questions about pc build

[Bruce SX]

Greetings,

I am at present coming to you from my soon-to-be-retired Windows XP Dell tower. Therefore I haven't been able to upload my complete projected system specs. The following below is my project.

I have acquired two Dell Precision T3400 towers...sans hard drives, RAM and video cards. They were previously owned by a company that used them to make/and test games(2K GAMES). These towers were retired, via a moving company, and I acquired them from one of the moving company's employees.

One of the tower CPU's is a Intel Core2 extreme. The other tower CPU is a Intel Core2 quad. I haven't decided which to use. The power supplies are 525 Watt.

At present I have acquired one Western hardrive, 1TB(WD Blue), WD1DEZES to install.(the seller guarantees it, and has three more available at $35 ea., should I grow a pair and maybe attempt a RAID configuration).

I am planning to acquire 4 1G RAM chips($40).

I am still trying to decide what graphics card to install($20-40 budget).

I plan on a fresh install of Windows 7(free if I'm lucky).

Or should I be considering Windows 8 ?

I am purchasing all the components from Craigslist, or Ebay, since my budget is strictly limited for this project. Hopefully, I could get everything up and running by, of all dates, April 1st or thereabouts.

Any and all suggestions will be gratefully appreciated.

Thanks,

 

[Computer0304]

The core 2 extreme will be better. I have a intel core2 quad running without a video card Windows 7 fine. A graphics card could bottleneck it ot be worse.

 

[Computer0304]

I rec Windows 7 since XP drivers are more compatible with Win7 if there is no driver avail. But you may have to go with Win8 if product keys are not purchasable anymore.

 

[Bruce SX]

Hi Computer0304,

Thanks for the advice. I'll go with unit having the Core2 extreme cpu then, and not sweat a graphics/video card at this point.I should have mentioned(d'oh!) that these systems at one time ran Windows Vista, according to the decal on the front of the tower.

 

[Stephanie]

Hi Bruce

At present I have acquired one Western hardrive, 1TB(WD Blue), WD1DEZES to install.(the seller guarantees it, and has three more available at $35 ea., should I grow a pair and maybe attempt a RAID configuration).

You may want to consider adding a small HDD (just for your OS) and use the 1TB HDD for apps etc

 

[Computer0304]

Well if you plan to do any gaming you should get a video card.

 

[Bruce SX]

You may want to consider adding a small HDD (just for your OS) and use the 1TB HDD for apps etc

Hi Stephanie,

I'm sure that your suggestion is a excellent idea. Would there be a specific advantage for this? More importantly...is it difficult? I ask out of ignorance. I suppose I had best check out all the forums here to enhance my knowledge of building a system tailored to my needs. I certainly don't want to just be someone that is merely here to receive information.

I enjoy learning, but I certainly like asking for help along the way. Any direction that I can be pointed in to better prepare me, so that I don't become a bore asking ignorant questions, would be appreciated.

Besides, I look forward to sharing my results here.

@Computer0304: I was planning to install a DirectX 10 or 11 capable card with with lightweight gaming in mind. One having the capability to handle something on the level of Half-life. Or would that be overkill?

Thank you both

 

[AddRAM]

Get a 120 - 128 GB Solid State drive for the Operating System, you will thank yourself later

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...me=91GB - 128GB&cm_sp=SSD119-_-VisNav-_-128GB

 

[madcratebuilder]

A ssd for the os is the fastest option, but a pair of black 1tb's in raid0 would be fairly fast.

I get the budget build, a used 60gb ssd can be had for under $30 and still plenty of life remaining.

 

[smarteyeball]

should I grow a pair and maybe attempt a RAID configuration)

Grow away



Having the OS on a smaller drive and the apps on the other limits the amount of work the hard drive has to do and thus less "thrashing". The advantage would be slightly quicker booting and opening of apps. You should only consider this if you already have an existing 7200rpm drive. It's not worth doing if the 2nd drive is only 5400rpm.

However if you are considering allowing the budget for a second drive for Raid, then a cheap SSD for the OS and a few core apps and the other drive for other apps/storage is the much better course of action. The speed difference of having the OS on a SSD is very significant.

Having a separate OS/storage drive is not hard to do. With both drives physically installed, when you install the OS on the drive you want, Windows will automatically assign the second drive a letter and it's all setup to go as a storage drive.

For "day to day" usage, you'll just need to remember that when installing apps you have to point the installer to the other drive and not the OS drive. Basically using the custom option and changing the drive letter.

Otherwise if you use Raid 0, both drives are seen as one and you just use it as such.

Below are the configs for speed preferences in order:

1. SSD w/OS + 1TB w/apps, storage
2. RAID 0
3. Small 7200rpm HDD w/OS + 1TB w/apps, storage
4. A single 1TB drive

I plan on a fresh install of Windows 7(free if I'm lucky).

Or should I be considering Windows 8 ?

Whichever you can get the cheapest. (free always wins)

Overall, you don't to stand to gain much by Going Win 8. Conversely you don't lose out much by sticking with Win 7.

As long as it's x64, either is a good choice.

