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Teioh

Gawd
Joined
Jun 5, 2001
Messages
982
Hey. I used to be a long time [H]ard poster, but I haven't been in the computer mix for the past year or two. Anyways, my old mobo died the other day, so I figured I would use this opportunity to build a new system. I already have a case, enermax 465watt psu, HD, sound card, optical drives etc. Here is the link to what I'm about to get. I just want to make sure that there are no glarying mistakes that I made.

I was hoping to OC a little bit, but nothing too extreme. I also wasn't sure if it was a bad idea to buy an open box mobo?

Mobo : ASUS P5W DH DELUXE/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel 975X ATX Intel Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813131025R)

CPU : Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6400 - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819115004)

Memory : Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model BL2KIT12864AA804 - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820146565)

Video Card : SAPPHIRE 100189 Radeon X1900GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 CrossFire Supported Video Card - OEM (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814102705)

Thanks

Edit: Link taken out and listed parts.
 
Wishlist link doesnt work. Please list the parts instead, and answer a few questions...

Danny's famous questions:
- What else besides gaming will you be doing with this PC? (assuming you're gaming at all)
- What parts do you need for that budget?
- Does your budget include tax and shipping?
- Will you be overclocking?

Also, please list your current model parts that you will be re-using.

Oh, and what died?
 
1. I'll be doing some gaming, but nothing too extreme. I do an occasional fps, but thats not my main objective. I use my desktop primarily for WoW and photoshop really, neither of which are too intensive.

2. I don't have a set budget. I was thinking 500 to 600. And with that I'm looking to get a cpu/mobo/ram/videocard.

3. As I mentioned above, no set budget. I'm just looking to see if the parts I mentioned above worked together and there wasn't any large bottleneck.

4. I would like to overclock, but I don't plan on going to an extremes like watercooling etc.


The stuff that I will be reusing is a 10k rpm serial ata raptor drive. x-fi fatality sound card, an older black and silver lian li case, and a benQ dvd burner.

I had an MSI motherboard (can't remember the extact make offhand), and an old p4 1.6A that I had going at around 2.2ghz
 
Your board and CPU choice are a bit outdated.

The i975X Crossfire chipset has been replaced with the newly released X38 chipset. Since you don't game much, don't bother with a Crossfire chipset. Stick to the P35 chipset for best performance. What features of a motherboard do you need? Some good P35 boards are: Abit IP35 Pro, Asus P5K-E, Gigabyte P35-DS3R or DS3L, and Abit IP35-E.

The E6400 has been replaced by the E6750. It runs faster out of the box, runs cooler, and can OC higher than the E6400.

Your RAM is probably the best 2GB kit around for its AR price.

Sorry, I forgot some questions:
What size monitor do you have?
What model PSU do you have, and how old is it?
Is your DVD burner IDE or SATA?
 
I have a dell 22" flatpanel, might go to a 24" if prices come down around xmas. Not sure tho. My powersuply is an Enermax EG465P-VE (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194011). My dvd burner is unfortunately ide.

And I just looked at the E6750, which looks to be a much better deal for the same price.

For a motherboard, I don't need anything fancy. I just want it to have good overclocking features so I can tweak as well as raid. Wi-FI would be a plus, but not required.

And I plan on upgrading to windows vista. I don't know if that makes a difference or not? Other than I know its a resource hog.
 
enginurd said:
Danny's famous questions:
- What else besides gaming will you be doing with this PC? (assuming you're gaming at all)
- What parts do you need for that budget?
- Does your budget include tax and shipping?
- Will you be overclocking?
Click to expand...

I knew I'd be famous for something :)

Anyway I recommend either the DS3R or the IP35 Pro. Here's a side by side comparison of the Abit IP35 Pro and the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...mpareItemList=N82E16813128050,N82E16813127030

And here are couple of reviews for each mobo. Decide for yourself whether or not it's worth it for you:

Abit IP 35 Pro:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mainboards/display/abit-ip35-pro.html
http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/ip35__pro/
http://www.virtual-hideout.net/reviews/Abit_IP35_Pro_Off_Limits/index.shtml
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTM4OCwxLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R:
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/513/1/
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2007/06/01/gigabyte_ga-p35-ds3r/1
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=832&num=1

Up to you now to figure out which board is the perfect one for you.

Also, how long have you had that power supply?

Well in the past few months Vista has gotten a bit better with resource management as well gaming performance. So Vista shouldn't be a problem since you're getting mostly new hardware that should be supported driver-wise in Vista.

Oh and if you're want to be able games at max resolution and settings with a FPS of more than 30 to 50 FPS, then I recommend going with the GS 320MB or the GTS 640MB if you want a bit more power.
 
