Building new computer...need advice

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Croyd

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Nov 5, 2004
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I'm looking at building a new PC.

So far I have:

ASUS PK5-E WiFi-AP Socket 776 Intel P35 ICH9R Chipset
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
Western Digital (WD5000AAKS) 500GB SATAII 7200RPM 16MB Buffer HD
SAMSUNG DVDRW 20X SATA BLACK (SH-S203B/BEBN)
Corsair HX Series CMPSU-520HX 520W ATX Triple Power Supply
Antec P182 Advanced Super Mid Tower
eVGA 8800GT 512 (not sure which exact model)

Background:
-I'm buying this machine mainly for gaming (FPS) and movies/tv shows....maybe do some encoding every now and then.
-I haven't overclocked my system before but may consider it...
-I'll be moving to China soon which is 220V I believe.

Questions:
1) What RAM should I get? I'm thinking of getting 2GB for now but I'm not sure what I should be getting. Can you please include model numbers. I don't know if I would overclock so I don't need the most expensive RAM....but something avg and not too expensive which will give me flexibility later on. Is DDR2 800 good enough? is it worth it to buy the DDR2 1066? or will I probably not notice the diff?

2) Do I need another cooler for my CPU or is stock ok? I may decide to overclock to 3Ghz....not sure. If so, what cooler should I get?....I don't think I need water cooling. Please note the case is a Antec P182 and CPU is Q6600. Again please include model numbers..

3) HD choice ok? Or should I consider something else? It seems lots of people buy Seagate Baracudas...are they much better?

4) is the corsair HX 520 enough to power this machine? Or should I consider the 620HX? Is this brand reliable? I like the idea of modular flexible cables. the power supply supports 240V and I think it detects the right voltage so no switch needed. Is this all I need to get my PC to work in China? well besides some adapter converter so it can plug into the chinese plugs. Everything else should just work correct?

5) Is the ASUS P5K-E with Wireless a good choice? I don't think I will do SLI. Should this board be ok to overclock the Q6600 to 3Ghz+ if I do decide to overclock? Do I need a floppy drive to install SATA drivers? I will be installing WindowsXP SP2 for now but in the future probably vista. I heard some motherboards don't need the floppy ... is that true?

6) Any suggestions on a good 22" gaming monitor? I heard SAMSUNGs are pretty good? Currently I own a 19" Viewsonic 191B screen and I love it but I want to go widescreen now. Will this match up? I'm concerned it's a TN screen but maybe I won't even notice the diff.

7) Am I missing anything important? I will move my mouse, keyboard, printer, card reader etc from my current computer.

Thanks for any help and info you can provide!
 
1) Any cheap set of DDR2 800 RAM will do. DDR2 1066 is not worth it. I recommend getting this set of DDR2 800 RAM:
G.SKILL F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ 2 x 1GB DDR2 800 RAM - $66

2) Stock HSF is ok if you're at stock speeds. But since you're planning to OC, and taking into account China's hot summers (assumption based on experience in Vietnam, :D), I recommend getting this HSF combo for maximum air cooling:
Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme HSF - $55 & Scythe S-Flex SFF21E 120MM Case Fan - $14

3) Seagate 7200.10s tend to be faster but noisier drives. WD drives are all right. Though I think most people buy Seagate due to their five-year warranty on all drives, OEM or not.

4) The Corsair 520HX is enough to power your current system. Though if you want a bit more headroom for future upgrades, then get the 620HX instead. And yes, Corsair PSUs are reliable and are excellent quality PSUs. I think thats all you need for China but I'm not too sure..

5) It's a good choice and it should be ok to OC the Q6600. You probably won't need a floppy drive to install SATA drivers. Yes, some mobos do not need to have you install SATA drivers via floppy. The last six PCs that I've built this year didn't require any SATA drive to be installed.

6) This Chimei is a pretty good 22" monitor:
Chimei 221D-NBC Black 22" DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor - $240

7) Not really. Just make sure that you do NOT buy the Corsair PSUs from newegg. They overcharge. buy the Corsair PSUs instead from zipzoomfly.com, clubit.com, or buy.com.

Also, if you're planning on OCing, get the G0 stepping of the Q6600 since it runs cooler and therefore should OC higher. ClubIT guarantees a G0 stepping:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 Stepping CPU - $272
 
Wow... thats a long post. I'm just gonna go ahead and agree with Danny for now and come back to read it again later, lol. ;)
 
Hi Danny,

Thanks for the feedback.

I currently live in Toronto, Canada and I'm having trouble finding some of the items you mentioned. i.e. the G.SKILL memory, the thermalright Extreme HSF, and the Chimei monitor. When you mention the Scythe S-Flex fan, does that somehow mount on the Heat Sink or are you saying I should buy that for the case as well. The P182 case seems to already come with 3 120mm case fans.

