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Bash my setup!

C

C-Otto

Weaksauce
Joined
Oct 26, 2004
Messages
95
Hi!

I did not follow all the hardware trends in the last few years, but could need a new computer. Please tell me what you think, you may even give useful comments ;)

CPU: C2D E8400 (3 GHz, 333 MHz FSB)
RAM: 4x 2 GB (Kingston ValueRAM, PC2-5300U CL5, DDR2-667)
Board: Asus P5Q (P45, ICH10R)
Disk: SpinPoint F1 750 GByte (32 MByte Cache)
Graphics: Sparkle GeForce 9600 GT (passive cooling, 512 MByte GDDR 3)
Screen: Dell UltraSharp 3008WFP (30")

Notes:
- I need NVIDIA for Linux drivers
- I do not play games that often (twice a year perhaps? :) but that may change)
- The system should be silent (what about the boxed C2D cooler?)
- Yes, 64bit
- I don't need a second disk. Speed should be good enough, storage is in another machine, backup elsewhere
- If I need to do serious computing I use one of about 1500 cores available in the university, so a Quad Core is not really a must

Thanks,
Carsten
 
I need a lot of RAM to do research (I'll be a PhD student in computer science next month), besides a lot of RAM helps as a disk cache... and RAM never hurts, especially at that price :)
 
C-Otto said:
I need a lot of RAM to do research (I'll be a PhD student in computer science next month), besides a lot of RAM helps as a disk cache... and RAM never hurts, especially at that price :)
Click to expand...

I'd get faster RAM.
 
Faster sounds good! :)
As far as I know 667 MHz is the right speed for a C2D E8400. What do you think? How exactly would faster RAM be integrated into this system (if the FSB is fixed to 1333 MHz)?
 
C-Otto said:
Faster sounds good! :)
As far as I know 667 MHz is the right speed for a C2D E8400. What do you think? How exactly would faster RAM be integrated into this system (if the FSB is fixed to 1333 MHz)?
Click to expand...

When overclocking DDR2 667MHz is going to limit your performance.

When overclocking you'll be taking your bus over 333MHz speeds and you'll want RAM that can keep up with the increase. For example, I've got OCZ Flex XLC PC2-9200 modules that run at speeds up to 575MHz. That gives you plenty of overclocking headroom for any Core 2 out there. DDR2 800MHz is capable of 400MHz and 1066MHz is capable of 533MHz while DDR2 667MHz is limited to 333MHz. DDR2 667MHz modules are a poor choice for overclocking.
 
I see you don't do much gaming, but what will you actually be using it for?

Your CPU is an overclocking beast, so I would def. get 800Mhz+ on the RAM speed. Read this to see why.
 
Whatever comes to my mind. I think it boils down to listening to music, browsing and doing other light stuff. That is combined with heavy stuff like Eclipse and crazy research applications, maybe some games and silly programs I test for fun.

Thanks for the RAM info, I'll consider that.
 
Looks like a decent workhorse. I agree with previous posts on the RAM...everything else is decent, it'd be a bottleneck.
 
What about Kingston ValueRAM DIMM 2GB PC2-6400U CL6 (DDR2-800) (KVR800D2N6/2G)?
Costs 65ct more (times four)...
 
Kingston ValueRAM DIMM 2GB PC2-6400U CL5 (DDR2-800) (KVR800D2N5/2G)
Another additional Euro (times four!) :)
 
I'd get the CL5 RAM. It's worth it for an extra Euro.

Also, you should consider getting the ASUS P5Q Pro or Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3R instead of the board you picked, as the vanilla P5Q has a poorly-placed 24-pin power connector on the board. Aside from that it looks like a pretty sweet build :).
 
If you're doing a lot of research and what-not, you might as well go Quad. Pick up a Q6600, they're stupid cheap. I would be willing to bet some of your apps will use multiple threads/cores.
 
Regarding the board: I don't think that would be a problem. If it does not fit, I just send it back.
CPU: I'd like to buy 45nm and a lot of cache. The main app I am using will be optimized for 16 cores now, the difference between 4 and 2 cores does not help there. And if I need to do some serious computing, I can use a lot of big SMP boxes for that.

PS: I started transferring my money to the right account, only a few days left to decide :)

Thanks again,
Carsten
 
C-Otto said:
CPU: I'd like to buy 45nm and a lot of cache. The main app I am using will be optimized for 16 cores now, the difference between 4 and 2 cores does not help there. And if I need to do some serious computing, I can use a lot of big SMP boxes for that.
Click to expand...

Well, they have 45nm quads with lots of cache. If the main app you are using is optimized for 16 threads, then how is having four available cores instead of two not going help? Maybe I'm a little dense, and I've never used an application like you are describing. I just want to better understand what you're trying to say.

