E6600 Available - New computer build set in stone....

[GBInterloper]

So I found Clubit.com and they have a good combo deal with the E6600 and the Gigabyte DS3 mobo, so I jumped on it, just talked to them on teh phone and it will ship out today. This forced me to finish up and order the rest of my my components too. As a bit of background, this will be my 4th computer build, and I have been the "friend tech support" for about 4 other builds. Here we go!

CPU: E6600 retail
Mobo: Gigabyte 965 DS3 (combo for $480 for both mobo and CPU, both retail boxes)
http://clubit.com/product_system_detail.cfm?itemno=UPG30003
graphics card:MSI 1900XT $280 (after $100 rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814127206
RAM: CORSAIR XMS2 2GB DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) $178 (After $40 rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145590
Case: $60 (after $20 rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119094
PSU: Antec Truepower 550W $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103931
HDD: Seagate 250GB 16MB cache $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148144

Total cost: $1158 (not too chabby for a ground up build!)

As you can see, I have my work cut out for me on mail-in rebates....but I can live with that to save $200.

My real question is will my motherboard boot up with that RAM. I have heard stories of flashing using a USB drive with the latest BIOS and having that work, but I am skeptical having never had to do that in the past. Worst case is I find a 256MB stick of cheap 1.8V RAM to boot up......any thoughts gang?

I will probably put some mild/moderate OC'ing in the works after I get it up and running. Now comes the hard part....the waiting....<sigh>

Giggity!

 

[Anogar]

That's very similar to my system. I have the same CPU, RAM, and Motherboard. I'm really happy with it. When I built my system the motherboard booted first time no problem with that exact same RAM, so I think you'll be fine.

 

[GBInterloper]

Anogar, any luck with O/C'ing this monster?

 

[Pabster]

At least you went with Corsair instead of OCZ

You should be OK. Corsair modules seem to work well with the DS3 and DQ6 boards.

 

[gobucks]

Originally posted by: Pabster
At least you went with Corsair instead of OCZ

You should be OK. Corsair modules seem to work well with the DS3 and DQ6 boards.

god yeah. OCZ is awful on this board. My Corsair greatly exceeded its rated speeds though which is nice - got my 5-5-5-12 rated DDR2-800 stable at 4-4-4-10 @800MHz and 5-4-5-10 @ 963MHz on this board!

Also, I've heard that OCing is limited with the DS3 and 4MB cornroes. apparently the 3-phase power seems to limit e6600 overclocking. 4MB chips top out at about 365MHz FSB, while 2MB chips often hit all the way to 500MHz FSB. You may want to consider either dropping down to an e6400 or bumping your mobo to the DQ6 instead.

 

[myocardia]

GB, that psu just barely has enough power for that processor and video card. You won't be overclocking very far, I can guarantee you. Well, at least until you replace the Antec.

edit: Goodbye, Spammer

 

[Anogar]

GBInterloper, I'm an OC'ing noob, I've never done it before - so no, I haven't touched it. The performance is good enough for everything I do that I don't really have any reason to OC it.