New Computer!!

[Chazumi]

BEHOLD!!

I finally broke down and purchased this yesterday (the 6th), from newegg.com and am anxiously awaiting it's delivery. I have a few questions though once I receive it since I want this to be my computer for a long time so I have a few questions.

1) In the customer reviews memory problems are mentioned a few times... but it has 4 gigs and still has 2 slots available for expansion...how is 4 gigs a bottleneck like they are saying?

2) I have never had a PCI-E motherboard before (big reason for the purchase). I am going to try out the 8800 GT's for awhile but if they aren't operating someone mentioned a 9800GTX? Would I be able to just swap them out like I did on my old motherboard? (non-PCI-E)

3) What are the first things I should do once it is up and running? Before installing games and what not, see if there are driver updates? Scour the program files and get rid of the free crap programs? Defragment the drives? I've always had hand me down comps so this is my first brand new one.

4) Any other tips/suggestions?


Thanks in advance, I also plan on buying my first flat screen monitor so I will probably save up for a bit and get a 28" one from costco for 500$.

 

[BCampbell]

1. Not sure what kind of memory bottleneck is being mentioned. It has DDR2 800 so it might be that they're tlking about overclocking problems, which shouldn't affect you at all. Memory is pretty cheap so you can always throw another gig or two in there.

2. Two 8800GT 512s should give you very good performance, that card is relaly in the sweet spot of price/performance right now. The thing is, it has a 600 watt power supply. You're running a quad core CPU, a 7200RPM HDD, two optical drives, two video cards... the system is already drawing a low of power and probably taxing that PSU. And we don't really know what kind of PSU it is, how efficient it is... not all 600w PSUs are equal. In short, the power supply may not be able to handle much of a video card upgrade. If you do want to upgrade your video cards, you'll want to do another SLI setup to see much of an improvement and factor in the cost of upgrading your power supply (a good 650-700w unit should be just fine).

3. Defragging shouldn't be necessary. First thing you should do is just test everything out and make sure it's running fine. Driver and software updates are a good idea. You can try clearing out all the prepacked crap but if that's a priority, you're better off just buying a copy of windows. You should more or less be ready to go with this thing.

4. Well, for one, any reason you didn't build this yourself? I just priced out the cost of the CPU, two video cards, motherboard, RAM, HDD, OS, and PSU on newegg and it came to $1,033. I can't see you spending almost $650 on a case, fans, keyboard, mouse, and optical drives. You could have gotten the same exact system specs, possibly better hardware, and had enough left over for a new monitor. But, other than that, my only suggestion is to enjoy it!

 

[Chazumi]

Short on time, and although I can do a few things I think building a computer from the ground up is a little bit out of my league.

Another question now that you mention it, does the SLI need to be setup? Or does the computer already run both cards? Someone mentioned that on newegg...

 

[BCampbell]

I'd have to be REALLY short on time for it to be worth $600. I can understand some trepidation at building it, but really it's not that hard. If you tinker around inside this one, maybe you'll be ready to do it next time.

I'd be surprised if the SLI wasn't already set up. If you're concnered, just look at the system setup inside windows once you get it running.

 

[GoodGame]

The only real caveat is you should invest at least a week to a month's worth effort in researching all the parts to be sure they're compatible, get a quality computer repair kit (~$30), and a reference book or two (1 of which can be a 'Dummies' book). It doesn't require electrical engineering (other than being clever enough to completely power it down and avoid static build up before you work on it), just some honest research.

 

[warpus]

And remember to disable SLI if you want to dual-monitor.

 

[FriendlyFire]

Kinda expensive. (Oh I see SLI 8800GT)
No LCD either uh ? (Ok defintly pricey)

This is what I ended up building.

E8400 @ 3.6ghz (120% OC)
4gig DDR2800 @ 833
500Gig HDD Segate
Asus 8800GS 316 DDR3 (gonna be overclocked)
Asus PK5 EPU
CoolMaster CM690 (very nice save I dont like the LED fans)

All up $789 au.

 

[Chazumi]

I'd have to be REALLY short on time for it to be worth $600. I can understand some trepidation at building it, but really it's not that hard. If you tinker around inside this one, maybe you'll be ready to do it next time.

I'd be surprised if the SLI wasn't already set up. If you're concnered, just look at the system setup inside windows once you get it running.

Well my job hours aren't set in stone. For instance yesterday I went to work at 6:30, went home, came back at 10:30, and then was released for the day. Other days I can be gone for 12 days at a time. Not to mention when I am at home I've got yardwork, still a few rooms to finish painting, garbage to collect and dispose of, dinner to make, and trying to spend quality time with wife and baby before next april so really it was worth it to me.

I'm sure I could build one from the ground up, but it would just be a pain... I always had trouble with the heatsyncs (sp?) and sometimes the cases are tiny and hard to get my hands into, this one has a huge one though so definately some tinkering.

 

[FriendlyFire]

Chamzumi your better of selecting a good selection of mid range parts and having them build it. I would recommend a HD4850 and then SLI it later down the road.

 

[BCampbell]

Well my job hours aren't set in stone. For instance yesterday I went to work at 6:30, went home, came back at 10:30, and then was released for the day. Other days I can be gone for 12 days at a time. Not to mention when I am at home I've got yardwork, still a few rooms to finish painting, garbage to collect and dispose of, dinner to make, and trying to spend quality time with wife and baby before next april so really it was worth it to me.

Yeah, I know how it goes... I have to tinker with a few things inside my case and I just haven't gotten to it, it's been... two weeks maybe. Hope you enjoy the system!