New Comp

E

Erikin

n00b
Joined
Jun 5, 2004
Messages
40
It's getting time for me to bite the bullet and piece together a new computer. My AMD 64 3000+ is starting to show signs of its age and 1 gig of crappy value memory just ain't cutting it. This time around however I will have some cash to burn so I'm trying to get some really nice parts that I won't have to upgrade for awhile.

I was wondering if you guys could help critique my build.

Mobo: Asus Maximus Formula X38
Cpu: Q6600 GO Stepping
Cpu Cooler: Artic Cooler Freezer 7 Pro
PSU: Corsair 620HX
Ram: 4 x 1 GB Crucial Ballistic Tracer (I believe these are d9 chips?)
Video Card(s): 2 x 8800 GTS 512 mB
HD(OS): 500G 7200rpm
HD(Mass Storage): 74GB 10000 rpm (for OS and possibly important games)
DVD Drive: Asus 20x DVD burner
Case: Lian Li A70B
Headset: Sennhesier pc151's

Links:

Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813131227
Cpu: http://clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=A1938452
Cpu Cooler: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16835186134
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817139002
Ram: 2 X http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820148070
VideoCard: 2 X http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814130312
HD(OS): http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822136033
HD(Mass Storage): http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822136143
DVD Drive: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16827135156
Case: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811112141
Headset: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16826106157


The main thing I am worried about is the 620HX won't be able to adequately power the two 8800 GTS's. I would really like to have a modular PSU though. I am TERRIBLE at making wires look nice, and was hoping the modular cables would help.

I've heard that SLI only really helps at high resolutions, but I do use a 21" CRT if that is big enough to get a use out of it I hope so.

I also am thinking that getting 1066 memory is a waste and to just bump them down to 800. Especially because I've heard boards with SLI on them don't oc as well.(This could be BS I have zero idea though.)

Thanks for any help.
 
First of all, you cannot use SLI with an Intel motherboard chipset at this point in time. You will need to get an Nvidia 780i chipset based motherboard instead if you want SLI. You can only do Crossfire with ATI cards on Intel chipset motherboards.

Second, you only need SLI at a resolution of 1920x1200 and higher. Though what's the max resolution of your CRT? My 16" CRT monitor can do 2048x1536 apparently.

Third, yes the 620HX can adequately power two 8800GTS in SLI should you go with SLI. In fact according to the Corsair PSU finder, the 520HX can do just that:
http://www.corsair.com/psufinder/default.aspx

So you'll be fine with the 620HX.

Fourth, will you be overclocking? If so, ditch the AC7Pro. It will not do a good job of cooling the Q6600. I recommend any of these better HSF instead
Cooler Master GeminII RR-CCH-ANU2-GP HSF - $30 & 120mm Yate Loon D12SL-12 Case Fan - $3.50 x 2
Scythe SCNJ-1100P Ninja HSF - $36
Tuniq Tower 120 HSF - $45
Thermalright Ultima-90 HSF - $46 & Panaflo FBA09A12M 92mm Fan - $3
Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme HSF - $57 & Scythe S-Flex SFF21E 120MM Case Fan - $14

Fifth, is there any reason why you went with the Maximus?
 
I thought 780i was for triple SLI? Also, my moniter can also go to 2048x1536.
What about the 680i's.

Why can't you SLI on the maximus (intel chipset) board?
I read the review of the maximus on this site and it said it was pretty good. Did not realize there was specific chipsets for SLI.
 
That Asus board uses the Intel X38 chipset, So you cannot SLI with it. In order to SLI, You have to have a board that uses the Nvidia chipset, Check HERE for Nvidia-based mobos.

Also you dont need a 780i, A 680i will work as well, But if you want to go the 3 card route, You'll have to get a 780i/790i I believe.

The 620HX should work good.

I also suggest a better HS/F like previously suggested: Tuniq Tower or Thermalright Ultra 120.
 
