Will this be good computer?

July 18, 2007 9:51 PM

I am building a new computer and was wondering if this setup seems good I already have the OS, case/power supply, and video card more details after break. previously

Optical Drive - SAMSUNG Black 18X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 18X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner With LightScribe Technology - OEM

Hard Drive - Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Memory - CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

Motherboard - ASUS P5N32-SLI Premium/WiFi-AP LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Processor -Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13GHz 2M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail

OS - Microsoft Windows Xp Professional I already have this.

Case - Alienware MJ-12 Mid-Tower ATX Case with 700 Watt Power Supply Aslo already have this

Video Card - 3D Fuzion GeForce FX 5500 Video Card, PCI, 256MB DDR - I got this last year for christmas i think i dont really want to spend the money on a new one and wont be gaming so i hope it will be fine

posted by DJWeezy to technology (6 answers total)

You're spending an awful lot of money to go with a video card that is significantly out of date in regards to it's interface.

My suggestion, get an entry level PCI Express video card and get a second seagate drive and do raid 1.


That is if you're sold on what you've slected, if you're not, check out the ars technica system guides.
posted by iamabot at 9:59 PM on July 18, 2007

Definitely dump that PCI video card. Running video through the PCI bus will slow the whole system down, even if it is just general business/productivity stuff. Spend $20 on whatever the cheap PCI-Express card is these days.

$200 for a motherboard seems a bit steep.

The Alienware case with the 700 W power supply is going to be expensive to run. If you aren't going to be gaming, try to rethink your system so that it draws as little power as possible. Electricity used to be free, but a power hungry system will be noticeable on your electric bill these days.

Other than your motherboard, your parts don't seem particularly exceptional. Check with dell to be sure that it isn't cheaper to buy a ready-made system from them (or similar). It is usually cheaper to buy a conventional system than build one. Homebuilding is for when you have special requirements (gaming, unique server, etc.)
posted by b1tr0t at 10:09 PM on July 18, 2007

Buy a cheaper motherboard at, say, half that price and just use the on-board video. Throw that video card away, it's less than worthless (whoever gave that to you as a gift was either well-intentioned but ignorant, or trying to insult you).

I can't see the point of buying an SLI motherboard if you're not going to play games and not going to buy SLI video.

That case is ugly, but ought to serve your needs for the most part. I'd be a bit worried about that so-called "700 watt" power supply -- relatively few high quality power supplies from reputable manufacturers are rated that high.
posted by majick at 11:08 PM on July 18, 2007

I pretty much agree with the above comments. The motherboard's overkill if you weren't even planning to use one of the video card slots much less run two in SLI. No reason to get a high end gamer board.

Go with integrated video or or else something cheap--the PCI card you have only has a VGA out and if you have or are getting a decent LCD monitor you'd probably want something with at least one DVI output. Low-end Nvidias start around 30ish.

The power supply probably shouldn't be bad if it's really what Alienware normally uses (they're overpriced, but they don't really cheap out on components). It won't draw more power than the system needs (certainly nothing close to the 700Ws it's rated for), though it might run less efficiently at low loads than others. I'm guessing since you'll be in a dorm you won't be paying for utilities anyway...
posted by Pryde at 12:47 AM on July 19, 2007

also, a 700w power supply with those components is probably going to be far outside its efficient operating range, which means excess power use and excess heat.

One option, if you aren't attached to that case, sell it on ebay
posted by Good Brain at 12:52 AM on July 19, 2007

The problem with the PCI bus is that its too slow. You'll be running some 3d stuff sometime (especially if you move to vista) and the card will be detected as supporting dx9, 2.0 shaders, 3d acceleration, etc but the bus will be too slow t really exploit its (limited) potential. Think second life or google earth.

Do yourself a favor and blow 37 dollars on this 6200.
posted by damn dirty ape at 10:05 AM on July 19, 2007