Ordering Soon - Prelude Final Configuration

[Charly Brown]

Hello,

Below is the configuration I've decided to go for when I order my Prelude today or tomorrow. Anything you wil add/get rid off/change? Keep in mind I must stay below the USD 2,000 mark. This configuration goes for about 1,950$

Exterior Automotive Color: Silver Brushed Aluminum Finish
Power Supply: MAINGEAR 750W Ultra Quiet Power Supply
Motherboard: NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI Motherboard
Processor: E6750 Core 2 (2.66GHz x 2)
CPU Cooling: Intel Quiet CPU Cooler
Memory: 2GB Corsair DDR2 PC5300 DDR667 (2x1024MB)
Hard Drive One: Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache - SATA II
Flash Card Reader: All-in-One Internal USB 2.0 Flash Card Reader & Writer
Optical Drive One: 20X Dual Layer DVD±RW Drive w/ LightScribe Technology - black
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS 640MB PCIe
Sound Card: Onboard 8-channel High Definition Audio
Network Card: Dual Gigabit LAN
Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (32-Bit)

Charly

[Kythrian]

That looks very similar to the machine I just got with a couple things adding cost. Why did you decide on the 680i motherboard over the 650i? I don't really know anything about motherboards, so I am curious. I think if I were to change one thing about my order, it would be to upgrade the cooling from the stock to a Zalman. My E6600 right now runs about 50C normally. I have the same video card, the same lack of sound card and only a 250GB HDD. All in all, my system performs beautifully and I expect yours will too.

[theDreamer]

My only change, well two technically, would be to drop the 680i board since you are not doing SLi currently, and pick up the Zalman cooler. Or if you want no Zalman, but you can get a 8800GTX (over by 4 dollars), now if you get both you will be just over the 2k mark by about $70.

Overall looks good, and you need the All-in-One card reader correct? I always just ask this for people to make sure they need it.

[blindem]

I think he said he uses the card reader for photography in an earlier thread, but I could be mistaken.

I don't know a whole lot, but it looks like a solid system to me, though I think the suggestion to go with the higher-end cooling is a good one.

[theDreamer]

I think he said he uses the card reader for photography in an earlier thread, but I could be mistaken.

I don't know a whole lot, but it looks like a solid system to me, though I think the suggestion to go with the higher-end cooling is a good one.

Was that him, that was me who asked so I am sorry if I am asking again. I am trying to keep everyone straight on who has ordered and who is ordering & making sure I do not ask questions twice.

Well, since you need the card reader that is fine, but upgrading the cooling would be good for heat reduction & helping in the lasting of your CPU.

[RottynDawg]

I'm with Dreamer, if you don't plan to OC or run SLI...it may be worth dropping the 680i mobo and getting the upgraded cooling instead. I will say how ever, that the 680i mobo is an amazing piece of work and I'm a big EVGA fan so that would be a tough call for me :)

[theDreamer]

Yeah, I do enjoy the 680i board a lot, and it has definitely shown its power, but if you are on a budget every point v. price is tight.

[Charly Brown]

Thanks for your input guys,

I do need the card reader in fact, so there I cannot save. As per the MoBo, I need at least 6 USB ports on the back (same reason I need the card reader), and the 680i is the only one with 6 USB ports. I thought on getting a USB hub instead, but my experience with those is not that good. Also, adding to Rottyn coment on the 680i being a great piece of technology, I want to be able on going sli if needed. The way things are advancing on PC gaming video, Vista evolution, etc it could easily make the 8800 GTS insufficient in a year, year an a half, and I want to be ready.

I may go for a smaller HD, lets say 250 MB as I have a big external HD and a portable one and go for the Zalman. Is it worth to sacrifice storage space to get a better cooler? I’ll be about 18$ over the 2,000 mark, but I can live with that

I also though about going all the way to the 8800GTX, but I read somewhere (not sure if here or in a PC gaming forum) that it is great card but it is a total overkill, at least at the level of gaming I am planning to do. And, if I’m picking the 680i, I may go sli and upgrade the PC to have more video power in the future

[theDreamer]

If you are a light/casual gamer the GTS (640) will be great for you, I am a person who always wants the fastest most powerful, but then I realize it costs way to much and start to think reasonably.

