Help On Looking For The Right Mobo For My Extreme QX6850.

J

Jager673

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 19, 2007
Messages
247
First of all im going to be building a new computer here soon and im going to want some really good stuff. If someone could help me with a really good top of the line motherboard that can handle this processor and SLI and PhysX then that would be awesome! Also if you could help me pick out a top of the line power supply as well to handle all of this also a case to put it all in. Im just looking for peoples opinions on things before i start buying stuff. What i have so far on my list is the screen and CPU. The screen that im getting is "Gateway XHD3000 30" Widescreen High-Definition LCD Flat-Panel Display" call me stupid call me whatever you want but this baby can do it all :) If you could please give me some really good cooling techniques too that would be really helpful. I been reading some reviews of people OCing this CPU all the way to 4GHz+ with a temp of 38C with Air-cooling.
 
evga 680i a1. has 3 pcie slotts, 2 for sli, 1 for physics. great, stable board. you can get an advanced warranty for $16, and if you need to rma your board, they will advance ship you (overnight) a brand new board and a label for free shipping for your broken board. even the latest p35 and x38 boards barely (if at all) out perform it and they dont do sli. also there is a huge user base to help you out with tips or if you have any set up probs.

(newegg server down so i put other links but both cases available at newegg)

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=258&products_id=21427
gigabyte 3d aurora - built like an aluminum tank, good aiflow and plenty of room.




http://www.hipergroup.com/English/products/htc-1k614.html
hiper anubis - another fine case.
 
Very nice i really like the first case there. That would really help with air flow. Any suggestion on the build of the case when im on the site below it has options of stuff.
 
yes, definitely get the 120mm top blowhole. i have this case and wish i had ordered it from performance so i could have gotten this done.
 
yea when you register the board, it will ask you if you want "e.a.r." i think it means evga advanced rma. get this, with the overnight option. if you register in the first 30 days you have the board, it will cost $16.
 
Jager673 said:
ok awesome! Now with the video card should i get this one x2 in SLI or a different one from another company?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127288
Click to expand...


thats a damn good price for an overclocked ultra, but for a few more dollars you can get the xfx which has a double lifetime warranty. all these cards are reference cards, which means they are all exactly the same, some overclock a little better than others.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150234


yes, also a lifetime warranty.
 
AWESOME! This is going so smooth! lol. Now for memory (4GB), soundcards and PSU's.. Then i will almost be set!
 
you will need a psu with 850watts or more for ultra sli. anything made by tagan, seasonic, etasis or silverstone (built by etasis) would be fine.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122

great ram

sound cards are not working very well with vista, and on board sound has come a long way.....

heres one that works in vista and sounds good, but not for gaming
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829120103

this one is ok with games
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829127001

its just a sound card, you dont have to spend a lot of money to get good sound.

but i would stick with on board
 
I'd look at the Silverstone Zeus 850W, or the PC P&C QUAD 750. Here are more PSU Suggestions:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=103

http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/showpost.php?p=1590883&postcount=193
http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1460
PSU FAQ: http://www.jonnyguru.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1036

Have you thought about waiting for the 780i SLI boards?

For cooling, go with a vapochill. :D If you want to stick with air, the Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme + S-Flex fan is one of the best coolers out. Now thermalright has a new IFX14 CPU Heatsink... check that one out, too.

Soundcard, check out the Auzentech Prelude.
 
Very nice! Do you have a suggestion about some top quality memory? I also have a question about that as well.. With memory timings and stuff how does work? Say you have 7-7-7-15 or something, is higher the numbers the better or lower the numbers the better? What does the last number have anything to do with the others and so on?

EDIT: When do the new 780i SLI boards come out?

