Building My First System

[NoIdea]

Hi All,

I plan on making a new system. Well basically all I want are a new, CPU, Motherboard, RAM and Video Card. The rest will be filled in with my old components. This is what I have decided on:

CPU:
Intel® Core 2 Duo 2.4Ghz Processor

Mother Board:
ASUS STRIKER EXTREME, nVIDIA nFORCE 680i SLi CORE2QUAD

Video Card:
GeForce 7950 GTX PCI

RAM:
OCZ Platinum XTC PC2-8000 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-1000 CL5-6-6-15 240PIN DIMM Dual Channel Memory Kit

Is the RAM I have chosen compatible with the CPU and motherboard? I read in an article(which I barely understood) that unless I overclock I will not use the full capabilities of my RAM. I don?t understand this; the bus speed of my CPU says it is 1066MHz, so doesn?t that mean that the RAM being 1000MHz is compatible?

Also if I deicide down the road to use this SLI technology does the second video card have to be the same as the first?

I wish I had a better idea what all these terms and numbers mean. If anyone has a good link that could educate me about this please post. I also would like to understand what overclocking is, how to do it and what all those numbers mean when I run that CPU-Z program. Any links to newbie guides would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[trOver]

the ram speed is based on the ratio between your fsb and dram. At stock speeds, the 6600 is at 266 fsb. i think your mobo is ddr2-800. Your 1ghz ram will just give you more overclocking leadway. i think you can change the ratio though so that you can take full advantage of your ram, like i did.

 

[GoCobbers1]

People will be able to help a bit better if they have a list of tasks you plan on using your PC for. Also a price range would help.

If possible I would wait a bit to buy your GPU. More DirectX10 cards are coming out soon and prices SHOULD be going down.

 

[engiNURD]

1) yes, its compatible. the stock setting for ram with a core2duo is 2x266 = DDR2-533. So unless you OC (CPU or RAM or BOTH), you'll be running DDR2-1000 ram at DDR2-533 speed. Thats some high latency ram, go for the Crucial Ballistix DDR2-1000 if you like to spend money, or the Buffalo Firestix DDR2-800 if you want to save a bit of cash (or the Patriot DDR2-800 LLK sticks).

2) for SLI, the two GPUs have to be the same. The brands can be different. BTW, SLI as an upgrade path isn't a wise decision unless you're upgrading to a 24" or larger LCD monitor.

3) ask more specific questions... which numbers? OC'ing is running something higher than it is spec'd. You OC CPUs by raising the FSB speed (since multipliers are locked, except for Extreme CPUs). OC'ing causes some instability, so sometimes you need to give more power to the CPU and RAM by raising the voltages. Google for a Conroe Overclocking Guide. Google for more info on anything =P to answer your questions about what which numbers mean what.

 

[NoIdea]

Thanks for the reply all.

So it sounds like unless I OC there is not much point in getting RAM that is higher then 533 MHz. So RAM that is higher then 533MHz is only meant for PC that will be OC?

Also about the SLI reply. Just to confirm I shouldn't buy one of these cards if I do not intend to use a 24" monitor. Could I combine:
EVGA GeForce 7950 GT / 512MB GDDR3
EVGA GeForce 7950 GT / 256MB GDDR3
They are the same card but diffent amount of memeory on each. Chances are I will only buy one card and use my current 19" LCD. Should I be looking at a video card without SLI technology? Should I also change my mobo selection?

As for more specific question about numbers and terms:
FBS to RAM Ratio? What is it and how do you calculate it?
Basically I would like to understand what numbers are significant in when trying to decide what RAM, CPU, MoBo and V-card would be a perfect complement to each other.

I plan to play some pretty high end games; example Vanguard, and I would like to spend between $800 to $1200 on these 4 components (CPU, MoBo, Ram, Vid Card)

 

[moosey]

I don't understand going with 2 GF7950GT cards. Those cost a little over $200 each. If you're in that $400+ price range for video cards, get one GF8800GTS card which also supports DX10. Plus, I don't think that those 2 cards would work together with different amounts of RAM (I'm not 100% sure on this as I am no SLI expert).

