$1000 New PC

[BrianPotter]

Hello, I have been using Anandtech for a while now to do my research whenever I plan a new system build or upgrade and I decided to seek the advice of you fine folks on this board for my newest system build. This build will probably be the most expensive I've ever made and I've probably been upgrading/building my own PCs for about 10 years now. I'm looking to use quality parts as I want this system to last me close to 3 years. I will be adding another Hard drive in the future for RAID 0, so a motherboard that supports RAID is a must.


1. I will be using this PC for school work (Photoshop, A bit of Maya & 3D Studio Max work, I multi-task a lot hence the Quad core. I'm also a gamer.

2. Looking to spend in between $900-1100.

3. Ordering from Newegg.com and ClubIT.com most likely to get the best deals and to guarantee G0 stepping with the Q6600.

4. No real brand preferences, but this will be my first time Intel system (AMD always in the past).

5. I will be using my current Hard drives and optical drive. One thing I want to avoid replacing is my current PSU, but I will if I absolutely must. I'm currently running on an OCZ Modstream 450w PSU, but I'm not sure how it will hold up with modern hardware, it has been pretty rock solid for me for about 2 years now. If any of you feel I need to upgrade, I would appreciate some recommendations in the $100 range.

6. I have been browsing these forums for the last several days looking for threads covering similar topics and I feel I need to post this because I'm trying to work out specifically which motherboard would best suit my situation. I have made a list of motheboards to choose from that vary in price from $100-200 range and I will list them below. I would like feedback from those of you that personally own these boards if possible. The list will consist only of boards that use the P35 chipset.

7. I plan to overclock and would like to achieve a 3.6GHz core clock speed with the Q6600.

The proposed system is as follows:

CPU:
$279.99 Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 Stepping Kentsfield 2.40GHz 8MB L2 LGA 775 Processor Retail BX80562Q6600 SLACR

Motherboards (Here's the list I've compiled):
$184.99 ABIT IP35 Pro LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

$129.99 GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

$149.99 GIGABYTE GA-P35C-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

$159.99 GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3P LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

$164.99 ASUS P5K-E/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

I like the features that are on the abit board, I like the little boost in RAM performance on the ASUS board, and on the 3 Gigabyte boards the reviews have been good for. When it comes down to it though, I just need a board that will keep my options open in the future, and will provide the same or similar performance to achieve the overclock I'm reaching for. I'm not opposed to saving a bit of cash if I can get the same performance out of the $130 board as I can the $185 one.

Video Card:
$288.99 EVGA GeForce 8800GTS Superclocked 320MB 320bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card Retail 320-P2-N815-AR
Really want to go with eVGA from what I've been reading, but I'm not sure if I should go with this overclocked one or the one that is around $20 cheaper at normal stock speeds.

Memory:
$109.99 Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
If there are cheaper alternatives with similar performance, let me know .

Case:
$98.99 Antec Nine Hundred Black ATX Mid Tower Case Retail
I really like this case and from what I've read it has great airflow.

CPU Cooler:
$64.99 Tuniq Tower 120 P4 & K8 CPU Cooler - Retail
Still open to a few other options, such as the Thermalright Ultra-120, this is important because I need to a good cooler for overclocking.

So there's my system. I know I'm probably going to need a new PSU, but I want to hear what you guys think first.

Here is my current system, just so you know what I'm coming from:

AMD Athlon 64 3000+
DFI Lanparty UT nF3 250Gb
Radeon X800 Pro (Reflashed bios to X800 XT PE)
2 x 512MB Patriot PC3200 DDR400 + 512 Rosewill PC3200
OCz Modstream 450w

I realized it's not quite cutting it anymore when Bioshock wouldn't even run properly. I'm really going to the limit my budget will allow and I would like to avoid any buyer's remorse.

Anyway, thanks in advance.

 

[jkresh]

Go with the regular evga and overclock it yourself (should get similar results for the $20 less). Look for deals on ram you should be able to find similar speed ram for about $40-$50 less (after rebates). I suspect teh p5k-e is your best option in terms of overclocking but 3.6 is not a guarantee with any board . Your psu might be ok but if you are pushing a lot of volts on the q6600 (lets say anything around 1.5 or higher) it might not be enough (power usage goes up a lot with voltage). If you follow hot deals you might be able to find the antec 900 for around $50 after rebates (though it could take a while). Also you said you want something to run for 3 years and no card out right now can realy handle directx 10 games (or at least the few that are out) so you might want to keep the x800 or get a cheap pci express and wait for the next generation mainstream cards (could be a few months), (ie the 9800 gts or whatever it is called).

The tuniq is a solid cooler though the thermaright ultra extreme is supposed to be a bit better (and the diference might be around 100mhz or more on a quad).

 

[MarcVenice]

p5k vanilla should do for 135$, ds3r is a good option too, considering the apps you use you might want to get 4gb of ram and run vista 64x. 3.6ghz is possible, but it's still a pretty high aim if you are using air-cooling, especially for everyday usage. I'd rather get the ultra extreme then the tuniq, simply because it's better and you do want to overclock it pretty high.