The 6 USB port thing I did not know about, and I can understand that completely, my laptop only has 4 and I am always having to unplug something to get something else in there that I need.

Going for the smaller HD might be good, but since you do a lot of photography you probably might want to get the extra space and hold back on the cooling. There is nothing wrong with the basic cooling, I used one in my machine for 3.5 years until I destroyed it...or blew it up or something.

[RottynDawg]

Dang tough call on the storage vs. cooling :) I would probably lean towards cooling myself as adding a hard drive down the road is a lot easier than replacing the CPU cooler. With that said, if you don't ever plan to OC I hear the stock coolers do perfectly fine and are pretty quiet. Dang tough call!

[Charly Brown]

Thinking it a bit more, you are right Rottyn, it’s a tough call. Here is the following scenario: How does the intel cooler perform if I go for sli and add another GTS in the future? What’s easier, adding more storage space or changing a cooler, or worse, risk damaging the CPU for not cooling it enough? Not sure what’s the right answer :idk:

[theDreamer]

Here is how I see it.
Running your current setup I see no problems. So you have the basic cooling with the 500gb and GTS.

Now say you add a GTS you are going to create more heat in the case, but should it affect the CPU? Most likely not, unless of course you start OC the CPU or your Intel fan becomes a problem.

Now you put on the Zalman with only a 250, adding another HD is a piece of cake really. Just get the one you want, plug her in and make sure the system recognizes it.

I personally would go with better cooling, and then add a HD later if you need it since it is very very easy, and no risk to the CPU then.

[Charly Brown]

Decisions, decisions. I'll sleep over it and tomorrow I'll place the order. I may have an alternative for the card reader but need to make a phone call (that's what friends are for :P ). If I drop the reader, I may go for the Zalman AND the 500GB HD with just 40 bucks over $2K. Let' see how this end

[ginfan]

Another consideration is that, if I'm not mistaken, the 650i supports up to 8GB DDR2-800 where as the 680i supports up to 8GB DDR2-1200. Currently you are speccing your machine with 2GB DDR-667; so if you decide to upgrade your memory some time in the future, you will have more options with the 680i, especially if you did a 64-bit OS conversion somewhere along the way.

[Charly Brown]

Ok, I managed to get rid of the card reader (friends will be friends) and followed the advice on the Zalma. I placed the order today as per below. It went down to 1,970 before shipping, and I couldn't wait but asked for the computer to be here next Tuesday. :P

Exterior Automotive Color: color-silveraluminum - Silver Brushed Aluminum Finish
Power Supply: ps-thermaltake-750W - MAINGEAR 750W Ultra Quiet Power Supply
Motherboard: mb-nvidia680i - NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI Motherboard
Processor: cpu-IntelE6750 - E6750 Core 2 (2.66GHz x 2)
CPU Cooling: cooler-zalman-cnsp800 - Zalman CNSP8000 Ultra Quiet Heatpipe Cooler
Memory: mem-Corsair-DDR25300-2GB - 2GB Corsair DDR2 PC5300 DDR667 (2x1024MB)
Hard Drive One: hd-wd500GB-WD5000ks - Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache- SATA II
Optical Drive One: od-lightscribe20xdvdrw - 20X Dual Layer DVD±RW Drive w/ LightScribe Technology -black
Video Card: vc-nvidia-8800GTS - NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS 640MB PCIe
Sound Card: sc-integrated-highdefADI - Onboard 8-channel High Definition Audio
Network Card: nic-dualgigabit - Dual Gigabit LAN
Game: game-guildwars-factions - FREE! Guild Wars: Factions PC Game
Operating System: os-microsoft-vista-homepremium - Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (32-Bit)

Can't wait no longer!!! Now to prepare my migration from my old PC. Any experience/advice on Windows Easy Transfer?

[theDreamer]

Looks, what are we looking at in this transfer?
Programs you just need to reinstall that is the easy part, files such as photos, movies, etc. Two ways, either throw it on an external drive then back on to your new PC or...do it over the network which should be pretty fast.

