• You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community, you will have access to additional post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), view blogs, respond to polls, upload content, and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free, so please join our community today! Just click here to register. You should turn your Ad Blocker off for this site or certain features may not work properly. If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us by clicking here.

Please Decode This Desktop Spec For This Not-Nerdy-Enough INTJ

Usehername

On a mission
Joined
May 30, 2007
Messages
3,794
I'm getting hooked up with what I know to be a ridiculously sweet deal on a desktop (a friend is getting the parts at wholesale). But, I don't quite understand what the specs mean. Please, if you are nerdy enough to understand, translate part by part:

Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 2.66GHz 6MB L2 Cache
ASUS P5Q Next generation motherboard
4GB DDR2 800MHz RAM
500GB SATA II Hard Drive
EVGA Geforce 8400GS 512MB Video Card (supports the next generation Direct X 10)
ACER 19" Widescreen LCD Monitor 2000:1 Contrast Ratio
500Watt Power Supply
SAMSUNG DVD-RW DVD Burner
Keyboard/mouse and speakers
 

Noel

Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
613
MBTI Type
INFP
I'm getting hooked up with what I know to be a ridiculously sweet deal on a desktop (a friend is getting the parts at wholesale). But, I don't quite understand what the specs mean. Please, if you are nerdy enough to understand, translate part by part:

Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 2.66GHz 6MB L2 Cache
ASUS P5Q Next generation motherboard
4GB DDR2 800MHz RAM
500GB SATA II Hard Drive
EVGA Geforce 8400GS 512MB Video Card (supports the next generation Direct X 10)
ACER 19" Widescreen LCD Monitor 2000:1 Contrast Ratio
500Watt Power Supply
SAMSUNG DVD-RW DVD Burner
Keyboard/mouse and speakers

What do you plan on using this rig for?
 

Xander

Lex Parsimoniae
Joined
Apr 24, 2007
Messages
4,463
MBTI Type
INTP
Enneagram
9w8
I'm getting hooked up with what I know to be a ridiculously sweet deal on a desktop (a friend is getting the parts at wholesale). But, I don't quite understand what the specs mean. Please, if you are nerdy enough to understand, translate part by part:

Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 2.66GHz 6MB L2 Cache
ASUS P5Q Next generation motherboard
4GB DDR2 800MHz RAM
500GB SATA II Hard Drive
EVGA Geforce 8400GS 512MB Video Card (supports the next generation Direct X 10)
ACER 19" Widescreen LCD Monitor 2000:1 Contrast Ratio
500Watt Power Supply
SAMSUNG DVD-RW DVD Burner
Keyboard/mouse and speakers
I'm presuming it's running Vista on that memory.. It should have enough nuts to run most games and applications nicely. Not quite enough grunt to run things like Crysis at huge frame rates but otherwise a capable machine with plenty of headroom.

One thing though, watch you don't try to attach a hundred USB powered devices to it though. 500W is good but you may stress it if you try and add on lots of things which draw power through it.
 

Usehername

On a mission
Joined
May 30, 2007
Messages
3,794
What do you plan on using this rig for?

Basic student stuff + loads of music listening and uploading my digital piano stuff.

All I wanted was something quality, I had a price cap (with parts at wholesale I got more than I should have) and I wanted this to last for several years.
 

Usehername

On a mission
Joined
May 30, 2007
Messages
3,794
I'm presuming it's running Vista on that memory.. It should have enough nuts to run most games and applications nicely. Not quite enough grunt to run things like Crysis at huge frame rates but otherwise a capable machine with plenty of headroom.

One thing though, watch you don't try to attach a hundred USB powered devices to it though. 500W is good but you may stress it if you try and add on lots of things which draw power through it.

Good to know--thanks. :)
 

creativeRhino

New member
Joined
Sep 30, 2007
Messages
113
MBTI Type
INTJ
lots of headroom for your future growth then. given that your needs and technology are both moving targets...
 

Xander

Lex Parsimoniae
Joined
Apr 24, 2007
Messages
4,463
MBTI Type
INTP
Enneagram
9w8
Basic student stuff + loads of music listening and uploading my digital piano stuff.

All I wanted was something quality, I had a price cap (with parts at wholesale I got more than I should have) and I wanted this to last for several years.
Errm not to spoil the party... that is still a good platform of a desktop.. but you're going to need a good sound card I'd imagine.

Whilst the top of the range cards aren't cheap there are some out there which produce professional quality at bargain prices. Not that I'm a soundcard expert but I'm willing to google a bit to aid the project...

BRB>

*A long short wait later*

Right it looks like the XFi is still king in the consumer market. They are pricey and unless you pay a lot for it, audio inputs are a swine. Also there's several models and only the top ones come with the stuff that everyone raves about.. the others are just plain jane good sound cards.

As for more professional jobs I found the Echo Mia Midi. It's no 7.1 materpiece of over cabling (try rigging up eight speakers in the corner of a room and then moving your chair!!!) but it does support multi sampling and is designed for input as well as output. Now the bonus is, it's cheaper than the XFi too.

I'd still suggest doing some research yourself, I know how picky you audiophiles can be, but I think that'd do the job. Oh and it's Vista 64 bit compatible (You didn't state which version it came with so I was playing safe :) ).

Anyhow, hopefully that's a good start.
 

Noel

Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
613
MBTI Type
INFP
Basic student stuff + loads of music listening and uploading my digital piano stuff.

All I wanted was something quality, I had a price cap (with parts at wholesale I got more than I should have) and I wanted this to last for several years.

