Kentsfield System Build

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RaphaelVinceti

Gawd
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Apr 7, 2005
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Ok, I hope to be able to build a new Kentsfield system within the next week or two, and I have a couple of questions on what im planning on doing.

First of all, here is my preliminary system specs:

QX6700
EVGA 680i SLI motherboard
EVGA 8800GTX in SLI
Enermax Quad SLI 1000w PSU
2x Raptor 150s in RAID 0
4x1gb Crucial 10th Anv. RAM (DDR2, 3-3-3-12, 667mhz)
BFG PhysX
2xSamsung 18x DVD+-RW burners w/Lightscribe

Now, as for my questions. First of all, for those who have the 680i chipset, how is the onboard audio, is it good, or should i go with an x-fi Xtreme Music?

Second, I need a good pair of cans. I was thinking Sennhiser hd650.. but i dont know much about headphones. Can someone point me out a good pair of headphones/headset?

Third, I need a monitor. I can get a nice discount on a 40" 1080p LCD TV, but im concerned that it wouldnt push the 8800s, should i get the 40"LCD TV or a 30" monitor? Pros/cons of both would be good. Leaning Towards Dell 30"

And Finally, should i bother liquid cooling the memory/chipset/hdds, or stick with one loop for the GPUs/CPU?

Thanks for all the help, in advance, and please dont flame on my choice to buy the PhysX card, I want to be able to use every avaliable technology out for enhancing gameplay, and with that third x16 slot, Ill be able too when nVidia finally releases whatever it is they are going to release for physics, along with the PhysX card in games that support it.
 
RaphaelVinceti said:
Third, I need a monitor. I can get a nice discount on a 40" 1080p LCD TV, but im concerned that it wouldnt push the 8800s, should i get the 40"LCD TV or a 30" monitor? Pros/cons of both would be good.
Click to expand...

It would be a disservice to your two 8800GTXs not to run a 2560x1600 30" monitor. Dell 3007WFP would be my choice.

And Finally, should i bother liquid cooling the memory/chipset/hdds?
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Pointless.

Can't answer your other questions, sorry.
 
Looks awesome. Good luck finding a kentsfield though. I'm waiting to see how much the egg plans on raping us over retail tomorrow when they go for sale.

Better yet instead of a larger monitor just go with a matrox triplehead setup. I love mine and for flight simming it is amazing.
 
Phuck the Physx!

Also, I'd start with just two higher speed RAM sticks, unless you are running Vista now, because it will hinder your overclock (you ARE overclocking it right?).

Better have good airflow in your case! Those 8800's in SLI and a quad core CPU will run TOASTY!

Stick with onboard sound, you won't be able to hear the difference anyways.
 
belmicah said:
Stick with onboard sound, you won't be able to hear the difference anyways.
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Well, true the Realtek HD codec's have gotten alot better lately but the cpu use is still there (not that it matters too much with quad core, but its worth noting) and with really good speakers you can definitely tell the difference. For the love of god with the money you have for computers (OP) you might as well get the x-fi, its not like you cant afford it.
 
funny how u want a physics card that's pretty much not supported by any games, yet you do'nt want to purchase a sound card
 
The choice for not getting an X-FI was due to PCI space. I didnt want to HAVE to watercool. But, since i am planning on it anyway, If i can find them, Ill drop the extra on the BFG 8800GTXs with the watercooling, unless i can find some stand alone full blocks for the 8800s when i order.

Also, I have heard really good things about the Overclockability on the 10th anv. edition of the Crucials, but, if someone knows of a better overclocking set of ram, with good timings, by all means, let me know.

Phuck the Physx!
I asked for no comments about the PhysX card, and explained why.
Also, I'd start with just two higher speed RAM sticks, unless you are running Vista now, because it will hinder your overclock (you ARE overclocking it right?).
Of course I am, I would be a moron not to with the hardware im going to be using. And Yes, I am going to be running Vista from Day 1 (Probably 64-bit edition, unless i find a hardware incompatability.)
Better have good airflow in your case! Those 8800's in SLI and a quad core CPU will run TOASTY!
Im going to be running a liquid cooling system on the CPU and GPUs, and im planning on a TJ05/7, Lian Li V2000 or a Mountain Mods Horizon
Stick with onboard sound, you won't be able to hear the difference anyways Thanks
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Chipset as well, the 680i boards need the chipset cooled? I always thought cooling the chipset was a waste, pretty much just adding unneeded heat to the loop.
 
