Finalized build - i think?

T

trudgy

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Mar 10, 2008
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Hey everyone first post here, although been reading for a long while now!

so after a couple months on contemplating and seesawing etc, I think i have settled on what will be my final build.

Side of my day job (which is in the IT industry) I am a photographer which is why i need to build something with a TON more space and faster with photoshop, lightroom, other adobe programs. I also do a bit of gaming COD4(other FPS) also racing games etc, nothing to insane and not on a regular basis but when i play a game i'd like to play it half decently.

Also probably do some VMware O/S if that matters.

Any thoughts on this build before I order this week? Although I dunno if i'll change my mind lol I really like all these parts.

anyway thought i'd share and see what the thoughts are

The one thing i'm not 100% sure about is the CPU -

E8400 - go with this and get high 4ghz overclock on it?
Q6600 - proven G0 stepping with over 3.2ghz overclock easily done with high mulitplier OR
Q9300 - go with new 45nm CPU that has lower multi which would be harder to OC but may be better anyway?

Currently going with the Q6600 because of the higher multi, proven good overclocker and PARTS of photoshop CS3 can utilize 4 cores, other adobe programs fully support it (premiere)

Ultra 120 extreme
DFI LP LT X38-T2R - I love the cleaniness of this board and 8 SATA is a must have
2 X - Patriot PDC24G6400LLK 4gb kit (8gigs total) - great low latency kit for overclocking to 1066 no problem
6 X - WD Se16 WD500AAKS 500gb SATA2 - in RAID 5
2 X Seagate 80gb SATA - used for pagefile for windows and adobe programs in RAID 0
8800 GT video - probably be slightly overclocked
Coolink GFXchilla GPU cooler
LG DVD burner

Tagan Black Pearl full tower case - built by Lian LI, same as V2000 but with built in 4 fan controller
Antec 850watt quattro - picked for it's high stability under load and rear sitting fan

Razer Lachesis banshee blue - for it's accuracy
Ideazon Merc stealth illuminated
Razer exactmat with wrist pad

Tuniq TX-2 thermal compound
4 X Noctua NF-P12 fans - for CPU cooler and top of case
2 X Noctua NF-R8 fans - for back of case
(case comes with 2 120mm fans built in)

Vista ultimate 64bit.

I have 2 22" monitors 1680*1050

I think that's it, whatcha's all think, or comments on what CPU I should go with ?
 
If you like messing with a ton of BIOS settings, then stick with the DFI. Otherwise, the Gigabyte DS3R, DS3P, or DS4 are also very good alternatives.

FYI, its harder to OC RAM when using 4 sticks. If you want a guaranteed DDR2-1000 speed, go with the G.Skill kit for only $100 at the egg. You won't notice the difference between CL4 and CL5, unless you're running benchmarks (and even then, its negligible), so don't pay a huge price premium for lower latency.
$100 - G.Skill 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2-1000 F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ

EDIT: holy crap, in a day that RAM went from $99 to $150!?!?!! :mad: Here:
$120 - OCZ Platinum Edition 4GB(2x2GB) DDR2-1000 OCZ2P10004GK ($25 MIR)

I'd wait for the new 320GB raptors (once they come out) instead of picking up two 80GB 'cudas for RAID0 -- it seems like you have the budget for it. If you can't wait, then go with the 'cuda's. I hope those 80 gigers are single platter. If not, go with the 250GB 410AS 'cudas... they're single platter so they have a high transfer rate. Another option is to take a chance with the WD3200AAKS and hope you get revision 00B3A0 -- single platter 320GB drives -- uber fast (98MB/s sustained transfer speed). The new single platter models are mixed in with the old models, though. :( The new 640MB drives aren't out yet (dual 320GB-platters).

I like Samsung DVD burners, because they're really quiet and fast.

Man those fans are expensive. Why not S-Flex fans instead? Aren't they cheaper and similar, performance-wise?

Despite the smaller cache size, the Q9300 has shown to still be faster than the Q6600. Though, I'm not sure if the low multiplier will help when both chips are OC'd. If you can, wait for the Q9450. Otherwise, go with the Q6600 if you don't plan on upgrading the CPU within the next couple of years. I'd definitely go with a quadcore for the VMs and Adobe apps.
 
i'll look into the hard drives and see what the difference is in price. the 80's are single platter. I guess I have a hard time using 320's as a scratch disk cause i'll never use close to that, and probably wont be goign to the scratch to often with the 8 gigs. but i will look into that.

The RAM is 94 bucks per set right now at NCIX, i live in canada, so it's not as easy to get stuff like most do through the egg.

I do beleive the s-flex are 3-5$ cheaper. I've personally never known anyone to have them so not sure whatthey are like. I just know the noctua's have great air pressure and are relatively quite from hearing them in a friends system so i said screw it why not.

The Q9450 is quite a bit more expensive in canada, like $100 more, it would be the best choice really i guess but I think i'm at my budget limits with this build and the q6600 i think will do me very well. Maybe cause i havn't seen alot of hard numbers comparing the two, but if it's going to get me only a second or two faster with photoshop and anda few frames more in games i dont really justify the premium for it right now, i'll keep searchign for benchmarks maybe soon as its gettting closer to release date.

thanks!
 
Overall, you have a solid build... I was just nitpicking. ;)

Yah, I had a hard time with using such large drives for RAID0, too, but individually, they were faster than the smaller drive, so I just did it.

Ahh, you're in Canada... you didn't mention that earlier. :p But the advice still stands... its harder to OC 4 sticks of RAM than it is 2, so if you want to reach high speeds, buy some high speed RAM instead of OC'ing four DDR2-800 sticks.

Noctua fans seem quieter than the S-Flex (and they're spcr's choice of fans), but the S-Flex were cheaper and still quiet enough while pushing a ton of air, so I usually recommend those instead. For the extremely budget-conscience, the Yate Loon sleeve bearing fans are good, too... you'll just need to replace them sooner, but are super cheap (less than $5 here in the US).
 
just curious what size you set for the windows pagefile? or is it just the whole drive?

I'll be splitting mine into 2 partitions.. 1 for windows 1 for photoshop/ other adobe programs.
 
My pagefile was set to 3GB, but I've since disabled it now, but still see no performance difference (windows never truly disables the pagefile).

I'd like to pickup 8GB and try the RAMdisk program someday, but I'm too lazy to buy the program, lol. I hear it really speeds everything up when you use the ramdisk as your scratch disk.
 
ell i pushed the button! I ordered the system.


some parts were from NCIX some through a local store....... I went ahead with the Q6600 because when i went to order the certain parts at NCIX i noticed that TODAY only the Q6600 is only sale for 255 CAD! few weeks ago it was 299.

very excited, i'll get some numbers when it's built and post them up.

cheers.
 
absolutly i'll take pics throughout the build , and a few benchmarks (i've never actually had a machine worthy to do benchmarks on haha )
 
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