My Dual-Core PC Build Reviewed.

Okay, it's now been over one year since I delved into bulding my own PC from scratch. Not that I had any right to do so. I had been a Power Mac guy my entire life. Yeah, this is a long post. Don't be scared. It's not usual for me... (well, kinda not).

Long story short(er-ish): I bought an HP Pavillion from Costco and realized almost as soon as I first turned it on, it wasn't gonna be able to live up to my needs. Not enough memory, video memory, no extra drive bays, very limited upgradeability... And it was UNDERCLOCKED from the P4's spec of 2.4 GHz to 2.16 GHz! (No, you cannot get into BIOS in this HP, ...absolutely positively not allowed for that board and chipset- believe me).

Did I know anything about PC's? Uhhhh. Well... Maybe enough to log-in. lol. But the decision was made easy for me. Getting a new Apple Mac desktop with the performance I wanted would've cost over $6,000 with a monitor, OS, and performance components. Remember, you can't really alter/upgrade parts in a Mac without: a) usually voiding your warranty and b) usually it's just not an available option. So there.

I did a gaggle of research, prolly a couple months worth. Reading forums, reviews, and how-to's. I priced out parts and components and figured I could get it done for well under $2,000 with MS XP Pro SP2- including a solid 19" LCD display. And I did.

I describe the build as costing under $1500 w/ XP included- that's no LCD and some money I've made back since the purchase (sold one hard drive, sold the stock case fans, sold some of the games the Audigy came with).

Before getting into the deets and spec's, let me just summarize by saying, I think I'd always build desktops myself from now on. My system is still running strong and has lost only about 10-15% of its street price today compared to 15 months ago when I built it. I'm serious. I might've had a couple of hurdles along the way, but really not major things.

This list contains the same or most comparable currently available products. Prices are close estimates (incl. ship, after rebates), I may not remember exact amounts and am unwilling to gather the specific deets.

• mobo: DFI LP nF4 SLI-DR, Socket 939, w/ 1000 base-T ethernet, tons of features and overclock abilities most other boards couldn't match ($130)
  
• cpu: AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 2.0 GHz, 2 x 512MB cache, 89W, I happened to be shipped a Manchester core ($320)
  
• mem: OCZ Dual-Channel Platinum DDR-PC4000 (250 MHz) 2 x 1GB sticks running 3-3-2-7 timings ($200)
• psu: OCZ 520ADJSLI, 520W power w/ dual rails and amazing 20+4 pin user friendly set-up, cables, everything ($110)
• hsf: Zalman CNPS7700-AlCu, huge fan for cpu ($50)
  
• case: Aspire X-Cruiser RED, plenty of drive bays, 80mm fans: 2x front, 1x side, 1x top, 1x 120mm fan rear. I drilled and added another two 80mm side fan across from the gpu ($70)
• sound: Creative Labs Audigy 2ZS Gamer, with like 8 games included and a $40 rebate, cost nearly nothing for a sound card ($80)
• gpu: ATi All-In-Wonder X600 Pro, got low-mid card to lower costs, definitely the bottleneck in my system's performance (duh!), 256MB 4 pixel pipes, DDR, 400 MHz clock, 600 MHz effective, tons of input options, and HDMI ($125)
• hdd's: Western Digital SE16 250GB Caviars w/ 7200 rpm, 16MB cache, SATA II, three drives: two in RAID 1 (mirrored array) and one separate ($210)
• optical: NEC 3540A Dual Layer DVD+/- RW easy choice for performance and cost ($45)
• reader: Mitsumi FA404A, USB 2.0, 7-in-1 card reader. Still pretty much the only multi-card reader to include floppy for loading BIOs for the mobo ($25)
• monitor: Philips 190B6CS/27 19" LCD: 600:1 contrast, 250 nit brightness, 0.294 dot, w/ USB port and stereo speakers ($320)
• fans: Thermaltake Thunderblade 1 x 120mm (rated about 72CFM & 21dBA) ($10), Logisys 6 x 80mm rated about 32CFM & 24dBA) fans ($25)

