Just got new PC built. Check it Out! Also need advice on what Graphics card to get

B

Bvlgari

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hey guys whats up. I just got my custom pc built here are the specs and cost;

-AMD Athlon 64 x2 dual core processor 6000+ - $129.99 (frys in-store)
-ECS Geforce 6100sm-m Motherboard - $49.99 (frys in-store)
-Maxtor 250 GB SATA 16MB - $59.99 (frys in-store)
-A-DATA 2GB DDR2 SDRAM DDR2800 PC2 6400 - $98.82 SHIPPED (newegg)
-ATX Mid-Tower Case w/500 watt power supply - $54.97 SHIPPED (tigerdirect)

-Total Cost so far $394.00

This is my second pc I am building. Last thing I plan on getting is the graphics card. However I don't know what to choose. I am an average gamer. I'd like to stay within the $100-$150 dollar range. I want a directx10 GPU. I'd prefer Nvidia, so what do you guys suggest?
 
8600GTS I guess.

I would highly recommend a different brand hard drive. (any other)

And a case plus a 500watt PSU for ~$50 (shipped)...
Just by that alone I really question the quality of the Power Supply unit. hehe
What brand is the PSU? Poor quality PSUs are not a safe bet and it doesn't help that it is a big 500watt unit. Make sure it is a good branded unit (e.g. Enermax) and if you need to skimp then go down to 400-450 watts. You won't really need 500Watts either. Just a good quality unit with the proper amps on each rail.

Oh and I see it is your 2nd post. Don't be afraid to get involved around here.
 
Ive never had a problem with Maxtor drives.
 
Krynn72 said:
Ive never had a problem with Maxtor drives.
Click to expand...
/krynn's hard drive breaks
hehe

Yeah everyone's millage varies. But this opinion seems to just be everywhere. I'm sure they have a lot of drives that don't go bad as well. I mean they do sell for cheap and so that is what people buy.

Personally, I've bought 2 Maxtor 5400RPM 80gb drives at the same time. A year later I sold one to my brother and another to a friend. Within 6 months they both died. They weren't even the new 7200RPM models which ran hotter. My bro got a refurb back since it was still under warranty at the time (before they went to 1 year warranties). That drive went out in less than a year. Of course that is an extremely small sample size to even begin to make claims. But it put a bad taste in my mouth and most people I talk with agree about Maxtor. /shrug

babyheadcrab said:
Asus how dare you switch to an avatar that isn't Brak! WTF
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<3 brak
 
well I went with teh MSI 8600GT 256mb graphics card. Its been getting great reviews online so I got it. Would Vista Home premium be compatable with this pc by the way?

heres the pic of the power supply

11-148-029-19.jpg


and here are the supply specs;

PSU 480 watts!!! #PS480D the specs: # # High Efficiency # Complies with FCC part 15J class B 115Vac Operation and CISPR22 230Vac Operation # Meet UL 1950. CSA 22.2 Level 3 Requirement # Over Voltage protection # Over Power protection # Short Circuit Protection # 100% Hi-pot & Function (Chroma)tested # 100&Burn-in under high Ambient Temperature(50??C) # MTBF above 100.000 Hrsat 25??C # Low Noise and Ripple # Energy Star Efficiency

it doesnt have to be the best, just decent.
 
You should run Vista fine, it's just a matter of whether or not you actually want to use it. You'll get more out of your games by sticking with XP, and by the looks of it that's what you're building this PC for in the first place.

Welcome to the boards, anyway. Feel free to contribute (probably more than I do :p).
 
unrelated question:

Anyone have an idea why my had drive has the option of having the services stopped on it, similiar to what you would do to unplug an ipod?

It is always in my task bar, and this happened after I re-imaged my PC....

Thanks

Now I will give advice to the OP so this isnt a thread hijack:

looks good :thumbs:
 
Tyguy said:
unrelated question:

Anyone have an idea why my had drive has the option of having the services stopped on it, similiar to what you would do to unplug an ipod?

It is always in my task bar, and this happened after I re-imaged my PC....

Thanks
Click to expand...
Well, it probably is a SATA drive and some support being Hot-Pluggable when using SATA power connector as well (instead of 4pin molex). I used to have that icon although it isn't there for my drive any more. Not exactly sure what I did but it may have gone away when I unplugged my drive (when my PC was off) and put it in another port. Or try using a 4pin molex. Is this your OS drive or 2nd one?

You could go to taskbar properties and tell it to hide the icon.

Bvlgari said:
heres the pic of the power supply
11-148-029-19.jpg

and here are the supply specs;

PSU 480 watts!!! #PS480D the specs: # # High Efficiency # Complies with FCC part 15J class B 115Vac Operation and CISPR22 230Vac Operation # Meet UL 1950. CSA 22.2 Level 3 Requirement # Over Voltage protection # Over Power protection # Short Circuit Protection # 100% Hi-pot & Function (Chroma)tested # 100&Burn-in under high Ambient Temperature(50??C) # MTBF above 100.000 Hrsat 25??C # Low Noise and Ripple # Energy Star Efficiency

it doesnt have to be the best, just decent.
Click to expand...
480 watts seems like a over estimate. Cause it says total power is 330watts. And power supplies can't use all the amps on each rail at the same time so if they just add up the rails it would be a false number. /shrug
Not really sure who it's made by (generally unknown brands have a PSU manufacturer make it for them). It will power your PC. But 330Watts wouldn't be a lot of room for upgrading to a more powerful GPU or adding a couple hard drives though.

There should be a small number under or around the reverse RU icon on the label called a UL file number. I could use that to tell who was the manufacturer. Can't read it in the picture though. Although if the PSU isn't made for the US markets it may not have the number.
 
If I stick with windows xp though will I have directx 10?

Also what is 32 bit?
 
DX10 video card will work perfectly fine and fast in XP but can only run up to DX9 mode. Need Vista to actually run DX10.

32Bit is the standard every PC runs atm. A lot of 64bit CPUs out there and they can do both 32 and 64bit (e.g. Athlon 64, Core 2 Duo). But the support for 64bit OS versions isn't up to par with 32bit versions. The XP version which basically everyone runs is 32bit. Vista offers both on the same retail disk so you pick which you want to install (assuming you have a 64bit CPU and there are 64bit drivers for all of your devices).
 
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