Help A Geek Out - CPU woes

[darksydeavenger]

I've had a lengthy love / hate relationship with my computer, and I believe it is finally in the throes of comitting computer suicide. It already ate my feature length movie and destroyed the only copy of some other film stuff I've done. Also, it won't let me play my computer games for too long without locking up.

So yeah, while pitying me, what are some suggestions for getting a new PC? I'm looking to build it from scratch, getting all the parts I want, instead of buying it pre-built. Any assistance would be much appreciated. Kthxbye!

[masherscf]

That sounds painfull. I guess you're the poster child for backing-up data.

It sounds to me like you might have a cooling problem. Have you cleaned out your box lately? Have you checked your fans to see if they're still alive?

I hear that MACs are good for making videos.

What's your budget for this new monstrosity?

[darksydeavenger]

how much is cooling an issue? just asking out of curiosity...or for "cleaning out" for that matter?

[masherscf]

Originally Posted by darksydeavenger

how much is cooling an issue? just asking out of curiosity...

If you're losing files, the damage might be done or it might be something else. In my experience, when you computer crashes randomily while you are playing games it might be overheating. You really need to clean out your computer occassionally and replace the cooling fans if they die. I wouldn't do it unless you know for certain that's the problem.

[diela]

Originally Posted by masherscf

If you're losing files, the damage might be done or it might be something else. In my experience, when you computer crashes randomily while you are playing games it might be overheating. You really need to clean out your computer occassionally and replace the cooling fans if they die. I wouldn't do it unless you know for certain that's the problem.

And by cleaning out, he means getting rid of the dust bunnies inside that are large enough to be named. Household dust acts like blown-in insulation for houses... keeps all the heat in parts where it shouldn't be.

Like he said, check your processor fan... although a good motherboard should shut itself down if that ever stops working... and any extra case fans.

[masherscf]

Originally Posted by diela

Like he said, check your processor fan... although a good motherboard should shut itself down if that ever stops working... and any extra case fans.

Good idea. You have a good point. The CPU is usally monitored for heat on modern motherboads. I'm really concerned about his video card cooling.

Does it have an integrated fan?
Is the video card crowded?

An overheating video card would just act wonky, the MB might not pick it up. Although, I'm not sure how that would lead to currupt data files. Unless, the random cashes do that.

[briangilmore]

Originally Posted by darksydeavenger

how much is cooling an issue? just asking out of curiosity...or for "cleaning out" for that matter?

for mac laptops, at least, cooling is a HUGE issue. My friend has a 12-inch powerbook, and their old hard-drive burned out and died b/c of how hot it got, etc. So yeah, cool that shit, mofo, iss a huge deal. A lot of the time, it feels like mine do that soon as well...maybe i should make it happen before the warranty runs out, cause 3 years is comin up and i don't wanna be left in the wata.

[wyrmwood]

Originally Posted by darksydeavenger

Any assistance would be much appreciated. Kthxbye!

Ok - gaming AND video editing AND redundancy...

Let's start with a good solid mobo - The ASUS A8N-SLI Premium (now supports x2 athlons)

Now plop in a dual core AMD - Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Windsor (good bang for the buck - $180 or so), You've got your dual core for video, your A64 for gaming, and much cheaper than the intels.

Next, grab 2GB of RAM - CORSAIR ValueSelect DDR400 (2 x 1GB) - about 150 bux... No reason to go 1GB anymore, and DDR2 is still a bit pricey...

Boot Drive - Go with 2 Western Digital 74's in RAID 0 for your boot/proggy drive, the speed is just plain painful.

Game/Video Drive - A nice, simple Seagate Barracuda 320GB SATA 3Gb/s should do the trick, just make separate partitions for games and video since audio/video rendering creates more fragments than you can imagine.

Video Card - I'm a BFG/Nvidia fanboy. Best bang for the buck right now is the BFG 7950GT 512MB pcix-16... Wait a month and it'll be down to 200 bux.

As for the case - you want some nice airflow, I'd say go with the Thermaltake VA8000BWS (it's a beast). Just don't use the included PS.

Now then, the POWER SUPPLY. This is painfully important (especially once you put in your 10krpm raptors) - the Thermaltake ToughPower 700W.

Backup/Redundancy - Personally, I don't bother with redundant drives, I just use a firewire external drive (I personally use a Lacie). There's a cool new one out there, the Seagate Pushbutton Backup 500GB - uses USB2 or firewire. Then just get used to backing up, make it a habit just like defragging - or get a nice backup scheduler.

And finally - COOOOOOOOOOOOLING... Whether or not you overclock, you want a good CPU fan and heatsink (thermaltake again is great), some heat spreaders for your RAM, a dual fan card (fits into a pci slot) for the GeForce, identical intake/outtake airflow, and possibly a Hard Drive bay fan.

Also make sure you get a ROUND cable for your DVDRW, and lots of tie wraps to tie up all of the sata,ata,power,fan and case wires.

As far as monitor, keys, mice, dvd, etc etc - no opinion there...

Ah! And a final note - Tweak XP once you've got it loaded, here's the best guide on the web:

http://www.tweakguides.com/TGTC.html

------------------------------------

I've been drooling at newegg lately looking for a new system, otherwise this wouldve been a much more short winded message...

Intel Core 2 Duo is where it's at. I think AMD is a false economy at this point in time. I've updated a couple of my lower-end X2 Socket 939 machines to upper-mid Socket AM2's and it actually drags noticeably over (sure, it's a little more expensive) my C2D's. I'd say there's more life in the Intel way.

I'd say an E6600 (although some say the one-model-below can overclock better) and a P5NSLI or a Premium. You'll need the faster memory of course, but these mobo's support a wide range according to your budget.

Apart from that, the above recommendations don't seem too bad.

[bird603568]

why do you need 700W? im willing to bet it wont even draw 500W