Final Build, need sanity check!

[elchorizo]

k guys, I think I settled on this build. Let me know if theres any weak spots. I plan to game and photoshop, and do plan to overclock (although it will be my first time doing that).

From the egg:
Tuniq Tower 120 (reports on the egg say it'll fit in the P182)
Crucial Ballistix 2GB DDR2 800
Gigabyte DS3R Mobo
Arctic Silver 5
Corsair 520HX
Seagate 7200.10 500g (SATA)
Antec P182
Samsung 20x DVD+-R Burner

Total (with 3 day shipping) $705.92


From Clubit.com:
Intel Q6600 G0

Total (with 3 day shipping) $276.50

Grand Total: $982.42

You may have noticed I didn't list a video card. This is because I'll keep using my 7900GT for now. It plays ET:QW just fine and I'm not playing much else. I plan to buy a pimp card sometime right before Warhammer Online hits.

Alright, what do you guys think. Also, a special thanks to enginurd and Danny Bui for all the help in various threads I've read through.

-elchorizo

 

[alexlyc]

not bad... but the gigabyte board is just a no-no in my opinion...
notice the layout of the sata connectors, they all got move in toward the pci slot (wtf is all the empty space on the pcb , this to me seems like it contain less parts for more $ comparing to other cheaper P35 board by gigabyte...), some long pci card may block a few or two.... and the worst thing is the placement of the IDE connector... this must be a rebrand of abit's board lol

If you are gonna spend $150 on mobo, get the Asus P5K-E/WIFI-AP instead, it was $149.99 with free shipping awhile back @ the egg, but right now zzf is your best bet

 

[BaGGy]

not bad... but the gigabyte board is just a no-no in my opinion...

If you are gonna spend $150 on mobo, get the Asus P5K-E/WIFI-AP instead, it was $149.99 with free shipping awhile back @ the egg, but right now zzf is your best bet

I am interested in knowing why you say the Gigabyte motherboard is a no-no, I agree with the fact that it was a poor choice and that he should get the P35-DS3R rather than the P35C-DS3R. Due to the fact that DDR3 isn't worth the money or time currently. But, why would you say it's a no-no?

----
Great build you are doing the exact same thing I am doing, except for the processor/graphics and HSF. The 'nurd suggested the Thermalright Ultima 90 to me so I went with it, rather than the Tuniq Tower 120, he recommended it because it weighs less and it is just as effective. I also went with a E6750, and a Sapphire X1950 Pro 512MB card.

 

[six_storm]

Are you needing RAID or SLI? If not, go with the Gigabyte P35-DS3L. I bought it for my E4300 and OC'd it to 3.0GHz. It's a great motherboard, even for Quads. I now have a Quad and it runs perfectly, no issues.

 

[elchorizo]

I chose that board becase I wanted raid (although I wont set it up right away) and because I read it was fairly easy to OC with. And since its my first time overclocking I wanted that ease. I dont care about DDR3, and didn't realize I was paying a premium for it on this board. Also, I dont care about SLI. I dont game enough or have enough dough to afford 2 pimp video cards.

I'm going to take your advice under consideration and rethink the mobo. Thanks for the replies. I probably wont order till tomorrow so I have a bit of time to decide.

 

[Dangman]

Alright, what do you guys think. Also, a special thanks to enginurd and Danny Bui for all the help in various threads I've read through.

You're welcome

But I think I can still help you further.

First of all, don't bother with the Ballistix RAM for with the Q6600. The Ballistix RAM is only useful if you have a CPU that can OC high and requires you to OC the RAM. The Q6600 can't OC that high and any cheap set of DDR2 800 is all that you need to OC the Q6600 as shown here:

Q6600:
Multi x FSB, RAM Speed = Clock Speed
9 x 266Mhz, DDR2 533 RAM = 2.4Ghz <== Stock Speeds
9 x 333Mhz, DDR2 667 RAM = 3.0Ghz <== Good OC
9 x 400Mhz, DDR2 800 RAM = 3.6Ghz <== Excellent OC

Remember that RAM speed is twice the speed of the FSB.

