I wanna go Quad!

[akapaulk]

My computer is way out of date.

It's still quick, but I want an 'upgrade'. I will donate my current computer to my brother, so I have a good excuse

Here is what I am thinking off. Please provide constructive criticism before I purchase regarding prices and parts.

My Goals
Quick, responsive, ability to multitask.
Quiet, does not take up much room, future proof.

Case
LIAN LI PC-A05B Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
$89.99 shipped

Motherboard
ASUS P5E-VM HDMI LGA 775 Intel G35 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$129.99 + shipping

Processor + Operating System Deal
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600 - Retail

Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Home Premium for System Builders Single Pack DVD - OEM

+

$329.98 shipped

Heatsink
Scythe SCMNJ-1000 80mm Sleeve "NINJA MINI" CPU Cooler - Retail
$29.99


Memory
A-DATA 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model ADQVE1B16K - Retail

or

G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ - Retail

Price is under $85 shipped for A-Data or G.Skill. Which one should I get?

Hard Drive
Probably a 500GB Seagate.

Video Card
Probably 8800GT 512MB

 

[crhscoog]

-why the micro motherboard?

You may want to look at one of the following motherboards:
MSI P35 Neo2-FR Intel P35 ATX Motherboard - $111
DFI BloodIron P35-T2RL Intel P35 ATX Motherboard - $120
Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3R Intel P35 Motherboard - $122
ASUS P5K-E Intel P35 ATX Motherboard - $140
Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3P Intel P35 Motherboard - $150
Choose one based on which features you feel that you need.

(theres also the basic $90 P35 (Gigabyte or Abit))

-get the Q6600 from clubit.com. they guarantee G0 SLACR meaning it runs less power so less heat.
-if you want some good overclocking get the ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 120mm
-if prices are the same for the ram then get the G.Skill
-Harddrive looks good
-Videocard looks good.
-IMO you should get a case with intake and outtake fans to help cool your system, especially when your going to have a quadcore. Some mid tower favorites are the Cooler Master 690, Antec (p180, p180b, p182).
-so what power supply will you be using? you should look into the corsair brands. a corsair 550vx should do fine and if you want a modular power supply go with the 620hx.
-compare prices with different websites to get the best prices. zipzoomfly, buy, clubit, newegg, frys, etc to name a few.

Just know that no rig is ever future proof.

 

[akapaulk]

I like the reviews of the micro mother board.
It also has HDMI output, and I will be connecting this to my HDTV to watch movies. I will probably buy a Blue Ray drive once they get cheaper. Would you recommend the p35 from abit over this one? DVI produces 1080p as well as HDMI. Were you referring to this board:
ABIT IP35-E LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail ?

I heard that all Q6600 are now G0. There was a thread somewhere where people are now getting the G0 stepping. I hope I don't get bad luck lol. There is always MicroCenter. They have the G0s for $199.99. This is about 45 minute drive though.

I will be doing a mild over clock. I will not be pushing it. Will the mini ninja be enough?

Also - why did you pick g.skill over adata?

Thanks

 

[Apathy]

2nd vote q6600, nirvana hsf, 64 home premium, seagate 500gb 32mb cache. (still havent figured out if im supposed to remove the jumpers that came on my 2 oem drives. seagate shows that they run with no jumpers on em, putting jumpers on one side is supposed to throttle the 3.0gb to 1.5gb.

go gskill over adata.

other suggestions:
get a full tower, it just makes more sense regardless of the amount of space you have. and yea, why are you getting a micro board?

 

[crhscoog]

I like the reviews of the micro mother board.
It also has HDMI output, and I will be connecting this to my HDTV to watch movies. I will probably buy a Blue Ray drive once they get cheaper. Would you recommend the p35 from abit over this one? DVI produces 1080p as well as HDMI. Were you referring to this board:
ABIT IP35-E LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail ?

