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Help With My Budget SFF Build

M

Mac Truck

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 24, 2006
Messages
191
https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.asp?ID=6385528

I plan on upgrading this system down the line with a better CPU/GPU/RAM but for the time being am just looking for something that plays today's games adequately. Trying to keep EVERYTHING (monitor, peripherals, etc.) under $1K.

My biggest question is, should I go ahead and take a chance on the F-I90HD? I hear it OCs very well with the 4300, but I've seen so many people having problems with this board I'm a little weary of buying it. Would active cooling on the NB help matters?

And has anyone been able to test the new stock PSU on the Qpack2? The specs look good, but we all know Aspire's history with PSUs. I'll replace it with an ST50EF if/when/before it takes a shit on me or I upgrade my components.

(Oops, sorry, my wishlist isn't public yet, here are the specs:

QPack2 w/ 500W (will get an ST50EF if PSU fails)
Foxconn G9657MA-8EKRS2H (might go with an F-I90HD here)
E4300
A-Data 2GB DDR2 667
EVGA 7600GT
WD 160GB SATA 3.0 8MB
LITE-ON SATA DVD-ROM
Sceptre X9G Naga V
Rosewill multimedia keyboard
Flexiglow Cyber Snipa Intelliscope laser mouse
Plantronics Gamecom headset
WinXP Home

So far I'm at ~$915 (~$965 after shipping)
 
Mac Truck said:
I plan on upgrading this system down the line with a better CPU/GPU/RAM but for the time being am just looking for something that plays today's games adequately. Trying to keep EVERYTHING (monitor, peripherals, etc.) under $1K.

My biggest question is, should I go ahead and take a chance on the F-I90HD? I hear it OCs very well with the 4300, but I've seen so many people having problems with this board I'm a little weary of buying it. Would active cooling on the NB help matters?
Click to expand...

I'm in a similar boat as you, building a budget SFF system. So far I've got most of the components purchased, I'm just waiting on the motherboard review from Anandtech to come out before I finish up my build. But on to your delima :p.

If you're going to overclock your CPU, the FI90-HD is the only real option you have right now. None of the other Intel boards have a PCI-E lock, and I'm not a big fan of overclocking without one. From what I've read the FI90-HD doesn't have a failure rate that much higher than most boards, but there have been enough reports of a weak Northbridge to keep me away from it. Some people report that the northbridge gets very hot, so active cooling couldn't hurt you. It would certainly ease my brain if I was overclocking that board.

What *I* would suggest is to go AMD (*gasp*). Since you're on a budget, the performance/price ratio of the 3600+ is unbeatable, and it overclocks really well. Also, AMD motherboards are cheaper, more stable, and overclock better than any of the Intel ones. That should save you enough money so that you can upgrade to an 8800 GTS or better videocard.

Also, the hot deals forums are your friend. Instead of just buying it all from newegg, broaden your options some. Pick out a few SFF cases you like, and wait for one of them to at least have free shipping. And there are always RAM, Monitor & HDD deals going around. Just wait for one of them to pop up. It might take a month or so for you to accumulate all the parts to your system, but the money you save will be well worth it.
 
Yesterday two more people reported their F-I90HD mobos dying in the large thread so the dead board problem still exists. Near as I can tell from reading all the problems since this mobo came out there is no particular reason why they die. Thats whats most fustrating and baffling. Some are dead out of the box, some of the mobos that died were overclocked and some that died were in stock form. Of those that died after up and running died a couple days after being perfectly fine and some died after two weeks of bliss. I have only heard one guy say, "I fried it while overclocking" and that was Fugger over at XS.

So, no I wouldnt reccomend this mobo till someone can figure out why it goes dead. Right now its a crapshoot wether your mobo is good or not when you recieve it. But thats just my own personal opinion based on everything I have read and seen since this mobo came out.
 
c9h13no3 said:
I'm in a similar boat as you, building a budget SFF system. So far I've got most of the components purchased, I'm just waiting on the motherboard review from Anandtech to come out before I finish up my build. But on to your delima :p.

If you're going to overclock your CPU, the FI90-HD is the only real option you have right now. None of the other Intel boards have a PCI-E lock, and I'm not a big fan of overclocking without one. From what I've read the FI90-HD doesn't have a failure rate that much higher than most boards, but there have been enough reports of a weak Northbridge to keep me away from it. Some people report that the northbridge gets very hot, so active cooling couldn't hurt you. It would certainly ease my brain if I was overclocking that board.

What *I* would suggest is to go AMD (*gasp*). Since you're on a budget, the performance/price ratio of the 3600+ is unbeatable, and it overclocks really well. Also, AMD motherboards are cheaper, more stable, and overclock better than any of the Intel ones. That should save you enough money so that you can upgrade to an 8800 GTS or better videocard.

Also, the hot deals forums are your friend. Instead of just buying it all from newegg, broaden your options some. Pick out a few SFF cases you like, and wait for one of them to at least have free shipping. And there are always RAM, Monitor & HDD deals going around. Just wait for one of them to pop up. It might take a month or so for you to accumulate all the parts to your system, but the money you save will be well worth it.
Click to expand...

Wow...didn't know none of the other C2D mobos had a PCI lock (not even the P5B-VM? damn...). Guess I'll be going with the Fatal1ty board then, if I go Intel.

I've thought long and hard about possibly going AMD; the only thing I was concerned about was future upgradability. I just read that AM3 CPUs will be backwards-compatible with AM2 mobos, so I'm defintely considering AMD again.

I shop at other places (ZZF, ClubIT, Xoxide, etc.) as well, I just made the list at Newegg to keep everything in one place.
 
Skott said:
Yesterday two more people reported their F-I90HD mobos dying in the large thread so the dead board problem still exists. Near as I can tell from reading all the problems since this mobo came out there is no particular reason why they die. Thats whats most fustrating and baffling. Some are dead out of the box, some of the mobos that died were overclocked and some that died were in stock form. Of those that died after up and running died a couple days after being perfectly fine and some died after two weeks of bliss. I have only heard one guy say, "I fried it while overclocking" and that was Fugger over at XS.

So, no I wouldnt reccomend this mobo till someone can figure out why it goes dead. Right now its a crapshoot wether your mobo is good or not when you recieve it. But thats just my own personal opinion based on everything I have read and seen since this mobo came out.
Click to expand...

Hoo boy, more F-I90HD failures, not good.

That nView is looking better and better every time...
 
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