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New build. Appreciate your suggestions.

K

kbk75

Junior Member
Hi guys,

I'm planning on building myself a new rig with the following parts. I mostly use my PC to game, surf the net, rip CDs and occasionally video encoding. I am also frequently compressing and uncompressing large numbers of files (up to 3GB at a time).

Let me know what you think of my part selection and let me have any suggestions to make the rig better. Thanks.

CPU: Intel Core2Duo E6700 -OR- Q6600 -OR- QX6700 (have not decided yet)
Board: Asus Striker Extreme
RAM: Mushkin 2x2GB DDR2-1066 5-4-4-12 @ 2.3V
HDD: 4x500GB in RAID 0 + 1
Fan: Scythe S-FLEX SFF21F 120mm 1600 rpm, 63.7cfm
DVD: 2 x 20x Liteon Lightscribe SATA Dual Layer DVD +-R, DVD-RAM
Vid: 2 x MSI NX8800GTX OC 610 Core, 2000 Mem in SLi
LCD: Dell 2407WFP -OR- Samsung 244T (have not decided yet)
Aud: Sound Blaster XFi Fatal1ty
OS: Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit OEM
CHA: Coolermaster Stacker 830
PSU: Coolermaster 850W Real Power
Fan: A few extra Scythe S-Flex SFF21F 1600rpm for the case

Questions:

1. Should I go with QX6700? My thinking is that I will be able to get my FSB up to 1066 with whatever multiplier the CPU can handle, that way I can run RAM and FSB 1:1

2. I would have liked to get 2 x 150GB Raptors and set them up as my system drive in RAID 0, then use a single 500GB drive for data and perhaps have one 1TB drive to back-up the entire lot. I've read that the 680i RAID performance is stuck at around 100-110mb/s, so this makes it pointless doing a Raptor RAID 0 unless I get an add-in SATA raid controller. Any ideas for a good controller at around $300 or less?

3. Would you suggest the Dell or the Samsung LCD?

4. Will my 850W Coolermaster PSU take the load of this rig ok?
 
I wish I could, but I need to put together a new system within the next ten days or so. That RAID controller looks interesting, but I think I'd go nuts if my system made several loud beeps at post.

Any other thoughts?
 
Welcome to anandtech. Here is the page that shows which power supplies are 8800 GTX SLI-certified: link. That Coolermaster is on the list, so it should be fine. As far as whether you should go with a quad-core or not, that's up to you, and how often you update your computer, along with what you'll mostly be using it for. I wouldn't go with a quad-core yet, but that's just me.
 
Well, I think I will not upgrade this system for around 2 years or so, and then I will probably update the video cards. The motherboard / CPU will probably be kept for around three years or until there is a newer CPU AT LEAST 2x the performance as what I have, so perhaps the quad-core makes sense? Do you think the PSU will be adequate with 8800GTX SLi, 4 hard drives, 2 optical drives, 5-6 120mm case fans, and an overclocked quad-core and SLi?

Edit: Can anyone recommend a really good alternative motherboard to the Striker Extreme? I've read a few bad things about the board and would like to have a top-notch alternative that will take a Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme.

Would I be better off going with a P35 board and dual 2900XT in crossfire, since I am concerned with RAID 0 performance on the 680i?
 
Originally posted by: kbk75
Well, I think I will not upgrade this system for around 2 years or so, and then I will probably update the video cards. The motherboard / CPU will probably be kept for around three years or until there is a newer CPU AT LEAST 2x the performance as what I have, so perhaps the quad-core makes sense? Do you think the PSU will be adequate with 8800GTX SLi, 4 hard drives, 2 optical drives, 5-6 120mm case fans, and an overclocked quad-core and SLi?

Edit: Can anyone recommend a really good alternative motherboard to the Striker Extreme? I've read a few bad things about the board and would like to have a top-notch alternative that will take a Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme.

Would I be better off going with a P35 board and dual 2900XT in crossfire, since I am concerned with RAID 0 performance on the 680i?
Click to expand...

You are building a monster of a machine. Quadcore by all reports run HOT. So I would go to a watercooled system,i.e the thermaltake VD4000BWS which has received great reviews and the cost is very reasonable.