EDIT: About the heatsink with the CPU.. I dont know if i will get the Thermalright IFX-14 or there last product since its got a faulty base. Any other suggestions?
 
lower numbers are better. the numbers represent things like how many times the ram has to read/write an address, timings between different memory functions, etc. its a bit arcane, all you really have to know is that lower numbers (especially the first 3 numbers) are better, but on current intel chipsets, lower numbers are not a lot better, there is not much difference in performance. you just want ram to be able to run 1/1 with your fsb, stable. also, 4gb of ram will not run with timings as quick as 2gb or 1gb.

either of these 2 kits will be great, have timings about as fast as you can get with a 4gb kit, and are priced great

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231145

the 780i boards will not be out until at least the end of november, and if history is any indicator, you do not want to be an early adopter of this chipset/boards, especially if you are noob.
 
Yeah.. new product hardware tend to have alot of bugs and stuff.. Im not going to be getting any of this till christmas so hopefully most of the hardware and software bugs will be kinked out before i buy all of it. I could comfortably say that i am not a noob. I might be mediocre.. lol
 
Hey, at least i can learn from all you fine fokes! :) lol

Im looking at my memory timings right now and it says 5-5-5-13 with 4GB whatever Bank Cycle Time is that says 21

EDIT: i got another question, will vista or XP ever take advantage of 4GB?

Any suggestions on heat-sinks and cooling (air cooling)?
 
vista 64 and xp64 both can use 4gb. 32 bit operating systems can only use a little over 3gb. as to whether vista or xp can actually use 4gb , vista uses a lot of memory, and has a few built in features that use memory more efficiently than xp.

get a thermalright ultra120 extreme, thermalright ultima 90 or the enzotech ultra x. these are currently the best heatsinks. of course, all this stuff can change by christmas. there can be a lot of new things out in 2 1/2 months.
 
the review i read today says it wasnt as good as the ultra 120 or ultima 90. so considering its a lot bigger and prob more expensive......
 
oh ok.. Which of the two ultra 120 and ultima 90 is newer and has the best reviews?

EDIT: Could you also give me some input on some very good fans for the case?
 
The ultra 120 extreme is better, of course, but not by much, according to Anandtech. I've used both the Tuniq and Ultima90, and I get identical results, despite the Ultima90 being smaller.

$45 - Tuniq Tower 120 CPU HSF
$46 - Thermalright Ultima 90 CPU HS + FBA09A12M - Z ($3)
$55 - Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme CPU HS + Scythe S-Flex Fan SFF21E ($15)

If you're looking to break OC'ing records, go with a Vapochill and watercooling. Otherwise, ditch the QX6850 and go with a Q6600 instead, or Q9450 when it comes out in Jan. I find Extreme Edition chips to be an extreme waste of money.

With memory timings, the first one is the most important, since its the CAS Latency, CL. You won't notice the difference between CL4 and CL5 unless you're running benchmarks, and even then, the difference is negligible. Therefore, don't pay a huge price premium for lower latency sticks.

All you really need is that 4GB DDR2-800 G.Skill PQ kit vanilla_guerilla linked to above. No point in paying more for similar performance RAM.

The best fans are FDB fans, IMO. These include Scythe's S-Flex fans and Panaflo's Hydrowave bearing fans. Since those fans are so expensive, most people just use sleeve bearing Yate Loon fans for the case, and reserve the better FDB fans for the CPU HS instead.
 
GIGABYTE 3D AURORA GZ-FSCA1-ATB Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail

EVGA 122-CK-NF68-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

BFG Tech BFGRPHYSX128P PhysX Processing Unit 128MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Physics Card - Retail

XFX PVT80USHF9 GeForce 8800Ultra 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail (x2)

SILVERSTONE ST1000 ATX12V / EPS12V 1000W Power Supply - Retail

Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850 Kentsfield 3.0GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80562QX6850 - Retail

G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1000 (PC2 8000) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ - Retail

AuzenTech Auzen X-Fi Prelude 7.1 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM

Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme CPU Cooler - Retail

Scythe S-FLEX SFF21E 120mm Case Fan - Retail



As i said before with the case if you know of anything better please tell me.

