New computer advice / Overclocking

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Hiya all, i am after a bit of advice regarding building a new computer.

I have been doing some research over the last few days into the componants i am gonna use. I have a budget of around a grand for the pc itself without a monitor.

I have got this spec so far, its for light gaming and office work / net access.

Processor

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-211-IN

I have settled on the Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 which i plan to overclock to 3.2ghz. I would like to run 400mhz fsb x 8 toget the 3.2ghz speed. Its the G0 stepping.

??? Will this be ok ???

Motherboard

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-135-AB

This is an abit ip35 pro which i have been told is great for overclocking and has plenty of features.

??? Does anyone have any experience with this board ???
??? would anyone reccomend going for a x38 or p45 board instead???

Memory

Now this was a tough choice but i have settled for this

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-148-CS

Its Corsair 4GB DDR2 XMS2 Dominator PC2-8500C5 TwinX (2x2GB).

I am gonna run 2 sets of this so 4 x 2gb sticks so 8gb total memory. I will be running vista x64 so it wont have a problem using all of it but i have been told that memory controllers get stressed when addressing 4 sticks of ram so its best to run the memory at the next setting down. This means running the memory at ddr2-800 instead of ddr2-1066. I believe that this will fit in with my planned 400mhz fsb speed nicely though so it will be ok and give me a 1:1 fsb to ram ratio which i have read is good to aim for.

??? can anyone see any problems with this ???

Graphics Card

After doing some research i have settled for this

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-089-PC

Its an Powercolor ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI

??? I dont plan on any big gaming as i have the xbox 360 and ps3 for that so is this ok??

Hard Drives

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-154-SE

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-053-SA

Now i want the fastest hard drive performance i can get ( apart from the overpriced wd raptors and ssd drives ) so i am thinking of going for 2 seagate 7200.11 320gb drives in raid 0 so i gain double the speed ( these will be for the os and programs ) and also a 1tb samsung f1 drive for backup and storage. Would this be a good combo?? I have been looking at benchmarks and the seagates come a close second to the raptors on most things due to the single 320gb platter and high density.

??? Is this a good setup to go for??
??? has anyone used raid 5 and would it be worth me getting 3 seagates so i have got a bit of security against drive failure ???

Optical Drives

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CD-000-PI

This is an Pioneer DVR-215DBK 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter. I will run 2 of these so i can copy from one to another or burn 2 discs at once.

??? Is this ok??

Cooling

I will either go for the tuniq tower 120 or the artic cooling freezer 7 pro with artic silver thermal paste.

??? which of these will be the best option ???

Case and power supply

Again i have been reccomended these

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-008-CS
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-065-AN

These are an antec nine hundred gaming case and a corsair tx650 power supply. I have chosen the case for the really good cooling properties and the power supply has been reccomended as a good one for overclocked ssytems.

??? would anyone suggest anything else ???

Operating system

I want to run vista x64 premium edition. I know there are problems with compatibility with this os, but i have been told its getting better all the time and is the future.

??? anyone have any reasons not to go for this ???

Keyboard and mouse

That leave just the keyboard and mouse. I like logitech stuff so i was gonna go for the Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500 Revolution but i have heard of problems with the mouse. So i was gonna go for the logitech wave and an mx518 or G7 mouse.

??? anyone have any comments on these ???


Well thats about it, any comments are more then welcome, as i say i have only really got into this stuff over the last few days and i still am reading up on it. Any problems you can see please let me know especially the overclocking, processor, and memory side.

Thanks in advance

Ricky
 
All seems fine..

But i would consider changing the "Abit IP35 Pro" to a P45 Asus P5Q series mobo.

For CPU cooler Tuniq Tower hands down.

Will have to wait and see what other people say. :)

BTW: I run x64 Vista Ultimate and everything is running flawlessly, it took a bit of tweaking but once you disable the useless stuff it's not as bad as people say.
 
Don't buy the "guaranteed" Q6600. There isn't a guarantee, and they will all run at 3.3GHz. Go for a normal one.

The motherboard is good, but I would recommend a newer P5Q (Pro) instead.

Go for GeIL Black Dragon PC6400 memory. You won't need 1GHz memory for that setup.

TBH, I would forget RAID. Just get one WD6400AAKS. It is going to be very close to the RAID setup, and cheaper. You won't get anywhere near double the speed.

Tuniq Tower 120.

The case and power supply choice is good. You might want to go with a TX750 as it is so cheap, but if you don't want to, that's fine.

There are barely any compatibility problems with 64 bit Vista now.

G5, G7, or MX518 mice are all great.
 
Thanks for the replies.

Tuniq tower it is then.

I have been told / have read that 8 gb of ram is pushing it with regards to the memory controller, and you have to run your memory at the next step below. So ddr2-800 could only run at ddr2-666 which aint really good enough to use with a 400mhz fsb.

Is there any truth in this??

What advantages would i get by switching to a p45 based board??

Also i believed that with raid 0 you do get close to 2 x hdd performance. Is this not right also??

Sorry for the questions, and thanks for your time.

ricky
 
lamboman said:
Don't buy the "guaranteed" Q6600. There isn't a guarantee, and they will all run at 3.3GHz. Go for a normal one.
Click to expand...

Not entirely true. It depends what VID you get, some may not run at 3,3Ghz so buying a guranteed chip may be worth the extra few quid to avoid disapointment.
 
Yeah i was thinking that about the q6600 chip. I think i will go for the guarenteed one for piece of mind.
 
I like Enermax power supplies myself. Have 3, the oldest of which has been running solid for 6 years.

Motherboard: got the Abit IP35 Pro and it's pretty good. Got a modest 3.42GHz stable out of my Q6660 GO. I did feel though I'm limited by the board and not the chip to go higher.

Cooling I would go with a TRUE. The Noctua is similar though and easier to fit, but probably not as good as TRUE (very marginal and if using same fan).

I bought an Enermax keyboard recently, the aluminium one. It makes my old Saitek Eclipse look and feel like a piece of tat (it did anyway to be honest).
 
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