Then this rig should perform beautifully for your needs well into the future. Congrats! (if/when you get it).
 

sassafrassquatch

New member
Joined
Jul 20, 2007
Messages
961
4GB of RAM will require a 64bit OS. 64bit Win XP is a POS with poor driver support, 64bit Vista is a bit better but also a POS with poor driver support. 4 GB of ram is gross overkill unless you plan on running new games, 3D rendering, CAD or other memory intensive applications. I'd knock it down to 3GB and run 32bit XP. Or you could use some form of Unix/Linux.
 

millerm277

New member
Joined
Feb 1, 2008
Messages
978
MBTI Type
ISTP
4GB of RAM will require a 64bit OS. 64bit Win XP is a POS with poor driver support, 64bit Vista is a bit better but also a POS with poor driver support. 4 GB of ram is gross overkill unless you plan on running new games, 3D rendering, CAD or other memory intensive applications. I'd knock it down to 3GB and run 32bit XP. Or you could use some form of Unix/Linux.

It's about a $10 difference between 4gb and 3gb, might as well get 4gb.

Anyway, the system looks to be far more than enough for your needs. If you could, you should get a bit more info on that power supply, a brand name and model number/name would be good.
 

runvardh

にゃん
Joined
Jun 23, 2007
Messages
8,541
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
6w7
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
I'd up the watts if it's possible and definately go for the XFi for sound card, but it looks good ^_^. I'm slowly aquiring external stuff so I can do some recording on my rig.
 

sassafrassquatch

New member
Joined
Jul 20, 2007
Messages
961
It's about a $10 difference between 4gb and 3gb, might as well get 4gb.

Of course more RAM is always better and very inexpensive right now but in order to make use of all 4 Gigs you will have to use a 64 bit OS. A 32 bit OS will not recognize more than 3 Gigs of RAM. Is that 4th unnecessary Gig of RAM worth having to deal with poor driver support?

Go with 3 Gigs and 32bit XP and avoid the headaches of trying to find 64 bit drivers and Vista's mess. If you try to install 4 Gigs of RAM with a 32 bit Windows it will either crash or not recognize the 4th Gig in which case you've wasted money.
 

sassafrassquatch

New member
Joined
Jul 20, 2007
Messages
961
I'd up the watts if it's possible and definately go for the XFi for sound card, but it looks good ^_^. I'm slowly aquiring external stuff so I can do some recording on my rig.

A 500 watt PS is also gross overkill for that box.

Ars Technica System Guide: May 2008 Edition: Page 3

The Ars Technica Hot Rod is far more powerful than the OPs box and only uses a 330 watt PS. A high wattage PS is only necessary if you are going to run SLI or Crossfire video cards or have a lot of drives, dual CPUs or something that's going to consume a lot of power.
 

millerm277

New member
Joined
Feb 1, 2008
Messages
978
MBTI Type
ISTP
Of course more RAM is always better and very inexpensive right now but in order to make use of all 4 Gigs you will have to use a 64 bit OS. A 32 bit OS will not recognize more than 3 Gigs of RAM. Is that 4th unnecessary Gig of RAM worth having to deal with poor driver support?

Having the 4th gig doesn't mean you have to use a 64 bit OS, it just means that it won't do anything until you do. However....I'd say it's worth it, Windows 7 will be out relatively soon, and I'd expect that 64 bit will become the standard then.

A 500 watt PS is also gross overkill for that box.

It all depends on the manufacturer/model, and the distribution of that power. There are 500 watt PS's that I wouldn't trust running a Pentium III. Go look up anything by Powmax (they do what their name implies :shock:).
 

Xander

Lex Parsimoniae
Joined
Apr 24, 2007
Messages
4,463
MBTI Type
INTP
Enneagram
9w8
4Gb works in 32bit it just doesn't say it does on the OS. There is a regitry fix to let it display the extra RAM. However huge amounts of RAM is usually a waste unless you're running really intensive stuff. I ran Vista 64bit with 8Gb of RAM and it only ever used 6Gb even whilst running torture tests.
 

Xander

Lex Parsimoniae
Joined
Apr 24, 2007
Messages
4,463
MBTI Type
INTP
Enneagram
9w8
A 500 watt PS is also gross overkill for that box.
Actually a lot depends upon who's PSU you're talking about. Theirs is a Seasonic and that's about the top make in the game. With a cheaper manufacturer it's often best to put more headroom into it. Besides the wattage is a maximum not it's running wattage. They all scale as far as I know so even a 1000W PSU will reduce down to a 330W if that's all you're using.
 

millerm277

New member
Joined
Feb 1, 2008
Messages
978
MBTI Type
ISTP
They all scale as far as I know so even a 1000W PSU will reduce down to a 330W if that's all you're using.

Correct, and efficiency is typically best at around 50% of rated load, so "overkill" isn't a problem.
 

TenebrousReflection

New member
Joined
Sep 30, 2007
Messages
449
MBTI Type
INFp
Enneagram
4w5
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
4Gb works in 32bit it just doesn't say it does on the OS. There is a regitry fix to let it display the extra RAM. However huge amounts of RAM is usually a waste unless you're running really intensive stuff. I ran Vista 64bit with 8Gb of RAM and it only ever used 6Gb even whilst running torture tests.

Could you elaborate on that (and give a link or instructions)?

It was my understanding that it was a mathematical limitation of 32-bit operating systems in how they addressed memory. When I made my new system, I went with 4Gb even though I planned to use (and am using) Vista 32 because even an extra half gig of memory seemed worth it for potential gaming benefit (and having it in place if/when I switch to a 64 bit OS is good too). If there is a simple easy way to get more out of what I have, that would be great, but I'd also like to know the how of the workaround as everything I've read makes it sound like the most you can squeeze out of it even in good circumstances on a 32 bit OS is around 3Gb.

As to the original question, I can't add much more that has not already been said, looks like a good built to me for what you plan to use it for.
 
Top