PC gurus, speak to me

[Wolfehunter]

Originally Posted by NeonSamurai

I agree with the others here on what was said.

As for #2 like others said, about the only thing that will fix that is wiping the os partition and reinstalling. Windows pretty much slowly destroys itself over time and will eventually render itself completely inoperable (blue screen of death). Best solution for this I have found is to use a program like norton ghost or similar, do a clean install for that pc with all drivers and major programs you need installed (ie not games that shift on and off the computer, but stuff like winzip, office, etc), then ghost a backup of it. Then when the computer starts acting up again you can very rapidly do a clean reinstall using the ghosted image in a fraction of the time it would normaly take (as fast as 30 minutes). Keep in mind though that ghosted image is only good for that pc and when the hardware is changed a new image has to be made.

Also you should regularly defrag any drives which have alot of data being copyied around (such as where you install and uninstall games) using something other then windows defrag (i agree it sucks).

This is correct. I had to reinstall XP every 3 months because of all the clutter building up in my system. I find Vista is very stable and I hadn't had to reinstall it over a year.

Very weird habit... I'm not used to that.

[GlobalExplorer]

Registry cleaner, installing XP every three months, I always bang my head on the wall if I hear this. If people only learned how to make use of something like http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/image-for-dos.htm they would always have a clean system.

Concerning hardware, I think the ideal price performance spot is a Core 2 E8400 and ATI 4500, at least that was what I chose after a long search.

Or you can wait for the Nehalem architecture to materialize, it should give a nice performance boost with its integrated memory controller.

[Blacklight]

I actually like Micro$ofts online Live One Care. It's free and cleans out your computer, registry, scans for viruses and spy/add/malware, defrags the hard drive, and a few other things. It actually does a really good job considering it's Micro$oft. I run it's full service scan on my computers once a month. It takes a few hours to run, but it really does a nice job (And it's actually killed viruses and addware on my system that none of the other big name virus/spyware scanners were able to get rid of.)
http://onecare.live.com/site/en-US/d....htm?s_cid=sah

[Wolfehunter]

Originally Posted by GlobalExplorer

Registry cleaner, installing XP every three months, I always bang my head on the wall if I hear this. If people only learned how to make use of something like http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/image-for-dos.htm they would always have a clean system.

Concerning hardware, I think the ideal price performance spot is a Core 2 E8400 and ATI 4500, at least that was what I chose after a long search.

Or you can wait for the Nehalem architecture to materialize, it should give a nice performance boost with its integrated memory controller.

I couldn't help it. I've used to do alot of installing and uninstalling plus many websites were a horror to my system adding stuff to it... Yes I used spybot and antivirus programs but in the end with all the tweeking and foolling around with the system I was lucky to get a years without a full format happing on my HDD. I used to hang out in alot of underground sites and hacking was a normal event especially those who hated MS + iexplorer.

[stabiz]

I do a full format/reinstall 3-4 times a year, and this keeps the computer slim and fast. I also have Ultimate Defrag 2008.

My current setup:

Core 2 Duo E6600 (2 x 2,4ghz)
4GB DDR2 ram
Abit something motherboard
Sapphire Radeon HD4870 512MB
4x 250GB harddrives
22" Samsung
500W Mist
XP Pro SP3

Not the best, but pretty good. SH4 runs at around 100 fps in 1680x1050 with everything on full + 8x FSAA, for comparison.

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by GlobalExplorer

Concerning hardware, I think the ideal price performance spot is a Core 2 E8400 and ATI 4500, at least that was what I chose after a long search.

I think I am narrowing the search down now, thanks. Looking at a E8400 with a nVidia 980... still learning and reading.

[SUBMAN1]

Actually, the AMD 9950 Quad seems to be the sweet spot for only $170 or less these days. The E8400 will beat it for gaming 2 out of 3 times, but overall, the 9950 is better for an all around CPU such as compression, etc.

The ATI 1GB 4870 also is the gaming card for those on a budget. Do not buy a 9800 - that is a 'last' generation board. The 260 and 280 are NVidia's current gen.

Some articles on the subject:
ATI 4870 1GB vs Nvidia - http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3415


Some stats on the CPU's:







Here are some compression stats:

[SUBMAN1]

Some perf #'s on what the $250 4870 1GB performs at on 2 of the most GPU hungry games there is:

[GlobalExplorer]

I can't comment on submans Phenom figures, but the 4870 run too hot. With the 4850 you get very good performance for a lot less money and heat.

Submans CPU charts were interesting to say the least. I would however consider that the E8400 overclocks really good. Mine runs 3600 Mhz (a 20% increase) without any ceremony, and would probably go higher, if I push voltages / cooling.

Don't know about dollars, but E8400 are priced at 120€, E8500 at 160€ and E8600 at 220€. So with the E8600 just 666Mhz / 20% faster it's fairly obvious that the E8400 is the price/performance champion among the Core2's.

In addition there are very mature and cheap boards based on the IP35 / IP45 chipsets, like the Abit IP35-E I'm running (really fast & stable board without unnecessary features for just 75€).

Tip: save some money on the CPU and video and invest in a really good
PSU. I personally recommend something like the Corsair 650TX, high quality cables / voltages for <100€. Loose cables were the number 1 stability issue with my last build! So I'd rather not get cable management, it will only create problems.

P.S. I copied you the list of what I got (prices from two months ago but have not moved):

Mainboard: Abit IP35-E
RAM: Crucial DIMM 4 GB DDR2-800 Kit BL2KIT25664AA804 ~95€
CPU: E8400 ~125€
Heatsink: Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme ~50€
Video: Sapphire HD4850 1024MB ~170€
PSU: Corsair CMPSU-650TX ~100€
HD: Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640 GB ~60€
Fans (CPU, Case): Scythe Slip Stream 500upm

And everyone should have a look at those WD 640AAKS. Almost the optimal HD, with a two platter high data density design. In practice nearly as fast as Raptors, but cool and quiet, and for half the price! I got two of them, the second one for images and backups.

[Onkel Neal]

Subman, thanks. I sm thinking the video card will be replaced in a year anyway, but I will look into the ATI card you suggest.

GE, yeah, I think the 8400 is the CPU for me, from all I've read I feel comfortable with that choice, plus I always use Intel. What are the components you listed? MB, CPU, ram, etc... you should have labeled them, now I have to look them all up

Thanks and keep it coming, I know there are others here who will appreciate your expertise.

Neal