Please review potential new PC build....

bluetech

bluetech

bluetech

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27 Aug 2006
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435
Here is what I am looking to buy, this will be my first build but I have done a fair amount of research into getting good quality parts, I hope you feel that this is correct when you read the specs. Two questions for the following:

1. I would need 3 x SATA cables but would like some that "GRIP". Any ideas here? I know a glue gun would do the job. But I love to tinker and this would only be annoying.

2. I have an external surge protector but I have heard of some PSU's having an internal surge protector. Now I have seen a PSU blow. And boy do they blow and I have seen cases where the motherboard is taken with them. I would like to get a PSU with this internal surge protection feature and of a high enough wattage for the following specs. What would be a good one to go for? Is my pick any good?

A little more info:

I was building this system with future overclocking in mind. (i.e when the time is right and I am comfertable with the idea and have gained enough knowlege). Hence the motherboard and the memory being used. I was hoping some advice could be given in the setup below looks a little "unsafe". When I say future, I mean, at least a year future.


Specs:

HDD (Hard Disk Drive) Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 160GB ST3160811AS SATA-II 8MB Cache -OEM £41.11 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-093-SE £872.89


HDD (Hard Disk Drive) Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB ST3320620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM £66.96 RAID 1(Mirrored): 2x SATAII (3.0Gb/s) 320GB (DATA) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-078-SE


HDD (Hard Disk Drive) Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB ST3320620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM £66.96 RAID 1(Mirrored): 2x SATAII (3.0Gb/s) 320GB (DATA) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-078-SE


CPU (Central Processing Unit) Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £204.44 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-166-AM

Motherboard Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £82.24 Solid State Capacitors / RAID SUPPORT http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-061-GI



CD/DVD Drive Samsung SH-S182D 18x18 DVD±RW ReWriter (Black) - OEM £19.96 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CD-078-SA



PSU (Power Supply Unit) Hiper HPU-4M580 Type R 580W ATX2.2 PSU - Black £58.74 Internal Surge Protection ??? http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-009-HP


Case CoolerMaster Ammo 533 Aluminum (No PSU) - Silver £50.51 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-089-CM



RAM (Random Access Memory) GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC) £146.86 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-058-GL


Graphics Card HIS ATI Radeon X1950 Pro ICEQ 3 TURBO SILENT Heatpipe 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (H195PRQT256DD-R) £135.11 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-065-HT



Thank's for all of those who read this. Even if you decide not to reply, I am happy you have taken the time to read it.

If you can spare a moment. Even the smallest detail, please leave a reply. I will be checking this thread every evening this week so it won't go unnoticed...

Thank you all again!
 
SATA cable security

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CB-000-WD From western digital provide security but I think only for WD hard drives.

There are also these 'latched' ones...
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CB-054-GE

Your Motherboard is absolutely a solid choice. Gigabytes are very solid, and the DS3/S3 range is absolutely stellar.

I would steer you away from a Hiper PSU - reliability problems have recently surfaced. Everyone else will recommend the Corsairs (and they are excellent units) however I only have really good experience with many Enermaxs, and so recommmend them from personal experience.

(Any thing from Tier 2 here would be good http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=103 )

Cases are a personal choice - and personally I prefer Lian Li.

Your graphics will likely enrage the faithful but my knowledge on this generation of cards is slender.

Good luck with the build.

You should consider some form of Heatsink/Fan thing if you hope to overclock. Though the Core 2 Duos run very cool and you will get a significant o/c on the retail heatsink. If cost is a concern then try the E4300 - which overclocks easily and is cheap as, well quite literally, chips.
 
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any particular reason for a 6600?

A 4300 with a freezer 7 cooler will work just as well for games and windows and overclock so so so easy.

Please don't buy a Hiper, do a search on the boards for Hiper 580w Type R. Since mine has broken 2 weeks ago I have personally since 8 threads reporting a problem with it. Go for the corsair 520w... best PSU around.

