Final spec check please before I buy...
- Thread starter NeilF
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change the ram to 4gb ocz its' £50 in most places
oh, here http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp...l Channel Vista Gold Series DDR2 (OCZ2G8004GK)
and yup, only need 1 cpu
also, i'd change the motherboard to an Asus P45 / Gigabyte P45
what mobo features do you want..?
crossfire..
raid..
oh, here http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp...l Channel Vista Gold Series DDR2 (OCZ2G8004GK)
and yup, only need 1 cpu
also, i'd change the motherboard to an Asus P45 / Gigabyte P45
what mobo features do you want..?
crossfire..
raid..
Man of Honour
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Hiya NeilFawcett, the specification looks fine. However, may I make a few suggestions...
The memory you have chosen is rather expensive and isn't really needed, especially if you are only looking at overclocking the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 to around 3GHz. Have a look at this memory kit here, it's quite a bit cheaper and will take the Q6600 right up to 3.6GHz.
With regards to the case, I haven't had any experience with the one that you have chosen so I'm afraid I can't really comment on it. Though, I would suggest taking a look at the Lian-Li PC-7B PLUS II Aluminium Midi-Tower Case. It's a excellent case, you honestly can't go wrong with it.
The Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro is fine. However, if you are looking at overclocking the Q6600 any higher than around 3.2GHz (Once you start, you won't want to stop
) you would be better of with a slightly better CPU Cooler such as the Noctua NH-U12P CPU Cooler.
The ATI Radeon 4870 is a fantastic graphics card. Though, I would suggest having a look at this one here, it's the 1024MB edition which is slightly better but it is also cheaper.
The motherboard that you have chosen is fine. Though I would only really suggest purchasing a X38 chipset motherboard if you are looking at running dual ATI Radeon graphics cards. So, may I suggest a motherboard from the P45 chipset range such as the Asus P5Q Pro Intel P45. It's a brilliant motherboard, the BIOS is excellent, very simple and well laid out and it will take your Q6600 right up to 3.6GHz with very little problems.
Now, I can't see a power supply unit listed, is this becuase you have already purchased one?
The memory you have chosen is rather expensive and isn't really needed, especially if you are only looking at overclocking the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 to around 3GHz. Have a look at this memory kit here, it's quite a bit cheaper and will take the Q6600 right up to 3.6GHz.
With regards to the case, I haven't had any experience with the one that you have chosen so I'm afraid I can't really comment on it. Though, I would suggest taking a look at the Lian-Li PC-7B PLUS II Aluminium Midi-Tower Case. It's a excellent case, you honestly can't go wrong with it.
The Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro is fine. However, if you are looking at overclocking the Q6600 any higher than around 3.2GHz (Once you start, you won't want to stop
) you would be better of with a slightly better CPU Cooler such as the Noctua NH-U12P CPU Cooler.The ATI Radeon 4870 is a fantastic graphics card. Though, I would suggest having a look at this one here, it's the 1024MB edition which is slightly better but it is also cheaper.
The motherboard that you have chosen is fine. Though I would only really suggest purchasing a X38 chipset motherboard if you are looking at running dual ATI Radeon graphics cards. So, may I suggest a motherboard from the P45 chipset range such as the Asus P5Q Pro Intel P45. It's a brilliant motherboard, the BIOS is excellent, very simple and well laid out and it will take your Q6600 right up to 3.6GHz with very little problems.
Now, I can't see a power supply unit listed, is this becuase you have already purchased one?
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Thanks! I'll change it, although my stuff had LEDs on
I'm tempted to wait for the Lian PC-7F! But suspect it'll be well over £100... The Hiper gets great reviews, and apart from the buttons/leds being on top, it seems great! The Hiper gets excellent reviews!
That looks HUGE, a a fair bit more expensive!!! Will it fit in my case!!! My main concern is also noise. so if it'll be a lot quieter than the AC Freeze 7 then I'm interested! I'd of course have to put a 12cm LED fan on thanThe Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro is fine. However, if you are looking at overclocking the Q6600 any higher than around 3.2GHz (Once you start, you won't want to stop
Interesting! The reason I chose the original one was the temps seems to be better... The one you've listed doesn't run super hot all the time?
I want to be able to run all my case fans off the motherboard, and try and run them slower/faster according to CPU temps. Probably with the front one at a constant slow rate. I believe the X38 I listed can run two different groups of fans autonomously... Lesser MBs seems to have far less options!
Crossfire just seems to give that extra option for the future? The MB you listed offers crossfire as well I think?
Already have a OCZ 700W.Now, I can't see a power supply unit listed, is this becuase you have already purchased one?
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Man of Honour
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Thanks! I'll change it, although my stuff had LEDs on
Hi NeilFawcett, I guess it depends if having LEDs on your memory is really important to you?
From personal experience, the Lian-Li PC-7B PLUS II Aluminium Midi-Tower Case is a fantastic case and you honestly can't beat it for the price. Though, if the Hiper Osiris gets great reviews and you prefer it, go for it.
