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Vyndara · 07-02-2008, 06:14 PM

Okay. I'm gonna wade in here to the techie discussion and get your opinions. Puter DIED a death and using my 4 year old daughter's sony laptop to surf the net now .... I'm game and music-less! noooooooooo!

On hardware I'm a total nube but I know the general components and what they do. I can follow some of the discussions on dual vs quad core processors and SLI graphics cards etc but I feel monumentally ignorant when faced with the huge numbers of choices I just encountered.

SO here are 2 dif specs and prices, one prebuilt box and one specialized but still built by someone other than me (Mysterybite up here in the North!). The second build is infinitely flexible and feel free to suggest other combos or even an AMD/ATI build, although I did not want to go that route.

Budget is $1800-$2100 plus tax.

Special question: Is getting a Physics Accelerator worth it??

I know Dells are evil but here is the box one that I like:

XPS 730:
Processor: Intel Core 2 Q9300 (6MB, 2.5 Ghz, 1333FSB)
Operating System: Vista Premium
Cooling: Copper base Heat Sink with aluminum fins
Memory: 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333Mhz
Hard Drive: 500GB Seagate 7200RPM, SATA 3.00Gb/s, 16 MB cache
Sound Card: SB X-Fi
Video Card: nVidia GeForce 9800GX2 1024MB
Media Reader: 19 in 1 reader with Bluetooth
Physics Accelerator: AGEIA PhysX
Speakers: Reg 2.1 Dell system
Keyboard: Reg Dell multimedia one....

Choice 2 Special Build - Is this the right mobo??:

Processor: INTEL Core 2 Quad Q9300 2.50GHz FSB1333 6MB LGA775
Mainboard: GIGABYTE GA-P35-S3G P35+ICH9 5PCI/1PCI-EX1 4DDR2 1PCI-E X16 1333MHZ FSB
Operating System: Vista Premium (32 or 64 bit?)
Memory: OCZ PC2-8500 Reaper Heatpipe Edition 4GB (2x2GB) 1066MHz
Hard Drive: Seagate ST3500320AS 500GB Barracuda 7200.11 SATA-II 32MB (Should I be getting a 720GB instead of a 500??)
Sound Card: SB X-Fi
Video Card: BFG 9800 GX2 1GB PCIe 2.0 Dual DVI HDMI
Power Supply: Coolermaster eXTREME POWER 650W (RP-650-PCAR) SLI 2x6pin PCIe 24/20PIN
Speakers: Reg 2.1
Keyboard: Saitek Eclipse Gamer one....red backlight

Phew....done. Any comments??

07-02-2008, 06:14 PM	#1 (permalink)
Vyndara Follow Me... Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Nova Scotia, Canada Posts: 1,010	Puter DIED. Need opinions on 2 New Specs Okay. I'm gonna wade in here to the techie discussion and get your opinions. Puter DIED a death and using my 4 year old daughter's sony laptop to surf the net now .... I'm game and music-less! noooooooooo! On hardware I'm a total nube but I know the general components and what they do. I can follow some of the discussions on dual vs quad core processors and SLI graphics cards etc but I feel monumentally ignorant when faced with the huge numbers of choices I just encountered. SO here are 2 dif specs and prices, one prebuilt box and one specialized but still built by someone other than me (Mysterybite up here in the North!). The second build is infinitely flexible and feel free to suggest other combos or even an AMD/ATI build, although I did not want to go that route. Budget is $1800-$2100 plus tax. Special question: Is getting a Physics Accelerator worth it?? I know Dells are evil but here is the box one that I like: XPS 730: Processor: Intel Core 2 Q9300 (6MB, 2.5 Ghz, 1333FSB) Operating System: Vista Premium Cooling: Copper base Heat Sink with aluminum fins Memory: 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333Mhz Hard Drive: 500GB Seagate 7200RPM, SATA 3.00Gb/s, 16 MB cache Sound Card: SB X-Fi Video Card: nVidia GeForce 9800GX2 1024MB Media Reader: 19 in 1 reader with Bluetooth Physics Accelerator: AGEIA PhysX Speakers: Reg 2.1 Dell system Keyboard: Reg Dell multimedia one.... Choice 2 Special Build - Is this the right mobo??: Processor: INTEL Core 2 Quad Q9300 2.50GHz FSB1333 6MB LGA775 Mainboard: GIGABYTE GA-P35-S3G P35+ICH9 5PCI/1PCI-EX1 4DDR2 1PCI-E X16 1333MHZ FSB Operating System: Vista Premium (32 or 64 bit?) Memory: OCZ PC2-8500 Reaper Heatpipe Edition 4GB (2x2GB) 1066MHz Hard Drive: Seagate ST3500320AS 500GB Barracuda 7200.11 SATA-II 32MB (Should I be getting a 720GB instead of a 500??) Sound Card: SB X-Fi Video Card: BFG 9800 GX2 1GB PCIe 2.0 Dual DVI HDMI Power Supply: Coolermaster eXTREME POWER 650W (RP-650-PCAR) SLI 2x6pin PCIe 24/20PIN Speakers: Reg 2.1 Keyboard: Saitek Eclipse Gamer one....red backlight Phew....done. Any comments?? __________________ Chaotic Garden