For MB why would you of all people want P965 chipset when the P35 are shipping and have great reviews. If anything the P38 are right around the corner.

🙂
 
Originally posted by: kbk75

Let me know what you think of my part selection and let me have any suggestions to make the rig better. Thanks.

CPU: Intel Core2Duo E6700 -OR- Q6600 -OR- QX6700 (have not decided yet)
Board: Asus Striker Extreme
RAM: Mushkin 2x2GB DDR2-1066 5-4-4-12 @ 2.3V
HDD: 4x500GB in RAID 0 + 1
Fan: Scythe S-FLEX SFF21F 120mm 1600 rpm, 63.7cfm
DVD: 2 x 20x Liteon Lightscribe SATA Dual Layer DVD +-R, DVD-RAM
Vid: 2 x MSI NX8800GTX OC 610 Core, 2000 Mem in SLi
LCD: Dell 2407WFP -OR- Samsung 244T (have not decided yet)
Aud: Sound Blaster XFi Fatal1ty
OS: Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit OEM
CHA: Coolermaster Stacker 830
PSU: Coolermaster 850W Real Power
Fan: A few extra Scythe S-Flex SFF21F 1600rpm for the case

Questions:

1. Should I go with QX6700? My thinking is that I will be able to get my FSB up to 1066 with whatever multiplier the CPU can handle, that way I can run RAM and FSB 1:1

2. I would have liked to get 2 x 150GB Raptors and set them up as my system drive in RAID 0, then use a single 500GB drive for data and perhaps have one 1TB drive to back-up the entire lot. I've read that the 680i RAID performance is stuck at around 100-110mb/s, so this makes it pointless doing a Raptor RAID 0 unless I get an add-in SATA raid controller. Any ideas for a good controller at around $300 or less?

3. Would you suggest the Dell or the Samsung LCD?

4. Will my 850W Coolermaster PSU take the load of this rig ok?
Click to expand...

1. As far as multiplier issues go, you won't need more than the 10x multiplier offered by the Q6600, unless your RAM/motherboard REALLY sucks, which of course, it won't. Q6600 multiplier goes from 6-10, and the QX6700 has a fully unlocked multiplier. That being said, I'll urge you to save the money and go for the Q6600 (which you'll be able to clock just as high as the QX6700).

3. Dell

4. It will handle it. If you don't already own that PSU, however, I would suggest something other than Coolermaster.

All in all, your build looks like one of the more well-researched ones I've seen posted on these forums, so props to you! There are a few things I would change...

RAM: Spending almost $700 on RAM isn't necessary at all when you can buy this, overclock it to match your FSB, and tighten the timings as much as possible. You have to think about your RAM purchase as a product of the FSB/multiplier you plan on using. I would drop that Q6600 multiplier down to 9, raise the FSB to 400 (1:1; now your RAM is at DDR2 800), raise the RAM voltages, and tighten up to 3-3-3-12. DDR2 timings do not go lower than 3-3-3-x, so if this RAM can do 3-3-3-x, anything more expensive than this RAM is a waste of money.

Fans: In the 'medium' fan category, the Scythe is second only to the Papst 4412 FGML 120mm, in my opinion.

Good build.
 
Originally posted by: Husky55

You are building a monster of a machine. Quadcore by all reports run HOT. So I would go to a watercooled system,i.e the thermaltake VD4000BWS which has received great reviews and the cost is very reasonable.

For MB why would you of all people want P965 chipset when the P35 are shipping and have great reviews. If anything the P38 are right around the corner.

🙂
Click to expand...

I thought about going water-cooled but I've decided against it. This does make me think that perhaps I'll be better off with a E6700 Oc'd to the wall. As for the MB, I don't get it? I never said I wanted a 965!
 
Asus Striker is a P965 board.

You are obviously a person of discriminating taste but most people, including me are still running P965 board and Core2duo.

I would definitely go with a watercooled system for quadcore and P38 for next build. There is a thread on this board about how hot the quadcore run from those who own them now.