DS3 is an amazing board and a great overclocker. Others to consider would be the p5ne-sli. I have not tried the DS3 but i have the latter and would personally recommend it as I have found it n00b friendly for overclocking.

The HIS x1950pro.. read a few threads with problems. Its overclocked out of the box. You could get the connect3d version for twenty pounds cheaper. Its a very very impressive card. Or if you are really into gaming go bonkers and get the 8800 gts 340mb which is 70 pound more but one of the best cards available at this moment in time

So the only recommendation i would make is, spend the little extra on the PSU. Drop the 6600 and get a 4300 with freezer 7 for some good stable overclocking going just over 3.1ghz if you want to push it :) Maybe drop the HIS in favour of the connect 3d or 8800 GTS

With the 80 pound saving from changing CPU maybe get a 8800 GTS OR have a nice valentines day with missus or random woman !! :D

Regards and good luck with whatever you choose
Matt
 
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I would steer you away from a Hiper PSU - reliability problems have recently surfaced. Everyone else will recommend the Corsairs (and they are excellent units) however I only have really good experience with many Enermaxs, and so recommmend them from personal experience.
Click to expand...

Woohoo, two replys almost same answer :) hiper baaaad
 
OK guys. I will scrap the Hiper PSU and go with the advise on the other (much appreciated for that advice.... could have landed in a pit of problems). The case is not my idal design. But the portability and durability is something that will prove most handy.

I will look into the card and I may leave the processor be. I want to run the system at non overclocked settings for the first year and learn the in's and out's of overclocking so's to lower the risk factor to the pc. This i think is worth the £90 difference. But I shall be contemplating.

Please keep the replies comming. They have been most helpful so far.
 
With no overclocking the 6600 makes sense. However if you then buy the ATI 1950 it doesn't. The 8800 GTS performance is more compelling than the distinction between the 4300 and the 6600.

The 4300 is so completely trivial to overclock - two setting in the bios. Run one program to check the stability. The end.

I have built too many machines to mention - the most recent was an S3* and the 4300 I got at the end of last week was. It was *BORING* to overclock. No arcane gestures were required. No tweaking. Nothing. Disappointing for an enthusiast looking for some challenge. Good however for you! 66% overclock with the stock heatsink.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17636047 for further details



*S3 is the DS3 with 3 year warrantly instead of 5 because of non-solid state capacitors.
 
artaxerxes said:
With no overclocking the 6600 makes sense. However if you then buy the ATI 1950 it doesn't. The 8800 GTS performance is more compelling than the distinction between the 4300 and the 6600.

The 4300 is so completely trivial to overclock - two setting in the bios. Run one program to check the stability. The end.

I have built too many machines to mention - the most recent was an S3* and the 4300 I got at the end of last week was. It was *BORING* to overclock. No arcane gestures were required. No tweaking. Nothing. Disappointing for an enthusiast looking for some challenge. Good however for you! 66% overclock with the stock heatsink.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17636047 for further details



*S3 is the DS3 with 3 year warrantly instead of 5 because of non-solid state capacitors.
Click to expand...


Oh the overclocking is tempting! What risk can this pose to the rest of the system or that parts being overclocked in this setup? Also I nottice the E4300 has a FSB of 800MHz yet the E6300 has a FSB of 1066MHz. This will most likely not aply to this overclock but you guy's are better than me at this. Please give me your thoughts...

Thanks again.
 
There is a risk of an unstable system with overclocking. You also shorten the lifespan of the components from a 'long time into the future' to 'way after you woud of upgraded anyway and have given the computer to your rabbit'.

Unstable systems are not a problem if you *test* your overclock. Many systems will run at very high speeds but not reliably. Tests like Orthos and the Intel Thermal Analysis Tool will allow you to stress you system and work out where it is stable.

In the case of the E4300, the lower FSB is an advantage. Overclocking the 6600 requires good RAM that will go past the high initial FSB. Yes there is a bandwidth advantage.