Yes there are specific chipsets for SLI. Right now the only good chipsets for Intel mobos for SLI is the Nvidia 650i, 680i and the 780i being released sometime soon. The reason why only those Nvidia chipsets can do SLI is due to business reasons, not technical.

Do note that the 650i chipset does not support Intel's new Penryn CPUs, faster and more refined Core 2 Duos, and you'll take about a 5% to 9% performance hit in SLI compared with the 680i chipset. The 650i chipset drops down to x8 speeds when SLI is enabled whereas the 680i keeps the cards at x16 speeds. In addition, the 650i/680i chipset does run hotter and is a bit more unstable than the Intel P35 chipset. And overclocking the Q6600 will be difficult with the 650i and 680i chipset as well.

But that MSI mobo is a decent mobo.
 
Thanks for the help guys. I've changed a few things from your suggestions.

Changed the motherboard to a 680i boards to accommodate SLI.
Changed the HS/F to a much more powerful one. I read the review of a bunch of the coolers on [H]ard and the Tuniq Tower performed quite well.


Mobo: MSI P6N Diamond LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX
Cpu: Q6600 GO Stepping
Cpu Cooler: Tuniq Tower 120 P4 & K8 CPU Cooler
PSU: Corsair 620HX
Ram: 4 x 1 GB Crucial Ballistic Tracer (I believe these are d9 chips?)
Video Card(s): 2 x 8800 GTS 512 mB
HD(OS): 74GB 10000 rpm (for OS and possibly important games)
HD(Mass Storage): 500G 7200rpm
DVD Drive: Asus 20x DVD burner
Case: Lian Li A70B
Headset: Sennhesier pc151's

Links:

Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130080
Cpu: http://clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=A1938452
Cpu Cooler: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835154001http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817139002
Ram: 2 X http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820148070
VideoCard: 2 X http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814130312
HD(OS): http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822136033
HD(Mass Storage): http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822136143
DVD Drive: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16827135156
Case: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811112141
Headset: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16826106157

What do you think of running 2 7200 RPM drives in raid as compared to the 10000 RPM drive for speed?
 
You'd probably be better off with the 780i board instead of the 680i.

With the Tracer's, the only thing you get over regular Ballistix are the LEDs. If you want to spend that extra money for LEDs, knock yourself out. However, if you plan on OC'ing at all, especially with an NVIDIA chipset board, I'd HIGHLY suggest going with 2x2GB instead of 4x1GB. If you stick with 4x1GB config, you'd be best served by low voltage sticks that are under 2.0v. Besides, you don't need the high overclock ability of the Micron D9 chips since you're using a Q6600. All you need is DDR2-800 CL5 1.8v.

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

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> -------------*/

You won't notice the difference between CL4 and CL5, unless you're running benchmarks (and even then, its negligible), so don't pay a huge price premium for lower latency.

As for the raptor...

Avg Transfer Rate, Access Time: HDD info, Price I paid (except for raptor - twas a gift)
**note, these figures come from HDTune, a synthetic benchmark for HDDs.

112MB/s, 13.2ms: RAID0 'cuda's, 600GB total, $120 (ICH9R on P35-DS3R)
78MB/s, 08.2ms: WD Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB, $160
76MB/s, 13.7ms: WD Caviar SE16 WD7500AAKS 750GB, $150
72MB/s, 15.4ms: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB, $65
68MB/s, 13.3ms: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS 320GB, $60
65MB/s, 13.7ms: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS 320GB, $80
65MB/s, 13.2ms: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3300620AS 300GB, $60
63MB/s, 13.4ms: WD Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB, $100
62MB/s, 15.3ms: Samsung HD501LJ 500GB, $105
52MB/s, 14.0ms: WD Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB, $70

As you can see, the 'cuda is twice the size and half the cost, for nearly the same avg transfer rate as the Raptor. Stick them in RAID0, and you've got an even more cost effective solution. Though, the seek time of the Raptor can't be beat. If you have cash to burn, do so on a Raptor if you really want it. Otherwise, there are better cost effective solutions depending on your needs these days.

