Need help with new Rig

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Bavilo

n00b
Joined
Apr 10, 2006
Messages
59
Hey everyone,

I'm planning on putting together a new rig. I've always been with AMD, but I decided to switch over to Intel and finally get a rig together.

I need some expert advice on the hardware that I want to get.

So far I have these picked out:

Antec Performance One P180
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129154
$114.99
(Currently I have a Antec Sonata II, but I don't think it will cut it for this rig)



Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115017
$274.99
Also, Since I will be overclocking the Q6600 I would need a new HSF aswell, any advice on that would help.



Power Supply
(Since the P180 doesn't come with a PSU I need some help picking out a power supply that will be more then sufficient for the hardware I want to get.)



G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231145
$114.99



Motherboard
(I have no clue whatsoever which current intel boards would go well with the Q6600 overclocking wise)



EVGA 512-P3-N802-AR GeForce 8800GT
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130319
$289.99



As I mentioned earlier I will be over clocking the Q6600 and the rig will be used mostly for gaming and editing.

If someone could go over the list and check if the items are something that I should be getting, or perhaps something else that might perform better.

Thanks in Advance
 
For the Quad, make sure you get a G0 stepping, as they run cooler and over clock better than the B3. You can buy a G0 guaranteed from ClubIt.com or Amazon, though by now the chances of getting an older B3 chip from newegg is quite remote. Even G0 chips need great cooling, however, to reach great OC speeds. For air, consider nothing other than a Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme, currently available from Jab Tech or Petras Tech Shop (major vendors seem to be out of the part at the moment.) You will then need a good 120mm fan to go with the heat sink. The Skythe S-Flex 1600rpm model is very popular, but will run you $20 from most of the major vendors. If buying from Petra, you'll be able to get a Yate Loon for $5 that's really just as good. However, be sure to buy the Loon only from Petra, as he is the only e-tailer that gets stock directly from the company. Loons from other vendors have been known to cause problems.

For the motherboard, consider the P35-based Abit IP35 Pro, Gigabyte DS3R, or the ASUS P5K series. These boards are the best of the P-35 world. Simply determine what features you need and select the best motherboard that matches your needs and price. Features you may consider include RAID support, PATA / Legacy port support, ESATA connections, number of USB ports, inclusion and number of Firewire ports, etc.

For the PSU you'll likely want a good unit in the 520-620 watt range. The Corsair 520 and 620 watt models are very popular.

Remember that if you are getting four gigs of RAM, you will need a 64-bit OS in order to use it all. 32-bit Windows is limited to 4 gigs MINUS the total amount of component memory installed in your system (i.e. memory in your video card.) Vista x64 is a much better option for home / gaming than XP-64, due to significantly better application and driver support.

You'll also want to think about a hard drive or two, plus an optical drive of course.

Good luck on the rig,

Mark.
 
Hey Thanks for the reply.

I've had a few thoughts. If I purchase the P180 and an extra PSU, I might be a little over my budget. Could you recommend a good case that will give enough room and airflow for the parts described, that also comes with a quality PSU that will handle all of it?

Thanks
 
I agree with Mark.

PSU FAQ: http://www.jonnyguru.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1036

Here are more PSU Suggestions:
http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/showpost.php?p=1590883&postcount=193
http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1460
http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=103

The only cases that come with quality PSUs are the Antec cases that come with Earthwatts PSUs. I'd strongly recommend going with seperate case and PSU, unless you want another Sonata (the third gen this time). A good alternative to the P180 is the Cooler Master RC-690 ($40AR at zzf).

What's your budget and what's included in that budget? (tax/shipping/keyboard/OS/etc)
What old parts will you be re-using, if any? Please be specific.
What features do you need in a motherboard?

If you want a decked out P35 board, the Asus P5K-E, Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4, and the ever popular Abit IP35 Pro are your best choices, IMO. If you dont need all that jazz, the GA-P35-DS3R is good if you want a lot of SATA ports and RAID. If you need Firewire, the Asus P5K is good. If you need both RAID and Firewire, the Abit IP35 vanilla is good. If you dont need anything fancy, then the Abit IP35-E and the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L are good choices.
 
I'm not the most knowledgeable on low end cases unfortunately, especially those that come with a PSU. The only advice I can give is to not skimp on the power supply, as with those, you really do get what you pay for.

Consult JonnyGuru for PSU reviews.. He is usually the go-to guy on the net for them.

Good luck,

Mark.
 
enginurd said:
I agree with Mark.