Teioh said:
For a motherboard, I don't need anything fancy. I just want it to have good overclocking features so I can tweak as well as raid. Wi-FI would be a plus, but not required.
Click to expand...

Heh, then you chose the wrong mobo the first time, because thats one of the fanciest crossfire mobos out there.

If you don't need many features, check out the Abit IP35-E for $90 - $20MIR. If you need legacy ports, then check out the Gigabyte P35-DS3L. If you want RAID, check out the DS3R. If you don't want raid, but want Firewire, check out the Asus P5K vanilla. If you want both raid and firewire, check out the Abit IP35. If you want some higher end mobos that have the same OC potential as those previously mentioned, but with a few more bells and whistles, check out the Abit IP35 Pro or the Asus P5K-E.
 
Ok. So now I'm planning as follows.

Mobo : GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813128050)

CPU : E6750 (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819115029)

Memory : Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model BL2KIT12864AA804 - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16820146565)

Video Card : SAPPHIRE 100189 Radeon X1900GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 CrossFire Supported Video Card - OEM (http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16814102705)

I'm probably going to buy all these tommorow. My powersupply is about 3-4 year, but last time I checked Enermax was a quality brand and it has showed me no signs of kicking. Is there anything to be worried about with having a psu that old?
 
That's old for a power supply. The new hardware could potentially be too much work for that PSU. Hopefully you kept the PSU clean for the last 3-4 years. Otherwise the heat and dust that builds could've damaged a few parts already.

IMO, I say replace the PSU. Its age worries me. I recommend any of the following power supplies:
XCLIO Goodpower 500W PSU - $50
XCLIO Stablepower 460W PSU - $50
Enhance ENP-5150GH 500W PSU - $69
XCLIO Stablepower 500W PSU - $70
Corsair VX450 450W PSU - $76
Corsair VX550 550W PSU - $91
Corsair HX520 520W PSU - $105
Ultra X-Pro 600W PSU - $120
Corsair HX620 620W PSU - $147
 
Its got 32A on the +12V rails, so its supposedly good enough (Older PSUs are +3.3V and +5V heavy, with weak +12V rails; newer systems draw mostly from the +12V rails). Though, it is rather old. If you're strapped for funds, you should be able to keep using it. Your next upgrade, however, should be a new PSU. If you can afford one now, go for one of the ones Danny listed.
 
Thanks both of you for the advice on the PSU. I think I'm going to try to see how well it performs first. Where would I see problems if it was too old? Would it just fail to boot? Would it perhaps work at stock speeds but fail when OCing? Could I potentially damage my hardware?

Besides the psu does the rest of the build look solid? Is the ram I'm looking at good enough to get not extreme but decent OC?

And thanks for both of your guys input. You have been a tremendous help.
 
Teioh said:
Thanks both of you for the advice on the PSU. I think I'm going to try to see how well it performs first. Where would I see problems if it was too old? Would it just fail to boot? Would it perhaps work at stock speeds but fail when OCing? Could I potentially damage my hardware?

Besides the psu does the rest of the build look solid? Is the ram I'm looking at good enough to get not extreme but decent OC?

And thanks for both of your guys input. You have been a tremendous help.
Click to expand...

Signs of a PSU Problems:
- If it doesn't boot
- Boots for 5 seconds, then shuts down
- If it shuts down when doing anything intensive
- If it takes multiple tries to start up the PC (Although the P35 chipset does have that issue of double booting.)
- When your system shuts down one day and won't start up again

Anyway, the build looks good to me. Go for it
 
Teioh said:
Besides the psu does the rest of the build look solid? Is the ram I'm looking at good enough to get not extreme but decent OC?
Click to expand...

Yes, solid. Its good enough for a decent OC. Hell, its good enough for an extreme OC of that chip, too. :p All you're missing is a good cooler. Go for a Scythe Ninja Plus Rev.B, Tuniq Tower 120, Thermalright Ultima90 + S-Flex fan, or Thermalright Ultra 120 + S-Flex fan.
$35 - Scythe SCNJ-1100P 120mm CPU HSF
$45 - Tuniq Tower 120 CPU HSF

The E6750 is on sale for $175 at frys.com right now, get it while its hot!

If you have about $100 more to spend and don't plan on upgrading the CPU for a while, the Q6600 is only $285. Just something to think about... if you decide to stay with dual core for now, there will be some entry level quads comin out within a year or so that you could upgrade to, should you find the need. This will help you determine whether or not the quadcore is for you...
http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=872&model2=871&chart=418

Personally, I went with a dual core for now, and will upgrade to a quadcore yorkfield in about a year or so.
 
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