If a program can run 16 threads for its operations and you only give it the choice of 2 cores, then the workload is obviously marching in and out of the CPU on two threads. If you had 4 cores, wouldn't the workload be better distributed and have less data waiting in line? I mean, simultaneous processing FTW.

I encode video all of the time, and I used to have a dual core e2180, and it would run 100% on both cores until the video was done. No problem. However, as soon as I popped in my Q6600 the videos encoded in roughly half the time (I had them both clocked at 3.0GHZ). Now there are some cache differences granted, but my Q6600 was also running at 100% across all cores. Just because the program can use more threads than you have doesn't mean it won't help if you add two more. It's going to use what you've got if it's optimized for multiple threads.

Someone can step-in here and call me retarded, and I'll go and hide my head in my books, but this is my understanding.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115041
 
For that specific app I need 16 cores if I want to tune the strategy to the target machine, which also has 16 cores. For that I just use a machine with, you guessed it, 16 cores. At home I don't really care if the app behaves as intended for the 16 core machine (I guess it won't as my PC is slower) as long as I get some results after some short time (I will, for intense computations I use real computers) and have a silent computer (45nm and such).

I fully understand how multithreading works, that even was part of one of my most important exams. But I also know that I either have 16 cores or not. 2 is not 16, 4 is not 16. Therefore I just don't consider the relevant aspects for computations with 16 cores and concentrate on what is left.
 
Ok, machine is here. I like it, especially the screen.

I have one huge problem though:
With more than 2 GB of RAM (i bought 8 GByte) I get segfaults, checksum errors and other errors. Memtest86+ v2.01 runs perfectly, I completed a whole pass.

Could this be related to timing issues? As far as I understand the BIOS the RAM runs hat 800MHz, does it make sense to set this to 667MHz (like the CPU clock suggests)?

Thanks,
Carsten
 
Run the RAM at the speed at which is it spec'd. If it is DDR2-800 then run it at 800MHZ. Also, I would run Memtest86+ overnight (~8 hours) and see if you get any errors. If you get an error, then start narrowing it down stick-by-stick.

Also, try running two sticks of RAM in dual-channel (slot 1 & slot 3). If everything runs fine, then run the same sticks of RAM in dual-channel in (slot 2 & slot 4). This helps rule-out the possibility of one of the DDR2 slots being bad. If that works, then try your third and fourth stick of RAM doing the same thing. If all of this works, then try all of the above running memtest86+ for 8 hours each session.

It's a pain in the ass, but I usually memtest my RAM before I install Windows.
 
...windows is more pain in the ass, but that is another topic.

I had no problem with 2 GByte now, I will move to 4 GByte...

Thanks,
Carsten
 
Okay, I think I have it. The problem occured whenever two modules occupied the same channel (e.g. 4 GByte in Single Channel mode). I read the manual again and found several RAM related settings that I changed earlier. I think (and hope) the problem was that I disabled everything that sounded like overclocking and therefore created an unstable system. Now the settings are at default (no explicit overclocking) and I did not yet see a problem with 8 GByte.

EDIT: Better, but errors are errors. I now try 667 MHz instead of 800 MHz.

Bye,
Carsten
 
I'm German, what do you mean?

I built this myself, yes. Why not? :) It's not my first computer...
 
I did not even look at one ATI/AMD card, because I need good linux drivers. I know NVIDIA makes these, so...

PS: Thanks :)
 
Besides, a HD4850 is more expensive (double the price!) and I can only find a single card with passive cooling...
 
I don't much about linux n stuff so i can't comment on that part then ^-^

BTW doesn't 8800GT performs & overclocks better than 9600gt ? (Again i don't know if linux drivers are available for 8800gt :p)

BTW awesome monitor, I just over looked it the first time.
 
NVIDIA does not really care what card you buy, the driver works for about every card.

I don't really want to overclock, so that feature is not important to me :)
Besides, I can play Quake 4 in 1920x1200 with all details I could configure, that is good enough for me.

The screen is nice, yeah :)

Bye,
Carsten
 
...the 8800GT is about 150% the price of a 9600GT (and then does not even have passive cooling).
 
Sorry for OT, What exactly is passive cooling ? Is a third party cooler installed on the GPU called passive cooling ?
 
starchazer said:
Sorry for OT, What exactly is passive cooling ? Is a third party cooler installed on the GPU called passive cooling ?
Click to expand...

Passive means that it has no fan or other electrical or mechanical device required to dissipate the head.
 
Carsten, utilize the "edit" button. No need to post again two minutes later if you don't have to do so. :)
 
I don't know and honestly I don't even care. My guess is I won't touch this system for the next few years. Thanks for the help, though.
 
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