You might like to google the watercooled case I recommend.
 
Originally posted by: tcG

1. As far as multiplier issues go, you won't need more than the 10x multiplier offered by the Q6600, unless your RAM/motherboard REALLY sucks, which of course, it won't. Q6600 multiplier goes from 6-10, and the QX6700 has a fully unlocked multiplier. That being said, I'll urge you to save the money and go for the Q6600 (which you'll be able to clock just as high as the QX6700).

3. Dell

4. It will handle it. If you don't already own that PSU, however, I would suggest something other than Coolermaster.

All in all, your build looks like one of the more well-researched ones I've seen posted on these forums, so props to you! There are a few things I would change...

RAM: Spending almost $700 on RAM isn't necessary at all when you can buy this, overclock it to match your FSB, and tighten the timings as much as possible. You have to think about your RAM purchase as a product of the FSB/multiplier you plan on using. I would drop that Q6600 multiplier down to 9, raise the FSB to 400 (1:1; now your RAM is at DDR2 800), raise the RAM voltages, and tighten up to 3-3-3-12. DDR2 timings do not go lower than 3-3-3-x, so if this RAM can do 3-3-3-x, anything more expensive than this RAM is a waste of money.

Fans: In the 'medium' fan category, the Scythe is second only to the Papst 4412 FGML 120mm, in my opinion.

Good build.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply TcG. Funny you mentioned that DDR2-800 Mushkin RAM; I pretty-much reached the same conclusion myself after posting my message! =)

As for the PSU, it's already in my Stacker 830, so yeah, I've already got it and don't really want to have to buy a new one.

The question now is, should I go with the Q6600 or the E6700? They're both 10X Multiplier, but I reckon the dual core will OC higher. Considering I'm not thinking of upgrading for a couple years, I'm thinking the quad-core makes sense, but then the OC demon in me just aches to see a C2D doing 3500-3600! =)

I also think the Dell 2407 is a nice screen, so that looks like it's set as well. I recently discovered a Foxconn 8800GTX that's factory OC'd to 630 / 2000, but it's not available at Newegg. Also the MSI card I mentioned above is also out of stock at Newegg atm, so making my vid card choice is getting a little tough now.

On the hard drive front, I still haven't decided whether to buy the Samsung 500GB drive or a WD or Hitachi. I did consider buying a dedicated SATA RAID controller but have decided against it for cost and complexity's sake (don't want issues with Vista 64 bit drivers). What I'm going to do is make 2 RAID 0 arrays of 1TB each and manually back-up one array to the other maybe every 8-10 days with a good HD cloning program.

I'm still not sure whether to go with the Striker Extreme or maybe try the P5N-32E SLI Plus. There really isn't much info out there on relative RAID 0 performance for the different South bridges. I read a Tom's article that showed a problem with the 680i RAID 0 performance compared to 975 / 965, but what about a hybrid solution like the P5N-32E SLI Plus. Also, any idea if the newer 680i BIOS upgrades have addressed this RAID issue?

Thanks again for your advice. I'm gonna go ahead and order my parts in a day or two.
 
1. Don't get the Fatality version of the sound card...its a waste

2. Don't get the OC version of the GTX for the same reason as above...plus you can just do it yourself

3. Don't do RAID 0+1, the performance gained is not worth the price. Do RAID 1 if you like...but RAID 0 is not needed.
 
Originally posted by: Husky55
Asus Striker is a P965 board.

You are obviously a person of discriminating taste but most people, including me are still running P965 board and Core2duo.

I would definitely go with a watercooled system for quadcore and P38 for next build. There is a thread on this board about how hot the quadcore run from those who own them now.

You might like to google the watercooled case I recommend.
Click to expand...

Hi Husky. I think you're confusing the Asus Striker Extreme for the Asus Commando. The Striker Extreme is an nVidia 680i board, the Commando is a Intel 965 board.

I would really like to experiment with water cooling tbh, but the thing is, I live in India and it's going to be a real PITA to get a large case back home from the USA. I've already got a Coolermaster Stacker 830 with an 850W PSU, so that sort-of rules out buying another new case. TBH, heat is part of the reason I am still trying to decide whether to go with an E6700 as my CPU.
 
