Tell me what you think at what I'm looking at.
-Gigabyte K8N, 939 socket Motherboard
-Athlon 64 X2 4200
-PNY GeForce 7600 GT 256MB
-600 watt power supply
-SATA Hardrive
-1 GB ram (for Now)
-Dual Layer DVD-RW
-Kworld Video Magician TV Tuner
-Wireless USB Device
I have the PC Case.
Also looking for a computer that will be vista ready, I'm thinking this might be a good choice.
Not really going for quiet are you?
-Lance
What would be particularly noisy about this setup?
I don't know how much money you are spending on it, but that PSU is slight overskill for the components you have. 450 or so watts should be enough unless you plan on upgrading the video card anytime soon.
I'm considering upgrading video in about a year, since my current desktop could use some upgrades as well.
What PS did you buy? When I built my last computer I put in a Xion 600w. It had a huge fan, 140mm, so it could run slower (hence quieter) and still move a ton of air.
600w is complete overkill for what I'm running at the moment, but it was the same price as some 450w units, so it was a good buy. It's been stable as a rock and quiet enough I can hear the platters in the HD occasionally.
haven't purchased yet. Will be ordering the parts after I move
wait 2 months for Conroe (Core 2 Duo) - it's much faster and cooler
Originally posted by Toadster:
wait 2 months for Conroe (Core 2 Duo) - it's much faster and cooler
That's what I'm doing...
Anything that requires major cooling (high-end video cards, fast CPU's, especially the P4's) will be on the loud side unless you go out of your way to find big, slow speed fans.
Who wants to listen to fan noise when watching a movie or TV show? I don't.
The system you've listed seems really overkill for a media PC.
-Lance
That's what I did on mine. 110mm fans all around. PS has 140mm. Only small fan is the one on the cpu. Damn Prescotts run HOT! Until the cpu really spools up and the cpu fan kicks on, the tower is virtually silent. I was quite pleased, and am now a staunch convert to large fans.
Of course, you could
do away with the fans completely! (regarding this link, it seems that there are better choices out there than vegetable oil)
Originally posted by Lance Kinley:
Originally posted by Toadster:
wait 2 months for Conroe (Core 2 Duo) - it's much faster and cooler
That's what I'm doing...
Anything that requires major cooling (high-end video cards, fast CPU's, especially the P4's) will be on the loud side unless you go out of your way to find big, slow speed fans.
Who wants to listen to fan noise when watching a movie or TV show? I don't.
The system you've listed seems really overkill for a media PC.
-Lance
good choice 
next-gen VIIV platforms are coming out soon (with Conroe) - gotta love it 
I'm on that mobile-processor thing.
Since I'm a nerd, I replaced my Pentium M 1.6GHz (533FSB) processor with a 1.6GHz (400FSB) P-M and pinmodded that to trick the chipset in running it at 533FSB.
So now my laptop is sitting at 2.13GHz and leaves me with my 1.6GHz to build a quiet desktop with...
Will be very nice-a!
Originally posted by Big Daddy Kane:
I'm on that mobile-processor thing.
Since I'm a nerd, I replaced my Pentium M 1.6GHz (533FSB) processor with a 1.6GHz (400FSB) P-M and pinmodded that to trick the chipset in running it at 533FSB.
So now my laptop is sitting at 2.13GHz and leaves me with my 1.6GHz to build a quiet desktop with...
Will be very nice-a!
sweet!
Originally posted by Toadster:
next-gen VIIV platforms are coming out soon (with Conroe) - gotta love it
I know, I'm drooling
My 2.0GHz Core Duo MacBook shows up Tuesday. Can't wait to see what Apple does with Conroe. Doubt I'll buy one, but it will be fun to watch. I'll probably build a Conroe-based PC to replace my Athlon XP system.
-Lance
Are you going to hook this up to your TV? If you are I would go with an ATI all in wonders card and eliminate the tuner. You'll saved some money and get a remote for on screen operations.
If Conroe lives up to the hype it will be a year before it's reasonably priced and if it doesn't why would you want one. If Conroe can encode a DVD 10 seconds faster(from what I've read) than a comparable AMD CPU but the Conroe is $400 more is it money well spent? I don't think so.
I gave the all in wonders a thought but I wanted RCA inputs.
Originally posted by Lance Kinley:
Can't wait to see what Apple does with Conroe.
The MacBooks use Merom which is the mobile Core Duo processor.
And if you're worried about a loud system, new liquid cooling (ALCT) should be introduced toward the end of this year. It will be capable (I don't know if price range has been anounced, but it will be cheap) to cool any CPU on the market and any of the next 2 or 3 generations.
anything over 1.0ghz and 256mb ram will run vista
the areo glass witch is gonna cost extra will require
an 128mb video card plus a few other goodies
the most important windows vista is going to be direct x 10
the specs for direct x 10 haven't been realeased as far as i know
so in short yes it will run vista will you be able to runn all the apperance goodie probly not
if your interested in running vista wait till it comes out before you build a pc for it
Originally posted by IRingTwyce:
600w is complete overkill for what I'm running at the moment, but it was the same price as some 450w units, so it was a good buy. It's been stable as a rock and quiet enough I can hear the platters in the HD occasionally.