As for the 8800gts 320mb, hmz, I've seen people ending up with bad cards after overclocking it. For 20$ or so you've got warranty on a factory overclocked card, no need to mess with it yourself. About the PSU, I think 450w, depending on the amps it puts out on the 12v rail, will do the trick just fine. It has to have 30a or more though. And if it isn't stable when overclocking that q6600, you just buy a new PSU, like a corsair 520hx or so.

 

[nick1985]

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
p5k vanilla should do for 135$, ds3r is a good option too, considering the apps you use you might want to get 4gb of ram and run vista 64x. 3.6ghz is possible, but it's still a pretty high aim if you are using air-cooling, especially for everyday usage. I'd rather get the ultra extreme then the tuniq, simply because it's better and you do want to overclock it pretty high.

As for the 8800gts 320mb, hmz, I've seen people ending up with bad cards after overclocking it. For 20$ or so you've got warranty on a factory overclocked card, no need to mess with it yourself. About the PSU, I think 450w, depending on the amps it puts out on the 12v rail, will do the trick just fine. It has to have 30a or more though. And if it isn't stable when overclocking that q6600, you just buy a new PSU, like a corsair 520hx or so.

I thought DDR3 wasnt really worth it right now?

 

[MarcVenice]

I never said it was, you're confusing the ds3r vanilla with the ds3r p35-c.

 

[nick1985]

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
I never said it was, you're confusing the ds3r vanilla with the ds3r p35-c.

Whoops! I still had the crap in my eyes from when I woke up

 

[MarcVenice]

That's why your mom taught you to wash your face before you do anything else, after waking up

 

[BrianPotter]

Thanks for the suggestions. Well I think I'm gonna go with the Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme. That coupled with a Scythe S-FLEX SFF21F 120mm although that is a bit on the pricey side for me, is this worth the performance boost over the Tuniq Tower?

I think I'm gonna go with the $129.99 GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R. Will the Thermalright Ultra fit well on this board? Also, The mobo doesn't include a firewire port, but the Antec 900 case I'm getting does have one, does anyone know if the board will support the hookup?

Regarding the 4GB suggestion, I do plan on getting another 2 sticks of RAM in the future, just can't afford it right now.

Current total is $1012.93. I know I may still need a new power supply. My current one only has 26A on the 12V rail.

 

[MarcVenice]

Either adjust your goal of 3.6ghz or buy the best aircooler you can get. It should fit on the ds3r. Tuniq is still pretty good though, and I doubt you won't be able to hit 3.6ghz with the tuniq and would be able to hit it with the thermalright, because by then your temps are allready going way to high for everyday usage.

And how could a mobo support the hookup when it's not supporting firewire It's not on the mobo, so no place to hook up the cables to it.

 

[BrianPotter]

Well I'd like to have amongst the best air cooling available and I will be going with the Thermalright at this point unless there is something that changes my mind. Also, I'm asking if the cable hookup is there for firewire? I know there isn't one on the back, but that doesn't mean the onboard chipset doesn't support a case port hookup. I get this impression because this board seems to use the same setup as the more expensive P35 Gigabyte boards just with fewer ports and 1 16x PCI express slot. If it simply isn't possible then I'd probably go with the DS3P instead.

 

[MarcVenice]

I'm not quite following you, the mobo doesn't support firewire, be it a slot on the back of the I/O or for a case port hookup, the chipset might support it though. And yeah you are under the right impression, some stuff just get's left off or added, however you want to see it. In this case firewire, or wifi, or more sata or ide ports, etc.

 

[BrianPotter]

I only use firewire for my external hard drive, but it is possible in the future I will need it for hooking up a video camera, so the firewire connection is important to me. I figured that the board may support it if I used the front case port, but I guess not. I can use USB if I must for the external drive, but I don't like losing firewire, I think it may be worth it to go with the more expensive board.

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: BrianPotter
I only use firewire for my external hard drive, but it is possible in the future I will need it for hooking up a video camera, so the firewire connection is important to me. I figured that the board may support it if I used the front case port, but I guess not. I can use USB if I must for the external drive, but I don't like losing firewire, I think it may be worth it to go with the more expensive board.

Eh, just get a Firewire PCI/PCIe card with an internal port, and a cable to connect your front panel to that port. I'm doing that on my P35-DS3R right now and everything works great (and it's a lot cheaper than getting a board with Firewire built in).

 

[BrianPotter]

I may do that if it saves me at least $20, otherwise I'd rather get something built into the board.

I have a new concern now though. With the P35-DS3 series of boards, I want to make sure there is enough clearance to have the Thermalright Ultra 120 turned so the fans blow air towards the back of the case (better airflow). My concern is that the heatsink on the northbridge chip will block it, or does the Ultra-120 raise up enough to clear it?

 

[ViRGE]

The guys in the Motherboards forum may know better, but I haven't seen any complaints about the P35-DS3 & U120 combination.