Here's what I can get access to...there are other Canadian websites but they are roughly the same items:
http://www.canadacomputers.com/

It's possible I can find the thermalright but I would like a couple of options just in case.

Thanks!

Danny Bui said:
1) Any cheap set of DDR2 800 RAM will do. DDR2 1066 is not worth it. I recommend getting this set of DDR2 800 RAM:
G.SKILL F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ 2 x 1GB DDR2 800 RAM - $66

2) Stock HSF is ok if you're at stock speeds. But since you're planning to OC, and taking into account China's hot summers (assumption based on experience in Vietnam, :D), I recommend getting this HSF combo for maximum air cooling:
Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme HSF - $55 & Scythe S-Flex SFF21E 120MM Case Fan - $14

3) Seagate 7200.10s tend to be faster but noisier drives. WD drives are all right. Though I think most people buy Seagate due to their five-year warranty on all drives, OEM or not.

4) The Corsair 520HX is enough to power your current system. Though if you want a bit more headroom for future upgrades, then get the 620HX instead. And yes, Corsair PSUs are reliable and are excellent quality PSUs. I think thats all you need for China but I'm not too sure..

5) It's a good choice and it should be ok to OC the Q6600. You probably won't need a floppy drive to install SATA drivers. Yes, some mobos do not need to have you install SATA drivers via floppy. The last six PCs that I've built this year didn't require any SATA drive to be installed.

6) This Chimei is a pretty good 22" monitor:
Chimei 221D-NBC Black 22" DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor - $240

7) Not really. Just make sure that you do NOT buy the Corsair PSUs from newegg. They overcharge. buy the Corsair PSUs instead from zipzoomfly.com, clubit.com, or buy.com.

Also, if you're planning on OCing, get the G0 stepping of the Q6600 since it runs cooler and therefore should OC higher. ClubIT guarantees a G0 stepping:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 Stepping CPU - $272
Click to expand...
 
You can also try out ncix.com as well.

Anyway, this A-Data RAM is a pretty decent set:
http://www.canadacomputers.com/main.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=016015&cid=RAM.835

Yes, the Scythe S-Flex is for the HSF. The ultra 120 Extreme comes with attachments for 120MM fans. If you can't find the Ultra 120 Extreme, check out the Tuniq Tower, Ultima 90 or Scythe Ninja.

As for monitors, since I'm a bit too lazy to search for monitors at the moment, Samsung, Viewsonic, Westinghouse, LG all make pretty good monitors. If it was me, I'd just get the cheapest 22" I can find.
 
supposedly the samsung 22' 226bw "S type" is the best 22" gaming LCD with its 2ms response, I just bought one for about $315 shipped on ebay, I'll let you know how it works out.
 
IS there anyway to tell from the box whether it's an S type?

conchimdada said:
supposedly the samsung 22' 226bw "S type" is the best 22" gaming LCD with its 2ms response, I just bought one for about $315 shipped on ebay, I'll let you know how it works out.
Click to expand...
 
Any thoughts on this memory?

OCZ (OCZ2P800R22GK) DDR2 PC2-6400 800MHz Platinum XTC Revision 2 2GB (2x1024MB) Dual Channel Kit

Any good for my system? I mention it because it's currently has a mail in rebate which makes it cheaper than the AData RAM.

Thanks!
 
If you like rebates, go for it. However, there isn't much difference between them and the A-Data. Though, I don't have the prices your'e working with, so if the pre-rebate price is significantly more than the price of the A-Data price, I wouldn't bother with it unless the post-rebate price was significanly less than the A-Data price. Did that make sense? :p
 
This will be the first machine I build myself. Is it easier to install the cooler before I install the motherboard or is it easy enough to install a cooler later on if I decide I need it? Also do I need to apply some thermal paste at some point? Will it come with the cooler?

Besides hard drive and boot priority settings, is there a lot of options I should configure in the bios or is default settings usually pretty good?

Thanks everyone!
 
Croyd said:
This will be the first machine I build myself. Is it easier to install the cooler before I install the motherboard or is it easy enough to install a cooler later on if I decide I need it? Also do I need to apply some thermal paste at some point? Will it come with the cooler?

Besides hard drive and boot priority settings, is there a lot of options I should configure in the bios or is default settings usually pretty good?

Thanks everyone!
Click to expand...

In most cases it is easier to impossible to install the cooler after the motherboard is installed. My advise, install you heatsink first then install the motherboard with the heatsink into the computer case. As for your question of thermal paste, you should not install a heatsink onto a CPU without some thermal paste. If you buy a retail processor, thermal paste should come on or with the heatsink. If you buy another heatsink for your processor, be sure to check if heatsink comes with thermal paste. If you want to make sure, purchase a stick of thermal paste for your heatsink to CPU contact. Thermalright make some, Arctic Cooling makes great thermalpaste, there is arctic silver that make thermal paste. Read some reviews and make your choice.

Hopefully this helps

Kmat
 
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