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AliP

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 25, 2006
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A friend of mine wanted me to help him pick parts for his computer, can someone look over it and see if there are any errors or give suggestions.

ASUS MAXIMUS FORMULA (X38)
Q6600
G-Skill 2x2GB 800mhz
Evga 8800GT 512mb
Corsair 620HX PSU
Creative XFI X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty
Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme (1000Rpm fan r something)

That pretty much covers the building blocks (Amrite?) This will probably all go into an Cooler Master Stacker, (Original version). He's already got hard drives.

He will probably be doing some minor overclocking with that cpu (3ghz), but his most important goal is an quiet powerful system.

Is the original CMStacker considered a good case by todays standards or do you have something better?

He has a 24" dell monitor if i remember correctly (r something like that, it was a big dell).

Any tips or suggestions?

Thanks.

Edit: x38 over p35?
 
p35 is a known good oc'er and you could just buy the abit or gigabyte $100 version or get the newer x38for over twice the amount. theres no difference in pci express 2.0 and 1.1 with the current cards yet so i would just save some money and get the p35

since your not even using the heatsink that comes with the q6600 then go with this to save some money. the picture also shows that its a G0 SLACR.

i'd personally go with the Antec P182 case. Save money? get the Coolermaster 690 when it has the $45 rebate or so.

You could get away with the HX520 psu and you should get it at clubit.com since its cheaper.

If you want to save money you could opt for the Thermalright Ultima 90 CPU heatsink.
 
I agree... current PCI-E2.0 cards don't even saturate the bandwidth of PCI-E1.1 slots. So, by the time PCI-E2.0 cards are severely limited by the PCI-E1.1 slot, it will be time for a new motherboard anyhow. Crossfire and PCI-E are the only advantages of X38 over P35. Since he doesnt need Crossfire, ditch the X38 board. Asus ROG boards are overpriced, IMO, so go for something cheaper. What features does he need in a motherboard? If he wants a decked out P35 board, the Asus P5K-E, Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4, and the ever popular Abit IP35 Pro are his best choices. If he doesnt need all that jazz, the GA-P35-DS3R is good if he wants a lot of SATA ports and RAID. If he needs Firewire, the Asus P5K is good. If he needs both RAID and Firewire, the Abit IP35 vanilla is good. If he doesnt need anything fancy, then the Abit IP35-E and the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L are good choices.

I wouldn't recommend getting the OEM version of the Q6600 G0 since it only has a 3 month warranty. I think the extra $23 is worth it for a 3yr warranty via the Retail Box over at clubit.com (since they guarantee the G0 stepping and newegg doesnt).

He already has a great case with the original CM Stacker. There's no need to replace it. Theres no point in spending more money when the case he has is quiet, spacious, has good airflow, can accommodate a multitude of drives/cards/etc, and is much stronger than almost any Antec case ever made.

Newegg tends to overprice their PSUs most of the time, except when its an OCZ model. So yes, get it from clubit.com, zipzoomfly.com, or buy.com. There's a 750W Corsair model for $100AR at buy.com... not like he needs it, but damn thats a good deal. The cables on it are long enough for his case, too.

If he has a 22" or smaller monitor, then the 8800GT is fine. If he has a 24" monitor, he should get the 8800GTS 512MB instead, if the price difference isn't much.
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3175&p=4
 
I believe the Premium had SATA issues. I'd make sure all those issues have been worked out before getting it. Its also overpriced IMO... I'd go for the P5K-E instead.

Why wouldn't you be able to run the vidcard in that motherboard? Yes, it will work. PCI-E2.0 cards are backwards compatible with PCI-E1.1 slots. They don't even saturate the bandwidth of PCI-E1.1 slots, so there's really no point for them to be PCI-E2.0 cards right now, aside from the better power spec, but thats progress I guess.

What size monitor does he have? Which model Dell?
 
Alright, this motherboard:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131225
ASUS P5K-E LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard

what is the difference between the wifi ed. and the normal one? Does it have onboard wifi or comes with a antenna in the package r something?

He has a 24" dell widescreen monitor, not sure which model exactly but its at least a year or 2 old.

I was just worried if the pcie 2 slots were larger or different from the pcie 1 slots, so if it is compatible there's no problem.


Edit:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128064
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS4 Rev. 2.0 LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard any good?
 
AliP said:
Alright, this motherboard:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131225
ASUS P5K-E LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard

what is the difference between the wifi ed. and the normal one? Does it have onboard wifi or comes with a antenna in the package r something?

He has a 24" dell widescreen monitor, not sure which model exactly but its at least a year or 2 old.

I was just worried if the pcie 2 slots were larger or different from the pcie 1 slots, so if it is compatible there's no problem.


Edit:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128064
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS4 Rev. 2.0 LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard any good?
Click to expand...


The difference is that it come with an antenna, etc. so you can use it as a wifi access point.
The two slot video cards just take up two slots worth of space, other than that it functions the same as a one slot card.
 
The DS4 is a great board. The P5K-E WiFi has an onboard WiFi chip to act as an AP or as a client. The included antenna hooks up to the rear I/O panel. From the Asus website:

ASUS WiFi-AP Solo
Easily Connect and Share Data Wirelessly
WiFi AP Solo allows a new level of versatility for your PC, enabling it to create a complete wireless home network in either AP or wireless client mode. Users will be able to play LAN games, connect to the Internet, access and share printers, and use Skype from anywhere within range. WiFi-AP Solo can provide these functions even when the PC is in sleep mode, so users can use Skype as a true replacement for tradition long distance telephone service. WiFi-AP Solo is an on-board feature, which means that user will save the extra WiFi AP cost.
Click to expand...

PCI-E2.0 slots are the same size as PCI-E1.1 slots.
 
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