Need help deciding on some components. QX6850 build

[kevin1978]

I am a relatively new overclocker and I am putting together a new system. I am not a gamer. I am just a math Phd student that does heavy computational work (floating point calculations). My programs benefit a lot from multithreaded code. So I want a rig that is fast and stable at doing superPI type of calculations using all four cores. The programs manipulate large arrays so memory size could be a constraint. By the way I am planning on having a double boot system with Vista64 and Linux.


I have already bought the latest intel extreme processor QX6850 and I am looking for your advise about the rest of the components. I am planning to overclock the processor with water cooling. I'll be happy if I can get something stable close to 4Ghz.

Here is what I am still trying to decide.

WATERCOOLING UNIT.
Since I am not an expert builder I will go for one of this two kits or other that you could recommend.
-Swiftech H20-220-APEX-GT
http://www.newegg.com/product/...p?item=N82E16835108076
-CoolIT SYSTEMS FREEZONE Thermoelectric CPU Cooler - Retail.
http://www.newegg.com/product/...p?item=N82E16835227002


MOTHERBOARD AND MEMORY.

I am buying the ASUS P5K DELUXE or the ASUSP5K3 DELUXE, depending on whether I get DDR2 or DDR3 memory
My memory budget is $600 and I am deciding among the following.

2GB of the newest Super Talent DDR3-1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820609237

or at least 4GB of good DDR2 memory (if withing budget 8GB). I am thinking of the following 4GB kits.

mushkin 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
Timings 4-3-3-10 2.2-2.25V
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820146690

8GB of Mushkin 4GB(2 x 2GB)
Timings 5-4-4-12 2.0V
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820146691

8GB of OCZ 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
5-4-4-15 2.1V
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820227248

8GB of G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
5-5-5-15
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231122


PSU
I have bought the PC P&C 750 Quad
http://www.newegg.com/product/...p?item=N82E16817703009

HARD DRIVES
I am thinking of two raptors in RAID0
http://www.newegg.com/product/...p?item=N82E16822136033
and for backup a SAMSUNG
http://www.newegg.com/product/...p?item=N82E16822152052

CASE
I have not decided on anything yet, I would prefer a full tower for ventilation purposes and I don't want
to spend more than $200. Would this NZXT be a good option.
http://www.newegg.com/product/...p?item=N82E16811146029


I think this forum is great and I have learned tons from it.

Thanks in advance for any recommendations.

Kevin.

 

[airhendrix13]

Alright, lets walk through this.

Watercooling: Go with the Swiftech. They use high quality parts and really make solid mid-grade cooling solutions.

Motherboard: Good choice.

Memory: DDR3 hasn't really met its potential yet. I would stick to DDR2 and get 4gigs of Corsair Dominators, 8 gigs if you have the budget to.

PSU: Fine.

HDD's: Raptors don't make a big difference in real world applications, but they do show off well in benchmarks. I'm not sure if they will help or not with what you will be doing, but if I had to make a choice, I would just buy a 7200.10 HDD, and use the extra money toward getting that 8 gigs or ram.

Case: I've never dealt with NZXT, so I'm not sure about it. I personally recommend the Thermaltake Armor Tower or a Lian Li case.

I hoe this helped,

Ryan

 

[coldmeat]

there's no reason to get DDR3, so stick with DDR2 and the P5K deluxe

 

[LightningRider]

Agreed, though wouldn't it be smarter to just get a Q6700 or Q6600 and OC? I can't see myself ever paying the outrageous price for the Xtreme Series chips.

 

[trOver]

Xtreme series =ripoff

 

[drakore]

Don't bother with DDR3, i am not entirely sure, but i thought the P5K3 only supported DDR3-1333... in this case DDR3 would be quite pointless....

Get the DDR2 version with DDR2-800 or 1066 ram...

Personally I would go with the First Mushkin listed... they are pretty badass...

As for the cooler... do not get that CoolIT crap... I wouldn't even get the Swiftech one...

goto www.petrastechshop.com and get the elite kit with the MCR320 RAD instead.
Petra's Elite Kit Rev 2

Hmmm I would ditch the raptors... Get some seagate drives... you could wait for the new 7200.11's which will be quite fast because they use single platters (for the smaller versions)

Baaaa that PSU is kinda crappy... oh well.. i'm sure it will be ok...

Get an Antech P182 instead of that case.... It also has water tubing holes cut out so you can mount a rad on a back easily.

If you want some in depth advice we can talk.. just pm me...