Looking for feedback on my rig.

[astronut1885]

Hey guys. I built this computer about a year ago (well, I'm always messing with it or adding things, so I guess it's still a work in progress), but I've never had anyone who really knew computers take a look at it. I basically built it because my Dell sucked at life and I didn't want to buy another mail-order pc. I read a few articles and reviews, bought some stuff, and threw it together. It's been a labor, but at this point it's running good (4 hour GRID binge last night, I'm a driving game nut). Anyway, I wanted to see what some people thought of it, or if you see room for improvement. I really don't have the money to replace hardware at this point, and when I bought the stuff, it was pretty close to top-of-the-line as far as I could tell. About the only thing I want to upgrade soon is the PSU.

-Xclio A380 Twin Engine case (huge, looks like a jet engine, cools great)

-Asus P4C-800E-Deluxe (best P4 board, and at the time I was using my old Dell's p4)

-Pentium 4 SL7CH 3.4ghz Extreme Edition HT (bought after I broke the P4 from the dell messing around in the case, supposedly the best p4, and it's oc'd 5% by the MoBos onboard OC'ing utility....any more and it locks up right now.)

- G-skill DDR3 4GB ram (it was on sale, my mobo takes 4gb, and I figured it would do nicely)

-Gainward Nvidia GeForce 7800GS 512mb Gamer's Edition Golden Sample "GoesLikeHell" edition. (this is one badass card, supposedly on the level with 7900GTs. I needed AGP, and it is the best AGP card in existence from what I can tell).

- Soundblaster X-Fi Fatal1ty Professional Gamer 64mb (onboard sound was killing me in games, so I went to newegg and found this. Seems to be pretty sweet)

-Seagate 360gb SATA HDD (can't remember the details, but it's been doing it's job just fine.)

-Ultra X-connect 500w PSU. (bought it because it was gimmicky with the UV cables and such, pretty sure it's the root of my system's instability at times, replacing soon.)

-2x Lite-on DVD/CD-RW lightscribe etc (can't remember details again, but they were pretty up the list in specs when I shopped them out).

-Coolermaster Aerogate3 fan controller (again, bought it because it was gimmicky, but it looks nice now that I put it in)

-Aerocool Infinite front panel/2.5" hdd bay. (just got it, was looking for front panel features since my case has none, and apparently it doesn't connect to Soundblaster's wonderful proprietary connectors [the rents want me using headphones], but I'm gonna toss a 160gb laptop HDD in there for backup purposes.)

-Windows Vista Home Premium

-cooling: 25cm front of case, 120mm side of case, coolermaster Jet-7 cpu cooler, thermaltake powered northbridge cooler, 120mm rear exhaust fan, 2 90mm internal PSU fans, 90mm fan mounted to back wall over ram, Thermaltake HDD cooler. And as I write this, MoBo monitor 5 is showing the cpu @ 30c and the case is the same.

So that's pretty much it. Thanks for the long read. What do you guys think of it?

 

[hajalie24]

You might wanna upgrade the CPU. Just my opinion

 

[attack]

Your CPU is very weak. Not sure if that mobo supports a core 2 duo or not, if it does an E4500 would be a good upgrade for you, very cheap and if you OC it will absolutely smoke that p4.

Video card is again as well, you need to move to PCI-e mobo so don't even bother trying to find an AGP card.

Looking at that setup, you can skim by for now, or a cheap nice little upgrade would be a new CPU/mobo/vid card.
Look into an E4500, then some inexpensive P35 or P45 board that supports DDR3, and a 4850 video card, or an old 8800GTS 320mb or 3870 which you can get for sub 100 and will run circles around the 7800.

PSU might be able to hang, theres no reason to upgrade just a PSU unless it's just not working.

 

[ratbuddy]

I'm pretty sure you don't have a P4 board with DDR3

Other than that, it's pretty much a last-gen system. If you've been bitten by the upgrade bug, you can replace the key components pretty cheap and get something together that'll blow it out of the water. E7200 @ $130, EP35-DS3L @ $90, 2x2GB DDR2-800 @ $65, VX550 PSU @ $70ish, HD 4850 @ $150, total cost about $500 and easily double the performance. Sell the P4 board/DDR/PSU/AGP card to recoup probably $200 or so and there you have it..

