Thread: ordered my new computer

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I ordered my new barebones computer yesterday, from www.potratech.com.. I ended up not getting the Phenom X3 8450, and I got an X2 6000.. which is better I think because the cores are faster, even if it has 1 less core.. with the price diffrence, I upgraded to 2gb of ram, and I actully downgraded ( well, I was going to get a better case ) to the case I have now, only black in color as it's a very easy case to work in, and has held up good for 5 years.. I also did not include the 265 MB video card. it was $39 extra and $49 will get me a decent retail box 512Mb from a diffrent source.

I'll just use my current boot hard drive, and hope it picks up everything new.. I'm sure there will be driver issues in windows, but I can fix those

Hi Matt,
What is the speed advantage of the 6000? Is it a duocore 6000+? I looked at that but chose the low wattage 5800+ to run cooler. How are you going to cool the 6000+? I maxed out the memory slots in my MSI motherboard to 4 Gb. My motherboard will accept 2Gb sticks if all the sticks are the same but I stayed with the economy idea and used the lower frequency 667 MHz 1Gb sticks. The 1 Gb memory sticks I got were about $25 each so depending on how many slots you have you can upgrade the memory. I talked to an engineer at MSI and he said the cheaper 667 memory chips are not at a disadvantage once you get more than one stick. The first stick should be the 800 MHz if it is the only one but if you have more than 1 Gb you can use the cheaper 667 MHz without a loss of speed since the extra memory reduces swapping.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Easy for you to say....

Gee Tech1, That is low level stuff in computers. We just had a wonderful success when you and DennyW simulated my SBC 350 so you are in there messing with software too. I have been working with computers since 1963 but I really can't keep up with all the latest in UNIX/LINUX.... and actually I am dependent on higher level techies myself. However I was amazed that when I put together my parallel system last winter I gathered together a bunch of small tools but actually only needed a single Phillips/crosspoint screwdriver for about 99% of the construction. The PC components are remarkably compatible in design at the installation level with all of the technology hidden in the solid state design and software. That is why it is important to read the spec sheets and manuals because all the technology is in the chips but then you just plug and play with the chips and standard sockets. Actually I can't always keep up when Matt and DennyW get going on the hardware and IC2 is no slouch on PCs either. In the message above I was only trying to tell Matt that when you add memory the speed of the memory need not be the fastest if there is a lot of memory because the various tasks can be saved in slower memory if there is a lot of memory space rather than use a smaller amount of faster memory that needs to read and write to slower disk drives. In the jargon of rear end gears a mechanic may say "add a gear" meaning go to a higher numerical ratio. In computerese what I am talking about to Matt is "adding sand" to a computer where "sand" refers to the fact that sand is mostly SiO2 and the electronic chips are mostly based on purified Si with selected impurities. There is a whole set of slang in the PC industry, but the analogies to racing are strong in that folks are just trying to go faster in both cases! Another analogy is that when you go faster things get hot!

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

I got a new HP Pavvilion Slimline for Christmas/ 22 flat screen
really like it---wireless net , all them camera chip things, cd/dvd
4 something ram/4 something hard drive , dual processor--got an external 3 1/5 floppy for all my old pics/ other race track data

and its a small box!!!

Don wrote:

I maxed out the memory slots in my MSI motherboard to 4 Gb.

If you running XP Pro or Vista 32, you did the right thing because neither one can address more than 4 gb. To benefit from using the 2 gb sticks you would need to move to Vista 64. Might have some driver or software problems with 64, I haven't but I don't run all the fancy stuff others here do. I've read that Windows 7 isn't going to be much more than a fix of some of Vista's problems and deficiencies, and definitely not a new and better o/s. That's disappointing. It's about time MS took the muzzles off the rest of us.


And BTW, the x2 6000 are dual cores. I'm gathering parts to build a Phenom quad core unit for my daughter. Got the processor (Phenom II x4 940), mobo and case, now looking at other necessities. If she gives me any grief, I might just keep it for myself.

The X2 6000 is a dual core 3.0 GHZ and runs 125W. I got 2gb PC6400/800 MHZ.. I know that high density ram is very very finiky and 90% of the mobo's do not support it.. the mobo has 4 DDR2 slots, so I could go up to 4gb in low density ram... I got a upgraded cooler for it, that was $14 extra. if it does not cool enough for me, I'll get a Thermatalke R1... and I will be running 3 case fans controlled by a digital Xion fan controler ( multi color LCD readout, alarms, i will have cooling protection )..

Originally Posted by mopar34

Don wrote:

Windows 7 isn't going to be much more than a fix of some of Vista's problems and deficiencies, and definitely not a new and better o/s. That's disappointing. It's about time MS took the muzzles off the rest of us.

There was a comic about that yesterday:

I just ordered everything else I need to do the computer.. got an EVGA 8500 GT 512 MB video card, that is HD capable.. and I'v had a 1080P 19" HD monitor that I have never had run HD but will now... also got the XION LCD fan controller and 3 case fans, and a $10 modem because I got $2.99 shipping on an order over $100 and I was $5 away.. so I only spent $3 more due to the discounted shipping