If you're not going SLI, the 680i motherboard is a waste of money. However, it will leave you the option in the future. If you want an nvidia chipset, I'd look at the cheaper 650i instead (also supports SLI). I don't see the benefits of spending over $100 extra for a 680i board though. Here are some examples of the Intel boards. If it were me, I'd take an 8800 series card and put it in one of these...
P965
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128017
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128012
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131070
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131045
975X
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131025
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications...Details.asp?EdpNo=2563503&sku=I69-2145

If you do not want SLI, I would personally prefer using an Intel chipset (P965 or 975X). These don't support SLI, only ATI Crossfire.

On your RAM question, if you're not going to o/c there is no need for DDR2-1000, it's a waste of money. Like it was said, DDR2-533 will be just fine as that will run at the default FSB for the core2duo.

Example System
Core2Duo e6600 (2.4Ghz) $316
evga 8800GTS $400-$30rebate = $370
2GB DDR2-533 Memory $208
http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustratingReview.asp?Item=N82E16820231018
or DDR2-667 $250-$45 = $205
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820220095
(I'd go this route especially with the price. It gives you room to o/c and you can run it at 667 and keep the processor stock)

TOTAL = $891
This leaves more than enough room to choose a great motherboard and even upgrade some things if you wanted. For example, an 8800GTX http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130072 which you should not have to SLI unless you have some crazy 30" monitor setup maxing out detail settings.

EDIT: Don't forget a good PSU

 

[NoIdea]

Thanks for the suggestions. I think in the end they will help me build a better system to meet my needs and save money. I think I will stay away from the SLI boards since I have a 19" monitor and don't intend to buy a second vid card. Still up in the air about the RAM though. I like the option that if I want to I can OC my system I can. Although I have no idea how to go about OC a PC and it souds like you can really screw up your system if you don't know what your doing. Are there big benifts to OC? Will I notice real life increase in my PC performance? Guess I will do some more reasearch on OC and see if it easy to do and worth cost and work.

Thank again,

BTW to any Newbies out there that need answers to hardeware questions I found this site.
Texthttp://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/26

If other have good links to hardware guides or OC tutorials please post.

 

[IHaveNoSpaceBar]

dude..with a graphics card like that u can use overclocking..

overclocking is not overated..its a real deal.

As of now I have a 7800gt running on an Opteron 146 which ran stock at 2.0ghz (single core) Guess what? my games ran slow...I started overclocking and for every 100 mhz i overclocked i noticed a decent frame per second increase in my games...Now I am running at 2.9ghz and very happy with my games performance.

You shouldnt have to worry about anything...its as if everything is meant to be overclocked nowdays unlike back in the day. Just do the research to learn about vcores and safe temps for ur cpu. Invest in a good cpu heatsink and a case with decent air flow.

I am building a new computer currently(well buying the parts) and the first thing i plan on doing is overclock, can't wait to overclock that little E4300.

 

[engiNURD]

Your base FSB speed is set in your BIOS. The stock speed for core2duos is 266Mhz. Everything is calculated using this setting. The CPU clock speed is its multiplier, multiplied against the base FSB (eg. stock multiplier of an E6300 is 7x; 7x266=1.86Ghz cpu clock speed). The effective FSB is 4x266= 1066Mhz (intel platforms are quad pumped). The memory is twice the base FSB because most boards run in dual channel; so 2x266 = DDR2-533.

Overclocking a Core2Duo is definatly worth it. OC'ing is much easier these days with the Core2Duo. All you need to do is bump the FSB and give it a lil extra power if its unstable, and you've got one smokin system. Check out this article on how well an OC'd C2D performs:
http://anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2802

http://www.slizone.com/page/slizone_faq.html#c11 to answer your sli question, and any other sli questions.

Also, why buy DDR2-533 when DDR2-800 is about the same price?