[Charly Brown]

I was thinking more in terms of email accounts, favorites, etc which can be cumbersome to migrate. As you said, programs are easy and photos, files, etc is just a matter of getting it them to your external HD and then dumping them on the new PC. But email accounts, together with all the messages in Outlook, can be complicated

The last time I migrated my computer I used Alohabob PC Relocator, which I think was purcahsed by MS, and it's the base for Easy Transfer. With PC Rellocator, it was a breeze to migrate email accounts, favorites, settings but for programs it was horrible

[theDreamer]

Well, all those, contacts/bookmarks/etc., are located on the harddrive somewhere, but finding them and putting them in the correct location can be a pain.

[RottynDawg]

The Easy Transfer Wizard in Vista actually works very well. I would highly recommend using it if you want to migrate your program settings AND data; for the programs you mentioned at least.

[Charly Brown]

Well guys, I need mental support as I ordered my Prelude last Saturday and I’M DESPERATE. I WANT IT NOW!!! It wouldn’t be so bad if my current PC would allow me to play the games I want. I need a new computer NOW :x

I read in another thread that someone ordered a Prelude and got it in 10 business days. That’s my hope, as a Prelude is very simple to build compared to an Ephex, I think. And the one I configured is simply enough anyway.

I t would be great though that MG had a Dell like stuff where you can follow up where your system is and how things are going building it. It surely reduces anxiety. But well, I guess I just have to be patience, which is not one of my virtues... :help:

[theDreamer]

Actually, to name another company, Voodoo (where my laptops is from) use to have this function working. Once they redid a few things it went away because of to many errors and problems. The other thing I see is it can not help in that if you see it sitting on painting or testing for a few days you will be wondering why it is not moving and start freaking out.

Though if you stop to think you might know testing can show problems and they have to order a new part, paint may have a problem on back order of a color or a screw up. Though I know this from experience that one does not always rationally think when anxious for something.

[blindem]

I feel your pain, Charly. The waiting game is a tough one. I ordered on July 20, and I'm barely holding onto my patience by a thin thread.

It will all be worth it in the end though, and if MG sticks by their indication of shipping in 15-20 business days, I should see my system shipped by Friday!

:please:

Until they do ship, I guess we'll just have to... um.... chill.

:smoke:

[ginfan]

This post motived me to call on my system status :) I ordered an Ephex with some non-standard config options (I had to call and request hardware and software outside of the config tool). 12 business days have passed and it's built, bench marked and in the middle of the burn in process. If no issues are found during burn in, it should ship by the end of this week... too bad I'm cheap and selected the $43 shipping option :lol:

I'm pumped! :super:

[blindem]

Excellent. That makes me hope mine's in similar status, as today makes 18 business days for me. Can hardly wait!

[RottynDawg]

We all feel your pain...the wait is always the tough part :) Once you open the box, smell the new computer smell, see the quality of the system and the care they put into it...it will all seem worth it.

:coffee:

[blindem]

I don't doubt it.

And :lol: to the "new computer smell" comment. The sad (or is it a good) thing is that we probably all know exactly what you mean.

[theDreamer]

:cry:
I do not.

[blindem]

Awwww. Sure you do, it may have just been a while.

[Charly Brown]

But this MG guys wants to make me suffer or drive me nuts. When I got my order conformation email, it said “your order have been confirmed and will be shipping soon” How soon? Days soon, weeks soon, months soon…

:burn:

[RottynDawg]

Ohhh...the new computer smell...I didn't even think about someone NOT knowing what I meant. I truly am a geek...

:nerd:

Charly, I would give them a call to get an update :)

[theDreamer]

Or you can just do this... :banghead:

[RottynDawg]

:haha:

[theDreamer]

:haha: :bgun:

Edit: Stupid post will not make it look like I am shooting your post, because the quote takes up a whole line of its own. :evil:

[RottynDawg]

Now that would have been cool...I'm still laughing just thinking of watching my post get shot :)

[theDreamer]

:haha: :bgun:

:lol:

[RottynDawg]

:wowsee:

Now how did you do that!