Gaming on a 21" CRT at anything higher than 1600x1200 is useless, IMO. You don't need SLI if you're not gaming on a 24" LCD at 1920x1080 or higher. Anything lower and the benefit of SLI won't be realized, especially with the added cost -- its just a waste of money. If you have a 21" CRT, you have the ability to game at lower resolutions without it looking like shit... so I would strongly suggest doing so and saving your money. The P35 chipsets are much more stable than the NVIDIA SLI chipsets, and they can OC better, too. So again, I highly suggest a single 8800GT and P35 board.
 
Wow, thanks for the info Enginurd. Heres the next revision of the setup taking your suggestions.

Mobo --> Gigabyte P35
Ram --> 2x2 GB Corsair Dominators
Video Card --> Just one 8800 GTS G92 512 MB(Switched to BFG)
HD's --> 2x 500 GB Seagate Barracuda

Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS4 Rev. 2.0 LGA 775 Intel P35
Cpu: Q6600 GO Stepping
Cpu Cooler: Tuniq Tower 120 P4 & K8 CPU Cooler
PSU: Corsair 620HX
Ram: 2 x 2 GB Corsair Dominators
Video Card(s): 8800 GTS 512 MB
HD : 2 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500 GB (Possibly get 4 of these I use alot of disk space... Not kidding)
DVD Drive: Asus 20x DVD burner
Case: Lian Li A70B
Headset: Sennhesier PC 151's

Links:

Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128064
Cpu: http://clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=A1938452
Cpu Cooler: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835154001
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817139002
Ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145176
VideoCard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143119
HD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148288
DVD Drive: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16827135156
Case: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811112141
Headset: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16826106157

So dropped the SLI, changed to P35, changed the ram, and changed the video card(The BFG one is cheaper currently and is oc'd.... the oc is negligible but it's cheaper anyways).

I'm really thinking about getting 4 of those 500 gig HD's. They are cheap and would give me quite a bit of capacity.
Put 2 groups of 2 into raid 0. Or I could put 2 into Raid 0, and just have the other 2 by themselves so a HD failure will have less of a chance to screw me.

The main thing I'm not sure of for this build is the ram I picked. I'm worried the Dominators are just all show and are actually crap sticks.

So how is this revision?

Thanks everybody for your help so far.
 
I concur with crashthenet44, ditch the dominators and go with the G.Skill set. Other than that, your revised build looks good to me.
 
I agree, too... those Dominators aren't worth their price premium. Go with the G.Skills. Too bad they're back to $105. They, along with the A-Data's, were at $85 a couple days ago, lol... oh wellz.
 
Will the P35 be able to use the new Yorkfield quad cores? Also, will the speed upgrade and overclocking potential be worth the wait?
 
Yes mobos based on the P35 chipset should support the Penryn CPUs with at most a simple BIOS update. As for whether or not those CPUs are worth the wait, from the early reviews so far, the new Penryn CPUs will only be faster than current Intel Core 2 Duos by about 10 to 15%. In addition, the Penryns consume less power and can OC significantly higher than current C2Ds. In fact, many of them hit 4.0Ghz and higher with a just bit of tweaking.

So decide for yourself if the above is worth the wait.
 
I think if you need the system now, you're not losing out on much by getting what's available now.
 
Note that while Penryn dual cores are OC monsters, mainstream Penryn (Yorkfield) quad core have lower multipliers than their Conroe (Kentsfield) counterparts, such that a G0 Q6600 will likely OC higher than a Q9450 given good cooling.

Also, I'm not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but you will need a 64-bit OS in order to see and utilize all four gigs of your RAM. 32-bit Windows is limited to four gigs MINUS the total amount of component memory (i.e. video card memory) installed in your system. For 64-bit Windows on a home / gaming system, Vista is the best choice due to superior hardware and software compatibility and support.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top