$316 - Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz
$140 - Asus P5N-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI
$210 - G.Skill 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2-800 F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ
$370 - eVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB ($400 - $30MIR)
$90 - Corsair CMPSU-520HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 520W ($100 - $10MIR)
===========
$1036 + tax and shipping after rebates

 

[IHaveNoSpaceBar]

Originally posted by: engiNURD
Your base FSB speed is set in your BIOS. The stock speed for core2duos is 266Mhz. Everything is calculated using this setting. The CPU clock speed is its multiplier, multiplied against the base FSB (eg. stock multiplier of an E6300 is 7x; 7x266=1.86Ghz cpu clock speed). The effective FSB is 4x266= 1066Mhz (intel platforms are quad pumped). The memory is twice the base FSB because most boards run in dual channel; so 2x266 = DDR2-533.

Overclocking a Core2Duo is definatly worth it. OC'ing is much easier these days with the Core2Duo. All you need to do is bump the FSB and give it a lil extra power if its unstable, and you've got one smokin system. Check out this article on how well an OC'd C2D performs:
http://anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2802

http://www.slizone.com/page/slizone_faq.html#c11 to answer your sli question, and any other sli questions.

Also, why buy DDR2-533 when DDR2-800 is about the same price?

$316 - Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz
$140 - Asus P5N-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI
$210 - G.Skill 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2-800 F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ
$370 - eVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB ($400 - $30MIR)
$90 - Corsair CMPSU-520HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 520W ($100 - $10MIR)
===========
$1036 + tax and shipping after rebates

do you think e6600 + 8800gts combo is better than e4300(or E6300)+8800gtx combo?

 

[AstroGuardian]

Since you will already have the E6600@2,4GHz i see no point in OC'ing if you plan to play games. The CPU is far faster than any game can utilize.

About the RAM. With the mobo you chose you can use the full capability of the 1066MHz RAM even without OC'ing, just with adjusting multipliers.

 

[NoIdea]

Originally posted by: AstroGuardian
Since you will already have the E6600@2,4GHz i see no point in OC'ing if you plan to play games. The CPU is far faster than any game can utilize.

About the RAM. With the mobo you chose you can use the full capability of the 1066MHz RAM even without OC'ing, just with adjusting multipliers.

When you say the mobo I chose do you mean the:
ASUS STRIKER EXTREME, nVIDIA nFORCE 680i SLi CORE2QUAD
or some of the other ones that others have suggested.

Also how would I go about adjusting these multipliers. is this doenin the BIOS

Thanks

 

[StopSign]

Why you're going with the Striker is beyond me. I wouldn't go any higher than the eVGA 680i.

You still have a LOT of research to do before actually picking parts. Your level of understanding of hardware is not quite there yet. Reading forums is one of the best ways to learn. I learned nearly all of my stuff just by lurking. I spent probably a whole year just reading and posting on Sharky before building my first system two years ago.

 

[engiNURD]

Yes, its done in the BIOS. Most of the boards suggested have DRAM multipliers to run the RAM higher than the standard 2xFSB.

If you want better framerates, go for the GTX. The E6600 is better than the E6400 if you never want to OC. Although, again, it would be foolish to not OC these chips. The E4300 can reach as high as the E6600 can, and has the same multiplier. Whats the difference? Virtualization.

Originally posted by: Anand Lal Shimpi
With the E6420 and E6320 getting 4MB L2s, there's now room for a lower end Core 2 Duo SKU with a 2MB L2 cache again: enter the Core 2 Duo E4000 series. Due to launch this month, the Core 2 Duo E4300 will eventually be followed by the Core 2 Duo E4400 (released in Q2). Both are dual core offerings like their 6000 series siblings, but differentiate themselves by only featuring a 2MB L2 cache, lower clock speeds, 800MHz FSB and feature no support for Intel Virtualization Technology. However, given that VT isn't anywhere near being a mainstream requirement, the E4000 series ends up being a cheap way of getting Core 2 Duo performance.

Here's the article on the E4300: http://anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2903