Computer Build Help

Shizelbs

Okay, its been about 5 years since my last build. Obviously, I'm a little behind on current trends and knowledge of what exactly to get.

I'm currently leaning towards the following;

The Q6600 quad core CPU. I am going Intel this time around.
Probably 4 gigs of RAM. I don't have a brand in mind, and I know nothing about latency speeds.
Not sure which mobo to get at all. I don't want to go cheap at all, and I was wanting an ASUS board this time around, but I don't have my heart set on that.
A nicer nvidia video card. Not TOTL, but not far from it either.

So yeah, any advice you all may have would be appreciated.

Shizelbs

Oh, and power supply is another thing I need to get and have no idea of how much power to get.

jdhdiggs

Doing the same thing and here's what I'm thinking:

Look for the 8800GT V-card. You can find the 600Mhz clocked ones in the low $200 range (~210-240 depending) Looks to be the current best bang/$
Mobo, can't tell you as I'll probably be looking at the Phenom as the base processor, but be sure it will handle RAID setups and PCI express V2.0

Case shopping SUCKS!!! As does figuring out what kind of PS you need. I'll be following this thread pretty close

jakelm

The quad core Intel is a winner in many catagories

RAM, I trust Kingston

mobo, I have an ASUS board, cant complain, no problems.

I found ATI Radeon video cards to perform better on ASUS boards.

Also look at the Powermax Assasins 500watt (at least) power supply. Has all the hook ups and more. Running mine, dead quiet and cool (neat colors too).

Mike Kozak

You might want to check out the SLi video cards as well, run 2 at the same time, they split the load memory wise, makes for good performance

shadowofnight

You are on the right track, just stay away from BRAND new ASUS boards...they are great boards , but they tend to use the public as beta testers until the 1st or 2nd release of firmware for their boards.

I get them out of the gate because I can tweak the bios for any instabilities I find, its just your average user might have some minor issues until they tweak the firmware back from redline like ASUS likes to release their boards with.

Mike Kozak

Also look into a MOBO that is Raid controlled

jakelm

shadowofnight wrote: »

You are on the right track, just stay away from BRAND new ASUS boards...they are great boards , but they tend to use the public as beta testers until the 1st or 2nd release of firmware for their boards.

I get them out of the gate because I can tweak the bios for any instabilities I find, its just your average user might have some minor issues until they tweak the firmware back from redline like ASUS likes to release their boards with.

This is true.,

I said I had no problems with ASUS, I forgot about the multi reboots because of "fake" overclocking warnings. Warning in the system boot that said i was overclocking. Which wasnt true.

The warnings have seem to go away now.

audiobliss

PC Power and Cooling, Antec, Thermaltake, and OCZ all make good power supply units. I'm running a PC Power and Cooling Silencer 610.

Shizelbs

I'll probably only get one video card for now, but I would like to think I'll get a board and card that is capable of SLI when the time comes to add another card.

obieone

Here ya go....
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=940972

AsSiMiLaTeD

if you haven't already, check out anandtech and tomshardware for reviews of everything under the sun.

I'm a fan of the 8800GT myself, good bang for the buck, and it'll play anything out there including Crysis. I've long considered eVGA to be the Polk of the video card industry, so I'll stick with them. They have great customer service and a lifetime warranty on their video cards.

I also use eVGA for my motherboard, but ASUS and Abit are other excellent brands I've used with good success. make sure you're paying attention to the chipset when you buy and get the one you want.

I'm not an Intel person myself, but that processor should be good for anything you can think of. Make sure you get a good quality fan for it - I'm a big fan of Zalman fans.

RAM shouldn't matter as long as you don't cheap out and get the $30 4GB Fry's special. 4-4-4-12 are decent timings for DDR2 memory - Anything higher I'd avoid, lower is better. But you can't just look at that, you need to look at the quality also - I'd avoid anything without a heatsink for starters.

If you're looking for speed, I'd HIGHLY reccomend one of the Western Digital Raptor drives if you've got a well cooled case. They generate a bit more heat, but spin at 10000 RPM, and make a noticeable difference in anything that's hard drive intensive. They're more expensive of course, and don't come in the huge 500GB sizes, but using one as your primary OS drive yeilds a significant performance improvement.

Shizelbs

I go to Tom's Hardware nearly daily.

Refefer

There are a lot of options out there. As I have just finished building my own system (which you commented on in the Video Game section), there are a couple of things that you def need to know:

1. Most boards do not support DDR2 1066 ram running on all four dimms. Apparently P35 chipsets don't have enough bandwidth to run 4 dimms at that speed. As such, I'm forced to run my 4 gbs at much slower speeds 444mhz instead of 533mhz

2. Check the supported voltages of the RAM you buy. My Crucial Ballistix DDR2 1066 can only run at top speed at 2.2v, which my mobo had a real problem with. Aim for performance ram that's stable at 1.8v which most mobos can support by default.

3. If you opt to get Vista, get the 64-bit version. That will allow you to access all your RAM (if you opt for 4gbs or more, which you probably should).

4. Get a good cooler for your Q6600 and make sure it's a G0 step processor. Mine runs hot as balls on the stock cooler (and I can't wait for my new heatsink/fan to come in) and makes me a little anxious about pressing it at full speed.