I was planning to install a DirectX 10 or 11 capable card with with lightweight gaming in mind. One having the capability to handle something on the level of Half-life. Or would that be overkill?

Without knowing what motherboard you have (or whether it has an integrated GPU on the motherboard) you will need a GPU anyway. If the boards were previously used for game development, then it's unlikely that it would have an Integrated GPU.

Considering your GPU budget and age of games then a DX9 card should be sufficient. Half Life era/level games don't utilize DX10 or DX11. Only newer titles do and for $20-$40 you'd be very hard pressed to find a card powerful enough to run DX11 features anyway. For your needs, aim for the fastest DX9 capable card you can afford.


Also, do you have the stock Heat Sink Fan/Cooler for the CPU? Or are they already installed on the board with the chip in place?

If not, you will have to factor in Thermal Paste when it comes time to installing the cooler.

 

[Bruce SX]

Hi smarteyeball,

I have added images of the tower I'm working on. If you need more, or better, info from me I'll do my best to satisfy.

I'm thinking that there just may be built in graphics, but by looking I just don't know. I am a novice getting inside the workings of a pc. The images may help.

I have decided to get 2 2GB RAM chips. Crucial made by Dell.

I could get the following video card by Gigabyte for $10. Geforce 8500 GT 256mb GPU Video card.I have also been considring a Quadro by Dell with as high specs as I can get.

Thanks for expounding on the advantages of a second drive for the OS(that goes for Stephanie, AddRAM and madcratebuilder, who also took the time to comment). I can see how it will make a difference. Even though it may take me a bit longer to finish this project I am willing to wait; if it means building one that I can get maybe 3-4 years of work from.

All I need to decide on is HDD or SSD. I'm leaning towards SSD as I believe(from what I've read) that that would be optimum, and give me a better level of versatility.

Actually, it was while searching for my system info that I found a link to this site. I am very fortunate to have landed in the company of some well learned individuals, and am grateful for it.

KR
Bruce

 

[smarteyeball]

Hi smarteyeball,

I have added images of the tower I'm working on. If you need more, or better, info from me I'll do my best to satisfy.

I'm thinking that there just may be built in graphics, but by looking I just don't know. I am a novice getting inside the workings of a pc. The images may help.

Thanks for those, it's helped identify the motherboard model. (just some general info about your board)

Dell Bluford E139765 Motherboard

LGA 775 Socket (intel uses the amount of pins for the CPU to identify their boards. )
Intel X38 Chipset (That's the chip in the photo. Not overly important to know)
PCI-E 2.0 x16 (The slot type for the GPU)
Integrated Audio
Max Memory 8GB (4x2GB - will not support 4GB+ modules)

One question regarding the CPU's you have there - could you either take a picture of the top of them (where the details are) or simply the model numbers ie E8400, QX6800, QX9650 etc.

While one of them may be an extreme, the other may actually be quicker.

I have decided to get 2 2GB RAM chips. Crucial made by Dell.

By rights, the motherboard should support pretty much any DDR2 800Mhz/PC2-6400 2GB 1.8v modules.

4x1GB or 2x2GB makes no difference (unless you wish to upgrade to 8GB later on.)

The board supports either DDR2 667mhz or DDR2 800Mhz. DDR2 800mhz is faster.

I could get the following video card by Gigabyte for $10. Geforce 8500 GT 256mb GPU Video card.I have also been considring a Quadro by Dell with as high specs as I can get.

I wouldn't worry too much about a quadro - they are more intended for workstations than games and the drivers are slanted that way too. Not saying you shouldn't. Quadro or not - the faster the better.

An 8500GT should run the original Half Life with no problems. For $10 you can't go wrong grabbing one.

If nothing else, it will easily tide you over should you decide you need more grunt in the future.

There is no integrated GPU on this motherboard.

Thanks for expounding on the advantages of a second drive for the OS

You're welcome Bruce

I can see how it will make a difference. Even though it may take me a bit longer to finish this project I am willing to wait; if it means building one that I can get maybe 3-4 years of work from.

From your described usage intentions, there's no reason why this build should not easily last you 3-4 years. Plus there is some room to upgrade should you wish to.

It's part of the rationale behind suggesting an SSD. It really is one component you would not regret installing. To be honest, the only complaint about SSD's I've seen repeated often is "Why did I take so long to get one?"

Actually, it was while searching for my system info that I found a link to this site. I am very fortunate to have landed in the company of some well learned individuals, and am grateful for it.

KR
Bruce

And we are happy to help. There are a lot of knowledgeable people on this site indeed.

 

[Bruce SX]

Hi smarteyeball......

......Here are some more images. I think they may be the correct ones you asked me to provide.....hope so. Anyway I may have gone and done it. I uncovered the GPU, and probably it will need a reapplication of that silver thermal paste.....after a good cleaning with 97% alcohol.

The # numbers on the GPU are: 3574654 over 6A1886

These are the numbers printed on the Core2 extreme GPU.

I am in the process of imaging the Core2 quatro board.

To the images.

KR
Bruce

 

[smarteyeball]

Anyway I may have gone and done it. I uncovered the GPU, and probably it will need a reapplication of that silver thermal paste.....after a good cleaning with 97% alcohol.

