[system build critique] and a question about q6600s

J

jmahler

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 21, 2003
Messages
348
this is what I just bought from NewEgg -

27-151-153 DVD BURN SAMSUNG|SH-S203B $33.99



17-371-001 PSU ANTEC|TP3-650 RT $114.99



22-136-131 HD 750G|WD 7K 16M SATA2 WD7500AAKS $179.99


13-131-073 MB ASUS P5N32-E SLI NF680I 775 $204.99

20-146-565 MEM 1Gx2|CRUCIAL BL2KIT12864AA804 R (X2) $89.99 $179.98


Subtotal

$729.53


I also purchased a G0 q6600 from clubIT and a superclocked (675) 8800GT from EVGA,

Now here are my questions:


1: How'd I do? I mean, I came at this knowing nothing about chipsets and took the advice of various forum members on the different parts. I am particularly concerned about the Antec - I am beginning to think I should have gone with a PC Power and Cooling for a few bucks more. Any input on that would be awesome.

2: Is the G0 that much better than B3?

3: Will an 8800GT SLI be worth doing down the road, or is SLI never really worth the price still?



As you can tell by my questions, I've been out of the hardware game for a bit. :)

Thanks in advance for any input!!
 
I think you did fine with exception to the motherboard. I've now had 3 of that ASUS board and ALL of them were either DOA or the dead within a few months. Very disappointed with it. If you check out the review on newegg, you'll see what I mean. Some people made out very well with it but a TON of people are getting DOA's like crazy. I've built many many systems and never had so many problems with a motherboard like this one. Could be ASUS, could be the 680i chipset but I doubt that.

So I would stay as far away from that mobo as you can. Maybe you'll be lucky and have success with it but I certainly didn't and a large number of people on the egg didn't as well.
 
janko10 said:
I think you did fine with exception to the motherboard. I've now had 3 of that ASUS board and ALL of them were either DOA or the dead within a few months. Very disappointed with it. If you check out the review on newegg, you'll see what I mean. Some people made out very well with it but a TON of people are getting DOA's like crazy. I've built many many systems and never had so many problems with a motherboard like this one. Could be ASUS, could be the 680i chipset but I doubt that.

So I would stay as far away from that mobo as you can. Maybe you'll be lucky and have success with it but I certainly didn't and a large number of people on the egg didn't as well.
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Well that makes me a bit nervous. :/

I'll give it a few days just because for the price, I couldn't find the equivalent amount of features ANYWHERE. All those SATA and USB ports left me drooling a bit. :)
 
I know what you mean. Sorry, not trying to thread crap. I'd feel the same way, you always feel excited when you select a new system and ask for feedback and then everybody has a problem with some part of it :(

Like I said, maybe you will be lucky. It wouldn't have 4 out of 5 eggs if it didn't work at all. It just seems to have a really high DOA rate (and some people will chalk that up to n00bs not knowing what they're doing but i'm definitely not and I might ruin one board, but not 3).

So good luck. The 2 main issues seem to be this..... No POST at all when you first get it (so you know right away it's DOA, you just get the green LED on the mobo but nothing else) and the one I have now is exhibiting the second issue... Random freezes. It will freeze in Vista, booting Vista, and the clincher.... during POST. I've RMA'd my whole system to elminate any other issue (PSU, CPU, RAM, Vid Card, etc...). So just a heads up, if you start seeing this issue, don't pull your hair out like I did and start RMA'ing your whole freaking rig. Just take it apart and start with the mobo....
 
janko10 said:
I know what you mean. Sorry, not trying to thread crap. I'd feel the same way, you always feel excited when you select a new system and ask for feedback and then everybody has a problem with some part of it :(

Like I said, maybe you will be lucky. It wouldn't have 4 out of 5 eggs if it didn't work at all. It just seems to have a really high DOA rate (and some people will chalk that up to n00bs not knowing what they're doing but i'm definitely not and I might ruin one board, but not 3).

So good luck. The 2 main issues seem to be this..... No POST at all when you first get it (so you know right away it's DOA, you just get the green LED on the mobo but nothing else) and the one I have now is exhibiting the second issue... Random freezes. It will freeze in Vista, booting Vista, and the clincher.... during POST. I've RMA'd my whole system to elminate any other issue (PSU, CPU, RAM, Vid Card, etc...). So just a heads up, if you start seeing this issue, don't pull your hair out like I did and start RMA'ing your whole freaking rig. Just take it apart and start with the mobo....
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that's not thread crapping, man. I asked for insight and thoughts and you provided. Thread crapping would have been someone coming in saying "d00d wtf no games use teh quad yet luser!".

Of course, I would then have to mention that I'm going to be running at least one vmware instance at all times and possibly going completely to ubuntu (with more virtualization) down the line, and that gaming isn't the end-all for me. :)
 
That board may have problems running all 4 of those high voltage Ballistix sticks.

