at TigerDirect pre-builds and bare bones kits, but the only way I could build with the components I wanted, was to build myself.