MB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131142
Video: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130071
PS: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817139001
RAM 2X: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820134009
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115003
I already have a good case, SATA HD and DVD-RW.
Just checking for any possible problems or incompatibilities that I overlooked.
edit: Corsair PS swapped in.
edit: CPU Swapped to Intel
edit: Video card swapped for 8800GTS
edit: Swapped MB
edit: Dropped additional CPU cooler
How does this setup look?
How does this setup look?
Last edited by Sendarie on January 29, 2007, 7:05 pm, edited 7 times in total.
Sendarie
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noel
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It looks good. I really like the motherboard.
My only real question is why not go with a Core 2 Duo? Everything I've read says that the Intel chips are at present a step ahead of the AMDs. The E6600 is like $18 more than the processor you're looking at, and you can easily clock it up to 3.3Ghz.
Either way, I think you'll be real happy with that setup.
I was going to suggest you look at either Seasonic (what I have) or Corsair PS because they're very quiet, but they cost a bit more than what you have selected.
My only real question is why not go with a Core 2 Duo? Everything I've read says that the Intel chips are at present a step ahead of the AMDs. The E6600 is like $18 more than the processor you're looking at, and you can easily clock it up to 3.3Ghz.
Either way, I think you'll be real happy with that setup.
I was going to suggest you look at either Seasonic (what I have) or Corsair PS because they're very quiet, but they cost a bit more than what you have selected.
Oh, my God; I care so little, I almost passed out.
A few things to consider:
Some times, open box motherboards don't come with the cool gadgets that make the board so expenisve....like the LCD display screen and MIC card and DTS items for that board. (Click on the picture of the item on Newegg, it will explain that what you will get will just be the board, nothing else).
Change that video card! You have an SLI board, get an 8000GTS for the same amount as that card you posted. If you never plan on going SLI, and you like ATI and will always buy ATI, I would buy something cheaper for now, and buy their Directx10 card when it comes out. Say, like a 1950Pro for 200. But if you don't care who makes that card, and are going to spend $300+....get the 8800GTS.
ZipZoomFly seems to have better memory prices nowadays for some reason. I would look there for memory.
Powersupply, don't skimp, go with something proven. http://www.jonnyguru.com. he tests them well. Noel makes perfect suggstions, Seasonic or Corsair....both are made at same factory (Seasonic's)...Corsairs are both modular. I own the 620w one, it is dead quiet.
Last, but certainly not least, make sure that motherboard will support the AMD 65nm core changes. That way, you stand best to benefit if the new architecture AMD is unleashing this year will work with that motherboard. Its slim, but you never know...
P.S. You may want to look into an opteron chip, and if it will work on that board. They overclock extremely well.
edit: to echo the above as well, you can get an E6600 from Fry's for $297. And you can keep that video card and pick up an Intel Bad Axe 2 (D975XBX2KR) motherboard that supports crossfire. That's the combo I have, and its smoken' fast!
Some times, open box motherboards don't come with the cool gadgets that make the board so expenisve....like the LCD display screen and MIC card and DTS items for that board. (Click on the picture of the item on Newegg, it will explain that what you will get will just be the board, nothing else).
Change that video card! You have an SLI board, get an 8000GTS for the same amount as that card you posted. If you never plan on going SLI, and you like ATI and will always buy ATI, I would buy something cheaper for now, and buy their Directx10 card when it comes out. Say, like a 1950Pro for 200. But if you don't care who makes that card, and are going to spend $300+....get the 8800GTS.
ZipZoomFly seems to have better memory prices nowadays for some reason. I would look there for memory.
Powersupply, don't skimp, go with something proven. http://www.jonnyguru.com. he tests them well. Noel makes perfect suggstions, Seasonic or Corsair....both are made at same factory (Seasonic's)...Corsairs are both modular. I own the 620w one, it is dead quiet.
Last, but certainly not least, make sure that motherboard will support the AMD 65nm core changes. That way, you stand best to benefit if the new architecture AMD is unleashing this year will work with that motherboard. Its slim, but you never know...
P.S. You may want to look into an opteron chip, and if it will work on that board. They overclock extremely well.
edit: to echo the above as well, you can get an E6600 from Fry's for $297. And you can keep that video card and pick up an Intel Bad Axe 2 (D975XBX2KR) motherboard that supports crossfire. That's the combo I have, and its smoken' fast!
Well your board isn't SLI anymore 
I just purchased the Asus P5N-E SLI board with the 650i chipset and I'm very happy with it and I think it will save you about $45. It's kind of picky on the ram but I installed 2GB of the G.Skill PC2-800 and have been rock solid with the only issue being the heat of the north bridge. Due to the way my case (Antec 1080) is layed out I had to move my Hard Drives to the middle of the case to get the GTS in (I got the EVGA in case I wanted to trade up in 90 days). With the CPU, North bridge and 2 SATA drives right by the RAM it was getting hot, I had to move it over to the black slots and moved one of the hard drives and I have been golden at 2.08v 4,4,4,12 ever since.
