Upgrading My Personal Computer

[NETWizz]

Here is the background:

Years ago I had an nForce 4 with 4 GB of DDR an AMD 4200+, and it was a GREAT, reliable computer!
...

Then Intel jumped ahead of AMD with Core 2, and AMD hasn't caught up...
...

Next, I built an nForce 680i system with a Q6600 & 8 GB of DDR 2... It was a VERY GOOD, mostly reliable computer, but I think Nvidia had some chip-set issues working with Nvidia though it worked fine... some of the drivers were not what they could have been.


******

Then the problems started:

1. 680i motherboard craps out in that the NICs stopped working, so I send it back to ASUS warranty thinking it would be quick to get it replaced.

2. After three weeks of waiting, they sent me back the same "repaired" motherboard only it didn't work at all! It was WAY worse!

3. I sent it back to which they said "you scratched a trace." I called them on their B.S. and demanded they substantiate it with a picture. They sent a picture... I wrote back saying, "If you are going to make up evidence that I scratched it, take a picture of an Orange motherboard not a green one."

4. Got a 780i as a replacement

5. 6 months later it craps out... Got another 780i as a replacement.

6. Now my computer is doing the same ****... Not POSTing each time I turn it on... Same freak-en problem as 6 months ago... Need another motherboard.

So, I decided I am going to get:

1. A motherboard with an Intel NorthBridge & SouthBridge chipset... and it WILL be made by Intel not MSI, Gigabyte, or any others, which I am sure are probably fine.

2. I will buy a new Intel processor & new memory at the same time.



I looked all OVER Newegg! The Z68 sounded cool, but it was very new, so I figured something with a proven track record... That got me looking at the H67, P67, and Q67.

1. I realized H67 is the no-thrills home-user board with Integrated Graphics and NO processor overclocking (which, I don't do anyway).

2. The P67 has all the thrills. It is a professional series board without Integrated Graphics and it supports Overclocking (if the processor does). I really liked this given it has no integrated video to deal with disabling though presumably adding a Video card is all it takes to disable the on-board video anyway.

3. I looked long and hard at the Q67; since, it is built for Corporate environments. Overall, it seems like an H67 board, but again I don't want support for Integrated Graphics. The only thing it has support for is VT-d, which I guess would be useful if running Hyper-V or ESX allowing a VM to directly be assigned a physical device.

I chose the P67, which doesn't support VT-d... Then I chose the i7-2600k. I was going to go with the i7-2600; since, I don't overclock & the plain 2600 has VT-d... until I found out that is ONLY with a Q-Series motherboard.

Here is what I bought:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121512
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233190


$504.97 out the door. I will have to QUIT doing SLI though, but that is my goal! I am NOT a gamer anymore and would rather have one good Video card than two; since, there is less power usage and less that can go wrong.

***********

I am transitioning into a mature person's computer.


I used to have:
1. Two DVD Burners
2. A RAID 5 (3 x 250 GB) <== Imagine Data Recovery from this!
3. A Spare Plain Drive
4. SLI

I already changed to this:
1. One Blue Ray that can also be a DVD Burner
2. A RAID 1 (2 x 2 TB) <== Very easy data recovery & no CPU waste calculating parity
3. Still have the Spare drive
4. Still have SLI


After this upgrade:
1. One Blue Ray
2. RAID 1
3. Storage Drive will be mirrored to my File Server.
4. Only one Video Card


I am also not going to have a Mix of different chip-sets...

I guess you are kind of asking for trouble as a beta tester when you have an Nvidia chipset right after they make the switch to Intel from AMD, then ask it to do SLI & RAID 5 (without a controller), and an extra HDD & Optical drive to stress the PSU even more.


Does anyone here have a recommendation for a good Video Card? My 8800GTs are a bit past their prime. Also do you guys like NVidia or ATI more?

