Best uATX Gaming Rig Advice

[Gameslah]

OVERVIEW: The best Gaming system I can fit into a uATX Case

Answers to common questions:

1. The PC will be used for Gaming -- currently playing TF2, Hellgate, and soon Crysis
2. The budget is $1000. I'm going to build 2 of these, so $2000.
3. I plan on buying everything from NewEgg.com (USA)
4. I prefer Intel
5. I'm not planning on recycling any parts from old systems except for my 22" Widescreens, Keyboards and Mice.
6. I've searched and read similar threads, but still have questions!
7. I don't plan on overclocking, and if I did, it would be minor.
8. Timeframe: Immediately -- We're playing new games on single core cpus!
9. Reason for new pc: I've been playing WoW and CSS for a long time and have had no reason to upgrade. There are finally some new games out that require better hardware.

Questions I have:

1. Can I go with a Q6600 and an 8800GT in this case using stock cooling provided?
2. Will the Q6600 actually be slower than the E6550 for games? Sure it's nice to have 4 cores but...
3. What is the best uATX Board? From everything I've read, it's the GA-G33M-DS2R. Though I read there are some issues with quad processors (bios update fixes supposedly.)
4. The X38s look hot, but I couldn't find any uATX / mATX boards anywhere, except in the 2008 Shuttle. Did I miss them somehow?
5. Ram - Do I need PC2 8500 for the Q6600?
6. Power. I'm a little concerned about power requirements as I have quite a few other PCs that suck down the juice. I'd like the system to be as effiecient as possible. However, gaming takes priority.


Components I'm considering:

CASE: (I like small cases)
Thermaltake LANBOX Lite VF6000BNS Black SECC Gaming Cube Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811133045
http://www.thermaltake.com/pro...nboxLite/vf6000bns.asp

MOTHERBOARD:
GIGABYTE GA-G33M-DS2R LGA 775 Intel G33 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128053
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3111&p=5

I would like but no uATX:
X38: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...7172333&name=Intel+X38

RAM:
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231098

CPU:
65w - Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 Conroe 2.33GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819115030
or
95w - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819115017

GPU:
NewEgg's GTs (Or lack of):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...04&name=GeForce+8800GT

XFX PVT88PYDF4 GeForce 8800GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814150252

HD:
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822136074

DVD:
SAMSUNG Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16827151153

PSU: (Prefer Modular, but a power efficient psu... hmm...)
CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 520W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, CE, CB, FCC Class B, TUV, CCC, C-tick - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...139001&Tpk=CMPSU-520HX
Or
CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX ATX12V V2.2 450W Power Supply 90 - 264 V UL, CUL, CE, CB, FCC Class B, TUV, CCC, C-tick - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...03&Tpk=Corsair%2b450VX


ALTERNATIVES:

Shuttle Alternative:
Old: http://us.shuttle.com/barebone/Models/sp35p2_pro.html
NEW (was told 2008): http://global.shuttle.com/prod...il.jsp?PLLI=603&PI=638

Research Links (did alot more, but these 2 were helpful):

Overviews:
http://www.anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.aspx?i=3125&p=3
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuch...howdoc.aspx?i=3120&p=3


Any tips or suggestions you guys have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Dennis

 

[Synomenon]

For the case, I'd recommend a Silverstone SG-03, unless you really want an oversized cube-ish case. If you want a cube-ish case, the Shuttles are nice and compact. The Shuttle SP35P2 Pro. is a very nice system and works very well with the 8800GT SSC, a Q6600 G0, 8GB of RAM, a Raptor and a SATA optical drive. You may want to purchase Shuttle's 450W PSU. The SX38P2 Pro. is good, but unless you need crossfire I'd stick with the SP35P2. the P35 is pretty much a X38 w/o crossfire. The SX38P2 Pro. also comes with the 450W PSU. The SX38P2 Pro. should be available this December. The SP35P2 Pro. is available now.

I'd recommend going with a Lite-On SATA optical drive if you go w/ one of the Shuttles since Lite-On's drives are the shortest.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Gameslah
1. Can I go with a Q6600 and an 8800GT in this case using stock cooling provided?
2. Will the Q6600 actually be slower than the E6550 for games? Sure it's nice to have 4 cores but...
3. What is the best uATX Board? From everything I've read, it's the GA-G33M-DS2R. Though I read there are some issues with quad processors (bios update fixes supposedly.)
4. The X38s look hot, but I couldn't find any uATX / mATX boards anywhere, except in the 2008 Shuttle. Did I miss them somehow?
5. Ram - Do I need PC2 8500 for the Q6600?
6. Power. I'm a little concerned about power requirements as I have quite a few other PCs that suck down the juice. I'd like the system to be as effiecient as possible. However, gaming takes priority.

1) Yes.
2) No.
3) That's one of the better overclockers, but if you're not overclocking then just about any board would be fine.
4) Nope, currently the mobo manufacturers think that there's no market for an enthusiast board using a performance chipset. They're playing it safe by using an IGP chipset typical for their (mis)conceptions of the mATX market, but tossing in some enthusiast features.
5) PC2-6400 is fine. Expensive RAM just adds cost. It may help overclockability, but if not overclocking then the performance gain is not proportional to the cost increase. Not even close.
6) The Corsair 450VX is perfectly fine for your specified parts.