So I recommend this set of RAM instead:
G.SKILL F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ 2 x 1GB DDR2 800 RAM - $66

You can get the Corsair PSU for cheaper here:
Corsair HX520 520W PSU - $104

You can also get the P182 for cheaper as well:
Antec P182 ATX Case - $129

With tax and shipping included, the P182 from mwave.com costed for me $20 less than the P182 from newegg.

Other than what I said above, looks good to me! Though I'm betting enginurd will still want to chime in with a HSF recommendation.

 

[ilkhan]

9 x 400Mhz, DDR2 800 RAM = 3.2Ghz <== Excellent OC

Parity error.

 

[Dangman]

And fixed. Thanks for heads up.

 

[alexlyc]

stay w/ ballistix if u ever want to upgrade cpu/mobo in the future, always leave yourself some upgrade option, d9 will come in handy with the 45nm (1333mhz fsb) cpu later on

 

[engiNURD]

I agree with Danny, and you're welcome.

some long pci card may block a few or two.... and the worst thing is the placement of the IDE connector... this must be a rebrand of abit's board lol

If you do get a long PCI card, use the bottom slot. The IDE connector doesnt get in the way of anything if you're using it -- its just oriented in a less optimal direction. The DS3R is a better board than the Abit IP35, IMO, aside from the lack of Firewire and heatpipe chipset cooling. It has solid caps, a better BIOS for OC'ing, and one more PCI-E 1x slot. If you need firewire and plan to do some high OC'ing, get the IP35. If all you need is RAID and don't plan to OC that high, the DS3R is great. If you want to OC high with the DS3R (anything above 425Mhz FSB SDR), you'll need better chipset cooling.

The P5K-E is great if you're willing to spend that much on a board. My DS3R (I needed RAID) was $105 after a $20 coupon from newegg and my Abit IP35 (I needed RAID and Firewire) was $125 - $25MIR. I don't like to spend more than $125 on my motherboards -- just personal preference. If the P5K came with RAID, I would have given it a shot since its near my limit.

The 'nurd suggested the Thermalright Ultima 90 to me so I went with it, rather than the Tuniq Tower 120, he recommended it because it weighs less and it is just as effective.

I agree. My Ultima90 performs just as good as my Tuniq Tower 120 while being smaller and lighter. Its also much easier to install, IMO. One thing to note when installing it is, install the CPU first, then the brackets, then the heatsink. I installed the brackets first and realized I forgot to pop in the CPU... so I figured, no biggie, right? Wrong.

stay w/ ballistix if u ever want to upgrade cpu/mobo in the future, always leave yourself some upgrade option, d9 will come in handy with the 45nm (1333mhz fsb) cpu later on

I agree, this is something to consider. If you don't mind rebates and plan on upgrading the CPU ever (without a new board), then you might want to stick with the ballistix. Otherwise, the NQ kit from G.Skill is more than enough.

 

[elchorizo]

Well, I think I'll downgrade the ram. The reason is that I plan to overclock to 400MHz and not further. So I guess I dont need as good of ram. Also, if history is any indicator, I wont need the better ram for future upgrades cause I never upgrade anything but the VC. For the most part, I'm the type of guy who builds a comp and uses it for 2 years or so, and then builds a new one. This process leads to slow computers towards the end of the cycle ( I'm using a 3400+ now )

As far as the mobo, I'm having trouble giving it up It'll be my first time overclocking and from what I've read the DSR3 is "easy" to overclock, so it gives me confidence. Perhaps I'm too intimidated by it.

 

[engiNURD]

As far as the mobo, I'm having trouble giving it up It'll be my first time overclocking and from what I've read the DSR3 is "easy" to overclock, so it gives me confidence. Perhaps I'm too intimidated by it.

I think its a great board. I like it much better than my Abit IP35, simply because OC'ing on it is much easier with being able to save BIOS profiles -- a feature I also love in my Ultra-D.

Its easy to OC these Core2's. Just read the sticky guide in the OC'ing subforum here, and ask any questions. Keep everything cool, and you'll be fine.