Of course, if you are happy with the way it runs, just leave it alone. It's a last gen system, but a pretty nice one

 

[astronut1885]

I was wrong. It's G-skill pc3200 DDR memory. Sorry. I also took off the Jet cooler and added a Thermaltake Big Typhoon cooler, supposedly the best 478 air cooler on the market. I know the thing is behind the curve a bit, but it's a year old since construction, and I mostly use it for the web and NASCAR Racing 2003 Season racing sim action. It runs that game a top specs. Eventually I'll strip it out and start over, but for now I want to wring every last bit of performance out of it and see what it can do. I really believe that my PSU is part of my issues. I bought it because it was gimicky and I wanted to make my case look sharp, but reviews everywhere say it sucks, and I really think it can't keep up with my video card and all the other components that lay into it when I OC beyond 5% and run my games. Also, this motherboard has the I875 canterwood chipset on it which was at it's time supposedly pretty damn good. Anyway, if anyone knows of upgrades that would be compatible with this rig, I'd appreciate it, but I think I've got it close to maxed out.

 

[astronut1885]

Would getting the Asus CT-479 adapter to allow for Pentium Ms be worth doing? I could get the parts cheaper, but is there any processor out there that would be better than my current SL7CH for that adapter?

Link: http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=54&l3=0&model=467&modelmenu=1

 

[DavidJa]

imho you should just save for a proper overhaul.

 

[astronut1885]

Eventually. Right now, maxing this thing out is relatively cheap, and fun. On top of that, I wouldn't be totally heartbroken if I broke it by pushing it, because it's old, but it's my first build so I'm still learning before I jump into a big money next-gen system. I'm also thinking about getting a Radeon HD 3850 AGP card, it was released early this year and trumps my former king of the hill Gainward. Even still, it's $150.00 to upgrade. As far as the CT-479 setup and a Pentium M 780 goes, it would only cost me maybe $200.00, and if my research is right, that would give me a pretty good boost in the performance areas I need, multimedia and gaming. Other than that, once I get the better PSU, I might get a second HDD and look into a Raid setup (I honestly don't know what it is yet, but it's gotta be good.) This build was done totally by reading forums like these and then just doing, I've got no experience besides this rig, but it's been running over a year strong, and looks pretty good to boot. I just want to see how far it can grow.

 

[Evilsizer]

i dont care what clock speeds you get on a P4 a oced dothan in gaming will kill it. i use to run the P4P800-SE with the CT-479 [email protected] with OCZ DDR-400 cas2 ram and 6800U. loved that rig, yes i used the cooler that came with the CT-479 when oced. yes please replace that PSU, cause it may take out your rig before you get the chance to do a overhaul...

 

[astronut1885]

Do you know what the best Dothan is? It looks to me like a Pentium M 780. Will a CT-479 setup hurt media playback or web surfing?

 

[astronut1885]

Are there any better coolers out there for a CT479 setup? So basically a Pentium M 780 2.26 ghz dothan in a CT479 would outperform my P4EE SL7CH skt478 3.4ghz which is currently oc'd stable at 10% over?

 

[Evilsizer]

put it this way, in gaming with the [email protected], it would kill my P4 [email protected].

yea i would aim for getting a 760 or 780 PM.

 

[astronut1885]

Nice. What about web surfing and stuff like media playback, ie movies and music? If it'll keep up with my SL7CH, or do better, then I'm sold. I'd still like to find better cooling for it, but I doubt it's possible due to the configuration with the adapter, but from what I read they seem to be pretty cool anyway.

 

[astronut1885]

Just added a Radeon HD3850 AGP card, and a 1000w Thermaltake modular ToughPower PSU is on the way. I know it's overkill, but it'll be more than enough for a rebuild in the future. Next stop is the CT-479 and a Pentium M 780.