Building CONROE based PC, help/advice needed on parts!

[twinturbovenom80]

Hey everyone

Im new to this forum, seems like a great place for computer help/advice with a lot of knowleadgable members!

Well, like a lot of you (From what I can tell) I am planning to build a new high-end PC based around Conroe. I just need some help or advice on my current plan of parts to install before I go ahead and get building.

This is what I currently am planning on:

Intel Conroe 2.4 Ghz @ 4.0 Ghz
2 GB's Corsair XMS2 DDR2 1066 RAM
150 Gb Raptor SATA
120 Gb Seagate 7200.7 HD SATA
(2) Lite-On Lite Scribe DVD R/W
600W Enermax Noisetaker PSU (SLi Ready)
Klipsch 2.1 Promedia
Logitech G5 Mouse
Logitech G15 Keyboard
Dell 2001FP 20.1" LCD Monitor
Creative Audigy X-Fi Card with external PCI module

VOYEURMODS.COM Lian Li Quad V2000 Water Cooling Ready Case with Switftech Universal CPU Block and Dual SLi MC60 Blocks with Ramsinks (to keep temps low and overclock Conreo 2.4 to 4.0 Ghz)


Now for the main parts - GPU and MOBO

I was thinking of going some 965 based chipset like the Asus one, and going with ATI X1900XTX Crossfire setup -OR- one Nvidia 7950GX2 (which is better for this one?)
beacuse Nvidia has stated no SLi support for Intel based chipsets.

Now I realy wanted dual 7900 GTX SLi, but I would have to wait for some Nforce 590 boards to come out, and when will that be?

And between Intel and Nvidia chipsets that I mentioned above, which will be the better base for overclocking of my Conroe? Just need suggestions with the GPU/Mobo combo. I also am leaning against the 7950GX2 because I cannot find a way to fit a watercooler on both cards, since one is stacked right on top of another and you cannot pull them apart to take off the cooler and put it a water block..

Sorry for the long post, but any and all advice/help/opinions is and will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Howard]

120 Gb Seagate 7200.7 HD SATA

?

 

[imported_fx]

I wanted to make correction that you got listed for new rig:

1) You don't need 2 DVD Burners. One is enough.
2) I don't think you will need dual GPU for now but you can get 7950GX2 (king of video card)
3) You might wanted to consider X6800 (Extreme version of conroe)
4) 120Gb Seagate 7200.7 HD sucks.. Get Western Digital 120GB HD


Answering your question about motherboards and video cards..

P965 chipset motherboards are good for overclocks, cheaper and pretty good to work with.. That's what I've heard about..
P975X chipset motherboards is dual GPU motherboards like Crossfire or SLI that enhanced the gaming performance but expensive (you might go with it)

You might want to go with 7950GX2 for highest performance on gaming.. X1900XTX Crossfire eats up the watts.. I wouldn't trust crossfire for now but I would go with SLI but don't need it for now.

 

[acegazda]

if you're going to spend that much money, why not spend a hundred more and get the pcp&c turbo cool 510 asl. Top notch.

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: acegazda
if you're going to spend that much money, why not spend a hundred more and get the pcp&c turbo cool 510 asl. Top notch.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diminishing_returns

 

[Bobthelost]

You're using the Raptor as the boot disc and the 120GB as a storage one? If so you'd get faster performance from a newer, larger drive. If it's not important to save 10 seconds on transfering GB files from the raptor to the storage then there's no need, for transcoding you would save quite a bit of time with a faster second HD.

I'd go with the ATI option, the X1900XTX is just as fast as the 7900GTX if not faster.

Howver unless you need ridiculously high fps you'd be well advised to get a better monitor. Crossfire on a 20" LCD is a waste of money. Perhaps get a cheaper HD than the raptor and spend the money on a 23" instead?

 

[twinturbovenom80]

Originally posted by: Howard

120 Gb Seagate 7200.7 HD SATA

?

Originally posted by: fx
4) 120Gb Seagate 7200.7 HD sucks.. Get Western Digital 120GB HD

Changed. I am going with the WD 160GB SATA HD.

Originally posted by: fx
I wanted to make correction that you got listed for new rig:

1) You don't need 2 DVD Burners. One is enough.
2) I don't think you will need dual GPU for now but you can get 7950GX2 (king of video card)
3) You might wanted to consider X6800 (Extreme version of conroe)

Well I have heard that the X6800 costs around $1,400. Don't have that much, plus I can just overclock the 2.4 Ghz with my watercooler to the X6800 level right? Also, I want dual for easy direct DVD-to-DVD copying. As for hte dual GPU, it can be overkill but there are games lke Oblivion or Fear which can fully utilize it.