RaphaelVinceti said:
Chipset as well, the 680i boards need the chipset cooled? I always thought cooling the chipset was a waste, pretty much just adding unneeded heat to the loop.
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depends on what loop you are planning to run, if your loop has excess capacity, you may as well add the chipset block into the loop as the last element before the radiator. Some people have friends, whose neighbor's daughter is watercooling their PC and the lack of airflow causes the chipset to overheat, since it's passively cooled.

Watercooling questions are best answered in the WC subforum though, where peeps have more of a clue than me :)
 
I have a pair of HD580s that I really enjoy. Probably not the latest thing out though.


And yes, if you're getting a pair of expensive headphones it makes no sense to stick with shoddy sounding onboard audio. Definitly grab a highend Creative card.
 
You will not be able to run PhysX and X-fi cards at the same time. Forget the PhysX card and go with the X-fi. Also, be ready for severe cracking/popping in games since the current BIOS for the eVGA motherboard is severely bugged. Hopefully, they will fix this soon.

The onboard audio is actually quite good now. It has support for HD audio, but does not yet support EAX. There is a driver issue from Realtek and they are working on it.
 
You don't need a physics card, and you should get 2x Seagate perindicular 320gb drives instead, its almost the exact same speed. Some people have too much money ;) And if you really knew what you were doing, you would grab a regular dual core. You'll waste 500+ dollars on something that won't give you any tangible peformance benefit yet. Wait until early next year for kentsfield, grab an e6600 today.

Give the e6600 to a friend then, you sound like you can afford it.
 
Boltaction said:
You don't need a physics card, and you should get 2x Seagate perindicular 320gb drives instead, its almost the exact same speed. Some people have too much money ;) And if you really knew what you were doing, you would grab a regular dual core. You'll waste 500+ dollars on something that won't give you any tangible peformance benefit yet. Wait until early next year for kentsfield, grab an e6600 today.

Give the e6600 to a friend then, you sound like you can afford it.
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Have any benchmarks on the perpindicular drives being almost as fast as raptors?
And why would I wait to buy the same chip early next year, when i can get it now? It isnt like it will go down much in price, and i dont mind paying for an unlocked multiplier, which i know is really the only difference between the Extremes and the regular Core 2 chips. Unless you mean they are releasing a new quad core architecture early next year, which i didnt think they where going to be doing until 2007.

You will not be able to run PhysX and X-fi cards at the same time.
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single slot cooling solutions kinda help that problem. Which is why im watercooling
 
If this system is specifically for gaming you'll get better performance in most games out of a conroe because of its ability to overclock higher. The heat output by the kentsfield prevents it from clocking as high and since most games and applications are single threaded, the conroe will perform better.
 
00ber_m00 said:
If this system is specifically for gaming you'll get better performance in most games out of a conroe because of its ability to overclock higher. The heat output by the kentsfield prevents it from clocking as high and since most games and applications are single threaded, the conroe will perform better.
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For now, but games are already coming that are multi-threaded - if he has the cash, why not be prepared now? I certainly would.
 
True, multi-threaded games are coming. Just wanted to point out that presently a conroe might be a tad faster and cheaper.
 
'a tad' is not quite enough to make me spend less money, just to have to upgrade later. though, it is just for gaming, I would rather not spend 500 on a conroe, then 1000 on a quad core when allan wake comes out, or another similarly multithreaded app.
 
RaphaelVinceti said:
Have any benchmarks on the perpendicular drives being almost as fast as raptors?
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Unlikely. There are barely any real-world benchmarks available, since they are very difficult to reproduce and require a ton of time. I have done some "stopwatch" tests with 'old' 7200 rpm drives in a single, 2 and 3 drive RAID-0 setup, comparing them to the single raptor.

here


It appears that the STR is not as important as the seek times. 7200 rpm drives generally have a higher seek time than 10k rpm drives. If you believe the Storagereview benchmarks, you will see that the raptor "runs circles" around the 750GB version of the 7200.10.
 
Boltaction said:
You don't need a physics card, and you should get 2x Seagate perindicular 320gb drives instead, its almost the exact same speed. Some people have too much money ;) And if you really knew what you were doing, you would grab a regular dual core. You'll waste 500+ dollars on something that won't give you any tangible peformance benefit yet. Wait until early next year for kentsfield, grab an e6600 today.

Give the e6600 to a friend then, you sound like you can afford it.
Click to expand...
Have you SEEN any Kentsfield benchmarks? It kicks ass in apps and games. I wouldn't hesitate if I had money to be better prepared for the future. This system should last you (OP) a while.
 
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