• OS: Microsoft Windows XP Professional w/ SP2: between this and home or Media version it seemed a no-brainer... Plus wanted to mirror my drives, so only Pro could offer that ($110)
• Adobe CS 2.0 Premium Suite: Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, yada, yada ($750)
• Macromedia Studio 8: Dreamweaver, Flash, etc, etc ($450)
• MS Office 2003 Professional: Word, Excel, Outlook, etc... ($180)
• input: Logitech LX 300 wireless keyboard + mouse combo ($45)

Now, I had some shipping and quality control issues, so I ended up getting some money back from companies, but spent more time... Like I'd only bought 2 WD Caviar HDD's, ONE of which failed, a second warranty exch "refurb" sent to me failed, then had a 3 week wait while WD was out-of-stock)... They ended up shipping me THREE total (I sold one on eBay). I bought lots of parts w/ rebates, ATi takes the record for taking 10 months to get me my rebate check (submitted 12-28-2005, received it 10-15-2006). Monitor was supposed to cost $370-ish but was out of stock (said "in-stock" when ordered), this mistake cost the company money (price dropped nearly $50 before shipment); but cost me a vital 4 weeks during my build.

I decided to save my money by not getting a high end video card. The 256MB cards were really starting strong and a few 512MB's were out. Most of these were running $350+ as a starting point. I could see that within 12-15 months I should be able to get a much, much better card at a better value. I know this is always the case, but I just wanted my rig to boot, and also liked the fact the ATi X600 Pro AIW: could convert my analog video tapes to digital, included a major software bundle, and included a tv tuner!

I clearly spent money on cpu, motherboard and RAM memory. This is the heart of the performance, and what I would've paid dearly for with an Apple Mac. Dual-core AMD, amazing RAM, and a high-performance mobo... I'd been running my rig stable at 2.68MHz (the AMD X2 4400+ 2.4 GHz processor was $950 at my time of purchase!) for about 5 months, but decided to "chill" and run at stock because the fans got LOUD... More later about this.

Mirroring my hard drives (RAID 1) was no easy task. Microsoft XP just doesn't want to let you do it. I figure, I run two hard drives that mirror, I have instant back up. Partitioning my drives was a trial and error method, I had a hard time finding permissions to partition AND mirror my start up disk(s). But it got done eventually.

The case fans definitely DON'T run at spec'ed noise levels. The Thunderblade 120mm never runs at 21 dBA, more like 32 dBA, I'd guess. The Logisys are relatively quiet (maybe 26 dBA), but one of my front fans is "out-of-balance" or something and makes kinda a 'whacking' sound that is VERY loud, I should disconnect it and replace it. But haven't.

The Aspire case is pretty great. Lots of drive bays, pretty decent cooling. But the front (hinged) door has a lip that "catches" the drive bay trays all the time when they are extended out. Annoying is all I can say. It also really should have the side case fan by the gpu, but has it much higher, like over the cpu. The second side fan I added was lower, to push air from around the hard drives, where it seemed to get trapped pretty low, below my audio card and lowest hd.

The optical drive and multi-card reader work great. I've used the sD slot in the Mitsumi to always xfer my photos and I get a great speed. I'm not sure, I haven't timed it in a long time, but my 2GB 150x Transcend card transfers somewhere well under 2 minutes per GB I think.

I'm looking to replace the graphics/video card. Obviously I knew what I was getting into. I don't really play any games, so I'm okay. But it definitely bottlenecks my system. I'm looking to figure out how much I can spend, prolly a $260-ish nVIDIA 7800 GS (256MB, 16-pixel pipes, 1200 MHz effective, 38.4 GB/s, no HDMI). I might try to go with a $380 eVGA GeForce 8800 GTS (640MB, 96 pixel pipelines, 1600 MHz effective, 64.4 GB/s, HDMI capable). But that's a lot of clam-ollas. I'd figure the 8800 GS would keep my system fighting strong against obsolenscence for another 3 years. Not a bad investment if I could just find the cheddar for it.