1) I would have suggested the Corsair 520W instead, but since you already bought it, the Trio 650W isn't a bad choice.

2) Yes, the G0 is that much better than the B3.

3) Down the road? How far down the road? What size monitor do you have? If you have or plan to get a 24" (1920x1200) monitor or larger, then yes, SLI would be worth it. If you don't have a smaller monitor and don't plan on getting a larger one soon, then SLI would NOT be worth it if you plan on doing it a year down the road. By that time, just sell your old card and pickup a newer card. SLI as an upgrade path is usually not worth it.

What size monitor do you have?
 
enginurd said:
That board may have problems running all 4 of those high voltage Ballistix sticks.

1) I would have suggested the Corsair 520W instead, but since you already bought it, the Trio 650W isn't a bad choice.

2) Yes, the G0 is that much better than the B3.

3) Down the road? How far down the road? What size monitor do you have? If you have or plan to get a 24" (1920x1200) monitor or larger, then yes, SLI would be worth it. If you don't have a smaller monitor and don't plan on getting a larger one soon, then SLI would NOT be worth it if you plan on doing it a year down the road. By that time, just sell your old card and pickup a newer card. SLI as an upgrade path is usually not worth it.

What size monitor do you have?
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I run a 20" Dell (1680x1050), so yeah, higher resolutions in general.

The memory comment worries me. What should I watch for? Are you saying just straight-out booting will be a problem, or will I experience errors down the line? I'm absolutely willing to drop the speed and timings on the ram in order to lower the voltage if necessary.

Thanks for the info.
 
Just try two sticks first. Install the other two after you have everything installed. The Ballistix will boot at 1.8v with SPD timings, but there should also be EPP profiles of 2.2v along with timings. If they won't run, you'll probably need to give them more voltage.

Since you have a 1680x1050, SLI would not be a good idea. Stick to single card solutions instead unless the trend of midrange SLI cards outperforming highest end cards continues. While the 8800GT in SLI does outperform the Ultra for less money, just remember that this is a new GPU, and we have yet to see the Ultra's replacement.
 
i doubt u would need superclocked gt's (overclock on ur own) especially in SLI, a regular clocked one would do fine for games this year, later on it can be good to STEP UP instead of up to SLI and probably pick up a gtx or whatever is out after that
 
I would go with a true Intel chipset made by Intel if I where you...but that is just me.
 
Linked said:
i doubt u would need superclocked gt's (overclock on ur own) especially in SLI, a regular clocked one would do fine for games this year, later on it can be good to STEP UP instead of up to SLI and probably pick up a gtx or whatever is out after that
Click to expand...

The price difference for the superclocked gt wasn't too big from the regular GT, and I wanted to ensure that I'd get good performance. While I love overclocking CPUs, I've never had great luck with overclocking video cards for some reason.

mmm my ebay account is going to get some serious action next week. :)
 
OKAY so... the motherboard I got is craptastic. tried 4 sticks of ram in 4 slots, different vid card - and it refuses to boot into Ubuntu's livecd or start an XP64 installation (well, it gets to the HD part then dies on me - can't write to the drives).

So... I'm thinking I need to get a different motherboard. Looking into IP35 chipsets for now- thinking the abit ip35 pro. Any other suggestions are welcome- my only reason to have to go with a more expensive pro (as opposed to the ip35 e which gets great reviews around here) is that I need 6 sata ports.

THanks!
 
You could install windows with 2 sticks, then add the other two later.

The Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R, DS3P, DS4, Abit IP35, and Asus P5K, P5K-E are some good alternatives to the IP35 Pro.
 
enginurd said:
You could install windows with 2 sticks, then add the other two later.

The Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R, DS3P, DS4, Abit IP35, and Asus P5K, P5K-E are some good alternatives to the IP35 Pro.
Click to expand...


I would second those too (Asus P5K, P5K-E )
 
enginurd said:
You could install windows with 2 sticks, then add the other two later.

The Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R, DS3P, DS4, Abit IP35, and Asus P5K, P5K-E are some good alternatives to the IP35 Pro.
Click to expand...

I tried with 1, 2, 3, and 4 sticks and in different slots. last night was a long, long night.


I'll look into those suggestions!
 
Okay, the Gigabyte is looking like the most likely candidate.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128064

while I love overclocking, I'm not planning on going 4ghz on this. :) I'll be happy with 3.2 or so - this is already a screaming fast chip, after all - even at stock speeds. I like the 8 sata ports available on the gigabyte, for sure.

The IP35 is definitely the way to go, at this point? Is there any reason to go to the x38, or is it too soon to do that?
 
jmahler said:
Well that makes me a bit nervous. :/

I'll give it a few days just because for the price, I couldn't find the equivalent amount of features ANYWHERE. All those SATA and USB ports left me drooling a bit. :)
Click to expand...


Abit IP35-Pro
 
After reading a bit more around, i went ahead and ordered the gigabyte. should be here tomorrow. i'll report once it's running.
 
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