EDIT: This is also the first time i'm going to be building a computer from the ground up, but i have bought a bunch of pieces to other computer to understand how stuff goes and how hard to push on stuff. The only thing i dont know is what is the order you put a computer together from scratch?
 
That case is nice. Other good cases are the Lian-Li V series (V1000) and the Silverstone Temjin series (TJ-09 or TJ-10).

I'd ditch the PhysX card, though.

What speakers do you have for that Prelude?

Here's a guide: http://www.mechbgon.com/build/index.html

I usually setup the mobo/cpu/ram/vidcard on my desk beforehand... a benchtest for DOA parts. Mobo on its cardboard box, not its anti-static bag. When everything POSTs out of the case, you could either continue to attach drives and install your OS, or start mounting into the case. Start with the PSU. Install the CPU/HSF and RAM onto the board before mounting it into the case -- the benchtest already has you do this, so you should be all set if you did a DOA test. Then mount the board; then the drives; then the cards; then plugin the power and data cables/connectors to everything.
 
Ok when you set up the mobo/cpu/ram/videocard out on a desk is this also where you put your heatsink on the CPU as well? Then do you plug the PSU in the mobo and then turn it on?
 
Jager673 said:
Ok when you set up the mobo/cpu/ram/videocard out on a desk is this also where you put your heatsink on the CPU as well? Then do you plug the PSU in the mobo and then turn it on?
Click to expand...

Yup.

qm_prelim_test_scythe.jpg
 
ok awesome! how long do you run the test for? When do you plug in your HD and DVD Drives to install the drivers.. which brings up another question.. What order do i install my drivers? Then when do i install the OS? Also how would i install 2 OS's (XP and Vista) on 2 different HD's and be able to pick which one to boot into when i restart my computer? Or would that be a good idea?
 
Once it posts for the first time, I go into the BIOS and set everything the way I need them (ram voltage, ram timings, raid controller, etc) -- save/exit/shutdown. Then I plug in the other stick(s) of RAM, optical drive, and HDD. If I'm using RAID, this is when I'd setup the array. If not, I'd just install Windows. Then install the drivers. Then I run some simple tests at stock speeds... Orthos blend test for 15min., 3DMark, super pi 1M, check temps with CoreTemp and Speedfan, etc. Then I OC. :D Once I get a stable OC (24hrs orthos/prime stable), I throw it all into the case.
 
Whatever the manufacturer states the RAM will perform at. If you go with the RAM you listed above:

Timing 5-5-5-15
Voltage 2.0V - 2.1V
 
alright sweet.so how is the ram seated? is it like put one in then skip a slot? Would i put both of my sticks in when i set the timings and stuff? Would you also suggest RAID 0 or RAID 1? What is array? So theres no order to install the drivers once Vista or XP is installed?
 
Heh, the mobo manual can help you with which slots to use for dual channel.

Oh, sorry... with the RAM... after the first boot, set the voltage if your ram doesn't run at 1.8v. Then save/exit/shutdown. Install the other stick and make sure it will POST. Then set the timings in the BIOS.

RAID0 is for faster performance, but doubles your chances of data loss. RAID1 is for less downtime in case one drive fails, but doesnt improve write speeds. RAID5 is for data redundancy; if a single drive out of minimum 3 fails, you can recover the data. I'd suggest a RAID array if you need one. Research RAID on the web to help you decide if you need it or not. Most people don't need RAID in a desktop system.

For drivers, install the chipset drivers first, and everything else for the motherboard. Then install your vidcard drivers, soundcard drivers, etc.
 
If you're going to game in DX10, you have no choice. Vista 64 is the best way to go if you're getting 4GB of RAM, too. With all the updates since Jan., Vista has come a long way. The only issues you'd have is with drivers for X-Fi cards and old hardware/peripherals, and trying to run old software. SLI has been fixed already with driver updates.
 
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