[clug] building computer

[Ben]

On 5/16/06, freds73 at aapt.net.au <freds73 at aapt.net.au> wrote:
> I want to build a new computer  and am wondering where to buy the parts.
> Are there any companies in Canberra which have a good reputation, or
> would you get the lot from a computer fair.

In Canberra, I use the computer fairs advertised here:
http://www.computermarkets.com/

Otherwise I buy online, or in Sydney.

Use staticice.com.au  & ausprices.com.au to do price checks.

I have used:
* www.itestate.com.au have pretty good prices and a decent showroom.
Mostly ship by Fastway and there is a CC surcharge.
* www.ddcomputer.com.au operate out of shipping container in a
warehouse, but are nice to deal with. Mostly ship by Fastway and there
is a CC surcharge.
* www.auspcmarket.com.au is very expensive, but very good. (and the
shipping is free for non-bulky items). Shipping by more reliable
couriers. No CC surcharge.

>   As I am not into graphics cards, what is the difference between a nvidia
> 6200 and a nvidia 6600 card, the specs on the cards list the 6200 as
> having a faster gpu than the 6600, but lesser performance.

I spent a few days looking into these exact models, so I'll share my findings.

There are two types of 6200, the "real" 6200 which is AGP only and
N?44? based. Some of these were "unlockable" to be standard 6600s.
There is a very limited set of "real" 6200s in PCIe and I don't think
they're available anymore... (one store in Sydney /might/ have some).
Almost all the PCIe models are 6200TC (N43 based, TC=TurboCache). This
means that the memory size quoted _and_ the memory bandwidth quoted is
bogus.

eg. a 64MB 64 bit 6200TC would be marketed as having 256MB 128bit
TurboCache memory. Often the actual memory is only in the fine print,
or not quoted at all. This card would "steal" 192MB of memory off your
system, thus "increasing" the memory bandwidth to 128bit. I'm not into
3D games, but I've read that the memory bus width is *much* more
important the memory quantity, eg. a 256MB 64bit card would perform no
better than a 128MB and perhaps only marginally better than a 64MB.
Needless to say, the additional bus from the TC cards is not really
worth it

The genuine 6200s are pretty good value (if you're going AGP).
The 6200TCs are a rip-off, but they will probably do the job.
The 6600s are reasonable (and 128bit), but unless you actually want
some 3D performance, there isn't much point. If you're forking out for
a 6600, then you may as well get the 6600GT, as it's probably 50%, but
less than 50% dearer.

If you want to run dual DVI monitors off them, you need at least a
6600GT, and be sure to check the model since only about 30% ship with
2x DVI connectors.

If you want to run dual analogue monitors, then check the card specs
very carefully. In general, the cards with a the second VGA/DVI
connector on a ribbon cable will not allow you to use a DVI->VGA
converter, and the ones with DVI+VGA both soldered to the board will
allow a DVI->VGA converter, thus giving you 2xVGA ports.

Ben