You build computers all the time..., so I value your opinions considering I do like 1 or 2 a year.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

I used to enjoy the nForce chipsets, back in the AMD Palomino processor days. Prior to that, was always Intel chipsets, and now I'm back to Intel chipsets. A few bum motherboards in the early nForce2 days turned me off of them (bulging capacitor issues though, not really chipset related).

I used to built a lot of custom gaming computers as a side business for years....

Bummer to hear of your Asus issues.....about 90% of my motherboards have been Asus and I've had a great experience with them. Had not had to deal with their warranty...their boards have been rock solid for me. I did have a customer with an Asus laptop which I found out how much of a headache Asus support and warranty stuff can be...but I'm spoiled by usually dealing with business grade computer support (HP Business Desktop/Dell Optiplex/Lenovo, etc).

If I were to built a new full sized rig for home, I'd also do the P67 chipset. I too used to be huge into online gaming (used to build/run public gaming servers)...but about 1 year ago stopped. Since then my gaming rig has been powered off. I just use my laptop from home now...comfort of the couch. If I did need a desktop rig...I'd do an ultra small form factor.

For video cards...I used to prefer nVidia....ever since the original 16 meg TNT card came out, replacing my 3Dfx Voodoo cards, and I saw Quake 2 in full OpenGL glory. Back then ATI had driver issues (Rage Pro days). But then somewhere around the Quake 3 days, ATI started making great cards and they had better IQ than nVidia...and they started doing monthly driver updates, and I've stuck with ATI ever since.

I prefer WD Black Edition hard drives, and their Raptor 10k rpm drives...5 year warranty, strong performance. WD RE3 drives for standard office workstations (that's their highest reliability enterprise SATA drive). Seagate ES drives also...enterprise grade.

I've used Crucial for memory for a long time. Occasionally tried some other brands, but usually stick with Crucial.

I like Seasonic power supplies...a bit pricier, but very high quality, long lasting. Used to use Antec prior to that. (still prefer Antec cases)

As for your processor...only thing I wonder, if you don't game anymore..why not an i5? Performance gain of an i7 over an i5 versus price increase is a diminishing curve.

 

[16k_zx81]

I am transitioning into a mature person's computer.

There's a lot to be said for easy to set up, easy to work on and easy to fix (if thats what that means). Definitely my approach these days.

Uber-horsepower can be enjoyable, but I'll settle for something "street-legal" over a Formula One any day. Far less finicky.

 

[NETWizz]

Keep them coming. I currently prefer Western Digital over Seagate probably due to the number of failed Seagate drives I see. In all fairness, HP & Dell probably use Seagate MORE often than Western Digital; hence, the reason my guys are always replacing them...

I used to be a stickler for that Seagate 5 year warranty, but now that the tables are turned and Seagate offers 3 years, the Western Digital Black come with 5 years and I buy those. Besides, they are only a few dollars more (at least they were before the hard drive collapse.). I have always purchased the SE (Special Edition) or whatever ones had the most cache. Recently, my latest two Black Edition drives (from Feb 2011) are the 4K Advanced Format drives.

I also totally agree with buying Easy to fix, own, warranty... The biggest selling point to me is having an Intel Processor on an Intel Motherboard with an Intel Chipset... This has got to be better than an Intel Processor, on a Foxconn motherboard with an ATI/AMD chiset (if that is even possible)... You get the idea.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

I also totally agree with buying Easy to fix, own, warranty... The biggest selling point to me is having an Intel Processor on an Intel Motherboard with an Intel Chipset... This has got to be better than an Intel Processor, on a Foxconn motherboard with an ATI/AMD chiset (if that is even possible)... You get the idea.

I agree with you there....over the years of working on computers..both at home/as a hobby, professionally...when I see "cheaper" computers, especially "cloner types" with "motherboard of the month club" parts...I notice a trend when I see budget ones with alternative chipsets by Via or SIS..."problems..lotsa problems".

Between Seagate and WD...yeah I have been leaning more towards WD lately. Especially since they came out with that fast Raptor drive...almost as good as a nice fast SCSI drive. And Seagate bought up the two bottom feeders...Quantum and Maxtor....why associate their name with those 2...I dunno!

