The Gamer's Quarter

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

Ok, so I've told my mother-in-law that I'll build her a PC (and my wife wants one, but that's for another post) and use her copy of XP to install it on because she DOESN'T want Vista. Makes sense. I told her I could do it for under $400 no problem, but ... I think I've done it for about $260. I'm just putting this up so that I can confirm that everything will fit together and it will work WELL ENOUGH for someone who's only going to surf the internet and use MS Word.

Case: TRICOD 8068 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450W Power Supply - Retail

MoBo: ECS GF7100PVT-M LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 7100 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

CPU: Intel Pentium E2160 Allendale 1.8GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80557E2160 - Retail

Memory: Kingston 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model KVR800D2K2/1GR - Retail

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3500630AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Now, while this may seem like some cheap-out options, just know that this PC would be about 10X the PC that her current one is (which is so old it doesn't even support widescreen monitor options through the MoBo). I'm just trying to make sure that it actually will fit together w/o issue. If you have any recommendations on what should/shouldn't go together I'm all ears. I have about $40 of wiggle room before it gets "possibly too expensive" and $140 before it is "too expensive"

EDIT: Shit, i forgot an optical drive.... I'll just use the same one as below.
_________________
“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

OK, this one is mostly for my wife, but also me. There are some things that I know I could be scaled down, but the thing is that it's going to be displaying on my TV at 1080p, so I need a bit more horsepower for that alone. Here's what i've put together:

Case: Linkworld 437-01-C2229 Black/ Champaign Gold Steel MicroATX Mini Tower Computer Case 430W Power Supply - Retail

MoBo: GIGABYTE GA-G31M-S2L LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E4600 Allendale 2.4GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80557E4600 - Retail

Memory: OCZ Value 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2V8004GK - Retail

Optical Drive: Pioneer 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model DVR-215DBK - OEM

GFX Card: XFX PVT84JYAJG GeForce 8600 GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3500630AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

The things I'm worried about are; if the power supply will be enough, and if I can turn this on it's side (mainly the optical drive is my worry) so it can fit. I could probably find a new case that will work if it's not worth finding out about the optical drive working on its side. My backup option for a case is this one, but that's quite a bit more money.

EDIT:

I'm trying to find an optical drive that is one of those slots which auto grabs your disc, but I can't find any. I'm attempting to find a viable option for a vertically oriented optical drive because that's probably cheaper/easier to upgrade.
_________________
“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

So, here's another case option for the second PC: IN WIN IW-BT610T.300BL Black Steel MicroATX Desktop Computer Case 300W Power Supply. I'm a bit nervous that the psu may not be enough. Buying a new PSU will only be about $15, which would bring my total up to around $70, still just a little less than the APEVIA, but not much. I'm honestly a bit worried that the PSU in the case may not be a standard PSU, or that the cooling may not be enough in the box.

If this is good enough in the PSU department then I may just go with it for cooling and what seems like a nice internal layout for ease of installation. Is the 380w psu going to be enough?
_________________
“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

Redeye · . Joined: 02 Oct 2006 Posts: 986 Location: filth

I have lost 2 computers to shit PSUs.

Get a good one, and always opt for a little extra power.
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I felt sheer anarchic joy when I ran over my first pedestrian.

parkbench · . Joined: 02 Jul 2007 Posts: 145

Pre-bed comment: seconding the PSU advice. Don't skimp on PSUs.
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DonMarco · . Joined: 02 Mar 2005 Posts: 349 Location: 33903

aderack · . Joined: 15 Jun 2005 Posts: 1105 Location: San Francisco

dhex · Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 8:05 am Post subject:

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

Ok, thanks guys.

I'm still looking to make sure that the first PC will go together and run, or if I'm missing some detail here.
_________________
“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

DonMarco · . Joined: 02 Mar 2005 Posts: 349 Location: 33903

ryan · . Joined: 20 Feb 2005 Posts: 999

What about good PC speakers? I have a Creative Labs set from about 3 years ago, and they have never been good. I have the bass literally past negative and there is still too much bass. I'm now getting this annoying buzzing sound from them - two quick bzz bzz after a nnn - and I'm looking for a few set. I think the Logitech Z-10 are a decent pair, scoring in the 8 range and being pretty compact; that's another thing, I would like the speakers to be moderately sized as well. I've been reading reviews, but a lot of sites either don't cover speakers or aren't too much help. I'm trying to find a pair that I can buy locally so I can return if needed, but so far the Z-2300 set from Logitech is the only set I can find around here, but they look bulky and cost around $130 - a shade more than I would prefer.