PSU FAQ: http://www.jonnyguru.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1036

Here are more PSU Suggestions:
http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/showpost.php?p=1590883&postcount=193
http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1460
http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=103

The only cases that come with quality PSUs are the Antec cases that come with Earthwatts PSUs. I'd strongly recommend going with seperate case and PSU, unless you want another Sonata (the third gen this time). A good alternative to the P180 is the Cooler Master RC-690 ($40AR at zzf).

What's your budget and what's included in that budget? (tax/shipping/keyboard/OS/etc)
What old parts will you be re-using, if any? Please be specific.
What features do you need in a motherboard?

If you want a decked out P35 board, the Asus P5K-E, Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4, and the ever popular Abit IP35 Pro are your best choices, IMO. If you dont need all that jazz, the GA-P35-DS3R is good if you want a lot of SATA ports and RAID. If you need Firewire, the Asus P5K is good. If you need both RAID and Firewire, the Abit IP35 vanilla is good. If you dont need anything fancy, then the Abit IP35-E and the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L are good choices.
Click to expand...



Hi,

I have checked out the Motherboards you mentioned and I think I'll be going for the Abit IP35 Pro. Just to make sure, it does support DDR2 1000 correct? The description only lists it as 800 max.

As I'm in Germany, getting these parts is a bit trickier, but I believe I found a good site that has the latest hardware. http://www.snogard.de

My current rig has a few parts which I will be transferring over:

1x 200GB Matrox S-ATA
2x 250GB Seagate P-ATA
And I just remembered that I replaced the PSU from the Antec Sonata II Case.
I currently have a ENERMAX Whisper II EG565P-VE 535W.

The PSU "should" be able to handle the new rig if I'm not mistaking. Which would enable me to get the P180 case after all.

I already have Vista x64 Ultimate, Mouse, Keyboard, etc. All I need now is an S-ATA dvd Burner since the IP35 Pro only has 1 P-ATA slot which my Harddrives will be hooked up to. Other then that I'm good to go.

I checked the Snogard website for the G.Skill memory and It seem like they don't carry G.Skill at all. Any recommendation as to a different kind of memory of equal quality from their website?

My Budget will provably be close to 900 Euros.

Thanks
 
The IP-35 Pro will support 1000mhz memory, but you will not need 1000mhz memory to reach the OC headroom of your G0 Quad. 800mhz will do fine, and you can find 800mhz memory in a 2x2 configuration for a bit less than 1000mhz memory.

Enginurd has a great cut and paste which has explained the math behind this in dozens upon dozens of previous threads. I'm sure he'll post it here too :)

Mark.
 
Markyip1 said:
The IP-35 Pro will support 1000mhz memory, but you will not need 1000mhz memory to reach the OC headroom of your G0 Quad. 800mhz will do fine, and you can find 800mhz memory in a 2x2 configuration for a bit less than 1000mhz memory.

Enginurd has a great cut and paste which has explained the math behind this in dozens upon dozens of previous threads. I'm sure he'll post it here too :)

Mark.
Click to expand...

I checked for a different ram that is available on the Snogard website.

http://www.snogard.de/index.php?kategorieId=88&artikelId=RAM40D2800070
The G.Skill F2-6400CL6D-4GBMQ

Judging from the reviews on Newegg and it seems to work well. Not sure about the timings though. Seems a bit slow.
 
Komplett.de is also a good site, IIRC. There's a sticky at the top of GenHard that has some links in it... check it out for other sites you might be able to buy from.

The G.Skill you linked is CL6, which is on the higher end of the latency spectrum. For about ten more euros, you can get CL5, so thats not a bad deal. Go for some DDR2-800 CL5 and 2.0v or under. Most brands are good... mushkin, patriot, a-data, g.skill, corsair, etc.

Here's the table Mark mentioned that illustrates why you only need DDR2-800...

/*------------- <cut n paste> -------------*/
Formulas for Intel platform @ 1:1 settings: (base FSB speed is SDR, or single data rate)
c × [Base FSB speed] = CPU Clock speed (c = CPU Multiplier)
2 × [Base FSB speed] = RAM speed (DDR: double data rate)
4 × [Base FSB speed] = Effective FSB speed (QDR: quad data rate)

On Intel platforms, running the RAM higher than a 1:1 ratio with the CPU is, for the most part, useless, so don't bother trying to do so. If the BIOS does it for you, just let it. All you need is a 1:1 config, though. Here's some possible clock speeds (as always with OC'ing, your results will vary):

Q6600: 9 × 266 = 2.4Ghz, DDR2-533 << STOCK speeds
Q6600: 9 × 333 = 3.0Ghz, DDR2-667 << Nice OC
Q6600: 9 × 378 = 3.4Ghz, DDR2-756 << Good OC, near max for B3 stepping
Q6600: 9 × 400 = 3.6Ghz, DDR2-800 << Great OC, near max for G0 stepping
/*------------- </cut n paste> -------------*/

The Enermax PSU you metioned has 34A on the +12V rails, so its well equipped to handle your planned system and much more, lol.

