Advice on Homebuilt

[joedhiggins]

1 x GIGABYTE GA-P35C-DS3R INTEL P35 CHIPSET ATX FORM FACTOR
1 x CORE 2 QUAD Q6600 2.4G (1066Mhz)
2 x CORSAIR TWIN2X2048-6400 2GB KIT (1GB x 2) PC26400 800MHZ MATCHED PAIR 5-5-5-12 240-PIN DDR2 DIMM
4 x SEAGATE 500GB ST3500630NS SATA ES 7200RPM 16MB
1 x EVGA 640-P2-N825-AR GF8800GTS SUPERCLOCKED 640MB DDR3 PCI-Express w/HDCP DVI+DVI+HDTVOut ROHS
(Curious if the superclocked model is worth the price jump)
1 x LITE-ON LH-20A1L-05 20X SUPERALLWRITE SATA+LIGHTSCRIBE
2 x SAMSUNG 22" 226BW WIDESCREEN 1680X1050 1000:1 (DC 3000:1) 2MS VGA DVI
1 x THERMALTAKE ARMOR JR VC3000SWA (SILVER) MID TOWER
1 x ANTEC NEOHE 550 550W

1 x MICROSOFT WINDOWS VISTA 64BIT HOME PREMIUM 1PK DVD

Basically, I am shooting for a mid-to-high ranged system here, capable gaming box/workstation.

Right now I have it priced out at $2650 from mwave, I would of course prefer to save money, but I can accept price increases if the gain is commensurate with the cost. I live in the US, buying my parts from here as well.

Overclocking is an option, but not somethign I am obsessed about.

Looking for any advice on replacing/adding components in this build, also I have to specific questions.

I intend to run a Sata raid 10 array. Any problems w/ the GA-P35C-DS3R running raid 10, or, for that case, raid 5?

What type of benefits/losses will I see with Vista 64 vs 32, or with home vs ultimate?

Any other miscellaneous advice/information would be greatly appreciated.

Joe

 

[jawknee530]

64bit OS will allow you to use all 4 gigs of your memory while 32 bit will allow you to use only about 3.3GBs. i do not think ultimate is worth it. you only get little "extras" like Texas holdem and being able to put videos up for your background. yes i do think that the superclocked is worth the extra 20 dollars. and since it's EVGA when a better card comes out you can use their step up program to upgrade. i would go with the Corsair hx520 for my PSU. i also hear that the Western Digital HDDs perform better than the Seagate's but I'm not sure on that so you should look into it. Make sure you get a good cooler for that quad core, especially if you intend to overclock.

 

[Modelworks]

If your building this planning on using 3d applications then don't bother with vista.
The apps are at a point where if they work , fine, if they don't, don't call us.

Increase the ram to 4Gb and look at winxp x64.
Thats the configuration supported by the major 3d appications.

 

[joedhiggins]

Originally posted by: Modelworks
If your building this planning on using 3d applications then don't bother with vista.
The apps are at a point where if they work , fine, if they don't, don't call us.

Increase the ram to 4Gb and look at winxp x64.
Thats the configuration supported by the major 3d appications.

The ram is at 4gb, 2x 1gb matched pairs.

I like corsair, so I have no issue with using a PSU from them, so that sounds good.

Any recommendations on a good cooler for a quad core?

Joe

 

[ultra99]

Originally posted by: jawknee530
64bit OS will allow you to use all 4 gigs of your memory while 32 bit will allow you to use only about 3.3GBs. i do not think ultimate is worth it. you only get little "extras" like Texas holdem and being able to put videos up for your background. yes i do think that the superclocked is worth the extra 20 dollars. and since it's EVGA when a better card comes out you can use their step up program to upgrade. i would go with the Corsair hx520 for my PSU. i also hear that the Western Digital HDDs perform better than the Seagate's but I'm not sure on that so you should look into it. Make sure you get a good cooler for that quad core, especially if you intend to overclock.

So which version of vista you think it's worth it, business?

 

[StriperMike]

Joe,

Tuniq Tower 120 should cool the quad pretty well.

 

[joedhiggins]

Any advice for mounting th Tuniq Tower 120 on the processor, its large size and laack of any obvious mounting method (from the photos I have seen) leads me to believe that mounting may be difficult, to say the least.