I would definitely consider the EVGA GTS, it was $360 with rebate last week, can't beat that for something with a lifetime warranty.
Then with SLI you can always add another.
Those Seasonic PS are suppose to be great, I grabbed the Corsair PS which is made by Seasonic (was 620W) and has a 5 year warranty for like $135 I think. It's modular and has a nice little bag to keep all your cables in.
I did go cheaper on the processor and got the E6400 which is very fast thus far. Grabbed an Zalman 9700 (it's BIG) and some AC5. The cpu idles around 33 and runs about 38 under load. Been playing with the OC thus far with no issues (unlocked the FSB and RAM - can do that on the P5N-E) and I think I'm at 2.4GHz right now... can tell a little bit of a difference but not much. The 6600 is nice due to the cache but since I was going to OC anyway I figured I would get the cheaper one and save up for the Quad at a later date.
Without overclocking I'm runing 8160 on 3DMark06. Not bad... Once I settle on an OC profile I'll try again.
Marb
I just purchased the Asus P5N-E SLI board with the 650i chipset and I'm very happy with it and I think it will save you about $45. It's kind of picky on the ram but I installed 2GB of the G.Skill PC2-800 and have been rock solid with the only issue being the heat of the north bridge. Due to the way my case (Antec 1080) is layed out I had to move my Hard Drives to the middle of the case to get the GTS in (I got the EVGA in case I wanted to trade up in 90 days). With the CPU, North bridge and 2 SATA drives right by the RAM it was getting hot, I had to move it over to the black slots and moved one of the hard drives and I have been golden at 2.08v 4,4,4,12 ever since.I would definitely consider the EVGA GTS, it was $360 with rebate last week, can't beat that for something with a lifetime warranty.
Then with SLI you can always add another.
Those Seasonic PS are suppose to be great, I grabbed the Corsair PS which is made by Seasonic (was 620W) and has a 5 year warranty for like $135 I think. It's modular and has a nice little bag to keep all your cables in.
I did go cheaper on the processor and got the E6400 which is very fast thus far. Grabbed an Zalman 9700 (it's BIG) and some AC5. The cpu idles around 33 and runs about 38 under load. Been playing with the OC thus far with no issues (unlocked the FSB and RAM - can do that on the P5N-E) and I think I'm at 2.4GHz right now... can tell a little bit of a difference but not much. The 6600 is nice due to the cache but since I was going to OC anyway I figured I would get the cheaper one and save up for the Quad at a later date.
Without overclocking I'm runing 8160 on 3DMark06. Not bad...
Once I settle on an OC profile I'll try again.Marb
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noel
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Power supply is awesome. It was reviewed on silentpcreview.com. Good power, and unless you're planning on throwing in a lot of harddrives (more than 2), you should be fine with power even in an SLI configuration.
That video card is awesome. If you're planning to run Vista, get at minimum the 100.54 drivers that were just released and should go live to the general public tonight. If not, get them on guru3d.com. Once I updated, the only issues I was having with my card went away and the performance stayed the same.
You'll be ecstatic with that CPU. Mine runs idles at about 31C.
I'd highly recommend the Zalman CPU fan and some Artic Silver 5. Make sure you go to Artic Silver's website to read the installation instructions. The Zalman CPU fan can be found here, though you can get it with a blue LED (for a bit more money) if that's your thing.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835118003
Bear in mind you probably won't need a different CPU fan unless you're concerned about noise. If you are, I highly recommend the Zalman.
You'll be really pleased with the noise level from the 8800. You'd expect it to be really loud, but that's not the case at all.
That video card is awesome. If you're planning to run Vista, get at minimum the 100.54 drivers that were just released and should go live to the general public tonight. If not, get them on guru3d.com. Once I updated, the only issues I was having with my card went away and the performance stayed the same.
You'll be ecstatic with that CPU. Mine runs idles at about 31C.
I'd highly recommend the Zalman CPU fan and some Artic Silver 5. Make sure you go to Artic Silver's website to read the installation instructions. The Zalman CPU fan can be found here, though you can get it with a blue LED (for a bit more money) if that's your thing.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835118003
Bear in mind you probably won't need a different CPU fan unless you're concerned about noise. If you are, I highly recommend the Zalman.
You'll be really pleased with the noise level from the 8800. You'd expect it to be really loud, but that's not the case at all.
Oh, my God; I care so little, I almost passed out.