As for optical drives, I like Samsungs because they're quiet. LG, Lite-On, NEC/Sony, and Pioneer are also good.
 
enginurd said:
Komplett.de is also a good site, IIRC. There's a sticky at the top of GenHard that has some links in it... check it out for other sites you might be able to buy from.

The G.Skill you linked is CL6, which is on the higher end of the latency spectrum. For about ten more euros, you can get CL5, so thats not a bad deal. Go for some DDR2-800 CL5 and 2.0v or under. Most brands are good... mushkin, patriot, a-data, g.skill, corsair, etc.

Here's the table Mark mentioned that illustrates why you only need DDR2-800...

/*------------- <cut n paste> -------------*/
Formulas for Intel platform @ 1:1 settings: (base FSB speed is SDR, or single data rate)
c × [Base FSB speed] = CPU Clock speed (c = CPU Multiplier)
2 × [Base FSB speed] = RAM speed (DDR: double data rate)
4 × [Base FSB speed] = Effective FSB speed (QDR: quad data rate)

On Intel platforms, running the RAM higher than a 1:1 ratio with the CPU is, for the most part, useless, so don't bother trying to do so. If the BIOS does it for you, just let it. All you need is a 1:1 config, though. Here's some possible clock speeds (as always with OC'ing, your results will vary):

Q6600: 9 × 266 = 2.4Ghz, DDR2-533 << STOCK speeds
Q6600: 9 × 333 = 3.0Ghz, DDR2-667 << Nice OC
Q6600: 9 × 378 = 3.4Ghz, DDR2-756 << Good OC, near max for B3 stepping
Q6600: 9 × 400 = 3.6Ghz, DDR2-800 << Great OC, near max for G0 stepping
/*------------- </cut n paste> -------------*/

The Enermax PSU you metioned has 34A on the +12V rails, so its well equipped to handle your planned system and much more, lol.

As for optical drives, I like Samsungs because they're quiet. LG, Lite-On, NEC/Sony, and Pioneer are also good.
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the help :)

I think I have everything picked out, I will go over the list again tomorrow.

One more question. How do I make sure that the Q6600 will be a G0 stepping and not B3. I know the product number. BX80562Q6600. But I don't think it tells you anything about the stepping. And the website doesn't mention anything about steppings.

Thanks
 
I'm not sure if there is a European vendor that guarantees stepping, although there are several in the US. I would see if amazon.de guarantees G0, as they do in the US. Basically with online vendors, it's luck of the draw. Once you get the box, take a look at the alphanumeric string under the first barcode on the product label. If this string ends in SLACR, it's a G0. If it ends in SL9UM, it's a B3. Note that this specific piece of information may be offset to the right of the longer string on newer boxes, under it's own header S-SPEC:

Mark.
 
Ok I went over my list again and this is what I came up with now.

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
http://www.komplett.de/k/ki.aspx?sku=330169
229,90 €

Antec P182
http://www.komplett.de/k/ki.aspx?sku=341841
119,00 €

ENERMAX Whisper II EG565P-VE 535W
already got it

OCZ Gold XTC
http://www.komplett.de/k/ki.aspx?sku=333974
92,00 €

Abit IP35 Pro
http://www.komplett.de/k/ki.aspx?sku=335649
142,00 €

EVGA GeForce 8800GT
http://www.komplett.de/k/ki.aspx?sku=341856
239,00 €
OR
Gainward GeForce 8800GT
http://www.komplett.de/k/ki.aspx?sku=343813
265,00 €

Samsung DVD±RW Burner
http://www.komplett.de/k/ki.aspx?sku=340343
29,00 €

Tuniq Tower 120
http://www.komplett.de/k/ki.aspx?sku=318575
41,00 €

OCZ Freeze Extreme Thermal Compound
http://www.komplett.de/k/ki.aspx?sku=343985
7,00 €


I will most likely try to get the Q6600 locally so I can make sure it's a G0.
And I went with the Tuniq because the Thermalright 120 is pretty much unavailable on every site. Also, I think the new ram I picked out should perform better then the previous.

As for the Graphic card. I might just go with the plain EVGA 8800GT and over clock it to achieve SSC speeds and save a few bucks there. Other then that, I think it's a pretty solid setup.

I'm always open for criticism :)

Thanks
 
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