Another note on the PSU, I know from personal experience you get what you pay for when it comes to PSUs. It's usually a hugely overlooked area whenever people custom build PCs. I have no idea what brand you got, but I went for a cheap, 450 watt PSU a year back or so and it ended up frying my CPU, motherboard and video card. Needless to say, from now on I'll definitely spend the extra $40 or so and get an Antec or Enermax PSU, good quality.
Originally posted by deftoned989:
Originally posted by IRingTwyce:
600w is complete overkill for what I'm running at the moment, but it was the same price as some 450w units, so it was a good buy. It's been stable as a rock and quiet enough I can hear the platters in the HD occasionally.
Another note on the PSU, I know from personal experience you get what you pay for when it comes to PSUs. It's usually a hugely overlooked area whenever people custom build PCs. I have no idea what brand you got, but I went for a cheap, 450 watt PSU a year back or so and it ended up frying my CPU, motherboard and video card. Needless to say, from now on I'll definitely spend the extra $40 or so and get an Antec or Enermax PSU, good quality.
It is a Xion. It's been rock solid for the last year. Like I said earlier, it's got a huge 140mm cooling fan. This PSU is QUIET! I think my final cost on it was right around $100. I'd NEVER buy a $20 or $30 PSU
Originally posted by Toadster:
Originally posted by Big Daddy Kane:
I'm on that mobile-processor thing.
Since I'm a nerd, I replaced my Pentium M 1.6GHz (533FSB) processor with a 1.6GHz (400FSB) P-M and pinmodded that to trick the chipset in running it at 533FSB.
So now my laptop is sitting at 2.13GHz and leaves me with my 1.6GHz to build a quiet desktop with...
Will be very nice-a!
sweet!
Just thought I'd toss in a proof pic:
Guide I followed
Pinmod explaination
So pretty much what this is saying, if you've got a laptop (or even a desktop) with the Pentium M -AND- the Intel 915 chipset (not the i855) you can gain some performance out of it for cheap.
What you need to look for is the Dothan "7x5" 400MHz FSB processors on Ebay.
400MHz Processors to look for:
715 - 1.5GHz 400MHz 2MB L2 => 2.0GHz
725 - 1.6GHz 400MHz 2MB L2 => 2.13GHz
735 - 1.7GHz 400MHz 2MB L2 => 2.26GHz
745 - 1.8GHz 400MHz 2MB L2 => 2.39GHz
755 - 2.0GHz 400MHz 2MB L2 => 2.66GHz
Note that these processors may need to be volt modded since the laptop power supply may not be able to handle it. They might work fine in a desktop, though.
All "7x0" Dothan processors are 533MHz, and are pointless to pinmod, since they already run at 533FSB.
You don't want the older Banias core P-Ms with 1MB L2 and 130nm, instead go for the Dothan cores listed above with 2MB L2 and 90nm.
As far as software, I'd suggest to stay away from Windows Media Center. It may be ok for you, but I've had problems with it. The "Media Center" component locks in my USB 2.0 tuner card(crappy no name dell component, what was I thinking??) and won't release it to other software no matter what programs I shut down. This wouldnt be a big deal but I really wanted to play video games through the vid inputs. MCE doesn't allow this. It only lets you setup "set top boxes" through the vid inputs. You could try to setup a ps2 or whatever, but you cant turn off the delay(it's constantly recording incase you want to pause live tv and whatnot.)
I'm going to try my card on XP pro with some other software, I'll post some results if anyone is interested.
Originally posted by FFE:
I gave the all in wonders a thought but I wanted RCA inputs.
Take a better look...they have them.
What about an XBOX with Xbox media centre? Loving that 720p output....
Originally posted by joe:
What about an XBOX with Xbox media centre? Loving that 720p output....
I Have thought about the xbox, but really want a TV recorder option. Its been A while since I read up on the XBox but last I checked you couldn't hook up a usb tv input
I hate on XBox
I wanted to be able to play my okama gamesphere on my laptop but my tv tuner card has terrible support for 3rd party software
Originally posted by SleeperZ:
The MacBooks use Merom which is the mobile Core Duo processor.
You couldn't be more wrong!
Merom is not out yet. Core Duo = Yonah
There is no 'mobile' Core Duo... Core Duo *IS* a mobile processor.
-Lance
I thought there were desktop core duo's out already?
Just looked it up, I guess I was wrong. I could have sworn I read reviews about them on desktops but maybe they were different dual core cpu's and not specifically the "core duo" set.
Originally posted by hotdimmes:
I thought there were desktop core duo's out already?
Just looked it up, I guess I was wrong. I could have sworn I read reviews about them on desktops but maybe they were different dual core cpu's and not specifically the "core duo" set.
There's a couple of motherboards out there that you can put a P-M and Core Duo in:
This is supposedly the best P-M board: AOpen i915GMm-HFS - $209.99
Haven't read up much on the Core Duo motherboards (since I only have a P-M lying around):
ASUS N4L-VM DH - $144.99 - Review
AOpen i945GTm-VHL - $233.99
Originally posted by Lance Kinley:
Originally posted by SleeperZ:
The MacBooks use Merom which is the mobile Core Duo processor.
You couldn't be more wrong!
Merom is not out yet. Core Duo = Yonah
There is no 'mobile' Core Duo... Core Duo *IS* a mobile processor.
-Lance
My bad...that's what happens when you half-@ss read a post. I thought you said the MacBook were using Conroe.