I can only say that my system lags sometimes due to the vid card. I get weird/ugly ghosting when dragging/re-sizing images in Photoshop & Illustrator. I have cache lags sometimes when multi-tasking. But (I figure) virtually everything would be solved with a new graphics card. Considering I spend so much time using my puter each day, I could use the upgrade. Seriously, my card pretty much stops workflow like a big rig accident in the Holland Tunnel.

What would I do differently?

• Don't EVER base buying decision solely on price. Use only reputable sellers with strong ratings- even at a slightly higher cost. This would've saved me the majority of my troubles, and maybe cost me another $30 total out of pocket. Definitely a lesson learned.
  
• I'd opt for the AM2 board now, allowing DDR2 RAM speed ratings up to 800.
• I'd use a AMD Athlon 64 X2 low power chip. Like the AMD X2 4600+ ADO4600CUBOX (2.4 GHz, 2 x 512MB cache, 65W). Preferrably the AMD X2 4800+ ADO4800CSBOX (2.6 GHz, 2 x 1GB cache, 65W), which doesn't seem available. "O" stands for 65W, "S" is for 2 x 1GB cache in p/n. I've read an obscure note that AMD pulled production on the ADO4800CSBOX because the cost of 2x1 GB cache is not worth the miniscule performance benefit. I dunno if any/all of that's true.
  
• I'd NOT buy a sound card. My mobo has a GREAT audio processor on-board.
• I'd buy a mobo that doesn't use a Marvell LAN controller, it lags sometimes and is certainly rated lowest-in-class.
• I'd prolly skip spending money on a second party hsf and get a case that supports more air cooling, I'd have my eyes on the NZXT Zero case if I built anything new. Sure it costs $160-ish... But it includes EIGHT fans and reduces your need for a hsf. You can run a stock heat sink fan with no prollem. That all makes this case a bargain IMHO.
• I'd try to save for a Dell Ultra Sharp 2407 WFP 24" widescreen LCD ($700-ish). I look at my monitor ALL freakin' day. And coming from Mac graphics, PC's just about blow chunks. I'd love to have something easier on my eyes (less eye-strain puh-leeze).
• I'd never buy an ATi video card again. Not because of the rebate delay... The install process sucks worse than a grapefruit through a snorkel. And their driver updates are about as frequently as the deceased have birthdays. nVidia for me from now on, and prolly eVGA or PNY exclusively at that, maybe BFG. I'm going with eVGA for slightly better feature sets and prices.
  
• Now, I'd go 400 GB hard drives, a sweet spot for price and performance.
• I'd partition more than 24 GB for my boot drive. I've filled it so much, I can't defrag it properly. I should've used about 40-48 GB for the boot drive partition.
• I would buy Trend Micro's PC-Cillin FIRST for security. It works great and is an much easier interface. I originally bought the highly rated/raved about Zone Alarm Pro Security Suite. I couldn't believe how difficult Zone Alarm was to use; always having to decide if some file/program/application should be "allowed" permission? I am soooo NOT a sys admin/techie. I pay for my security thugs to know what I don't know (and bounce the 'bad guys' to the curb like bad checks).
• Don't buy Norton Ghost 10 to back-up drives or do full drive images. It doesn't work with mirrored array. Period.
• I've had issues with the Logitech keyboard, which is now dead. I'd strongly consider buying a different brand of wireless keyboard, prolly buy a better resolution optical mouse separately.
  

What would I keep for future builds?