Originally posted by: fx
Answering your question about motherboards and video cards..

P965 chipset motherboards are good for overclocks, cheaper and pretty good to work with.. That's what I've heard about..
P975X chipset motherboards is dual GPU motherboards like Crossfire or SLI that enhanced the gaming performance but expensive (you might go with it)

You might want to go with 7950GX2 for highest performance on gaming.. X1900XTX Crossfire eats up the watts.. I wouldn't trust crossfire for now but I would go with SLI but don't need it for now.

P975X is not fully Conroe compatible until Rev 304, plus 965 is designed specifically for Conroe, I will stick with that. For Dual GPU, SLi isn't supported on either as Nvidia stated that the Intel chipsets don't have enough bandwiht to support SLi..that could just be BS tho, but they have disabled it anyway. So for 965 I am limited to Crossfire or just 7950GX2.

I like the GX2 but I need to find a water block that can cool both physical GPU's and find a way to install it, since I really want a nice, silent watercooled PC. Basicaly I need to find a water block for it, and if I can't, then I guess its the X1900XTX Crossfire. (I wish I could have SLI 7900 GTX tho..)

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: acegazda
if you're going to spend that much money, why not spend a hundred more and get the pcp&c turbo cool 510 asl. Top notch.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diminishing_returns

What is that?? Besides, I love building it myself, can't wait to get my hands on my very own beast!

And why did you post that Wikipedia article on diminishing returns? lol

Originally posted by: Bobthelost
You're using the Raptor as the boot disc and the 120GB as a storage one? If so you'd get faster performance from a newer, larger drive. If it's not important to save 10 seconds on transfering GB files from the raptor to the storage then there's no need, for transcoding you would save quite a bit of time with a faster second HD.

I'd go with the ATI option, the X1900XTX is just as fast as the 7900GTX if not faster.

Howver unless you need ridiculously high fps you'd be well advised to get a better monitor. Crossfire on a 20" LCD is a waste of money. Perhaps get a cheaper HD than the raptor and spend the money on a 23" instead?

I aleady have the Dell, got it cheap. I might upgrade to the Dell 30", but dunno yet, so always good to be ready for that with dual GPU's. Also, I am using the Raptor 150 Gig as the boot drive because of its 10,000 RPM, and using the WD 120 GB as just an extra drive. Are you recommending that I get dual Raptors? What is the benefit of this?



THANKS to all for your help and advice so far! Still not sure if I should wait for SLi on NForce 590, but I think X1900XTX Crossfire should be fine on 965, or 7950 GX2 if I could find a water block for it.

 

[Bobthelost]

Dual raptors would be a bad plan if you're just after gaming performance. Also remember that while a raptor will shave a few seconds off your BF2 loading times it will do NOTHING to your fps in the game.

There are reasons to have dual raptors, but you're not going to be one of the people where it's the case (mainly proffesional type useages, not gaming)

 

[twinturbovenom80]

Originally posted by: acegazda
if you're going to spend that much money, why not spend a hundred more and get the pcp&c turbo cool 510 asl. Top notch.

Egh...I am stoopid.

Seems like one hell of a PSU..But is it enough (only 510W..) for dual X1900XTX's, Conroe @ 4.0 Ghz, Dual DVD Burners, Sound Blastier X-Fi card, and a water cooling?

 

[twinturbovenom80]

Originally posted by: Bobthelost
Dual raptors would be a bad plan if you're just after gaming performance. Also remember that while a raptor will shave a few seconds off your BF2 loading times it will do NOTHING to your fps in the game.

There are reasons to have dual raptors, but you're not going to be one of the people where it's the case (mainly proffesional type useages, not gaming)

So, just one raptor then, and 120 GB hard drive is fine? Or do you recommend just two regular 7200 RPM drives? (sata of course)

 

[Howard]

I did link to the article for a reason. There's not much that the PC P&C has to offer over many lower-priced alternatives.

 

[twinturbovenom80]

Originally posted by: Howard
I did link to the article for a reason. There's not much that the PC P&C has to offer over many lower-priced alternatives.

Yea I think so too,

Thanks, I guess I will stick with Enermax. They are a good brand I believe for PSU's.

 

[Bobthelost]

Depends, if you want to save a bit of money then going for a single 250GB would be alright. You will not be as quick to boot up, or as quick for game loading/saving times. However once the games are up and running there is no difference.

The next step up would be a Raptor 74 and a data disc. This means you'd have faster boot times and faster level loading times, and you can shove all the extraneous stuff like movies, music and photos etc. onto that drive.

Then there's your current plan, a Raptor 150 with a data disc, which is very, very quick for loading times but also rather expensive.

