Spanking New Build - Please Check Me!!!

[plaidfro]

I am going to build a new system for my buddy. We are in the US.. All new parts... Most bought from newegg. No Overclocking. My buddy isnt a gamer, he is more into using the system for movies, music, and internet. He has some editing software for video, but will be kept on an amateur level. WIll start by running WIN XP but eventually upgrade to Vista. The budget range is for under $1500. The last computer I built was about 2 years ago so I am a bit rusty with the new components and benchmarks so I turn to you guys to help me out. Any comments, suggestions, changes, are appreciated. THanks:

CPU
eIntel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - $284.99

CPU FAN
COOLER MASTER RR-LCH-P9E1 92mm UFO CPU Cooler - $29.99

MOBO
EVGA 122-CK-NF68-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard ? $209.99

VIDEO CARD
HIS Hightech H260PRQT512DDN-R Radeon HD 2600PRO 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - $134.99

PRIMARY HD
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive ? OEM ? $79.99

CASE and PSU
COOLER MASTER Stacker 810 RC-810-SKA1-GP Silver/ Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC Chassis ATX Full Tower Computer Case RS-850-EMBA 850W Power Supply - $289.99

BACKUP EXTERNAL HD
Seagate FreeAgent Desktop ST302504FDA1E1-RK 250GB 7200 RPM USB 2.0 External Hard Drive - $79.99

CD/DVD Burner
PHILIPS 2-Tone 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner ? $34.99

CD/DVD Player
ASUS Black 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model DVD-E616A3T - $19.99

Undecided stuff (which to get?)
MONITOR
22? LCD Flat Monitor

2GB RAM

 

[LightningRider]

Well, let's see...

HDD: I would get a Western Digital 500GB, quieter, cooler, better performer. Can be had for ~$100 if you search for deals.

PSU: I wouldn't use a PSU that came with a case. Get the case separate and buy a Corsair CMPSU-520HX or some other well known reputable and reliable brand of PSU like OCZ or Enermax or PC Power & Cooling.

Video Card: I would probably go with the 8600GT, they can be found for around the same price if you search... Or get an X1950 Pro which can be found for a little bit higher (~$150) if he's willing to spend the money.

Motherboard: He doesn't need an SLI board, because he's not gaming and SLI is usually a waste unless you need huge resolutions. That said, I would get him a P35 chipset based motherboard, maybe the Gigabyte P35-DS3R or ASUS P5K or Abit IP35-Pro. All of them are cheaper too.

4GB of RAM might be nice too but you can add that later.

 

[plaidfro]

I agree with the suggestions you have made. I will most likely get the ASUS P5k now, and a PSU separate from the case (previous bad experience with an Antec SP-450 PSU and Case). The Video Card would be a good choice too. I can see the value in getting the HD too... THanks for the input. I will certainly welcome more suggestions.

 

[Piuc2020]

If your friend won't be gaming, get the card with the most features. To be honest, that HD 2600 Pro is a great card to buy and going to a X1950 Pro would be an upgrade for a gamer but a downgraded for a non gamer like your friend, keep that in mind. I say keep the HD 2600 Pro.

Other than that I agree with lightingrider's suggestions.

 

[LightningRider]

Oh, that is true, the 8600GT supports faster video decoding or something like that I think? Anyways yeah you are probably right, it will be fine for older games as well.

 

[gearsherpa]

So I'm Plaidfro's buddy. He got most of it right. I have messed around with overclocking a little, but only to get familiar with it. Most of my software is running fine at stock speeds. My video editing and DVD rendering is by far and away the most resource consuming thing I do. I want a top of the line MOBO to leave my options open, especially as HD DVD becomes more widespread. Anyway, after reading your comments, consulting with my bros buddy who works in product design at Intel, and several friends who build, here is what I came up with as my final build specs. Comments?

APEVIA X-Dreamer II ATXB4KLW-BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 420W Power Supply $59.99 (Plan on junking the PSU and replacing with below)

LG L206WTY-BF Black 20" 2ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor W/ f-Engine and Tilt $239.99

EVGA 122-CK-NF68-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard $209.99

(While I don't game a ton, I enjoy it, however, I do create and edit videos from wmv, avi, mpeg4, mov, and jpegs, playing DVD quality back at full screen resolution has always been problematic. This motherboard leaves all my options open for only about $50 more than a cheaper one. Also, I have ready many reports about the ASUS PK5 boards having trouble with SATA II HDD's.)

EVGA 256-P2-N761-AR GeForce 8600GTS 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card $159.99

(Thanks for the recommendation, this looks like a good card.)

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - $109.99

(Can't beat the price, dropped $40 overnight!)

Western Digital Elements WDE1U3200N 320GB 7200 RPM External Hard Drive $82.99

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80562Q6600 - $279.99

Rosewill RCX-Z2-EX 92mm 2 Ball PWM CPU Cooler $39.99

OCZ GameXStream OCZ600GXSSLI ATX12V 600W Power Supply $109.99

2 PHILIPS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner 2-Tone SATA Model SPD2513BD -$69.98

(For the extra $10 more than just a CD/DVD ROM, it was worth getting the SATA connection)

Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model BL2KIT12864AA804 $109.99
(Will add another 2 G if needed once I have a chance to see the system perform

 

[LightningRider]

Consider an IP35-Pro over the SLI board, P35 chipset is better than the 680i and I don't think you will be needing SLi unless you game at super high resolutions... which you don't. Also P5K doesn't have any issues with SATAII on my friend's computer. Every body will report issues with different motherboards, every motherboard will have problems but it doesn't mean they are all plagued with the same problem.

 

[gearsherpa]

So I completed my build, and aside from some minor issues with cloning my old HDD, everything went great.

A couple of questions. I have overclocked, and am currently stable on my Q6600 2.4G at 3.209G at 1.35V (9X 357, FSB ~1450), with my temps running steady at about 59-60C (72 F ambient) under full Prime 95 torture testing in 2 instances. I could probably push it farther, but I'd like my max temps to stay under 60 C. Idle I am around 41 C with Intel Step enabled. I have tightend my memory back to 4,4,4,12 and remain stable. I had my voltagle as low as 1.215, stable under Prime 95, but media player playing MPEG2 with complex video transitions, high resolution, at full screen would crash it. I stepped up slowly to the magic number 1.35V and the problems went away. Maintained stability with Prime 95 throughout oddly enough.

The "AUTO" setting on the 680i has the Core voltage at 1.4, which exceeds the 1.372 intel specs, but it seems to run fine at 2.4G. Overclocked of course it heats up quickly, and I hit about 67 under full load. Ideas?

Also, is there a way to make the FSB voltage something between 1.2 and 1.3? The BIOS and nTune only allow 1.2, 1.3, 1.4 V. the 680i "AUTO" for the FSB is 1.4 V also. I have it backed down to 1.3V, which has helped my temperatures considerably. At 1.2 I become unstable. Ideas?

 

[GuitarDaddy]

You need to download the latest version of Prime95 25.2, it will launch 4 instances. Running only 2 instances is not enough and why you were crashing but prime was OK. Run the large files test for a couple of hours to find your max load temps, I suspect they will be higher than 67c

67c under full prime95 load is higher than I would like but exceptable on quads, you really need a top of the line cooler if you want decent temps while overclocking quads. Thermalright 120 ultra extreme, Tuniq tower, ect....

 

[LOUISSSSS]

which cpu cooler are you using? that rosewill pos cooler probably isn't much better than stock. invest in a tuniq or thermalright 120 cooler

 

[Rage3kMoiz]

The Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro is also a good, cheap alternative to the Thermalright 120-Ultra Extreme.