The Noctua NH-U12P CPU Cooler is slightly larger than the Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro but it shouldn't have any problems fitting in standard ATX cases. It does also cost slightly more. However, it's a fantastic CPU Cooler and if you will be looking at pushing the Q6600 any further than 3.2GHz, then it would be highly recommended to purchase a slightly better CPU cooler than the Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro.
I believe the ASUS ATI Radeon 4870 graphics card come with a custom cooler which you can see here. Now, a ATI Radeon 4870 with a stock cooler does run slightly hot. However, you can quite easily change the fan speed using a program like Rivatuner but then you have the factor of noise. You could always purchase an additional cooler like the Arctic Cooling Accelero S1 Rev. 2 VGA Cooler for the ATI Radeon 4870 if you were to go with the Powercolor card.
I guess it depends on weather you want the 512MB or the 1024MB edition of the ATI Radeon 4870?
Take a look at a couple of review sites that have reviewed the ATI Radeon 4870 1024MB edition.
Guru3D - ATI Radeon 4870 1024MB
Bit-Tech - ATI Radeon 4870 1024MB
Anandtech - ATI Radeon 4870 1024MB
I'm afraid I can't comment on the above with regards to the fans but if that's important to you then go for it.
The P45 chipset motherboard can indeed run dual ATI Radeon graphics cards. However, when running Crossfire, both of the PCI-Express lanes default to PCI-E 2.0 x8 (Which is effectively PCI-E 1.0/1 x16) where as the X38 and X48 chipset motherboards run at PCI-E 2.0 x16 when running two ATI Radeon graphics cards.
Having said that though, the difference is fairly small. To find out more information with regards to this, take a look here.
Good stuff.
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Hi NeilFawcett, I guess it depends if having LEDs on your memory is really important to you?
From personal experience, the Lian-Li PC-7B PLUS II Aluminium Midi-Tower Case is a fantastic case and you honestly can't beat it for the price. Though, if the Hiper Osiris gets great reviews and you prefer it, go for it.
The Noctua NH-U12P CPU Cooler is slightly larger than the Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro but it shouldn't have any problems fitting in standard ATX cases. It does also cost slightly more. However, it's a fantastic CPU Cooler and if you will be looking at pushing the Q6600 any further than 3.2GHz, then it would be highly recomnded to purchase a slightly better CPU cooler than the Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro.
I believe the ASUS ATI Radeon 4870 graphics card come with a custom cooler which you can see here. Now, a ATI Radeon 4870 with a stock cooler does run slightly hot. However, you can quite easily change the fan speed using a program like Rivatuner but then you have the factor of noise. You could always purchase an additonal cooler like the Arctic Cooling Accelero S1 Rev. 2 VGA Cooler for the ATI Radeon 4870 if you were to go with the Powercooler card.
I guess it depends on weather you want the 512MB or the 1024MB edition of the ATI Radeon 4870?
Take a look at a couple of review sites that have reviewed the ATI Radeon 4870 1024MB edition.
Guru3D - ATI Radeon 4870 1024MB
Bit-Tech - ATI Radeon 4870 1024MB
Anandtech - ATI Radeon 4870 1024MB
I'm afraid I can't comment on the above with regards to the fans but if that's important to you then go for it.
The P45 chipset motherboard can indeed run dual ATI Radeon graphics cards. However, when running Crossfire, both of the PCI-Express lanes default to PCI-E 2.0 x8 (Which is effectively PCI-E 1.0/1 x16) where as the X38 and X48 chipset motherboards run at PCI-E 2.0 x16 when running two ATI Radeon graphics cards.
Having said that though, the difference is fairly small. To find out more information with regards to this, take a look here.
Good stuff.
Yes, the Lian is lovely, but I'm replacing a Lian PC65 with the new system, so would prefer it look a bit different (not basically the same)... Although the buttons & leds are on the top of the Hiper (shame!) it's a lovely looking case and has excellent cooling (2x120mm fans behind/above CPU) + PSU is at the bottom...
OK... Given the ATI 4870 is designed to run hot (over 100 degrees) I'll overlook the hot idling speed... Shame a simple BIOS fix to slow the GPU down isn't available freely for it
In reality I suspect I'll never crossfire another card in, but you never know!
I'd rather pay the extra £20 pounds for the X38 motherboards for all the functions it offers I think.
I assume with the CPU fan I'd just let the MB speed it up/slow it down according to temp?
So, here's the final list...?
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As regards fan control? I've looked at some screen shots from the bios, and it looks very simplistic? The X38 allows two distinct fan groups to be defined... Although not great, it's the most complex I've seen. It also has 4 fan headers, where as the P45 has 3 I believe...
Man of Honour
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Hiya NeilFawcett, here is a review of the Abit IX38 QuadGT Intel X38 if you are interested. Unfortunately though, it doesn't get the best results in the world.
I'll buy the same fans that come with my case, but the LED Chrome version... Get good reviews... I'll connect them all to the MB and run at a lower speed/according to CPU temp. http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-000-HP
Any other suggestions then? Main requirements are good performance, and good fan support (ie: running CPU, and 2 groups of fans (a single and a pair) at separate rates based on CPU, or static speeds. Cross fire would be nice, but not too important...
I was incorrect! The Pro Intel P45 offers the same fan control as the IX38! I'll ask for advice about the MB on the MB forum!