If you're going 7200 for the boot/game drive then there's not much point in having two HDs, unless you know what you're doing and are multitasking very heavily you won't notice any difference in performance. (Then again if you install the OS on one HD and the game on another HD you will get improved performance again, not sure just how much but i don't think it's going to be huge either).

In other words it's complicated

Your current plan with the 120GB or the 160GB data drive and a 150GB raptor for OS + Games is fine, if you want to save money go for either a smaller Raptor or a single larger 7200rpm drive. (The larger the drive the faster it works)

 

[Fox5]

Originally posted by: twinturbovenom80

Originally posted by: Bobthelost
Dual raptors would be a bad plan if you're just after gaming performance. Also remember that while a raptor will shave a few seconds off your BF2 loading times it will do NOTHING to your fps in the game.

There are reasons to have dual raptors, but you're not going to be one of the people where it's the case (mainly proffesional type useages, not gaming)

So, just one raptor then, and 120 GB hard drive is fine? Or do you recommend just two regular 7200 RPM drives? (sata of course)

I'd get...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148134

Just so you know, harddrive transfer speeds get faster as the density increases, so there's a good chance this thing could outperform a raptor. The raptor has a 39% faster spindle speed, but this 750GB harddrive is 4x as dense.

Oh, and diminishing returns means that you can put more and more money into something, but get decreasing benefit out of it. Such as the power supply, is it worth $100 extra for a power supply that will provide no noticable difference since the one that was $100 cheaper was already more than sufficient?

 

[twinturbovenom80]

How is this:

Put all games/Windows/main apps on the Raptor for faster loading times, boot speed etc

AND

All songs, videos, or other extraneous files on the 120 GB drive?

Sound good or like a balanced setup?

BTW, thanks for your help man

 

[twinturbovenom80]

Originally posted by: Fox5

Originally posted by: twinturbovenom80

Originally posted by: Bobthelost
Dual raptors would be a bad plan if you're just after gaming performance. Also remember that while a raptor will shave a few seconds off your BF2 loading times it will do NOTHING to your fps in the game.

There are reasons to have dual raptors, but you're not going to be one of the people where it's the case (mainly proffesional type useages, not gaming)

So, just one raptor then, and 120 GB hard drive is fine? Or do you recommend just two regular 7200 RPM drives? (sata of course)

I'd get...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148134

Just so you know, harddrive transfer speeds get faster as the density increases, so there's a good chance this thing could outperform a raptor. The raptor has a 39% faster spindle speed, but this 750GB harddrive is 4x as dense.

Oh, and diminishing returns means that you can put more and more money into something, but get decreasing benefit out of it. Such as the power supply, is it worth $100 extra for a power supply that will provide no noticable difference since the one that was $100 cheaper was already more than sufficient?

Thanks for the help. I am not interested in a drive that big (750...DAMN) and it costs a lot more than the Raptor. Also, I am taking Economics class right now, lol. I knew what it meant in economic terms, so I felt pretty stupid after reading your explanation, which makes a lot of sense. lol.

 

[Bobthelost]

Yeah it's fine, what i'm doing.

 

[twinturbovenom80]

Originally posted by: Bobthelost
Yeah it's fine, what i'm doing.

So that is that.

Now, last choice is Intel 965 chipset or Nforce 590? Anyone know when htE Nforce comes out, I wanted to have SLI 7900GTXs..

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: acegazda
if you're going to spend that much money, why not spend a hundred more and get the pcp&c turbo cool 510 asl. Top notch.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diminishing_returns

:laugh:

:thumbsup:

 

[buck]

Intel Conroe 2.4 Ghz @ 4.0 Ghz

:roll:

 

[Fox5]

Originally posted by: twinturbovenom80
How is this:

Put all games/Windows/main apps on the Raptor for faster loading times, boot speed etc

AND

All songs, videos, or other extraneous files on the 120 GB drive?

Sound good or like a balanced setup?

BTW, thanks for your help man

A 120GB harddrive isn't very large for songs, videos, etc, and the raptor isn't large either for apps. If you get any significant use out of your computer, you won't have enough harddrive space.
Also, your songs, videos, and what not will load slower on the 120GB harddrive because it's much slower than larger harddrives, but if you don't mind then I guess that's fine. Theoretically, a 300GB harddrive (assuming single platter) should have faster transfer rates than a raptor. I'd imagine that 750GB harddrive is actually 2 400GB platters. (I suppose the raptor would still have faster seek times though)

 

[jkresh]

A wd 3200ks from newegg is about $110 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136003), makes a lot more sense for your second drive then a 120 or 160 (and pretty fast too). As to when 590 boards come out, Conroe won?t be out for another month so you have time to wait on a motherboard decision. Finally getting the 2.4 to 4 GHz on water should be possible but there are certainly no guarantees (though admittedly that is what I am going to try for).