5. Choose either eVGA or BFG graphics cards for their lifetime warranty and great track record on making good performance cards. I'm currently running a BFG 8800GT with a moderate overclock and I couldn't be happier. If anything happens, it's an RMA away from getting a new one. I'd personally recommend the BFG cards since they require less juice to run and generate less heat than any other card I've seen.

6. Run nothing less than a 650watt QUALITY psu. I had to upgrade from my 500watt Ultra Xconnect due to the 12v rail dropping lower than I was comfortable with (11.32) and my Antec 650watt is running cool and happy. Make sure it's providing a goodly number of amps as well, at least 40, across the 12v rails.

7. Be prepared for an awesome gaming experience

Systems

I've been pleased as punch with my ASUS P5W-DH Deluxe mobo. But if you want to use it for HT look for the next step up in this line. The next step has HDMI as well as all the other goodies. Mine supports the ATI Crossfire. I like the SLI from NVIDIA but my board doesn't support it. I'll be trying the Crossfire as soon as my new card arrives.

[Deleted User]

Asus and Abit are great motherboards. However lately seems like intel is doing some great stuff. Shizelbs, If you want the most power for your applications, get whatever you want, all you will need is 450-500 power supply no generics though! Given that you do not intend to overclock, lights, radiator, heat blower, sli.... you know what I mean?

pricewatch.com

Halen...

edbert

Just curious, what's your budget and what software do you need to go along with it?

Shizelbs

No real set budget, and I am set on software. I already have Vista Ultimate.

ARCSolo

For the CPU I would also go quad. I also second the opinion on evga products. You can't beat the warranty and they also have a step-up program if you decide you want the upgrade later on. For power supplies I have a Seasonic M12 550w. I love it, super quiet, second fan that only runs when needed and the reviews were all super positive that I read. I would check which ones are SLI certified. You may not go SLI today but it's nice to have the option later. If you already have Vista 32-bit version, stick to 3GB of RAM. 32-bit can't use more than 3GB. Evga also makes mobo's, kinda pricey but you still can't beat that warranty. I use their 8800 GTS vid card and I love it. Playing UT3 with all settings maxed and it runs like a dream. Good stuff. Enjoy!

This is my system: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4GHz OC'd @ 3.0GHz | ZALMAN CNPS7700-CU 120mm Cooling Fan | ASUS P5NSLI NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI | PNY DDR2 667 4 x 1GB RAM | EVGA 8800 GTS 640MB | Creative SB X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 | Western Digital Raptor 10,000rpm SATA 70GB x 2 | Seasonic M12 550w PSU | NZXT Lexa Blackline Classic case | Razer Lachesis | WRT330N Gbit Gaming Router | FIOS 30Mbps DL :cool:

Shizelbs

Thanks for the tips ARCSolo. UT3 is one of the few computer games I will buy once this rig is up and running. I have both the 32 and 64 bit versions of Vista, and considering how cheap RAM is, I will probably get 4 gigs. And you are right, I do want the option of doing SLI in the future.

ledhed

I put together a similar system Q6600, 4GB RAM (Which is for sale!), 8800GTS 320MB, Asus P5k-E Mobo, 600W Rosewill PSU. I would reccomend all of these components and definitely would recommend my case, the Antec P182 (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811129025) it looks awesome and is built like a tank.

In fact, this computer which I bult for 1600 last October is now around 1000. One thing I wish I had done was RAID my media harddrives and that is my next step along with 8GB Ram.

edbert

[URL="https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=8254008&WishListTitle=shizelbs
"]Try this little setup.[/URL]

You would have to include whatever DVD drives you want, but I have the same case, memory, power supply, video card, CPU cooler and similar MB and it works really well and quietly. I threw in an additional case fan just to keep things a little cooler. I picked these because the video card and memory had lifetime warranties and the rest just all seemed to get a lot of good ratings from those who had purchased them. Have fun and let us know what you end up with.

ledhed

Bad link, it just tries to go to my personal wishlists. The best way to share lists is to make them shared and then find the public link by searching for it here: http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/WishList/PublicWishLists.asp

edbert

Thanks Led, it should be fixed now.

jdhdiggs

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182070

How's this for a $40 PSU...

****: Check outpost.com for some of your things. I think the HDD's are much cheaper over there.

Shizelbs

Yes, that does look nice.

I'm set on HDDs for now anyways.

Shizelbs

Alright, here is the lineup...

Q6600 CPU
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
Rosewill RP600V2-S-SL 600W SLI Ready Power Supply
BFG Tech BFGE88512GTSE GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Antec 900 Case.

Totals just over $960.

Already have plenty of fans, HDDs.

Anything that I should be talked out of?

jdhdiggs

I think you should just send it all over here for debugging...

Shizelbs

I'll be sure to consider that.

jakelm

Shizelbs wrote: »

Already have plenty of fans

yes your ok, alot of people like you

edbert

Just something to think about, what type of HDD do you have, SATA or IDE? You only have one IDE connector unless you plan on daisy chaining a bunch of them together somehow. I have both a SATA drive and an IDE drive connected to mine and there is a considerable difference in speed when trying to access things(I did my own speed tests of putting the same large files on each and trying to pull both up at the same time and the SATA always won out) Again, you may already have all of this handled, I would just hate for you to get everything only to realize you are SOL trying to connect all the HDD's that you currently have.