• OCZ is a company I love. Products, performance, lifetime warranties, prices. Memory, power supply unit... I'm a loyal customer now. 520W or 600W psu would be plenty and I'd get premium speed memory again, absolutely.
• Spend the small premium on the motherboard. A mobo is what runs the system, don't overlook it's value. My mobo ensures my cpu can run a nearly 40% overclock (I've run stable at 2.72 GHz on air cooling), how much is it worth to have that? A LOT.
• I'd go with a strong video card. Smart money would be on one GeForce 8800 GTS rather than a SLi set-up. I don't have a need for the 8800 GTX, I'm not a gamer, and Photoshop would run screamingly fast w/ 96 pixel pipes, 1600 MHz, and 64.4 GB/s.
• Use SATA II hard drives. I'd even consider running 10,000 rpm drives for the boot or separate drives (for photos, movies, files) or BOTH... but only if prices came down enough on 200 GB or larger.
• Maintain at least 2 x 1GB memory. Today's app's are memory intensive (you'd better believe it). All the talk about mem timings getting "slower with larger memory modules" doesn't make much real performance difference. Not having enough memory does. I'd even consider 4 x 1GB for a new build, again knowing that filling all four slots slows down timings further. That's a sacrifice I'm very okay with.
  

Additional Notes to Self:

• I'd consider lining the inside of the case with an acoustical foam to soundproof it even better. I dunno, maybe Acoustiblok. It's worth it if it helps, I read some success stories.
• I'd purchase a router straightaway for my internet connection. It's a good firewall and allows some useful options for expanding later.
• With all the wireless capabilities, and video recording options, I would definitely choose a graphics card capable of HDMI. Although I don't have (nor have near-future plans for) a flat-panel HDTV, getting a gpu that could handle it would be a stellar amount of foresight.
• I'd plan to spend more time to allow for the build... About two months. For problems that occur, and to take full advantage of great deals (like sales and rebates). Prices constantly change, this would allow the best opportunity.
• I doubt that I personally have a need to ever think of building a PC in a form factor other than full tower desktop. I can't imagine a micro-ATX, cube, or BTX rig is gonna be a good choice for me. Stick with full desktop for max. versatility, value, and performance options.
• I hope Vista allows clusters larger than 4096 bytes/cluster for the boot partition (w/ operating system). I am using 32kb clusters on my second partition and I think it is dreamy. It lowers fragmentation too! I'd prolly like to go 16kb clusters on boot, 32kb or 64 kb clusters on second partion.
  

Famous last words... The build itself could hardly have been any easier. You screw in a few places to mount the mobo to the case. You attach the pins from the psu to the mobo. You attach all the SATA cables and USB doohickeys. You install the case fans and screw in the hard drives. You start with one mem module in slot #1 and then install your BIOS and then OS.

Well, okay I've left out lots of the research and some steps... Like how some boards perform better from mem slots #2 and #4 than 1 & 3. Or how to determine which mem controller to use for your SATA hard drives (I use the nVidia) on your mobo. Or which direction you should have each case fan blow to get maximum air flow through your case. You definitely require some sort of software utility to operate your optical drive, like Nero.

Actual build time is a few solid hours. Doing a full software INSTALL can take almost a day. I mean: utilities, security, hardware devices, drivers, operating system, applications, application suites, settings, extensions, internet connection settings, network settings, user id's and passwords... Don't think you get off easy on this part. In my opinion, this is why you save big. But you get a much better performance rig for your needs for a much, much lower price than something from Dell or Alienware. And don't forget those System restore points along the way.

A couple basic links of mine:
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-6142_102-0.html?forumID=26&threadID=128545&messageID=1456010&tag=mcnt#1456010
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-6142_102-0.html?forumID=68&threadID=142636&messageID=1607796&tag=mcnt#1607796
http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/showthread.php?t=222635

This is NOT a normal post for me. I've taken time to write this to archive my experience- as much for myself as for others. If you have any questions, drop me a line or feel free to add a comment. Cheers.

image credits: Apevia (Aspire) X-Cruiser-RD Steel ATX case in Red from NewEgg, OCZ PowerStream (520W/600W) from OCZTechnology, nVIDIA SLI ready from Tiger Direct.