Please provide your thoughts on this system

Forums › Desktop computing › Please provide your thoughts on this system

chakkaradeep

799 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#24003 12-Jul-2008 21:59

I am looking to get a new PC and decided to get Quad Core and 4GB of RAM. PB Tech had a system with these and you can find it here. Would be happy to hear your thoughts on this system

Thanks!

Regards,
Chaks

Desktop : Intel Quad Core Q9400 2.66GHz - 8GB RAM - 500 GB + 500 GB HDD - NVidia GeForce 9800GT - LG246WH Flatron Display - Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise with Hyper-V
Virtual Machine : Powered by Hyper-V and VMWare Workstation
Laptop: HP dv7-3004TX Entertainment Notebook PC | HP Touchsmart tx2 1119au - Windows 7 Ultimate x64
Mac: iMac 21.5" Snow Leopard
Mobile : iPhone 3GS

redjet

299 posts

Ultimate Geek

#147261 12-Jul-2008 22:26

What's the PC mainly going to be used for? Gaming, video editing, etc...

Looks ok, but doesn't come with an OS. What OS were you planning to install?

EDIT: I've also noticed it has no monitor!

Red Jet Web Services
- Affordable websites for small businesses
- Google Email setup and Migrations

chakkaradeep

799 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#147271 12-Jul-2008 22:47

redjet: What's the PC mainly going to be used for? Gaming, video editing, etc...

Its going to be used for many things and also to build my HTPC.

redjet:but doesn't come with an OS. What OS were you planning to install?

EDIT: I've also noticed it has no monitor!

No problems with OS and Monitor, I have already decided on them

I would be getting some nice 22" monitors and OS would be either Vista Home Premium/Ultimate

redjet

299 posts

Ultimate Geek

#147277 12-Jul-2008 23:08

Are you that concerned about noise if it is to be used as a HTPC? If so a silent 8600GT would be a better bet than the 9600GT. - espeically if it's not going to be used for serious gaming.

You also might want to look at a Zalman ZM460B-APS Continuous 460W Power Supply as they are very quiet and perform well.

The CPU is a quarter of the cost of the machine so unless you really think you'll use 4 cores (e.g. heaps of video editing, etc) I'd suggest dropping back to a E8400.

My advice would be to review all the components via New Egg then use the PC builder at Ascent to customise and then get them to build your PC (assuming you don't want to build it yourself that is). I'm always a bit weary of these pre-packaged deals as some PC stores can tend to sneak in components of average quality and/or performance. For example, the GA-P35-DS3L motherboard has actually been replaced by a newer energy saving model called the GA-EP35-DS3L.

Red Jet Web Services
- Affordable websites for small businesses
- Google Email setup and Migrations

chakkaradeep

799 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#147280 12-Jul-2008 23:16

redjet: Are you that concerned about noise if it is to be used as a HTPC? If so a silent 8600GT would be a better bet than the 9600GT. - espeically if it's not going to be used for serious gaming.

You also might want to look at a Zalman ZM460B-APS Continuous 460W Power Supply as they are very quiet and perform well.

The CPU is a quarter of the cost of the machine so unless you really think you'll use 4 cores (e.g. heaps of video editing, etc) I'd suggest dropping back to a E8400.

My advice would be to review all the components via New Egg then use the PC builder at Ascent to customise and then get them to build your PC (assuming you don't want to build it yourself that is). I'm always a bit weary of these pre-packaged deals as some PC stores can tend to sneak in components of average quality and/or performance. For example, the GA-P35-DS3L motherboard has actually been replaced by a newer energy saving model called the GA-EP35-DS3L.

Yea, I am not a gamer so I wont be playing games at all, but will be using for high end computing (Virtual Machines/Server software) and HTPC.

Thanks for the other suggestions, I will look into those. This is great help, thanks again

redjet

299 posts

Ultimate Geek

#147284 12-Jul-2008 23:29

No problem, anytime!

Quad Core CPU's work really well with VMWare as well. Also make sure you get fast RAM - preferably CL4. You could go with DDR3 RAM but it is quite expensive, plus you need to make sure your motherboard can handle it.

Red Jet Web Services
- Affordable websites for small businesses
- Google Email setup and Migrations

eXDee

4032 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#147294 13-Jul-2008 00:50

If you're not playing games at all, then i think you could build a more suitable system for what you want. An 8600GT will play any video pretty much including blu-ray. This gives you another $100 to slap onto the processor.
BTW That PBtech build is $1517 inc gst.

Heres a build i made thats the same price, but much better.
CL4 memory as suggested, but you can knock off $20 by going CL5. The samsung spinpoint F1 drives have crazy fast seek times.I didn't include a card reader, not sure if thats wanted. Note this is a quick build so the motherboard i didnt research too much on, all i know is the standard P5Q is a very good board but costs more. I chose that case because its recommended due to looking awesome, and that power supply is also highly recommended.
Notice how i selected Assembly + OS Setup. They will do it all for you and then ship it out. You can take $35 off if you want to do OS + Drivers yourself.
Build

Alternatively, you can make the same build as PBTech offers but for cheaper. I figured $1500 was your budget so i went with that.

bigal_nz

635 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#147302 13-Jul-2008 06:46

PBTech also tend to use very low end power supplies that only just do the job. Over time as the capacitors breakdown and no longer hold there rated charge, the power supply tends to output less wattage. I have seen it time and time again where after about 18 months you start getting BSOD's or random reboots.

Get a descent PSU, like a enermax.

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

Simonm

181 posts

Master Geek

#147500 13-Jul-2008 19:10

I would recommend holding on for a few weeks if you want a quad. New models are comming with new pricing :)

chakkaradeep

799 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#147515 13-Jul-2008 19:46

Simonm: I would recommend holding on for a few weeks if you want a quad. New models are comming with new pricing :)

Thanks for that info

Yes, I can wait and probably it will take a few weeks for me to actually buy as I am exploring various options.