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noel
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No, the stock fan works fine, and is much quieter than the previous Intel stock fans.
I totally understand you not being into the overclocking thing. Honestly, I think it's a pain in the ass if you're going to the extreme. However, with my new CPU/Motherboard (Abit-AW9D), just by pumping up the Bus speeds, I was able to get to 3.3Ghz (from 2.4) without upping the voltage. It was as easy as scrolling a parameter in my BIOS from the default to 700 something. Done. Totally safe, considerably faster, no pain in the ass. The guy who did it before me was using the stock Intel fan. It's really worth considering, especially if you're getting an E6600.
Edit: The only reason I even brought the temperature up was to show that you can OC it and the chip is so well designed that the idle temperature only really goes up by two degrees.
I totally understand you not being into the overclocking thing. Honestly, I think it's a pain in the ass if you're going to the extreme. However, with my new CPU/Motherboard (Abit-AW9D), just by pumping up the Bus speeds, I was able to get to 3.3Ghz (from 2.4) without upping the voltage. It was as easy as scrolling a parameter in my BIOS from the default to 700 something. Done. Totally safe, considerably faster, no pain in the ass. The guy who did it before me was using the stock Intel fan. It's really worth considering, especially if you're getting an E6600.
Edit: The only reason I even brought the temperature up was to show that you can OC it and the chip is so well designed that the idle temperature only really goes up by two degrees.
Oh, my God; I care so little, I almost passed out.
31 degrees? Hrm... I put a line of AC just like it said too on the website to cover both cores and it definitely was slippery with the big heat sink. What does your MB usually run at? My processor is usually about 4 degrees cooler than the MB. Thus under load I'm running about 42 degrees and the processor at 38 or 39 non overclocked, but normal usage like surfing, video encoding etc... it's about 36. That GTS really heats things up in there.
Should I take the HS off and put more AC on it? (going to be a bitch to do but I can)
Marb
Should I take the HS off and put more AC on it? (going to be a bitch to do but I can)
Marb
2 Things, that is the 520 watt PS, I went with the 620 in case I wanted to do SLI, I don't think 520 will be enough for 2 GTSs. The reviews on the 620 Corsair are all 5s too or at least there were, can't beat the warranty on that kind of PS.
Secondly I think you will like the board. It got the editors choice at motherboards.org last week on the review. I love my EVGA card, it's my second one, the 6800GT is still running strong in my wife's PC now.
Secondly I think you will like the board. It got the editors choice at motherboards.org last week on the review. I love my EVGA card, it's my second one, the 6800GT is still running strong in my wife's PC now.
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noel
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Did you power cycle the PC a lot in the first few days? Like actually shut it off and leave it off for a period of time and then power it back on?Marbus wrote:31 degrees? Hrm... I put a line of AC just like it said too on the website to cover both cores and it definitely was slippery with the big heat sink. What does your MB usually run at? My processor is usually about 4 degrees cooler than the MB. Thus under load I'm running about 42 degrees and the processor at 38 or 39 non overclocked, but normal usage like surfing, video encoding etc... it's about 36. That GTS really heats things up in there.
Should I take the HS off and put more AC on it? (going to be a bitch to do but I can)
Marb
I know my E6300 was running a lot hotter at idle than my E6600.
I'm not sure on the MB at the moment. Abit hasn't provided the MB utility for Vista yet, so I've been going without. The one they have technically will run under Vista, but even with admin privileges, it's buggy and doesn't have all of it's features.
Currently I've been seeing 31-32 idle, up to 45 during use, and 52 under max load. Most of the OCing forums I've read state that anything under 61 is fine. I have no desire to get up that high though.
Oh, my God; I care so little, I almost passed out.
I did a little but not a ton, been using it and was dealing with the stibility issues from the North bridge heat with those 3 drives sitting right next to the CPU, NB and Memory... not that I think 38 degrees is bad, I just wonder what it will be if I OC it about 2.4, that hasn't made any difference at all.
Marb
Marb
I wouldn't. You're not supposed to use a whole lot. Just enough to fill the air spaces on the surfaces. Too much is actually bad and leads to reduced cooling efficiency.Marbus wrote:Should I take the HS off and put more AC on it? (going to be a bitch to do but I can)
Unless you used a whole lot.. Then I'd probalby take it off, clean what's there and redo.
Have You Hugged An Iksar Today?
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Well I ran 3D Mark06 again with the processor at 2.4GHz (1200 FSB, unlocked from memory) and got 8376, about 200 pts higher. However as I suspected the processor still didn't get above 39 degrees. Checked it yesterday after playing EQ2 for hours and it still wasn't at 40 so I guess I shouldn't worry about anything if it's OCed even a little and not heating up.
Marb
Marb
