New Rig Suggestions

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yang88she

2[H]4U
Joined
Nov 10, 2004
Messages
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I haven't had a desktop in many years (moved around quite a bit, enjoyed a nice DTR for the past few yrs).

I know this is not the SFF section, but since I'm debating between a Q6600 vs QX9650 I wanted to get some feedback from informative members here.

Specs are:
ASUS P5E-VM HDMI LGA 775 Intel G35 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
EVGA 01G-P3-1280-AR GeForce GTX 280 1GB 512-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor
Rosewill RCR-102 52-in-1 USB 2.0 Card Reader
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1000 (PC2 8000)
Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10000 RPM SATA 1.5Gb/s Hard Drive
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
2 x SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S203B
QMicra Case
Corsair 620 PSU
Zalman CNPS9700NT CPU cooler

I don't upgrade that often, so I figured when I do build (every 2-3 yrs), I do try to go for the latest & greatest.

I do game on occasion, but primary functions of this PC will be ripping DVD's, playing DVD's (that's why I chose to have duel burners), etc. all @ the sametime.

I do this w/ my laptop currently, and although it is a laptop, the 7950's in SLi w/ C2D mobile has done an excellent job...but it does get maxed out when I burn a DVD, web surf, and watch a high def. movie.

Although I know I can save a TON on using a regular case vs a QMicra case, I want to stick w/ a SFF.

So my quesitons are:

1. Of course, how do the specs look?
2. Is it worth switching from the Q6600 to a QX9650 for my needs? I'm sure I will see a drastic improvement over a C2D mobile, but since I'm going w/ the new Nvidia 280, I figured I shouldn't "skimp" on the processor w/ a possibility of a potential cpu bottleneck.
3. Recommendations for 120mm fans? I have 3 slots for the in the QMicra
4. I'll be duel booting XP & Vista Ultimate, should I bump up my ram from 4gb to 8gb? also how's the ram that I chose?

Thanks [H]!!
 
The Extreme Edition processors (aka, the QX9650 you're considering) are not worth the extra money. Even though they have unlocked multipliers, they reach the same approximate OC thresholds as the other Q9-series CPUs. If you need a faster, better processor, consider the Q9450 instead of the QX9650.

If you need 120mm case fans, consider picking up some Yate Loon low speed or medium speed fans. If you want to save some money, you may want to consider getting a different microATX case, like the Antec NSK3480, the Apevia X-QPACK/X-QPACK2, or the Silverstone SST-TJ08-B.

The Samsung F1 750GB HDD is actually faster than the 150GB Raptor. If you need a separate OS drive, you could make a partition for the OS within the F1 HDD.

You won't need 8GB of RAM unless you're using heavy memory-intensive programs like Photoshop or Maya. Dual-booting is not a reason to go beyond 4GB of RAM... but make sure that your copy of Vista (choose Home Premium if you don't need BitLocker or the Vista Business features included in Ultimate) is 64-bit.
 
tiraides said:
The Extreme Edition processors (aka, the QX9650 you're considering) are not worth the extra money. Even though they have unlocked multipliers, they reach the same approximate OC thresholds as the other Q9-series CPUs. If you need a faster, better processor, consider the Q9450 instead of the QX9650.

If you need 120mm case fans, consider picking up some Yate Loon low speed or medium speed fans. If you want to save some money, you may want to consider getting a different microATX case, like the Antec NSK3480, the Apevia X-QPACK/X-QPACK2, or the Silverstone SST-TJ08-B.

The Samsung F1 750GB HDD is actually faster than the 150GB Raptor. If you need a separate OS drive, you could make a partition for the OS within the F1 HDD.

You won't need 8GB of RAM unless you're using heavy memory-intensive programs like Photoshop or Maya. Dual-booting is not a reason to go beyond 4GB of RAM... but make sure that your copy of Vista (choose Home Premium if you don't need BitLocker or the Vista Business features included in Ultimate) is 64-bit.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestions!

Gonna switch the hdd and cpu. :D
 
haha, not this time DB, gonna stay away from modding and water

I'm on a limited budget as it is =P, I'll leave the h2o and crazy modding to you haha
 
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