The question now is, should I go with the Q6600 or the E6700? They're both 10X Multiplier, but I reckon the dual core will OC higher. Considering I'm not thinking of upgrading for a couple years, I'm thinking the quad-core makes sense, but then the OC demon in me just aches to see a C2D doing 3500-3600! =)
Click to expand...

For me personally, 3200-3400MHz on a quad-core CPU is more appealing than 3600MHz on a dual-core CPU. I suggest you look at benchmarks comparing the two, and make the decision yourself. If you do plan on going to dual-core route, you should consider the E6600, seeing as how you won't be using the 10x multiplier with air cooling anyway.

I'm still not sure whether to go with the Striker Extreme or maybe try the P5N-32E SLI Plus.
Click to expand...

You should strike the Striker Extreme from your list (har, har). The release of 650i Ultra (P5N32-E SLI Plus) has effectively stamped out any reason as to why anybody would purchase 680i LT at this point in the chipset market. The P5N32-E SLI Plus offers better performance than any 680i LT, period. I was going to mention the P5N32-E SLI Plus before, but I was kinda crunched for time.
 
Originally posted by: PurdueRy
1. Don't get the Fatality version of the sound card...its a waste

2. Don't get the OC version of the GTX for the same reason as above...plus you can just do it yourself

3. Don't do RAID 0+1, the performance gained is not worth the price. Do RAID 1 if you like...but RAID 0 is not needed.
Click to expand...

Hey PurdueRy,

The sound card I'm looking at costs around $140 and has 24bit, 192KHz capabitiy. Not too bad all told, plus I was under the impression that my CPU overhead would also be lower with this card than with onboard sound.

The reason I want to go with the OC 8800GTX is so I have a "guaranteed" minimum OC on my SLi setup, as insurance against buying two cards and manually OCing, only to find that one OCs high and one doesn't. Also, I've found a Foxconn part that is under $600, so it's really not that much more than stock 8800GTX parts.

As for the RAID 0 issue, I know lots of people say it's not worth it, but I've been running a RAID 0 Raptor array for over 5 years now with no trouble at all. In addition, I want a total storage of 1TB for my new rig, and a single Hitachi 1TB drive costs around as much as four 500GB drives of the kind I'm considering. All told, I feel that I will have better performance AND redundancy at the cost just slightly higher than a single 1TB drive.

Thanks for your help, lemme know if you think of anything more.



 
Originally posted by: tcG

For me personally, 3200-3400MHz on a quad-core CPU is more appealing than 3600MHz on a dual-core CPU. I suggest you look at benchmarks comparing the two, and make the decision yourself. If you do plan on going to dual-core route, you should consider the E6600, seeing as how you won't be using the 10x multiplier with air cooling anyway.

You should strike the Striker Extreme from your list (har, har). The release of 650i Ultra (P5N32-E SLI Plus) has effectively stamped out any reason as to why anybody would purchase 680i LT at this point in the chipset market. The P5N32-E SLI Plus offers better performance than any 680i LT, period. I was going to mention the P5N32-E SLI Plus before, but I was kinda crunched for time.
Click to expand...

Well, the primary concern with Quad vs dual core is heat, seeing as I will only be cooling with air. Granted I've got a huge case and I'm gonna pop 4-5 120mm fans into it to generate a small hurricane inside, plus I'm getting the best HSF currently available, but I'm still a little concerned about heat and instability in OCing.

The Striker Extreme seems to be a misunderstood part. It's not 680 LT, it's the full 680i chipset, and has all the bells and whistles you could ask for. Only problem with it, as I see it, is the cost and the RAID 0 performance limitation of 680i boards in general.

 
Originally posted by: kbk75
Originally posted by: PurdueRy
1. Don't get the Fatality version of the sound card...its a waste

2. Don't get the OC version of the GTX for the same reason as above...plus you can just do it yourself

3. Don't do RAID 0+1, the performance gained is not worth the price. Do RAID 1 if you like...but RAID 0 is not needed.
Click to expand...

