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Another "Rate my build" thread

R

robo_mojo

n00b
Joined
Aug 1, 2007
Messages
10
Ok. How is this? I have not started ordering yet, so I am still open to suggestions for alternatives.

Abit IP35 motherboard ~138

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 ~296

Thermalright Ultra 120 extreme w/Scythe 64CFM fan ~70

2GB (2 x 1GB) Corsair DDR2-800 XMS2-6400 4-4-4-12 ~118

eVGA GeForce 7900 GS KO 256 MB ~150

2 x 500GB WD SE16 hard disks ~200 (100 ea)

Thermaltake Soprano RS 101 case ~60

Enhance ENP-5150G 500W ~64

Total: $1096

Hope I haven't gone horribly wrong somewhere. I am expecting to overclock the CPU to 3.2GHz and running mem at 1:1 if possible.

I am considering downgrading the CPU to a E6420 Dual instead, which would knock off another 100 or so. I am not sure that I really need four cores, but it couldn't hurt, right?

With this setup, can I reasonably expect to hit 3.2GHz or higher with either a Q6600 or a E6420? If it can clock even higher than that, that'd be great too, but I'm not realy into extreme overclocking.

Any suggestions/flames?
 
Drop the quad down and use the extra money to fund a better GPU.

Other than that, the rest looks good.
 
Yeah drop the quad and get a 6550 i believe or 6750 and also put the extra money into a 320mb 8800gts, and also look on the power supply section for a better power supply. I dont understand how people skimp on this.
 
AthlonXP said:
Yeah drop the quad and get a 6550 i believe or 6750 and also put the extra money into a 320mb 8800gts, and also look on the power supply section for a better power supply. I dont understand how people skimp on this.
Click to expand...

I agree. Though I am also not a fan of that case, but that's totally subjective.
 
I'm getting a similar system, but differing in a few ways

1) Get the IP35-Pro for around $160
2) got 4 * 1GB of the $40 off per stick HP ram.
3) got the BFG 7900GS OC for $100 AR at frys
4) Using an Ultra Aluminus ($20 AR) and Ultra 600W Power supply (FAR).

Reasoning.

1) I want the x16/x4 slot for a 3ware RAID card.
2) The ram is not the fastest, but its decent enough (see http://eclipseoc.com/index.php?id=1,89,0,0,1,0) and for 4GB for under $100 AR is very nice.
3) I'm not a huge gamer, so overpaying for a high end card isn't my thing. $100 a card that's will get 75+% of the highest end DX9 cards that are $200 or more seems worth it for me.
4) The case was cheap. I'll be honest, it's solid and cheap at the same time. For $20 it's a great buy, for $100 that some places try to get for it, not as much. The power supply, not used yet, but I'm having good luck w/ a 500W FAR ultra power supply in an old dual athlon mp box.
 
RoBo said:
You're using a PSU that came with your case? :eek:
Click to expand...

No, he's using a 600 watt Ultra PSU that's FAR (free after rebate).. and is probably not much of a step up from a with-case PSU. Unless the with-case PSU was a Raidmax. I saw a thread a couple of days ago where a guy was going to run a GTX and a Quad off a 600 watt Raidmax. We would've seen the fireworks from here...
 
AthlonXP said:
also look on the power supply section for a better power supply. I dont understand how people skimp on this.
Click to expand...

How is an Enhance 500W PSU skimping?

RoBo said:
Swap the PSU for the X-Clio Goodpower 500w.
Click to expand...

Enhance PSUs are known to be very good. I'd go for the Enhance over the Goodpower. FYI, XClio uses Enhance for their Stablepower line.

robo_mojo said:
Enhance ENP-5150G 500W ~64

I am considering downgrading the CPU to a E6420 Dual instead, which would knock off another 100 or so. I am not sure that I really need four cores, but it couldn't hurt, right?
Click to expand...

Switch the 5150G to the 5150GH and you'll be all set. Its only $5 MORE.

The only disadvantage of quadcore is the extra power needed, and therefore the extra heat production. This inhibits OC'ing, but still allows for a nice 3.2Ghz. Though, the newer E6750 replaces the E6420 and should reach 3.6Ghz easier than the quad would reach 3.2Ghz. I don't see the need for quadcore unless you're playing supcom or video editing (or any other cpu intensive tasks).

