New To Building - Anything I Forgot?!

Revenant · 14 Jan 2007 at 18:23

Hi

I've swapped Gfx cards and PSU's in the past, but now I'm about to take delivery of a whole new set of hardware and dive in. Is there anything I've forgotten or need to be aware of?

Asus P5W64-WS Pro Intel 975X (Socket LGA775) PCI-Express DDR2
Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz
ATI Radeon X1950 XT-X ***Crossfire/Master Edition***
Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2 Dominator PC2-6400C4 TwinX
Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU
Western Digital Raptor X 150GB WD1500AHFD 10,000RPM SATA 16MB Cache
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE 7.1 Sound Card
Tuniq Tower 120 CPU Cooler
Akasa AK-ICR-01 Internal Card Reader
Sony AW-G170AB2 18x DVD±RW x12 Ram Dual Layer DVD-Writer
Sony Floppy Drive - Black
Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Aluminium Midi-Tower Case - Black

[Edit] BTW I'm planning on getting a second X1950 in the near future... well when Crysis is released!

I saw the review comments on the Raptor not comming with a cable, so I've ordered one of these - Western Digital WDSC50RCW Secure Connect Serial ATA Cable. Is that the right thing?

Will I need any other cabling?

I've had plenty of time to read the build guide sticky (thanks for the effort) so I've now got an idea of how it all goes together.

I've got a Maxtor 300GB Sata drive in my current PC that I really want to use as the main one, and use the Raptor for games and speed-critical apps. Can someone please give me a guide as to how I set up two drives in the same machine? both from a physical connection PoV and in the BIOS/Windows?

Thanks!

syke · 14 Jan 2007 at 18:27

perhaps try get the 8800GTS instead of the X1950-XT

thefishdude · 14 Jan 2007 at 18:29

you dont have to use the secure connect cable i havent on my raptors you can just use normal serial ata cables. how ever the conections seems pretty weak so if you pc will be moved a lot at all then get the secure conenct.

Revenant · 14 Jan 2007 at 18:31

[Syk3]Any particular reason?

I've got a "6800GT Golden Sample" at the moment, and whilst old it has done me well... so I quite liked Nvidia but decided to make the switch to ATI and the X1950 as I thought it was a better card than the 8800's... plus I was planning on getting two of them for Crossfire goodness.

Anyhow... I placed the order on Friday so I'm kinda stuck with my choices! I should have clarified that as I was more after info on what to be aware of when putting it together and configuring things plus additional cabling (or whatever) that I may require.

Cheers.

syke · 14 Jan 2007 at 18:32

The 8800's are better than the X1950XT's. 640MB..DX10.

You can get two 8800GTS's anyway. And have even more power.

Revenant · 14 Jan 2007 at 18:33

Lah! Lah! Lah! I'm not listening!

syke · 14 Jan 2007 at 18:34

Revenant said:
Lah! Lah! Lah! I'm not listening!

You asked for help.

I'll leave you to it then.

Revenant · 14 Jan 2007 at 18:37

Thanks for the info Syk3 - I didn't think about DX versions. In which case I'll definately hold off on getting a second and wait to see what comes out.
Cheers.

1337z0r · 14 Jan 2007 at 18:41

Your seriousley wasting money on the X1950XT-X get a 8800GTS it will totally kill it

.

syke · 14 Jan 2007 at 18:42

1337z0r said:
Your seriousley wasting money on the X1950XT-X get a 8800GTS it will totally kill it .

Exactly

masslac · 14 Jan 2007 at 18:43

There is a 320MB 8800GTs coming out very soon. I would personally wait for that.

1337z0r · 14 Jan 2007 at 18:44

Wish i went for a X1950pro and saved my self some money imo but im happy with my rig

.

syke · 14 Jan 2007 at 18:44

masslac said:
There is a 320MB 8800GTs coming out very soon. I would personally wait for that.

The money hes paid for the X1950-XT Would just about get him an 8800GT (£20 diff)

masslac · 14 Jan 2007 at 18:48

Syk3 said:
The money hes paid for the X1950-XT Would just about get him an 8800GT (£20 diff)

I can't be bothered to look right now, but am 100% sure that the price difference here is a lot more than £20.

Edit: My bad (kind of). I assumed the X1950 XT, which can be had for £165.

Revenant · 14 Jan 2007 at 18:49

Syk3 said:
The money hes paid for the X1950-XT Would just about get him an 8800GT (£20 diff)

Are you looking at this 8800 then? BFG GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-036-BG

[Edit] This would be a £33 difference.

I wanted to stick to around £250 for a Gfx card, would the above 8800 be the recommended if I pushed that to around £300?

Cheers

masslac · 14 Jan 2007 at 18:51

Revenant said:
I wanted to stick to around £250 for a Gfx card, would the above 8800 be the recommended if I pushed that to around £300?

Very very yes.

syke · 14 Jan 2007 at 18:53

Revenant said:
Are you looking at this 8800 then? BFG GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-036-BG

[Edit] This would be a £33 difference.

I wanted to stick to around £250 for a Gfx card, would the above 8800 be the recommended if I pushed that to around £300?

Cheers

If you wanted to save money, drop the RAM down. Ive heard thats not all needed. The Dominator.

masslac · 14 Jan 2007 at 18:55

I am not on the ball today at all.

I only skimmed the OP, and really should have noticed.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-058-GL tbh. That along with the 8800GTS and everything else you originally listed, makes for an excellent rig.

Time for a coffee, methinks...

GazD · 14 Jan 2007 at 18:56

Syk3 said:
If you wanted to save money, drop the RAM down. Ive heard thats not all needed. The Dominator.

Indeed, get the Geil PC-6400 or the Corsair XMS2 PC-6400 save up to around £30 and put it toward the 8800GTS

Revenant · 14 Jan 2007 at 18:59

I like the idea of switching the memory and putting it towards the Gfx - thanks!

As I commented earlier, I have already ordered this (and I think it's despatched)... I know no-one can speak for OC, but would there be any grief if I now order the memory & 8800 then return the unwanted stuff un-opened?