new build

[Delbert]

Hello,

Just joined the forum, so plz take it easy with me.

Anyway, looking at a new build along the following lines....

2 x Seagate Barracuda ES 250GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3250620NS) £41.99 .... ( in Raid 0 )
EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS SuperClocked 320MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (320-P2-E815-AR) £169.99
Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £159.99
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad PCI-E 750W Power Supply £84.99
EVGA nForce 680i SLi (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (122-CK-NF68-A1) £149.99
OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2 (OCZ2P800R22GK) £36.99
Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case £61.99
Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/LGA775) £38.99

Being a bit of a noob at these things, i am a little uncertain about the memory and Mboard.

I am not really interested in SLI, but the price of a decent overclocking P35 board gets quite close to the price of the 680i. Would i be better off going for an Abit P35 Pro ?

Also, is the memory okay for slight overclock? Looking at getting the CPU to 3.2G+ ( i.e. 8x400+ ).

Chose the 8800GTS 320 as a stop gap as i am waiting on the next NVidia release. And will probably use the Step Up program from EVGA.

Any other advice is welcome of course.

TIA, Delbert

For note.... going to be sticking with XP until Vista is sorted, or a decent Dx10 game is released.

 

[Teaf]

Welcome to the forums Delbert!

The hard drives look great, so I can't fault them. The graphics card you probably would be better of maybe holding out on if you plan to use the step-up program to get one of the new series cards in January/February. The step-up program is only for the first 3 months of when you bought the card, and if the new cards come out after that then you won't be able to step-up and would have to buy a new one and sell you 8800 GTS.

The Quad is great, so no comment there. The power supply I would change to something like a Corsair 520W. This power supply will easily handle that system, and also a quad system based on one of the newer Nvidia/ATI cards out next year, so I wouldn't worry about the wattage on the PSU. If you wanted something a bit more beefier then you can always check out the Corsair 620W PSU which is a seriously good piece of kit.

I would also change the board. I notice you mention you not fussed about SLI, but if you did want an SLI capable board then you might want to wait until the end of the month and check out the new Nvidia 700 series motherboards. If you aren't fussed about SLI then I would really recommend a P35 board. Depending how much you want to spend you can get something like Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3P which is about £88 and a brilliant board, or if you wanted something with more features then the Abit IP35 Pro is the current favourite amongst many people and review sites.

The RAM is great, although if you are getting it from overclockers remember that then offer finishes tomorrow if cause you at at the top end of your budget and the price will go back to normal around lunchtime which means it'll cost aout £10 more. The case is good but if you wanted something more elegant then you should look towards the Antec P182 or the Akasa Eclipse. The cooler is a superb cooler but make note that it doesn't come with a 120mm fan, and you'll need to buy one seperate. If you haven't got one picked out then I'd recommend getting either an Akasa Amber or Scythe S-FLEX 1200 RPM... one of those combined with a Zalman Fan Mate and you'll be able to control the speed and therefore noise or the cooler from the outside of the case.

Also, is the memory okay for slight overclock? Looking at getting the CPU to 3.2G+ ( i.e. 8x400+ ).

Yes, the memory is excellent and if you run at 1:1 for 3.2Ghz then you are looking at a ram speed of 712 MHz which is under stock so maybe think about doing x1.25 and you'll be on 890 MHz which is quite nice and you should get nice timings out of that as well. The Quad is on a 9x multiplier if I remember correctly at highest so 9x356 will get you 3.2 GHz.

Chose the 8800GTS 320 as a stop gap as i am waiting on the next NVidia release. And will probably use the Step Up program from EVGA.

See my above note on that... basically the step-up program is for 3 months from purchase only, and you are pushing it a bit for new cards coming out by then and you might not be able to step-up.

 

[Delbert]

Hey Flibby....Thnx for the welcome, and the feedback.

Point noted on the PSU. Was looking at that one because of the heratige associated with the make. But i do like the modular look of the HX620.

With the CPU & Memory, is it not possible to run the multiplier at 8x for a 400fsb ? If not, perhaps i should go for some 8500+ stuff ?

Question on the P182 though. How is it at keeping things cool ? I like the design with the different compartments and cable management, but surely having the 2 fans blocked by a closed door at the front would hamper it ? Also, would you change the fans for maybe these... http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-005-SH&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=4

Think i got the wrong CPU cooler... think more this one...http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-039-TR&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=821

As for the GFX card..... mmmhhh will have to work on that one.

Any more advice gratefully recieved....

 

[Teaf]

With the CPU & Memory, is it not possible to run the multiplier at 8x for a 400fsb ? If not, perhaps i should go for some 8500+ stuff ?

Yeah you can run at 8x multiplier, but that would keep RAM at stock if you were 1:1. If you didn't mind that then that's okay

Question on the P182 though. How is it at keeping things cool ? I like the design with the different compartments and cable management, but surely having the 2 fans blocked by a closed door at the front would hamper it ? Also, would you change the fans for maybe these... http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-005-SH&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=4

I wouldn't bother replacing the stock fans in the P182, they are really good fans. They are controlled by a small switch on the fans that allow you to change the speed / airflow / noise. They have a low, medium and high setting. The high setting is very audible but pushes about 80 CFM. The low speed is very quiet but of course the CFM is a lot lower. The intake isn't that bad. But I would definetly get another fan with that case as with the stock fan positions there is no intake fan. The 3 that are in there are placed as: 1 at the back, 1 at the top, 1 in the psu/hdd lower cage area. So 1 more fan would be good and placed as the intake at the middle hard drive bay.

You can still intake air through that with the door closed as around the door itself has small holes that air can go into, then into the fan doors and through the case. You can see an example of what I mean in this picture.

 

[Delbert]

Cheers flibby...
Might pester you with a few more questions as i put the final pieces in place....if that is okay

 

[Teaf]

Heh no problem

Just ask when you need any help.