Why the 7900GS? The X1950GT or Pro should be cheaper, and is actually better. If you want DX10 performance so you could play all 2 DX10 games, go for the 8800 everyone loves. IMO, you should wait until theres a DX10 game you want to play before plunking down all that cash on a GPU. The GPU is the fastest depreciating component.
 
silent-circuit said:
No, he's using a 600 watt Ultra PSU that's FAR (free after rebate).. and is probably not much of a step up from a with-case PSU. Unless the with-case PSU was a Raidmax. I saw a thread a couple of days ago where a guy was going to run a GTX and a Quad off a 600 watt Raidmax. We would've seen the fireworks from here...
Click to expand...

I agree that its not that best decision in the world, but basically I bought it as a backup and I have it around. If it doesn't work well, its easily replaceable. BTW, what's the hate against shipped with case power supplies. Thought people loved Antecs (which my old case had inside, being an Antec).

In my current system, I have a dual athlon MPs + 8 HDs + 9800 Pro + 2 3ware cards (7000-2, 9550sx-8), Soundblaster Live, HVR-1600, and a burner and it runs w/o a problem on the 500W Ultra (as well as the old 400W Antec, need to take some measurements to see which one is more efficient, at this point just tested it with both in).
 
Antec PSU quality went to shit for a long, long while, and I still avoid them like the plague upon this earth that they are. People claim they're better now, but I'm not about to risk it after having 3 fail under /ideal/ operating conditions and ~1/2 their rated load after 6 months to a year each.

Antec can do only one thing right: not PSUs, not even fans: cases. That's it.
 
silent-circuit said:
Antec PSU quality went to shit for a long, long while, and I still avoid them like the plague upon this earth that they are. People claim they're better now, but I'm not about to risk it after having 3 fail under /ideal/ operating conditions and ~1/2 their rated load after 6 months to a year each.

Antec can do only one thing right: not PSUs, not even fans: cases. That's it.
Click to expand...

Not all of their cases are winners either.
 
RoBo said:
Along with the rest of the components it takes with it.
Click to expand...
.

Only thing I've ever had take down a machine is my old Tiger MP which had a known problem (retrospectively, I bought it when it was still new) of burning up its ATX connector (and hence took the power supply with it), and Tyan is known for making high quality motherboards.
 
Whether he should go with quad or dual really depends on what he is going to be using this for.
 
- What are you planning to use this PC for?
- If gaming, what games are you planning to play?
- If gaming, how big is your monitor?
 
silent-circuit said:
Antec PSU quality went to shit for a long, long while, and I still avoid them like the plague upon this earth that they are. People claim they're better now, but I'm not about to risk it after having 3 fail under /ideal/ operating conditions and ~1/2 their rated load after 6 months to a year each.

Antec can do only one thing right: not PSUs, not even fans: cases. That's it.
Click to expand...

I have a old system with a Antec True Power 400 and its been running strong for over 4 years now. System is on all day, every day :D
 
-(Xyphox)- said:
I have a old system with a Antec True Power 400 and its been running strong for over 4 years now. System is on all day, every day :D
Click to expand...

Sometimes you get lucky. :p

They were pretty good back 4 years ago. I have a generic 400w PSU that has been chugging for a few years with no fireworks, (yet).
 
RoBo said:
Sometimes you get lucky. :p

They were pretty good back 4 years ago. I have a generic 400w PSU that has been chugging for a few years with no fireworks, (yet).
Click to expand...

hehe, i know how that goes. I know the uptime on my golden old must be really up there, i think the only time its been off is when i did not have any power in the last 4 years. I was really surprised how nice of a system it is still today. It was my main system before i built my current machine (sig) my g/f uses it now and it still plays just about. A64 3200+ (Running at 2.3), Abit KV8 Pro Mobo, 2GB of Cosair DDR400 (Orginally had 1GB of Geil), X800 XL With ATi Silencer running at 450/540), Antec TruePower, Moded Case with 10 Fans
 
Thanks for the replies.

Jaanpunjab said:
What you looking to use this rig for?
Click to expand...

Games (though I wouldn't call myself a hardcore gamer really). Mostly I like to play City of Heroes.

Apart from that, I use my PC for programming work, watching videos, etc. So the quad probably isn't really necessary right now. I was just thinking of whether I might need to have it in the future. But I can always replace it if necessary so I'll get a Duo for now, at least for better OCing potential.

enginurd said:
Switch the 5150G to the 5150GH
Click to expand...

