Advice/help with build please

Tombles · 30 May 2007 at 18:37

Hi all,

I'm not too great regarding components as i have been out the game for a while. But I recently purchased a 8800gts 640mb and 2gb of geil ram but thought why not splash out and buy a new mobo and processor aswell seeing as i get paid tomorrow

Apart from the parts mentioned above I will also be using my old case, antec true power 500w psu, 2 x sata hdd's, cd/dvd rom drive.

I was thinking of getting: -

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-076-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=565

and

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-128-IN

Would these be fine with everything else I got, will the PSU be able to handle it all comfortably?

I heard good things about the E6600 but is it really worth the money as i would like costs to be kept to a minimum and is the choice of mobo any good?

I wont really be overclocking.

Any help appreciated,

many thanks

Will_3rd · 30 May 2007 at 20:00

The mobo and PSU should be fine.

As for the CPU you could get a 6320/6420 if your trying to save money, both will clock to the 6600 stock speed and will perform the same.

Tombles · 30 May 2007 at 21:39

Thanks.

Another question i have is i have 2 hdd's (second one just for storage). When it comes to doing a fresh install of windows can i take out the second hdd and plug it back in after the installation without having to do anything to it as it didnt have windows installed on it?

Will_3rd · 30 May 2007 at 21:45

Yeah just unplug the power from the storage HDD and then then do a reformat/install on the other HDD.

Tombles · 31 May 2007 at 08:31

Thanks again Will, very much appreciated

Anyone else got any advice or think of anything better or something i may of missed?

Tombles · 31 May 2007 at 12:38

I am also looking at these motherboards: -

Asus P5N-E SLi nForce 650 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard

Asus P5N32-E PLUS SLi nForce (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard

Gigabyte GA_P35C_DS3R (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 & DDR3 Motherboard

Is there any real difference between them, is one really any better than the other?

Mobo is the only thing stopping me from ordering now, just not sure what will be best for me.

Will_3rd · 31 May 2007 at 12:45

Asus P5N-E SLi nForce 650 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard - has a 650i chipset

Asus P5N32-E PLUS SLi nForce (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard - has a 680i chipset

Gigabyte GA_P35C_DS3R (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 & DDR3 Motherboard - uses the new P35 chipset from Intel, supports penryn ddr3 etc.

Tombles said:
Is there any real difference between them, is one really any better than the other?

The two Nvidia based boards support SLI, the P35 board clocks better then 965/975/650/680 chipsets iirc.

Tombles said:
Mobo is the only thing stopping me from ordering now, just not sure what will be best for me.

IMO SLI is not worth it at all, so best to look at P35 boards, such as the DS3P

Tombles · 31 May 2007 at 17:24

Thanks again, i was looking at the P35 DS3P but its not in stock so might opt for the DS3R.

Thinking of getting the freezer 7 cooler too, does anyone know if it fits on this board ok?

Also just to double check about my hdd where i store my files on, as its an internal hdd are you sure its ok to change from xp to vista without having to format it?

Dont want to have to plug it in to find i cant access my files

Shimmy · 31 May 2007 at 17:32

Yup the Artic Freezer 7 Pro would fit no problem, and format the hard drive.

The Gigabyte DS3R would be an excellent choice, supports future chips and DDR3.

If you're not overclocking then stick with E6600, if you do plan on overclocking get the E6420 as mentioned before as it easily clocks past the E6600 at smaller price.

Will_3rd · 31 May 2007 at 17:32

Tombles said:
Thinking of getting the freezer 7 cooler too, does anyone know if it fits on this board ok?

Still an LGA775 socket, so should be fine

Tombles said:
Also just to double check about my hdd where I store my files on, as its an internal hdd are you sure its ok to change from xp to vista without having to format it?

Should be fine, both use the same file system NTFS

Tombles · 31 May 2007 at 20:10

Thanks guys

Got one person saying format another saying dont arghh

Anyone else know if i should format or not?

Much thanks to all

Jaffa_Cake · 31 May 2007 at 20:41

Tombles said:
Got one person saying format another saying dont arghh

Anyone else know if i should format or not?

New mobo usually = format. If windows boots then your a lucky one.

Will_3rd · 31 May 2007 at 20:43

Tombles said:
Got one person saying format another saying don't arghh

Anyone else know if i should format or not?

You didn't make it very clear, format the drive your putting Windows on, but your other HDD you don't need to format obviously.

TheSwede · 31 May 2007 at 20:45

As said by the wise ones already, format the HDD since that will give you a clean installation to go with you fresh mobo and processor!