[Charly Brown]

Well, I can see my original posting was hijacked at some point by Dreamer and Rottyn (no hard feelings guys), but I want to continue the saga of my Prelude as it was delivered today and my experience with MG so far, so it can be used as a possible benchmark for future owners:

From Order to Delivery

August 11 – Placed the order. This was a Saturday

1st B day, August 13 – Order confirmed. I called MG to see why my order was still waiting and there I confirmed the credit card. Not sure how long would it take for MG to confirm an order without the client calling, but it shouldn’t be longer than this, I guess.

10th B Day August 24 – Called for status: System built and moving into burning phase

11th B Day, August 27 – emailed MG with concerns on getting my system before Labor Day weekend. Was emailed back in about 30 minutes they will try to ship the system Wednesday or Thursday the latest

12th B Day, August 28 – System Shipped (one day before expected). Got shipping notification once the package was actually picked-up by Fedex

14th B Day, August 30 – Fedex delivery (2nd day delivery option)

Pretty good work so far and within the 15-20 day original timeframe. Now, this may change on the new delivery process Wallace explained recently but so far I’m pretty happy with the result. Now to install it and play CoH at ultra resolution and see what happen!!!

Will get and post pictures once I get home. Even if mine is a humble Prelude, not the Monster Ephex, I am still proud!!!

:bandan:

[theDreamer]

Sorry about the hijack, all in good fun.
Glad to hear things are going well, hope to hear more, good, soon.

[RottynDawg]

I'm horrible when it comes to the "hijack"...I get caught up in the moment :)

Grats on the new system.

[Charly Brown]

Ok, only If I’ve had my computer for four days, I just want to give a quick review of my impression with the system so far. A longer more through review will come after I’ve been using my system for a while, but this is how I feel about my first MG system:

Overall, this is a superb system, maybe the best of the over 15 PCs/laptops I’ve owned. Considering the Prelude is a humble system when compared to the monster Ephex and even if I threw in almost an extra one thousand bucks in stuff to make it an above average gaming PC, it is still below on what and Ephex can offer. However, I would say that in terms of performance, the Prelude is really the unbeatable bang for the buck many reviewers gave it, no doubt about it. The integration is superb, and I have been able to play CoH at ultra settings without any problem (I’ve seen in Relic forums much better systems than my Prelude having performance issues at ultra settings in this game), and the computer had run so far smoothly on every application I’ve ran. Granted, I have some issues with WMP 11 (I think it sucks) and running some old programs, but I consider that a Vista issue and not an inherent problem with the Prelude. I won’t post Vista issues here, so this are the pros and the cons so far (my monitor is a Samsung 20”, by the way):

But first, you can see many pictures here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/cmiquila/Prelude

Pros

1.Superb component integration, incredible performance for the cost, plenty of built in value

2.Well built. Wiring is amazing, the chassis selection is great for the model and the system looks solid. The steps taken to keep the system cool are one step over what any PC maker will do. For such a relative small chassis, heat dissipation is well achieved

3.No major issues whatsoever, easy to set-up and ready to play games

4.Fast building times. 12 business days is great for as system like this

For me, this is the Mini Cooper of the PCs, small but quick, solid and with superior performance. Not a Ferrari (read Ephex), but still at 2,000 bucks it’ s a bargain

Cons

Not that many and quite frankly just some minor issues that I want MG to be aware off:

1.Packing is not the best. Two boxes separated with a layer of Styrofoam peanuts aren’t really shielding the system for major mechanical shock. The inner box is well supported with two big blocks of Styrofoam, but if the outer box is dropped from a relatively high altitude it can affect the components

2.The system is a bit noisy, for sure the result of the many fans it has, but I was expecting a quieter system. Maybe the Zalman? Not sure

3.The only system issue I had was with the Realtek audio. For some reason, it was installed without recognizing the front panel plugs, and I had quite a hard time figuring what was going on. Add to this that the Realtek configuration software if not that friendly, and you have some frustration on your hands. The problem is very easy to solve, but realizing what was wrong was not that easy.

4.And this is the worse :wink: My MG T-shirt came burned on a sleeve, which makes it practically unusable. Not sure how it got burned, but it seems it came on contact with a very hot component at packing. Maybe the PSU? Not sure, but anyway I won’t judge MG on a burned T-shirt

Overall a 9.5/10 score. Let’s see how it does a year from now. Now, if I can only solve my WMP 11 woes, I’ll be a happier man!