Will do.

enginurd said:
The only disadvantage of quadcore is the extra power needed, and therefore the extra heat production. This inhibits OC'ing, but still allows for a nice 3.2Ghz. Though, the newer E6750 replaces the E6420 and should reach 3.6Ghz easier than the quad would reach 3.2Ghz.
Click to expand...

I'll consider that.

Danny Bui said:
- If gaming, how big is your monitor?
Click to expand...

24" Dell 2405fpw. I've been playing CoH in 1280x960 res which is not so great. I'd like to play it at full 1920x1200 res if possible. If I try to do that on my current card (Radeon 9600 Pro) I get a slideshow!
 
robo_mojo said:
24" Dell 2405fpw. I've been playing CoH in 1280x960 res which is not so great. I'd like to play it at full 1920x1200 res if possible. If I try to do that on my current card (Radeon 9600 Pro) I get a slideshow!
Click to expand...

That thing is a beast. You really need an 8800 GTX or Ultra to play much full-res on it, and an SLI setup is preferable. The 7900 may be able to just barely swing it for current titles, but won't be able to play any high-profile titles coming out at that res with any kind of reasonably high settings. I'd suggest you wait a bit longer and save up for a better GPU to match your monitor.
 
robo_mojo said:
24" Dell 2405fpw. I've been playing CoH in 1280x960 res which is not so great. I'd like to play it at full 1920x1200 res if possible. If I try to do that on my current card (Radeon 9600 Pro) I get a slideshow!
Click to expand...

That video card ain't gonna cut it with AA and AF turned up. :( I would look at something like the 8800gts 640mb, but that said, I don't really know how graphically intense that game is.
 
You'll want at least a 8800GTS 640mb. If you get an E6550 and drop one of the hard drives that gives you another $200 to throw at the video card which will give u the cash for a 640mb.

If you could spare more I would recommend stretching for a GTX or Ultra, but if you can't do it, 640 should be just fine.
 
RoBo said:
Yes it will be a significant improvement but you will be V-Ram limited at that resoloution therfore I suggest you opt for the 640mb version and do the overclocking yourself.
Click to expand...

I'm risking sounding like a complete noob here, but I don't understand when you say it'll be V-RAM limited at that resolution. I thought that the memory was used for (1) a video buffer and (2) to store textures/maps/etc. As far as the buffer goes, it shouldn't take more than 20MB with double-buffering for that resolution. And the game would have all the rest.

Or am I missing something?
 
robo_mojo said:
I'm risking sounding like a complete noob here, but I don't understand when you say it'll be V-RAM limited at that resolution. I thought that the memory was used for (1) a video buffer and (2) to store textures/maps/etc. As far as the buffer goes, it shouldn't take more than 20MB with double-buffering for that resolution. And the game would have all the rest.

Or am I missing something?
Click to expand...

Higher levels of AA/AF require more memory available at higher resolutions, and modern games use insanely huge high resolution textures (48xx square sometimes) to manage the kind of visuals they offer. It all adds up very, very, very fast. Look at a couple of reviews and check 8800 GTS 320MB, 640MB, and 8800 GTX/Ultra performance at the resolution of your monitor in several games. The 640MB card will be significantly faster than the 320MB card in newer titles, and the GTX and Ultra will be considerably faster than either GTS.

"Speed's just a matter of money. How fast do you want to go?"
 
Thanks for the tip, I guess that makes sense. I admit my knowledge about video cards is limited (last video card I bought was about 4 years ago. lol!) :rolleyes:

silent-circuit said:
"Speed's just a matter of money. How fast do you want to go?"
Click to expand...

*sigh*. My original budget was <$1000, now I'm looking at spending a few hundred more. That's just how it goes! :)

I'll post an updated build a bit later. Thanks for all the help guys.
 
Swap the WD HDDs for Seagate 7200.10's or Samsung Spinpoint T's. The Seagates will be faster and have a better warranty, the Samsungs will be quieter and just as fast as the WDs.
 
I second the Samsung T-series recommendation. Just ordered two of those myself for my new rig.
 
Ok I just ordered the parts. Everything is the same as in my previous post except changing the WD's to Seagate 7200.10's as silent-circuit suggested.

Thanks all for the suggestions. Can't wait to see how well this works now! :D
 
robo_mojo said:
Ok I just ordered the parts. Everything is the same as in my previous post except changing the WD's to Seagate 7200.10's as silent-circuit suggested.

Thanks all for the suggestions. Can't wait to see how well this works now! :D
Click to expand...

I was going to say the same thing on the HDD's, make sure to get some pics up when everything comes in :D
 
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