Building a New Computer in Australia!

G’day here from Australia! I am planning on getting myself a new computer system built in less than a week and this is my first ever time doing so. My intentions for this new system will be for it to enable me to do some very casual gaming and common purposes such as downloading music, uploading photos, chatting and writing documents. I do not plan to overclock any of my below configurations as I am too much of an amateur to even be thinking of doing so. I intend for this new system to last me for a minimum period of 3 years.

My new system’s specifications are as follows:
• Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q6600
• 22" BenQ FP222W Widescreen
• Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit
• Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007
• 4 x 1GB Elixir DDR2 800Mhz Ram
• Seagate 500GB SATA 16MB Hard Drive
• 13-in-1 Hi-Speed Media Reader
• Logitech X-530 5.1 Surround Speakers
• 20X BLACK DVD+/-RW Pioneer DVR-115
• Inno3D GeForce 8600GT 256MB DDR3
• Gigabyte 3D Aurora 570 Black Case
• Antec TruePower Trio ATX 550W PSU
• Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4
• Microsoft Wireless Laser Desktop 6000 version 2
• Microsoft Lifecam VX-1000 Camera
• Norton Internet Security 2008 (1 Yr) + Norton Save & Restore 2.0
• Motorola 56K PCI Data/Fax Internal Modem
This new system will set me back roughly $2,500.00(AUD) or $2,148.88(USD).

I would really appreciate any recommendations, advice or any comments that you have with my build or any of your own experiences regarding building a similar system as mine. In addition, I would also like to know if the above-mentioned specifications would fulfil my previously mentioned purposes. Thank you indeed in advance!

So what your saying is because i am not a heavy gamer my Q6600 would be of no use as it is mainly used for overclocking which i will not be doing?


And also, with the more ghz in the earlier cpu's what advantage will this give me for my purposes?

According to what you have just stated, it seems as if I am better off getting a core 2 duo E6850 with 3gb of ram. But i am not sure if my motherboard is capable of handeling 1333Mhz.

The E6850 has a 4mb l2 cache and the Q6600 has a 8mb l2 cache. Does this mean it will be twice as fast?

I have heard from a lot of people that in a 32-bit system it reads up to 3.5gbs of ram only and the rest is not used. Is this true?

I just did some quick research the quad core Q6600 offers 9.6ghz. I always have limewire open both listening and downloading music, chatting on msn, surfing the net and probably writing a document all at once. According to the article i read on the internet the quad core's would do me better.

One more question lol, with my hdd should i go with a 16mb cache or 32mb cache?....Will i realise any difference?

I'd make that PSU a 550W Earthwatts or Corsair 550VX. It would give you more room for upgrades.

You won't really notice a difference between 16 MB and 32 MB of cache.
I'd recommend a Western Digital 750 GB WD7500AAKS, it's very fast.

About 2% to 6% depending on the type of application. This was measured in some review by making an E6700 and an E6750 run at the same clock.

Thanx for that website. Have AMD released multi-core cpu's?

Yeah, but you'll get something nice a year from now that will make me all envious, and I'll have to live with it for two years after that

The thing is, I use it for work too, so I did need something serious.

Sorry to hear that

If it makes you feel better, when I was your age we had 48 KB of RAM in computers. You're doing pretty good, compared to that.

With future released service packs for vista, can they enable a 32-bit system to ever read the full 4gb of ram?

Well I think in his case a AMD 3850 GPU would suit him well. Yes the 8800gt would be good, but the $170-180 price tag on the 3850 is well worth the $100 price difference right now. In a year he can take the $100 and upgrade to something better, if needed. I think the e2180 or x2 4400 or better would be sufficient for his needs. Which ever way you go, Intel or AMD, you'll be happy. I like to make budget builds, with decent video cards, because I'm a gamer at heart. Been playing since the early 80's, DOH! Now I'm starting to date myself LOL!!! I started on Pong and Radio Shacks TRS-80's with cassette tape players!!!

What about with four of the same amount of ram. E.g. 4 x 1gb 800Mhz ram?

So you would personalli go with xp rather than vista?

I got my old P3/800 MHz, it's running Ubuntu. There's a rather addictive game in there with some colored spheres

Thanks for the tip about Diablo and setting the cores to 1. I'll give it a try some day. For now I'm still struggling with Titan Quest, and the Sacred Gold disk is in the mail from Amazon.