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Brother's Build

P

Phate

n00b
Joined
Aug 6, 2006
Messages
35
Hi,

I've been putting together a list of parts over the last few weeks to put together a computer for my brother, and wanted to run it by some people who probably know more about this kind of thing than I do :)

He's going to be running at 1680x1050.

Here's the things I have already:
SATA DVD drive
2x 320GB Seagate drives (going to be running RAID1 for his OS and programs and stuff.)

Here's the things I'm pretty sure about:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
Thermalright ULTRA-120 Heatsink
EVGA 9800GTX
2x Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB in JBOD for storage. No redundancy, but that's ok because anything he'll have stored here I have a copy of on my PC.
Antec Twelve Hundred Case
Corsair CMPSU-620HX 620W Modular Power Supply
Vista Home Premium 32bit

Here's what I'm not as sure about:
ASUS P5K-E
Seems good. Can't do SLI or crossfire, but we're not going for that so that's ok...

Corsair XMS2 Dominator 2X2GB DDR2-1066
or
Corsair XMS2 2X2GB DDR2-800
I want to try to pair one of the above with a single stick of Buffalo Firestix from my computer. This will obviously require some screwing with timings and clock speed... Would this be easier to do with the second one? Or just go with the first one and have some better ram if I can't manage it?

Thanks for the help :)
 
RAM nowadays works best in dual channel mode with matched pairs, so just buy one 2x2GB kit and be done with it. With the Q6600, all you need is DDR2 800 RAM -- you don't need any "special" RAM like the Dominator set.

Since you're getting (at least) 4GB of RAM, buy the 64-bit version of Vista Home Premium. Otherwise, you'll only have access to around 3.2GB-3.5GB of "usable" RAM.

The P5K-E is a good choice... another consideration at that price point is the Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3R. You gain two additional SATA ports, but at the cost of the second PCIe x16 slot (which actually runs at x1/x4).
 
A 9800GTX isn't necessary. A cheaper 8800GTS 512MB would be plenty.

Maybe it would work better to put the 2x 320GB drives in RAID 0 for better speed and make occasional backups on the bigger drives.
 
Thanks everyone :)

We're going to go with the gigabyte mobo that tiraides linked to, the only things it lacks over the asus were the things we don't need, and the extra 2 sata ports will come in handy, we'll go with the cheaper ram too.

I looked up some reviews, and the Xigmatek looks pretty awesome, thanks Danny Bui!
I'll drop the vid card down to the 8800gts to save the $80 too.

@OutKlast, heh ya. 720p movies, and whole tv series :p
 
You haven't mentioned what the computer will be used for. If it's primarily just for watching movies and TV and other video stuff, you should downgrade the video card further and possibly switch over to an ATI card like a 3850 or a 3870. Online videos, DivX movies, and DVD's look better on my old AIW 9800 Pro than on my 8800GTS 512MB.
 
I agree, if its purely HTPC duties, an ATI card would be better than an NVIDIA.

Also, for the Xigmatek, you'll want one of these...
$7 - Thermalright LGA775 Bolt-Thru-Kit
 
Hi,

Sorry, I forgot to say what he'd be using it for.. He'll probably be using it mostly for games, but he did want to have all my movies and shows when I'm back to university in the fall.
Though I am hoping to make a HTPC/file server out of my old computer he's using now with my AIW x800xt, but that's another thread :)

Hmm, those backplate kits look pretty useful.. My scythe ninja rev.b. leans enough, and I'm pretty sure the Xigmatek is heavier... Maybe I'll see if my local computer store can get those...

Thanks again everyone :)
 
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