I heard that all Q6600 are now G0. There was a thread somewhere where people are now getting the G0 stepping. I hope I don't get bad luck lol. There is always MicroCenter. They have the G0s for $199.99. This is about 45 minute drive though.

I will be doing a mild over clock. I will not be pushing it. Will the mini ninja be enough?

Also - why did you pick g.skill over adata?

Thanks

yes i was referring to that abit for the $90 before rebates. it does however have only 4 sata ports.

i would assume that all retailers sell G0 SLACR Q6600 but i rather be safe then sorry yeah micro center is definately a option but 45 mins eh paying for gas will make it not much a difference between buying online and buying at microcenter seeing how gas prices are so high now.

well if you want to go to 3.0ghz at least then nirvana is a good choice. plus the price difference between the two cpu coolers isnt too high IMO. only about $6 after rebates.

IMO i think the G. Skill is a slightly better brand than A-Data. plus the g.skill has more reviews

 

[akapaulk]

2nd vote q6600, nirvana hsf, 64 home premium, seagate 500gb 32mb cache. (still havent figured out if im supposed to remove the jumpers that came on my 2 oem drives. seagate shows that they run with no jumpers on em, putting jumpers on one side is supposed to throttle the 3.0gb to 1.5gb.

go gskill over adata.

other suggestions:
get a full tower, it just makes more sense regardless of the amount of space you have. and yea, why are you getting a micro board?

I have never heard of the nirvana, but it looks good. Thanks for the suggestion. I need to find out if it is quiet. I see it comes with a fan controller so I would assume that noise would not be a problem.

I was eyeing the 32mb cache seagate for $120

I like the micro board because it has 6 SATA and 6 USB for the price. I don't think the micro board will bottle neck me anywhere?

 

[akapaulk]

yes i was referring to that abit for the $90 before rebates. it does however have only 4 sata ports.

i would assume that all retailers sell G0 SLACR Q6600 but i rather be safe then sorry yeah micro center is definately a option but 45 mins eh paying for gas will make it not much a difference between buying online and buying at microcenter seeing how gas prices are so high now.

well if you want to go to 3.0ghz at least then nirvana is a good choice. plus the price difference between the two cpu coolers isnt too high IMO. only about $6 after rebates.

IMO i think the G. Skill is a slightly better brand than A-Data. plus the g.skill has more reviews

See, the micro board has more sata and usb ports =)

Also - a-data says that its meant for 'gaming and perfomance' while g.skill does not mention anything lol

 

[crhscoog]

See, the micro board has more sata and usb ports =)
Also - a-data says that its meant for 'gaming and perfomance' while g.skill does not mention anything lol

well the GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3R has 8 sata ports and 8 usb ports for $122. didn't check the others that i put in my first post.

haha. get what you want. its really just advertisement. cant see how they would be any different really... same specs and everything. there are some ram that says sli edition or sli ready. that doesn't mean crud. just to get some ppl who dont know what to get to buy those.

 

[Archaea]

Buy Geil or Patriot or Muskin or Corsair over A-data or G-skill.

It's only like $5-10 more and if you are planning on overclocking I'd recommend the name brand RAM.

For 75 dollars you can buy non name running shoes, for 85 dollars you can buy Nike Air. Which do you prefer to ensure you don't have problems in your marathon?

 

[Skillz'n Magic]

Buy Geil or Patriot or Muskin or Corsair over A-data or G-skill.

I've had all of those except Patriot and they've all been great! I am currently using Crucial in my rig and like it a lot, but they shafted me on a $40 rebate so I won't give them free advertising.

 

[tiraides]

Buy Geil or Patriot or Muskin or Corsair over A-data or G-skill.

It's only like $5-10 more and if you are planning on overclocking I'd recommend the name brand RAM.

For 75 dollars you can buy non name running shoes, for 85 dollars you can buy Nike Air. Which do you prefer to ensure you don't have problems in your marathon?

The A-DATA and G.Skill RAM works just as well as the other "brand names." We wouldn't recommend them otherwise.

