New Spec Questions

[Wonderboy]

Hi all, was wondering if you'd answer a few questions for me about my new build I going to get...

Well I'll start by saying what I want to get;

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0
Ballistix 4Gb Ram
Abit IP35 Pro
8800 GTX

Now I'm wanting to overclock of course , but i'm not sure what speed RAM i need. I want to get the Q6600 to at least 3.2 on a Therm Ultra-120 Extreme, which i'm sure is more than capable of doing, should I get 6400 or 8500 for this? I'd love to get the cheaper if it's up for the job, but i was never any good at the ram speed stuff.

Now the GFX card I thought about for awhile... I was gonna wait for the G92s and just get a GTS 640, however this is a 'starting from scratch' build and I'm getting a 24" Dell, and thought maybe the GTS wouldn't cope as well @ 1920 - 1200. So I'm tempted to get a GTX, having also read that the G92 will use 2.0 Pci-E which the IP35 doesn't support. I'm sure the G92 would work(?) in a slower 1.1, but why buy something that I can't use to it's full without buying something else aswell to run it in. Thoughts?

If I do get the GTX I want to OC that too . I was planning on taking off the stock cooler and fitting a TR HR-03+, would you think this to be worth it?

And lastly, I need a decent case, I had the Antec 900 case on my wishlist since the start of this build, but now i'm not too sure. I'd love the apprently awesome air cooling ability it has, but i'm worried about cable organisation (I'm a bit OCD) and avaliable working space inside, plus the fact I might not be able to fit a side window fan due to the CPU cooler/GPU cooler. So I thought about the Antec P182 (which looks so slick) where I could run the cables round the back of the Mobo Tray, but then I'd miss out on the side window altogether and the 200mm jet engine the 900 has.

Apologies for anything I've gotten completly wrong, and thanks for your time.

Oh oh and is lapping really worth it for a few degrees cooler?

 

[truebluecfc]

Now I'm wanting to overclock of course , but I'm not sure what speed RAM i need. I want to get the Q6600 to at least 3.2 on a Therm Ultra-120 Extreme, which I'm sure is more than capable of doing, should I get 6400 or 8500

Well, 3200 (3.2) / 4 = 800 which is how fast the ram will be running at, that is if you run at 1:1 which is 6400 stock speed. So you could probably get the 5300 kit and overclock to 800MHz from 667MHz fairly comfortably as these are meant to overclock like a beast.

If you want 6400 RAM then considering you wont be OC'ing the RAM you might as well get something cheaper such as the;
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit
£49.99
£58.74 inc VAT

Which don't overclock that bad anyways, mine can do 900MHz (Haven't tried pushing it further) which will you give a overclock of 3.6GHz.

Now the GFX card I thought about for awhile... I was gonna wait for the G92s and just get a GTS 640, however this is a 'starting from scratch' build and I'm getting a 24" Dell, and thought maybe the GTS wouldn't cope as well @ 1920 - 1200. So I'm tempted to get a GTX, having also read that the G92 will use 2.0 Pci-E which the IP35 doesn't support. I'm sure the G92 would work(?) in a slower 1.1, but why buy something that I can't use to it's full without buying something else aswell to run it in. Thoughts?

Defiantly get the OCuK 8800 GTX, for under £300 you cant go wrong.

If I do get the GTX I want to OC that too . I was planning on taking off the stock cooler and fitting a TR HR-03+, would you think this to be worth it?

I doubt it will increase your overclock much, it might run cooler but that's about it, the 8800's are fairly quiet anyway, i don't think theirs much need tbh.

And lastly, I need a decent case, I had the Antec 900 case on my wishlist since the start of this build, but now i'm not too sure. I'd love the apprently awesome air cooling ability it has, but i'm worried about cable organisation (I'm a bit OCD) and avaliable working space inside, plus the fact I might not be able to fit a side window fan due to the CPU cooler/GPU cooler. So I thought about the Antec P182 (which looks so slick) where I could run the cables round the back of the Mobo Tray, but then I'd miss out on the side window altogether and the 200mm jet engine the 900 has.

Both cases are great and as you've mentioned the Antec 900 is probably the best for cooling in its price range, never had a problem with temps with mine.

Work space for Antec 900 isn't a problem, for me anyway and really the cable management probably isn't as good as the Antec P182 mainly because you have to place the PSU as the bottom with the Antec 900, but with some work its "ok". Also you mention adding another fan to the Antec 900, honestly theirs no need ...

The Antec 900 also looks really good, especially in the dark although the Antec P182 as you said looks very sleek.

Its all personal preference at the end of the day, i don't think your be disappointed with either.

 

[Wonderboy]

Hi thanks for your reply. Ok I'm pretty sure i'm gonna get some 6400 now, but say I wanted to run the CPU at 3.4, but the RAM @ 1000+ with a divide, would the Geil 6400 overclock ok to that much or should I stick with the ballistix? Would I even notice that much of a difference? Because I could do with shaving a few pounds off my bill.

I doubt it will increase your overclock much, it might run cooler but that's about it, the 8800's are fairly quiet anyway, i don't think theirs much need tbh

Even if I really wanted to push the GTX @ like 600+/2000~ ?


Still really unsure about the case. Anyone know an easy way to tidy the cables in the 900? Anyone with any pics of inside a 900 case with some cable organisation?

 

[truebluecfc]

My Antec 900 is pretty good for cable management considering, as i did put an effort into it and used cable ties etc, its not that bad for cable management tbh but obviuosly not as good as the Antec P182 as its bigger but tbh the Antec 900's cable management isnt a problem at all.

About your memory, I know a few people who's had theirs at 950mhz with 5/5/5/15 timings, but like i said mine havent been past 900MHz, your probably better off going for the Ballistix if your wanting to overclock to 1000MHz+ but tbh you wont notice hardly any performance increase apart from Benchmarks and Memory Intensive stuff. If it was me I'd just get the GeIL stuff considering how cheap it is atm, run a divider of 1:1 and overclock to 3.2-3.6GHz, also save you a few pounds.