 

[NETWizz]

Seagate used to be a good drive. Now they seem to be becoming a bottom feeder.

I am not buying any new hard drives though.

 

[dbdawn]

I have always used Asus for the motherboards on my custom builds. I used to run AMD but the past few builds have an Intel chip. For the graphics cards I usually use Nvidia. Western Digital hard drives, crucial memory and have had good luck with Thermaltake power supplies. I just use a basic case, nothing fancy.

 

[NETWizz]

I have always used Asus for the motherboards on my custom builds. I used to run AMD but the past few builds have an Intel chip. For the graphics cards I usually use Nvidia. Western Digital hard drives, crucial memory and have had good luck with Thermaltake power supplies. I just use a basic case, nothing fancy.

I have rarely ever had a problem with RAM. Crucial is my favorite. I also like Corsair, and Muskin. I don't have anything against Infineon, OCZ, or Patriot. I see Hyunix in Dell & HP machines... it seems fine! I have still not tried Geil, but it is probably alright... I don't like Kingston simply because they have screwed me on a rebate, but their product is okay.

I guess I am just saying if RAM works, it generally lasts the entire life of the computer. The ONLY thing more reliable than RAM seems to be the Microprocessor/CPU.

I agree with WDC drives, Intel chipsets, and Nvidia. When I buy a new video card, I will stick with Nvidia per your recommendation. Oh, and I have a Thermaltake Toughpower... it seems okay.

Reliability (my experience... tell me if you have had a different experience):
1. Motherboards <-- Failures Common
2. Hard Drives
3. Power Supplies
4. Video cards
5. RAM
6. Processors <--Very Reliable

 

[kennywayne07]

Reliability (my experience... tell me if you have had a different experience):
1. Motherboards <-- Failures Common
2. Hard Drives
3. Power Supplies
4. Video cards
5. RAM
6. Processors <--Very Reliable

I see more power supply failures than I do hard drives and motherboards. Otherwise, I agree with your reliability assessment.

 

[NBCS]

I tend to stick with Corsair for power supplies. Especially since the more expensive HX (or is it TX) series used to use Seasonic PSUs. I don't mind the CX series though; it's fine for most people, but I wouldn't use one ordinarily for a business-class PC.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

I would say based on experience...highest rate of failures, to lowest

*Hard drives
*Power Supplies
*Motherboards
*NICs (often after a thunderstorm) (years ago this used to be modems..but since dial up days are gone, all broadband now, so ethernet)
*Video cards

Rarely seen RAM go bad. Often an incompatible stick was installed in the first place, and it can sometimes take a rare thing to bring up the issue.

I don't think I've ever replaced a CPU that went bad...other than when a whole rig got zapped by a lightening hit to the building and cooked everything..never bother testing the CPU, just tossed it all. I never trust any component on a computer that got hit by lightening.

 

[NETWizz]

I would say based on experience...highest rate of failures, to lowest

*Hard drives
*Power Supplies
*Motherboards
*NICs (often after a thunderstorm) (years ago this used to be modems..but since dial up days are gone, all broadband now, so ethernet)
*Video cards

Rarely seen RAM go bad. Often an incompatible stick was installed in the first place, and it can sometimes take a rare thing to bring up the issue.

I don't think I've ever replaced a CPU that went bad...other than when a whole rig got zapped by a lightening hit to the building and cooked everything..never bother testing the CPU, just tossed it all. I never trust any component on a computer that got hit by lightening.

I have only ever done one CPU. I have done 3 or 4 video cards, and I have seen TONS of NICs die after a thunderstorm. On some, old HP systems, unplugging the power cable for about 30 seconds would bring the NICs back to life.

 

[dbdawn]

Hard drives and power supplies are the items I have seen go bad. Next up would be motherboards and video cards. Never really seen RAM go bad and have never replaced a CPU by itself.