Overclocking the E4300 requires ram specced to run at much lower (and cheaper speeds) The GeIL 6400 enormously cheap, but there is plenty of room to maneurver.

In my own personal experience I had a conservative overclock of the default 200 to 334 FSB. I merely upped the voltage and the FSB. I am running the 1.8Ghz chip at 3GHz. This was a build for a friend - where I would not have further access to the PC - so it had to be solid. I ran Orthos endlessly until I was satisfied with the systems stability.

In more detail...

I initially set the voltage to 1.45v for the E4300. Then I tried high FSBs. If the PC fails to boot the DS3 falls back to 200. I could boot at nearly 400. However in Windows Orthos told me there were errors, and the temperature was high. I dialed back down to 334 - which was still very sweet - until Orthos ran perfectly. I then lowered the voltage step by step until Orthos told me the errors returned. Then i bumped it back up twice.
 
artaxerxes said:
Overclocking the E4300 requires ram specced to run at much lower (and cheaper speeds) The GeIL 6400 enormously cheap, but there is plenty of room to maneurver.

In my own personal experience I had a conservative overclock of the default 200 to 334 FSB. I merely upped the voltage and the FSB. I am running the 1.8Ghz chip at 3GHz. This was a build for a friend - where I would not have further access to the PC - so it had to be solid. I ran Orthos endlessly until I was satisfied with the systems stability.
Click to expand...

Now thats an overclock! 1.8GHz to 3.0GHz! I have heard this is possible with stock cooling. I am still toying with the idea of everclocking as it pretty much renders all warranty's null and void which is understandable. Do you know of a good solid psu to go for? Bearing in mind I may overclock and may be using the 8800 graphics card here.

Thanks for your help!
 
pcci3.jpg


I wish to have a nice safe and stable overclock with this setup... I am hoping for 2.6GHz - 2.8GHz. Would stock cooling be OK for this. I have done some research and it all looks OK. I have stuck with DDR2 800 instead of 667 as in the future I may decide to overclock a little more when comfertable.

Am I right in thinking:

I need to keep the temps below 60 degrees celcius at full load (will be using PRIME 95 or ORTHOS for this, and that it is the voltage that has a lot to do the heat. The voltage I understand shouldent need. And shouldent full stop, go over 1.4V to the processor.

So, overclocking at 2.8GHz with no more then 1.4V going to the processor should keep the temp below 60 degrees celcius and alow me to use the stock cooling. Is this correct? Any thoughts?

If I do need custon cooling, I was thinking that this may well be the way to go. And for the extra £15... it hardly breaks the bank.

Thanks guys... your help is great... thank you. Please keep the comments coming regarding purley this cooling issue now. Thanks again!
 
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bluetech said:
I need to keep the temps below 60 degrees celcius at full load (will be using PRIME 95 or ORTHOS for this, and that it is the voltage that has a lot to do the heat. The voltage I understand shouldent need. And shouldent full stop, go over 1.4V to the processor.

So, overclocking at 2.8GHz with no more then 1.4V going to the processor should keep the temp below 60 degrees celcius and alow me to use the stock cooling. Is this correct? Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

Looks outstanding. I was getting 65 with stock cooling at 3.0GHz (333fsb) and 1.4125 volts.

You should loose 5 degrees easily with less volts and less fsb. Just make sure you get a good interface between the cooler and the chip, and good airflow through the case.
 
you will be able to clock it at 2.6 so easily its too hard to say in words, its probably one of the easiest overclocks going.

This is all on the stock cooler as well!!! I hope the system is everything you hope for. Now that i have the 8800 gts I cannot be more happier for the amount of money paid.

Big thumbs up from me for the spec also
 
Tanks guy's. Your help has been much appreciated. The specs are a little different now to what appears here but only regards HDD's. Glad to hear that you guy's approve.
 
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