Need advice over new build (January/Early Feb time)

[Mark R]

Building 2 of these.

General purpose use: media, digital photos (inc photoshop), maybe video editing, high-end gaming, programming (including 3D graphics)

Possible OC - nothing crazy, just what is reasonably achievable on air, with mid-range parts. I was hoping around 3.2 - 3.4 GHz. Again, this isn't a priority.

Not really interested in SLI - compatability issues, heat, noise, cost frighten me off. I don't need bleeding edge - and have the opinion that 1 high end card is better than 2 mid-range in SLI.

Life span: Ideally 3 years, but that's somewhat optimistic. Would be happy to consider partial upgrades - e.g. new CPU or GPU. Don't really want to consider mobo swaps as too involved and require OS reinstall/relicensing.

Noise: As quiet as possible given 'normal' cooling - i.e. no water cooling or ridiculously oversized heatsinks.

CPU: E6600
Mobo: Asus P5N32-E SLI
RAM: 2x 1GB Corsair XMS2-6400
Cooler: AC Freezer 7 pro
Case: Silverstone TJ-05
PSU: Seasonic S12 550W 80+
Graphics: Palit 8800GTX
HD: 2x Seagate 7200.10 500 GB
Sound: Creative X-Fi Extremegamer (only 1 PC)
OS: Vista Home premium (probably 32 bit); Maybe ultimate 64 bit

Monitors: Hand-me-downs for the time being (already got nice high-end CRTs)
I would like to upgrade to dual LCD (2x Eizo 2410W) - but wallet will not allow for the time being.
Backup: Existing external USB drives & automated peer-to-peer LAN backup

Please make comments. In particular:
are the bits going to fit in the case without blocking drive bays/airflow, etc.?

Any known incompatabilities between the graphics and mobo/chipset?

OS issues. I've already got 2 copies of OEM XP MCE, which will upgrade to Vista HP 32. Alternatively, if being limited to 32 bit is going to suck bad, should I ebay those and get OEM Ultimate 64 bit? (No way am I paying full retail price to get both the 32 and 64 bit editions of ultimate).

Mobo - the 680i is a bit overkill, but is the 650i going to be readily available within the next 4-6 weeks?

 

[Roguestar]

64-bit Windows is a bone MS threw to us when we all got Athlon 64s. Unless you really need the 64-bit for certain high-power computing type programs I wouldn't worry about it. 32-bit limits you to 4Gb of RAM but that's absolutely loads for now. I'd say read this thread http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=28&threadid=1966035&enterthread=y for more advice on Core 2 Duo RAM. No need in buying something when you can get a higher performance and better reliability out of something cheaper 🙂. Your choices look pretty solid so far but I don't have any advice on things fitting in to your specific case, all I know is that you should be able to fit those components into any ATX case with little trouble.

 

[Howard]

Any OCing? Will SLI be used? How long until the next upgrade, if any? Any noise constraints?

 

[Mark R]

Originally posted by: Howard
Any OCing? Will SLI be used? How long until the next upgrade, if any? Any noise constraints?

See above updated message.

OC would be nice, but I'm not planning to go out of my way to achieve it. Yes, I'd consider minor upgrades that may help OC.

SLI - not really interested.

Longevity - As long as possible given incremental upgrades. However, I don't avoid upgrading at all within 18-24 months.

Noise - I'm happy with generally quiet parts. Hair dryers aren't acceptable, but I'm not going out of my way to install water cooling.

 

[theprodigalrebel]

Vista won't have unique 32/64-bit editions. You choose during installation which one you want. This applies to all Vista versions - even Home Basic has 64-bit support. Wait for some comparative reviews for 32/64-bit driver availability, compatibility and performance benefits/issues.

There IS one 650i SLI motherboard out. ASUS P5N-E SLI However, not much is known about it for now. Last time I googled it, didn't get any professional reviews/user reviews in forums.

There have been more than a few complaints about 680i motherboards. Most of them are about BIOS holes & flaky overclocking etc. Running stock or mildly overclocked, there don't appear to be many problems. If you are never going to go for SLI, why don't you consider an Intel P965 chipset motherboard? They have been out for quite some time and are pretty stable with lots of BIOS updates and revisions. The ones from ASUS & Gigabyte are the gold standard these days. And you will probably save a hundred bucks+ compared to the 680i boards.