As for overclocking, you don't need RAM faster than DDR2 800. With air cooling, the Q6600 maxes out around 3.6GHz.

Stated FSB/4 = Actual FSB
Multiplier x Actual FSB = CPU Speed
2 x Actual FSB = RAM Speed

Q6600:
Multi x Actual FSB, Stated FSB, RAM Speed = Clock Speed
9 x 266Mhz, 1066Mhz, DDR2 533 RAM = 2.4Ghz <== Stock Speeds
9 x 333Mhz, 1333Mhz, DDR2 667 RAM = 3.0Ghz <== Good OC
9 x 400Mhz, 1600Mhz, DDR2 800 RAM = 3.6Ghz <== Excellent OC, About the Max

Go with whichever RAM is cheaper. If you want to get something other than A-DATA or G.Skill, it's your choice, but you don't need RAM faster than DDR2 800.

What are you planning to use this computer for? And why get the 8800GT if you want to use the HDMI output on the monitor? (Unless you have multiple monitors, you can have the 8800GT and the onboard GPU running at the same time.)

 

[Archaea]

The A-DATA and G.Skill RAM works just as well as the other "brand names." We wouldn't recommend them otherwise.

As for overclocking, you don't need RAM faster than DDR2 800. With air cooling, the Q6600 maxes out around 3.6GHz.



Go with whichever RAM is cheaper. If you want to get something other than A-DATA or G.Skill, it's your choice, but you don't need RAM faster than DDR2 800.

I've had a couple bad expieriences with bottom of the barrel Ram, but heh, if you don't mind a few blue screens now and then --- save yourself five bucks I suppose. And for the overclocking notion - it all depends on what CPU multiplier he chooses as to whether or not he wants faster than PC6400. Some People prefer running a 7 or 8x multiplier and cranking up the FSB....(I'd agree that typically keeping the 9x and a 1:1 at 3.6Ghz in this case is probably the best. In my opinion though for a $5 or $10 price difference for a system I'm going to keep several years, not to mention better resale value on the RAM when the time comes - I'd prefer to pay a bit extra to help ensure possibly less issues.

 

[leSLIe]

once you go quad, you never go back

 

[tiraides]

I've had a couple bad expieriences with bottom of the barrel Ram, but heh, if you don't mind a few blue screens now and then --- save yourself five bucks I suppose. And for the overclocking notion - it all depends on what CPU multiplier he chooses as to whether or not he wants faster than PC6400. Some People prefer running a 7 or 8x multiplier and cranking up the FSB....(I'd agree that typically keeping the 9x and a 1:1 at 3.6Ghz in this case is probably the best. In my opinion though for a $5 or $10 price difference for a system I'm going to keep several years, not to mention better resale value on the RAM when the time comes - I'd prefer to pay a bit extra to help ensure possibly less issues.

I've used G.Skill RAM in a few builds (for myself and others), and I've never had a problem with them. Though I haven't used A-DATA, I know several people that swear by them, and I trust their logic.

But unless the OP uses a watercooling setup (and/or actively cools the northbridge), it will be hard to push the Q6600 past 3.6GHz and keep it stable.

 

[akapaulk]

I will not be shooting past 3.6

 

[akapaulk]

Are there any disadvantages for going ATX vs micro ATX board?

 

[engiNURD]

You can't go wrong with either A-Data or G.Skill, IMO.

I'd suggest the Ultima90 over the Ninja Mini (or Nirvana, since you chose a small case). Pair it with a 92mm Panaflo Hydrowave or 120mm Scythe S-Flex.

Are there any disadvantages for going ATX vs micro ATX board?

Most ATX boards don't come with onboard video, but you can always get an ATI card with HDMI, like the HD3850, HD3870, or HD3870X2.

 

[Dangman]

Are there any disadvantages for going ATX vs micro ATX board?

You have to use an ATX capable case with an ATX mobo.