 

[alimoalem]

twinturbovenom80, what is your current rig? are there any reusable parts you can use? more importantly, what video card are you running right now?

the reason i ask is DX10 comes out pretty soon. if you're used to lower graphics capabilities than the 7900GTX/X1900XTX, i would get a cheaper card, like the 7900GT, for now and then upgrade to a DX10 card without having lost as much money.

also it would be dumb to spend so much money and have it worth half in a year. you can spend around $1200 now and spend $800 in upgrade costs over the next year.

going back to the law of diminishing marginal returns, you will be getting like 10% increase in performance over the $1200 budget. if you need that 10%, though, take this into consideration: if you go with the $1200 rig, you will have 90% of the power. if you spend $800 in upgrades in 6 months, your $1200 rig will be 10% more powerful than the original $2000 rig. if you do have a lot of income coming in though, i guess it doesn't matter, but you are a student (i'm assuming you're taking econ for a reason) so my thought is that you simply have all this money saved up and are planning to let it all go at one time.

anywho, just my 2 cents

 

[benzylic]

I just read the first post and skimmed the rest, so someone may have already mentioned this, but the 965 chipset doesnt support Crossfire, only the 975x does.

From Dailytech

Important to note is that for ATI CrossFire users, the Broadwater family of chipsets will not support CrossFire

Link

 

[twinturbovenom80]

Originally posted by: jkresh
A wd 3200ks from newegg is about $110 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136003), makes a lot more sense for your second drive then a 120 or 160 (and pretty fast too). As to when 590 boards come out, Conroe won?t be out for another month so you have time to wait on a motherboard decision. Finally getting the 2.4 to 4 GHz on water should be possible but there are certainly no guarantees (though admittedly that is what I am going to try for).

Originally posted by: Fox5

Originally posted by: twinturbovenom80
How is this:

Put all games/Windows/main apps on the Raptor for faster loading times, boot speed etc

AND

All songs, videos, or other extraneous files on the 120 GB drive?

Sound good or like a balanced setup?

BTW, thanks for your help man

A 120GB harddrive isn't very large for songs, videos, etc, and the raptor isn't large either for apps. If you get any significant use out of your computer, you won't have enough harddrive space.
Also, your songs, videos, and what not will load slower on the 120GB harddrive because it's much slower than larger harddrives, but if you don't mind then I guess that's fine. Theoretically, a 300GB harddrive (assuming single platter) should have faster transfer rates than a raptor. I'd imagine that 750GB harddrive is actually 2 400GB platters. (I suppose the raptor would still have faster seek times though)

Got it, am going now with a larger second hard drive. Probably 320 Gig drive or 400 Gig drive. Thanks!

Originally posted by: alimoalem
twinturbovenom80, what is your current rig? are there any reusable parts you can use? more importantly, what video card are you running right now?

the reason i ask is DX10 comes out pretty soon. if you're used to lower graphics capabilities than the 7900GTX/X1900XTX, i would get a cheaper card, like the 7900GT, for now and then upgrade to a DX10 card without having lost as much money.

also it would be dumb to spend so much money and have it worth half in a year. you can spend around $1200 now and spend $800 in upgrade costs over the next year.

going back to the law of diminishing marginal returns, you will be getting like 10% increase in performance over the $1200 budget. if you need that 10%, though, take this into consideration: if you go with the $1200 rig, you will have 90% of the power. if you spend $800 in upgrades in 6 months, your $1200 rig will be 10% more powerful than the original $2000 rig. if you do have a lot of income coming in though, i guess it doesn't matter, but you are a student (i'm assuming you're taking econ for a reason) so my thought is that you simply have all this money saved up and are planning to let it all go at one time.

anywho, just my 2 cents

This is great advice. I was debating with myself for a long time about DX10, but I was thinking that I would be able to just sell the Crossfire or SLi setup I had, and then get teh new hottness dx10. Besides, DX10 is still a ways off, I heard it is coming summer '07, in a year.

Also, I have for years got computers that are around $1200, either built it myself or whatnot. This PC will run me around $3,500 on NewEgg (factor in $700 for the VoyeurMod case and watercooling blocks/etc, so total is 3.5k) I know that is a lot and it probably doesnt make sense, but this is literally why I got a job over the summer, working all the weeks to get my money. Yessir, i am going to quit my job next week, and by then I will have amassed around 4k. I will probably save last $500 for holidays/family stuff/watever.