See and potential problems with this setup?

K

kaw

Weaksauce
Joined
Jul 9, 2001
Messages
107
Refreshing my system and would like to run it buy you guys to see if I missed any potential pitfalls. The MB, RAM, heat sink and CPU are the only new components.

I do plan to overclock to at least 3.4GHz (would like a little more) and I am not interested in RAID.

Asus P5E
Intel E8500
Noctua NH-U12P
CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 1066 TWIN2X4096-8500C5DF
PNY GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB
Soundblaster XFi gamer
3 Seagate 7200.11 drives
1 Sumsung F1 1TB drive
OCZ GameXStream 600watt (I also have a PCPC Silencer 750)
LG GGC-H20L blu-ray (SATA) and a pioneer DVD+RW drive (IDE)
Antec large tower (don't remember the name/number)
 
Drop the RAM. Overpriced considering that you can get DDR2 1000 RAM for $85 without having to deal with any rebate:
G.Skill F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ 2 x 2GB DDR2 1000 RAM - $85

I recommend ditching that OCZ GameXStream PSU. It's based off the FSP Episilon PSU design which has out of spec ripple, or voltage fluctuations, at high loads that can damage or kill your system. Granted, you may not reach such high loads but why pay for a PSU that can kill your system? So go with the Silencer 750W PSU that you have. It's a much better quality PSU than that GameXStream.

For the price, I'd rather get the P5E Deluxe:
Asus P5E Deluxe Intel X48 Motherboard - $220

It's based on the X48 chipset, which is a slightly tweaked version of the X38 chipset. Since they're roughly the same price, just get the Deluxe mobo above.
 
Thanks for the feedback Danny.

I thought about the P5E Deluxe but could not find a whole lot on it so I did not feel as comfortable with it. Kinda like everyone reviewed P5E and skipped the P5E Deluxe. The things I have seen did not instill a whole lot of trust in it. Kinda like this (Deluxe is a side note in first paragraph) http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mainboards/display/asus-p5e.html

I chose that RAM because I wanted the headroom of PC8500 for overclocking and the gskill has issues with the P5E. I usually use Corsair and the P5E was on the compatibility chart of to 1600.

I said 3.4GHz above but I would prefer 3.8GHz :)
 
Shit didn't notice that you had the E8500 rather than the E8400. The G.Skill DDR2 1000 RAM that I recommended is actually a bit overkill for you. In fact, DDR2 800 RAM is all that you need for a 3.8Ghz OC:

Stated FSB/4 = Actual FSB
Multiplier x Actual FSB = CPU Speed
1:1 Ratio: 2 x Actual FSB = RAM Speed
1:1 Ratio: FSB = 1/2 RAM speed

E8500:
Multi x Actual FSB, RAM Speed = Clock Speed
9.5 x 333Mhz, DDR2 667 RAM = 3.16Ghz <== Stock Speeds
9.5 x 400Mhz, DDR2 800 RAM = 3.80Ghz <== Easy OC
9.5 x 450Mhz, DDR2 900 RAM = 4.27Ghz <== Excellent OC

So just about any DDR2 800 RAM is all that you need for a 3.8Ghz OC. So go with this RAM:
G.Skill F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ 2 x 2GB DDR2 800 RAM - $80

And the Xbit review was talking about DDR3 version of the Deluxe. It may not be the same as the DDR2 version. But it's your choice whether or not you want to Deluxe or not. Same price anyway.
 
It has been a good while since I was in an Intel system BIOS (since my P4) and I can see I need to do some reading on the OC process. For some reason I was thinking I would be able to overclock the RAM more than your table shows. Not sure where or why I had that impression though. I would in fact prefer to OC the RAM more to get more speed from it as well.

Thanks again for the info.
 
kaw said:
I I would in fact prefer to OC the RAM more to get more speed from it as well.
Click to expand...

No point to. Current C2D CPUs do not benefit from faster RAM, outside of overclocking. They perform best when the FSB and RAM are at a 1:1 ratio. You won't see any real world performance increases with faster RAM.
 
If you OC the RAM further, you'll simply get more heat, since the RAM will need more power. The performance benefit is so minute, you're better off leaving the RAM at stock speeds to lessen the heat, lol.
 
Which three Seagates hard drives do you have?

Which monitor/resolution are you using?
 
The Seagate drives are 80, 250 and 400GB the monitor is an HP W2207 1680x1050. I do some gaming on this system but not a lot as it is my main workstation. Mainly I work in Lightroom, Photoshop, Illustrator and Dreamweaver Plus watch some Blu-Ray movies :)
 
If the 8800GTS suits your needs fine, then keep it. But if you plan on playing some of the new games at any point in the future, you should upgrade your card to the HD4850.

While I don't see anything wrong with you using the G.Skill DDR2 1000 kit, you're wrong about the prices... the DDR2 800 kit comes with free shipping, which makes the saving closer to $15 than $5.
 
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