What do you folk have?
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DonMarco · . Joined: 02 Mar 2005 Posts: 349 Location: 33903

I use two 5-watt Yamaha speakers. I think they cost me $30 or so 8 years ago, have never had a problem before.
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ryan · . Joined: 20 Feb 2005 Posts: 999

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

I had some Creative Labs speakers that i'd been carrying around since I got them for free from work about 4-6 years ago. I've never really liked them, but they never bother me until I got my new monitor which has a nice piano black finish around the edge and they finally looked too out of place. So, I'd been looking for something cheap and ran across these on an island in Fry's for $30:

They have pretty good separation, and separate bass volume on the sub woofer. I also get a detached volume control which makes it much easier to use headsets. Overall, for $30, I'm very happy with the quality.
_________________
“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

ryan · . Joined: 20 Feb 2005 Posts: 999

Those are pretty sexy! I would be psyched to get some speakers that don't blow out from bass overload whenever I put the dial into -, nevermind beyond middle and into the positive end. I've turned to using earbuds to keep from using them, but all I have are the shitty kind that came with my original PSP and some old iPod ones, sans the comfy foam casings.
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Come to me, Mordel. We shall depart.

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

Strangely enough I use Zune ear buds mostly. I have some really nice Sennheiser headphones, but my wife abducted them because I won't wear them out of the house (too expensive to have lost) and I won't wear them in bed (because it's really easy to pull out a wire from the speaker). So I stole her Zune earbuds that came with her first gen Zune when I couldn't find my iPod earbuds (my PSP earbuds broke within a month). The Zune ones are decent for being ear buds: even noticeably better than the iPod ones which I still have and use when the others are misplaced.

But yeah, you can buy those speakers I linked to sans the subwoofer, but they aren't good enough on their own for depth of sound. The subwoofer allows just the perfect amount of bass and I can listen to them cranked up to 11 throughout my house happily.
_________________
“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

ryan · . Joined: 20 Feb 2005 Posts: 999

Are speaker hookups universal? I have my subwoofer from the creative labs set at my left foot, itching to go.
_________________
Come to me, Mordel. We shall depart.

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

Well, I mean, how these work are like this:

Subwoofer 1/8" jack into the PC for audio out -> Speakers 1/8" jack into the Subwoofer for audio.

The audio box goes in between the PC and the Subwoofer for volume.

I don't actually recommend messing around with mixing and matching, but it could potentially work...?
_________________
“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

dhex · Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 8:30 am Post subject:

it should all work.

for what it's worth, i've never really liked subs that much. but i've also never lived in just a house where i could use them in any real capacity.
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Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

Hey, so where could I get some info on what's a good overclocking amount for my graphics card? I want to see if I can push it a little yet still being very safe. I'm just looking for a small bump in performance mainly because I think that Vista is sucking up too much processor/gpu.
_________________
“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

Redeye · . Joined: 02 Oct 2006 Posts: 986 Location: filth

Take it all off, my sweet shiny lardbucket.
_________________
I felt sheer anarchic joy when I ran over my first pedestrian.

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

As a note, there's no way in hell I can do a fresh install of Vista. Which is a shame.

I didn't see anything on there about overclocking btw.
_________________
“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

Redeye · . Joined: 02 Oct 2006 Posts: 986 Location: filth

I was thinking make Vista leaner instead of overclocking.

Or add a gig or 2 to mem.

I'm so paranoid about breaking things I'd probably underclock a little if it was super easy to do.
_________________
I felt sheer anarchic joy when I ran over my first pedestrian.

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

my mobo is maxed at 2gb ram as well, otherwise I would've jumped on that. . .

no shit, I just thought of something and checked up on it and yes, on the mfg site for the mobo it says up to 4gb memory is supported, where it says that only 2gb are supported on the site I bought it. I think that would probably help me out quite a bit.
_________________
“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"