The 8800GTX also has 'some' rendering issues in 'some' games. Check the video forum or the NVIDIA forums. But it's hardly a showstopping bug - new drivers should solve it soon. Just a heads up since you asked.

With a 24" depth, I see no reason why the TJ-05 shouldn't fit the 8800GTX. It might even be too big. 😉

 

[The-Noid]

Go with Teamgroup Xtreem memory instead of the Corsair 6400's for the same price. Unless you plan on getting the 6400 C3's they will allow you to hit higher memory speed, or tighter timings. They can be found at www.tankguys.biz.

For heatsink I would recommend either Big Typhoon VX, Tuniq Tower, or Scythe Infinity they seem to perform better then the Artic Freezer.

 

[UMfanatic]

if you do not plan on getting SLi no need to buy an SLi board, go with something like a GA-965P-DS3, if you want to overclock save yourself some money and get an E6400 the big typhoon and tuniq tower are the best, I have a big typhoon, if you get that however make sure your case has the room they are not small by any means, dont waste your money on XMS2 ram, get something like Patriot Extreme or Buffalo firestiks which are cheaper and preform the same plus they are good for overclocking, as for PSUs I would go with a PCP&P 610w or an enermax liberty 500w, seagates are excellent harddrives as for video cards I would recommend a 8800GTS or GTX,

 

[Howard]

Doesn't seem like you need the 680i motherboard. A P965 will do just fine.

DDR2-800 (DDR2-667 will almost always work, too) memory is enough to take you to 3.6GHz with an E6600.

 

[Farm]

I just built a system under nearly the same guidelines except I don't intend to do hard core gaming. I do a lot of work with Photoshop, digital photography, and some DV video editing. I researched my system for about 6 weeks before finally submitting my order.
Here is what I decided upon.

CPU - E6600
MoBo - Asus P5B Deluxe
RAM - SUPER TALENT (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
PSU - CORSAIR HX520w
CPU Cooler - Zalman 9700
HD - 2 x 320GB Seagate
GPU - BFG 7950 GT
Case - Lian Li PC-A10B

Comments in line for your particular components.

Possible OC - nothing crazy, just what is reasonably achievable on air, with mid-range parts. I was hoping around 3.2 - 3.4 GHz. Again, this isn't a priority.

With the e6600, the average OC is around 3.2-3.4 so I think you could easily pull this off.

Not really interested in SLI - compatability issues, heat, noise, cost frighten me off. I don't need bleeding edge - and have the opinion that 1 high end card is better than 2 mid-range in SLI.

You are correct on the 1 high>2 mid in SLI. Saves a lot of PSU work too.

Noise: As quiet as possible given 'normal' cooling - i.e. no water cooling or ridiculously oversized heatsinks.

I opted for the Zalman 9700 over the AC Freezer 7, but I think both are good and not so big that you have to anchor your MoBo to a wall stud.

CPU: E6600

Good Choice

Mobo: Asus P5N32-E SLI

I would look hard at a P965 like another member suggested. The P5B is a great board.

RAM: 2x 1GB Corsair XMS2-6400

Look at Yoxxy's Ram posting for sticks that use Micron D9s. I chose the Super Talent, but the Team Xtreme is also very good.

Cooler: AC Freezer 7 pro

You'll probably get more opinions on this than any other component. This is a FINE choice if you don't want to squeeze every last Ghz out of your CPU.

Case: Silverstone TJ-05

Not a bad case. IF you have the funds, consider the Lian Li PC-A10 or the Silverstone TJ-09. Both are spacious, quiet, and well liked.

PSU: Seasonic S12 550W 80+

Good.

Graphics: Palit 8800GTX

Seems to be the card to beat right now. I didn't need cutting edge so I got the 7950 GT for about $210 after rebate.

HD: 2x Seagate 7200.10 500 GB

Do you rally need a TB of HD space? I've read that these 500GB are much noisier than their smaller counterparts. Consider 3 320GB drives with system files on one and the other two in RAID. I'm not even sure you can do that, but that would make more sense and give you nearly the same storage for less money and noise.

Good Luck with your build.