Hey PurdueRy,

The sound card I'm looking at costs around $140 and has 24bit, 192KHz capabitiy. Not too bad all told, plus I was under the impression that my CPU overhead would also be lower with this card than with onboard sound.

The reason I want to go with the OC 8800GTX is so I have a "guaranteed" minimum OC on my SLi setup, as insurance against buying two cards and manually OCing, only to find that one OCs high and one doesn't. Also, I've found a Foxconn part that is under $600, so it's really not that much more than stock 8800GTX parts.

As for the RAID 0 issue, I know lots of people say it's not worth it, but I've been running a RAID 0 Raptor array for over 5 years now with no trouble at all. In addition, I want a total storage of 1TB for my new rig, and a single Hitachi 1TB drive costs around as much as four 500GB drives of the kind I'm considering. All told, I feel that I will have better performance AND redundancy at the cost just slightly higher than a single 1TB drive.

Thanks for your help, lemme know if you think of anything more.
Click to expand...

You have a whole lot of music recorded at 24 bit 192KHz? If not, that feature should hardly matter to you.

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Creative-Sound-...1QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Pick up a xtrememusic if you can

What speakers do you have?
 
I run my PC through my Denon 4306 amp and have a 5.1 set of B&W Series 6 speakers with an ASW-2000 sub! ;o)

That card does look interesting.
 
The Striker Extreme seems to be a misunderstood part. It's not 680 LT, it's the full 680i chipset, and has all the bells and whistles you could ask for. Only problem with it, as I see it, is the cost and the RAID 0 performance limitation of 680i boards in general.
Click to expand...

If by bells and whistles you mean inferior performance, than yes, it has all the bells and whistles.

 
Yes, I did notice that the P5N32-E SLI Plus scored a little higher than the Striker Extreme in some benchmarks. What I like about the SE is that it has the power on / off, reset etc buttons on the board, so I can test my new parts here before taking them home (my case is at home in India). I suppose I could just short the relevant pins on the board to start my rig without a case when testing, but I'm a little concerned that I might make a mess of it and screw the whole thing up.

So you're clear on the P5N-32E SLI Plus being the better option then? I also read that the SE Overclocks higher, especially with quad core than the P5N32ESP.
 
TcG, you mentioned earlier that I should go with the E6600 instead of E6700 if I go dual instead of quad. I made my mum a new system three weeks back with a E6600 and I can only get it to run at around 3 GHz with stock cooling. All told that's not a bad result, considering it's stock cooling and an Asus P5N32-E SLI board with no HS on the Southbridge, but I feel that the CPU won't go much higher even with a better HSF and a better board. I've been reading that the current 6600s don't OC as high as the older ones used to; I guess Intel is binning their parts more aggressively. That's my primary reason for wanting to drop the extra $100 on the 6700...I'd like to OC to at least 3200 or more (3.5-3.6 would be great!), and I'm concerned that another 6600 may not get to that speed either.
 
Originally posted by: kbk75
I run my PC through my Denon 4306 amp and have a 5.1 set of B&W Series 6 speakers with an ASW-2000 sub! ;o)

That card does look interesting.
Click to expand...

I think you are confused...just because you have a receiver does not mean that you will be using the 192 KHz 24 bit audio feature. Unless your source material is recorded at this rate, which very little is, then it will have NO affect on the audio quality.

How do you connect your PC to your receiver?
 
I understand what you're saying Purd, I'm not confused! =)

I was just thinking that I would get the Fatality card because of the XRAM feature that card has, so that my CPU gets as little load as possible.

I connect my card to my amp with 3 mini-jack to RCA cables.
 
Originally posted by: kbk75
I understand what you're saying Purd, I'm not confused! =)

I was just thinking that I would get the Fatality card because of the XRAM feature that card has, so that my CPU gets as little load as possible.

I connect my card to my amp with 3 mini-jack to RCA cables.
Click to expand...

X-ram is a result of the Creative marketing team working overtime....aka it does practically nothing.

Personally, with your no expensive spared attitude, I would looking into the X-fi Prelude...but that's just me.
 
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