The # numbers on the GPU are: 3574654 over 6A1886

These are the numbers printed on the Core2 extreme GPU.

Just to clarify - do you actually mean CPU and not GPU?

The CPU is the Central Processing Unit (the one in your shots)

The GPU is the Graphics Processing Unit, or the the video card. (Easy enough to mistake)

Unfortunately those numbers didn't turn up anything (Not sure what those are - they aren't the serial or batch numbers) and the thermal paste is obscuring the CPU type.

For example:



The number outlined in red is the model number I need for both chips.

Since they need to be cleaned, there is no rush supplying that detail.




And yes, you will definitely need to reapply the thermal paste. Any time the Heat Sink is removed it should be replaced. The idea behind thermal paste is that neither the top of the CPU or the bottom of the heatsink are truly flat. There are a lot of tiny scratches/imperfections. Thermal paste is needed to "fill in" those gaps to create a smooth contact in which to disperse heat evenly from the top of the CPPU and up and out of the heatsink.



Out of curiosity Bruce, where are you getting the info that one of the boards is a an Extreme and the other a normal Core2 quad etc? The sticker on the front of the tower?

(And forgive me If I'm telling you thinks you already know, I find it's easier to cover everything just in case)

 

[Bruce SX]

Round 2.....quatro

Here are the numbers and images of the No. 2 tower. Again, thanks for all the assistance!

Numbers on the Intel Core2 quatro GPU: N488888 over 4A4250. I didn't realize how dusty this tower was until I was editing the images. I will clean it up before all else. I'll give it a sheep dip....just in case

KR
Bruce

 

[Bruce SX]

Anyway I may have gone and done it. I uncovered the GPU, and probably it will need a reapplication of that silver thermal paste.....after a good cleaning with 97% alcohol.

The # numbers on the GPU are: 3574654 over 6A1886

These are the numbers printed on the Core2 extreme GPU.

Just to clarify - do you actually mean CPU and not GPU?

The CPU is the Central Processing Unit (the one in your shots)

The GPU is the Graphics Processing Unit, or the the video card. (Easy enough to mistake)

Unfortunately those numbers didn't turn up anything (Not sure what those are - they aren't the serial or batch numbers) and the thermal paste is obscuring the CPU type.

For example:

View attachment 308363

The number outlined in red is the model number I need for both chips.

Since they need to be cleaned, there is no rush supplying that detail.




And yes, you will definitely need to reapply the thermal paste. Any time the Heat Sink is removed it should be replaced. The idea behind thermal paste is that neither the top of the CPU or the bottom of the heatsink are truly flat. There are a lot of tiny scratches/imperfections. Thermal paste is needed to "fill in" those gaps to create a smooth contact in which to disperse heat evenly from the top of the CPPU and up and out of the heatsink.



Out of curiosity Bruce, where are you getting the info that one of the boards is a an Extreme and the other a normal Core2 quad etc? The sticker on the front of the tower?

(And forgive me If I'm telling you thinks you already know, I find it's easier to cover everything just in case)

Yep, GPU was a typo. I did mean CPU....D'oH !

Yes, I got the info about the boards from the front of the towers. The one that I have been calling quatro has a void sticker(I'll image that if you like). I guess I shouldn't believe everything I read??

KR
Bruce

PS....I guess I need to be very careful pulling the CPU's.

 

[Bruce SX]

Hi smarteyeball......

......

(And forgive me If I'm telling you thinks you already know, I find it's easier to cover everything just in case)

This is a statement that I will never have a problem with. I am a complete novice at this. I also have skin as thick as a rhino, so you do not need to be forgiven for helping me. Cheers!

KR
Bruce

 

[smarteyeball]

No worries mate - when it comes to learning/getting used to new terms it's easy to confuse

And no need for a sticker photo. Since they are Dell towers, chances are they are what they say they are unless they were upgraded. Best way to find out is to look at the component itself.

When it comes to the CPU - Notice the latch on the side? Simply push it down and away from the socket (unlatching it basically) until it's loose. Then you can push the hinge at the rear and will lift out the cpu (or use a finger nail to pry).

With those intel CPU's and later, the pins are in the socket and the bottom of the CPU is covered in gold connector pads. What you want to watch out for is damaging the socket pins. Just try to avoid dropping the CPU or knocking the sockets pins. It's actually quite easy to remove the CPU.

This is a statement that I will never have a problem with. I am a complete novice at this. I also have skin as thick as a rhino, so you do not need to be forgiven for helping me. Cheers!

KR
Bruce

To be honest, it's blokes like you who genuinely appreciate help that I'm happy to go the extra mile for. And if you learn something new - even better

We've all been where you are, starting from scratch at one point or another.

 

[Bruce SX]

Hi smarteyeball......

......I haven't cleaned the thermal compound off of the CPU's yet, but I did order the following: Arctic alumina ceramic thermal compound. Do you think that it will do the job correctly? If not I'll get the Arctic #5.

KR
Bruce

 

[Computer0304]

Yes it will do the job correctly most likely. You should get a aftermarket cooler since they are way better than stock.