My build, thus far

[Erydin]

Below is what I currently have sitting next to me. I am looking for suggestions/tips/anything I should be aware of before I start and am I overlooking anything. My current concern is the motherboard. P5N32-SLI (premium). I have heard this can only OC the FSB to about 330 and that it is overall not a great board by any means. All the specs I looked at say 400 FSB, am I missing something here?


Motherboard: P5N32-SLI Premium -> Link

Processor: E6600 -> Link

RAM: Corsair DDR2 800 -> Link

Video Card: 7950GX2 (eVGA) -> Link

PSU: Seasonic 600W -> Link

Harddrive: Western Digital 7200 -> Link

Case: NZXT Lexa -> Link

DVD: Plextor 16X -> Link



Lots of bad reviews on the mobo I purchased, unfortunately those reviews are recent additions at newegg... hence after I ordered it. Never saw much on the board itself on these forums either, except for the guy ticked off about them burning up in his builds... again unfortunately this was after I had alreadypurchased the mobo.
I initially decided on it due to the fact I wanted SLI. Aftermarket heatsink I did not put up since I will be buying it locally and looking around these pages for some suggestions on that or feel free to drop some now . Right now looking at the one suggested by Roxxy in another thread, but there is no gaurantee I can get it locally so feel free to drop some other suggestions on that too... better to have several options going into the store.

Initially I was hoping for being able to go closer to 400 FSB to get near 3.2-3.4 out of the processor, but if its true these boards only can push 330, then if I figure it right I won't even be able to get my processor to 3.0... which sure seems like a waste of a lot of power. Well thats about it, let me know what you guys think, remember never done this before so any tips on things like, whatever you do don't touch this or try to see the static conductivity of that, would help .


Erydin

 

[Jibboom]

Nice choice on the case, I'm planning to use it for a build sometime around Christmas.

It's not too difficult really, just remember be careful but firm when putting all the components in.

 

[Skott]

The 333fsb isnt a guarantee. Its just what some people are getting. Basically its a crapshoot from 300-350fsb. You may get 333 or 315, or 300. Best I have heard of is 350fsb but I think a mod was involved. Most people cant get past 320ish. In Mid-to-late November the new 590s with the C55 chipsets arrive. If you want to over clock a Conroe/SLI mobo I'd wait on them. Or the 600s which are due out the end of November.

 

[The-Noid]

It is the 680i chipset and it comes out on November 8th. I would not recommend anyone to buy that board before looking at reviews of the 680i. If you have waited this long on the Conroe madness you can wait another month and get a much better board.

 

[Erydin]

Well I haven't opened the motherboard yet. It sounds like I should send it back and get something more along the lines of the P5W? Or what other boards would you all recommend for the E6600 processor and the graphics card? P5N I liked due to Nvidia and Nvidia for board and graphics card, but probably really doesn't matter, just made me feel better .


Erydin

Edit: I should have probably added this initially, but this rig is going to be purely for gaming, not sure if that makes much a difference. I suppose I could put this together as-is now and upgrade the board later if needed but is the difference between 2.9 and 3.2 or even 3.4 on the processor going to make a noticeable difference when playing games like BF2142, NWN2, or the like upcoming games?

 

[Skott]

Right now as far as Conroe/SLI and overclocking goes I'd suggest waiting for the newer mobos. For a E6600 and CF I would say the P5W DH and the P5W64 WS Pro are the two top dogs right now but that should change when the new mobos launch next month. Intel's BadAxe2, for example should be able to beat these mobos if the rumors about it are true. Plus ASUS and the other munufacturers should have improved models out soon as well. C2 (second revisions) they are called. Basically right now the few Conroe/SLI mobos availble are just okay for nonoverclocking but lack anything great about them.