Rate my build

Cosmosis · 23-09-2008, 06:32 PM

So my home computer died last night. It was 5+ years old, so it is time for an upgrade.

I will mostly be using this computer for internet/email/office uses and will not be playing any 3D games on it. My goal is value, I need a good bang for my buck. This build is largely based on the "Who Says You Need Four Cores?" article.

When I can afford a better "gaming" PC, this PC should make a decent HTPC.

Please see the attachment for a list of components and their prices (in Canadian dollars)

What do you think?

edit: I guess another goal for this build is that it should be minimal. Also, I will be using my existing DVD writer.

jaggy · 23-09-2008, 07:24 PM

Well, if you are going for value the PC looks good; however, a few suggestions could be made.

-The RAM that is listed is sort of fancy; you could save a few dollars on your RAM. The dominators earn back their value when the user chooses to overclock. In your case, while using the computer for office and internet, that may not be necessary.

-The Hard Drive, Seagate Barracuda 7k2.11, is a nice one, when it doesn’t fail. I've had my fair share of experiences with Seagate HDDs, and right now I do not believe they have a good manufacturing run.

Their budgeting for the manufacturing of each unit is very different from companies like Western Digital. I don't remember exactly what happened but apparently WD has made some business move that allows their HDDs to sell at a low price while keeping the quality the same. Seagate was forced to limit their manufacturing costs in order to compete; while the quality of their Hard Drives decreased significantly enough for me to say- get a Western Digital HDD instead of Seagate.

-If you are interested in the whole .11 RPM and perpendicular recording significance I can say that WD Hard Drives have the same thing. The only difference is that WD does not think they need to advertise it as much as Seagate. Perpendicular recording is pretty much a standard with WD as much as it is with Seagate. In plain words their Hard Drives are just as fast as the ones from Seagate.

-CPU looks good.
-Cooling looks good.
-Case and mobo look good too

-The only other thing that I might suggest, knowing that this is not a gaming computer, is saving some money on the Operating System. If you want everything to work properly on your office computer without weird compatibility issues I would suggest dropping Vista and sticking with the old Windows XP. In my experiences, backed up by a whole crowd of angry people, I believe that the only thing that vista promises is problems, problems, and frustration. Windows XP is a much better system than Vista in office uses and in many cases even gaming. If you want a new fancy Operating System that has a lot less problems than Vista I suggest waiting for Windows 7. If you didn’t know about Windows 7 this probably sounds crazy, and it is, but nevertheless Windows 7 will be coming out in the next year or two.

space_jaggy

Cosmosis · 23-09-2008, 08:44 PM

Hi Jaggy,

Thanks for the quick response, I will definitely take what you told me in to consideration.

After speaking with a few people, I have decided to re-use my old copy of Windows XP Pro. It will save me some money, and possibly some headaches.

Also, the ram I listed in the screenshot has a $40 mail in rebate right now, which makes them a bit more attractive.

Thanks again!

23-09-2008, 06:32 PM	#1 (permalink) Top
Cosmosis Geek Trainee Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 2 Status: Offline	Rate my build So my home computer died last night. It was 5+ years old, so it is time for an upgrade. I will mostly be using this computer for internet/email/office uses and will not be playing any 3D games on it. My goal is value, I need a good bang for my buck. This build is largely based on the "Who Says You Need Four Cores?" article. When I can afford a better "gaming" PC, this PC should make a decent HTPC. Please see the attachment for a list of components and their prices (in Canadian dollars) What do you think? edit: I guess another goal for this build is that it should be minimal. Also, I will be using my existing DVD writer. Attached Thumbnails

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23-09-2008, 07:24 PM	#2 (permalink) Top
jaggy Geek Join Date: Oct 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 76 Times Helpful: 1 My Mood: In Love Status: Offline My Computer	Well, if you are going for value the PC looks good; however, a few suggestions could be made. -The RAM that is listed is sort of fancy; you could save a few dollars on your RAM. The dominators earn back their value when the user chooses to overclock. In your case, while using the computer for office and internet, that may not be necessary. -The Hard Drive, Seagate Barracuda 7k2.11, is a nice one, when it doesn’t fail. I've had my fair share of experiences with Seagate HDDs, and right now I do not believe they have a good manufacturing run. Their budgeting for the manufacturing of each unit is very different from companies like Western Digital. I don't remember exactly what happened but apparently WD has made some business move that allows their HDDs to sell at a low price while keeping the quality the same. Seagate was forced to limit their manufacturing costs in order to compete; while the quality of their Hard Drives decreased significantly enough for me to say- get a Western Digital HDD instead of Seagate. -If you are interested in the whole .11 RPM and perpendicular recording significance I can say that WD Hard Drives have the same thing. The only difference is that WD does not think they need to advertise it as much as Seagate. Perpendicular recording is pretty much a standard with WD as much as it is with Seagate. In plain words their Hard Drives are just as fast as the ones from Seagate. -CPU looks good. -Cooling looks good. -Case and mobo look good too -The only other thing that I might suggest, knowing that this is not a gaming computer, is saving some money on the Operating System. If you want everything to work properly on your office computer without weird compatibility issues I would suggest dropping Vista and sticking with the old Windows XP. In my experiences, backed up by a whole crowd of angry people, I believe that the only thing that vista promises is problems, problems, and frustration. Windows XP is a much better system than Vista in office uses and in many cases even gaming. If you want a new fancy Operating System that has a lot less problems than Vista I suggest waiting for Windows 7. If you didn’t know about Windows 7 this probably sounds crazy, and it is, but nevertheless Windows 7 will be coming out in the next year or two. space_jaggy

23-09-2008, 08:44 PM	#3 (permalink) Top
Cosmosis Geek Trainee Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 2 Status: Offline	Hi Jaggy, Thanks for the quick response, I will definitely take what you told me in to consideration. After speaking with a few people, I have decided to re-use my old copy of Windows XP Pro. It will save me some money, and possibly some headaches. Also, the ram I listed in the screenshot has a $40 mail in rebate right now, which makes them a bit more attractive. Thanks again!

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