noob OCer needs help with MOBO selection

[ademole]

I'm a noob and want to build a PC to make music on. I am not a gamer but use CPU/memory intensive digital audio processing (Cubase SX running tons of plugins). For this reason I am looking to get some good overclocked performance out of the sucker! I have a CD drive already and will be using an external audio interface. Here is a system I am looking for some feedback on:

hd $109.98 Seagate 320GB Barracuda 7200.10 SATA2 w/ NCQ 16MB
http://www.ncix.com/products/index....09&promoid=1058

monitor $385.98 Acer AL2216Wbd 22" Widescreen LCD DVI 5ms (black)
http://www.ncix.com/products/index....43&promoid=1058

cpu $378.99 Intel Core2 Duo Processor E6600 2.40GHz w/ 4MB Cache
http://www.ncix.com/products/index....44&promoid=1058

heatsink $51.39 Scythe Ninja Plus REV.B Heatpipe Fanless Heatsink AM2 LGA775 S478 S754 S939 W/ 120MM Fan Adjuster
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=21163

ram $289.98 OCZ Platinum XTC PC2-6400 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-800 CL4-5-4-15 240PIN DIMM Dual Channel Memory Kit
http://www.ncix.com/products/index....94&promoid=1058

case $174.42 Antec P150 Quiet PC ATX Tower Case Silver 4X5.25 4X3.5INT 430W W/ 120MM Fan & Filters
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=16520


The only thing I am unsure about is the MOBO!
Here are some considerations and some models I have been looking at:
1. I am not a gamer, so I don't care about great graphics. Having said this, should I look for onboard graphics or still get a graphics card and MOBO separately?
2. This system is built to be OC'd, so the board should be a good OCer! Here are some boards that I have been advised to look into:

$285.00 ASUS P5W DH Deluxe - lots of people say it's great, but I don't think I really need all those bells and whistles.

$170-200 various models in the ASUS P5B series - any recommendations here? They all look pretty much the same (FSB,OC features,RAMspeed, etc)
chart

$127.53 Foxconn P9657AA-8KS2H

$157.55 Gigabyte GA-965P-S3

$218.88 DFI Infinity 975X/G ATX LGA775 Conroe 975X DDR2 2PCI-E16 1PCI-E4 1PCI-E1 2PCI SATA Sound Motherboard
(just read this guide...looks like 975x--as found on the DFI Infinity & ASUS P5W DH Deluxe--would be better performance than these 965 boards) I'm leaning towards this board since the Lanparty series is so popular, any ideas?

Quite a range of prices! Like I said though, it's all about speed and power, the only graphics-intensive process I will be doing is running that huge widescreen at standard resolution. Any recommendations for a graphics card for the boards without onboaod graphics? These mobos were recommended for OCing, but none of them have the ATI/Nvidea onboard... Any feedback would be great, like comments/experiences about any of these components. If I have made some sort of goof up please let me know! Will the 430W power supply included with the Antec case be sufficient to handle all this stuff once I start pushing the system over the 3Ghz range? I will be buying through http://www.ncix.com/ in case you couldn't tell! (prices in Canadian dollars) I am *trying* to keep the bill under $1600 and I'm already at just under $1400 without the mobo/graphics! Thanks for any help

 

[aelfwyne]

As far as graphics, you'll want onboard graphics for your situation. The purists will disagree, but that's my opinion. Sure, Windows Vista will require heavy graphics horsepower when it comes around. However, the onboard should sufficient, and if it isn't you can upgrade when DX10 cards are less expensive. Any currently available cards that aren't DX10 don't technically meet Vista requirements anyway. You mention having an external audio interface as well - is that your complete sound solution - that is, does it provide all of your system sound, rather than using onboard? If so, then you're good to go. Otherwise, you may want to consider the quality of the onboard sound as well.

Good choice on the HD, I think. CPU will be a bigger issue with sound processing than Hard drive, so you won't need a Raptor or RAID setup. The case/PSU look pretty good, though filters do impede airflow a bit. Is an Antec 900 case in your range? As far as the PSU, don't skimp there. An Antec 430 should be considered the minimum, though without high-powered graphics you won't need much more either.

As far as the motherboard/CPU stuff, I'm not too sure myself as I'm an AMD person. Others may help you more there.

 

[VooDooAddict]

I disagree with onboard graphics simply due to overclocking. Video integrated on the northbridge makes it much more difficult to overclock the FSB.

Also the motherboards you are looking at do not have onboard graphics anyway.

(For video) If you don't need somethign fast that's fine. But you probably want something that's passively cooled and modern with good drivers.

 

[lupi]

Originally posted by: aelfwyne
As far as graphics, you'll want onboard graphics for your situation. The purists will disagree, but that's my opinion. Sure, Windows Vista will require heavy graphics horsepower when it comes around. However, the onboard should sufficient, and if it isn't you can upgrade when DX10 cards are less expensive.

I haven't read much on vista yet, but I thought I saw one blurb that said it would require a gpu with dedicated memory; meaning just about every current onboard graphic chip wouldn't be compatible?

 

[aelfwyne]

Originally posted by: lupi
I haven't read much on vista yet, but I thought I saw one blurb that said it would require a gpu with dedicated memory; meaning just about every current onboard graphic chip wouldn't be compatible?

Perhaps not compatible with the full Aero effects, true, but they will operate in some mode at the minimum. Even my 5 year old HP notebook meets (barely) the minimum requirements.

As far as what VooDooAddict has pointed out, I'm not familiar with how onboard video interacts with overclocking... I'd have thought it ran on a seperate clock, but what do I know? My experience with onboard graphics was on a Pentium 4 system, and there was no overclocking involved (though the chip was likely a good candidate, the owner didn't want to try it)...

 

[VooDooAddict]

Originally posted by: aelfwyne

Originally posted by: lupi
I haven't read much on vista yet, but I thought I saw one blurb that said it would require a gpu with dedicated memory; meaning just about every current onboard graphic chip wouldn't be compatible?

Perhaps not compatible with the full Aero effects, true, but they will operate in some mode at the minimum. Even my 5 year old HP notebook meets (barely) the minimum requirements.

As far as what VooDooAddict has pointed out, I'm not familiar with how onboard video interacts with overclocking... I'd have thought it ran on a seperate clock, but what do I know? My experience with onboard graphics was on a Pentium 4 system, and there was no overclocking involved (though the chip was likely a good candidate, the owner didn't want to try it)...

The 2 main issues:

1) Motherboards with onboard graphics tend to not have bioses that enable overclokcing.
2) Read some reviews of the Intel G965 chipset boards and you'll see in everone they wish it had the overclocking ability of the P965 without onchip vid.

If you want overclocking you'll want to seperate the video. If you arent' worried aobut overclocking ... then intigrated graphics are fine (though non of the boards from your list have onboard vid).

 

[ademole]

well i have decided on everything as above, except that i will get this video card:
$74.35 EVGA E-GEFORCE 7300 GS 550MHZ 128MB 650MHZ DDR2 PCI-E VGA DVI-I TV Out Video Card
It is fine for my purposes...

Yes my audio interface handles all my audio needs, I will disable all onboard sound.
I still am at a loss for the mobo though. I have read good things about the ASUS P5W DH Deluxe in terms of its OCability.
Was gonna get the Foxconn P9657AA-8KS2H for its price, but then I'd need a firewire card too (30 bux)

 

[VooDooAddict]

Looks good. Now go enjoy the build and OC process!