My New Conroe: Would like Advice

[177ine177ine]

Hey guys,

I've already posted here but it seems that post went dead so I'm starting a new one with a revised computer and new choices. So far my system is:

INTEL Pentium D E6400 2.13GHz FSB1066MHz 2MB LGA775 Dual-Core (Which I plan to overclock to at least 2.8GHZ)

ASUS INTEL 975X 3PCI/2PCI-E X16/2PCI-E X1 D.GB LAN
(P5W DH DELUXE)

ASUS GEFORCE 7900GT 256MB DDR3 256 BIT DUAL DVI-I HDTV
(EN7900GT/2DHTV/256M)

OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC2-6400 Dual Channel Gold XTC (OCZ2G8002GK)

3X Western Digital 250GB 7200rpm 16MB RAID Edition
(WD2500YD)

NEC 16x Dual layer Black Bulk Pack
(ND-3550A-BK0A)

Zalman CPU Cooler Copper-Core Fan Speed Controller Retail
(CNPS7700-CU)

OCZ GameXStream Power Supply (SLI Ready) 600W
(OCZ600GXSSLI)

And a mouse and keyboard. I already have two 19" monitors I will use amd I will be getting the P180.

I have a few questions about these parts and any additional input is completely welcome.
1. Can I set up a raid 5 using these 3 hard drives and how would I do this?

2. Is this system a considerable upgrade over a 6600gt, amd3500+, asus a8n-sli and 74 gig raptor?

3.What is the difference between these two hard drives?
Western Digital 250GB 7200rpm 16MB RAID Edition
(WD2500YD) $102.00
Western Digital 250GB SATAII 16MB 3.5-in HDD 7200rpm
(WD2500KS) $95.00

4. What is the difference between these two graphics cards?
ASUS GEFORCE 7900GT 256MB DDR3 256 BIT DUAL DVI-I HDTV
(EN7900GT/2DHTV/256M) $359.00
ASUS GEFORCE 7900GT 256MB DDR3 256 BIT DUAL DVI-I HDTV
(EN7900GTTOP/2DHT/256M/A) $389.00

5. Is it a good idea to overclock and will this CPU and mobo be able to handle that overclock to at least 2.8GHZ and possibly 3.0-3.1.

Any input or answers to any of these questions is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[2k7zero]

Hey guys,

I've already posted here but it seems that post went dead so I'm starting a new one with a revised computer and new choices. So far my system is:

INTEL Pentium D E6400 2.13GHz FSB1066MHz 2MB LGA775 Dual-Core (Which I plan to overclock to at least 2.8GHZ)

ASUS INTEL 975X 3PCI/2PCI-E X16/2PCI-E X1 D.GB LAN
(P5W DH DELUXE)

ASUS GEFORCE 7900GT 256MB DDR3 256 BIT DUAL DVI-I HDTV
(EN7900GT/2DHTV/256M)

OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC2-6400 Dual Channel Gold XTC (OCZ2G8002GK)

3X Western Digital 250GB 7200rpm 16MB RAID Edition
(WD2500YD)

NEC 16x Dual layer Black Bulk Pack
(ND-3550A-BK0A)

Zalman CPU Cooler Copper-Core Fan Speed Controller Retail
(CNPS7700-CU)

OCZ GameXStream Power Supply (SLI Ready) 600W
(OCZ600GXSSLI)

And a mouse and keyboard. I already have two 19" monitors I will use amd I will be getting the P180.

I have a few questions about these parts and any additional input is completely welcome.
1. Can I set up a raid 5 using these 3 hard drives and how would I do this?

2. Is this system a considerable upgrade over a 6600gt, amd3500+, asus a8n-sli and 74 gig raptor?

3.What is the difference between these two hard drives?
Western Digital 250GB 7200rpm 16MB RAID Edition
(WD2500YD) $102.00
Western Digital 250GB SATAII 16MB 3.5-in HDD 7200rpm
(WD2500KS) $95.00

4. What is the difference between these two graphics cards?
ASUS GEFORCE 7900GT 256MB DDR3 256 BIT DUAL DVI-I HDTV
(EN7900GT/2DHTV/256M) $359.00
ASUS GEFORCE 7900GT 256MB DDR3 256 BIT DUAL DVI-I HDTV
(EN7900GTTOP/2DHT/256M/A) $389.00

5. Is it a good idea to overclock and will this CPU and mobo be able to handle that overclock to at least 2.8GHZ and possibly 3.0-3.1.

Any input or answers to any of these questions is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

1.NO
2. Yes
3.Probably one si Sata2 and the other is not go for the cheaper one.
4.Don't know get this instead http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130016
5.Yes u can overclock well over 1ghz.

Some advice:
Get the E6600 and if you are on a budget get this mobo http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813131030
if not get the one u chose. Also for ram get this http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820231073

 

[2k7zero]

also get you cpus from here http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductList.jsp?ThirdCategoryCode=010431

 

[177ine177ine]

Hi. Thanks for the quick reply. Unfortunately I'm in Canada so my options are a bit more limited. Someone else told me I could run Raid 5 with this mobo but now I've gotten a different answer and I'm really confused :?
Also, the E6600 was my original option but seeing the overclocking performance I could gain I chose it to better fit my budget. The overclocked 7900gt seems like a good deal but like I said, it's more pricy, has a high failure rate (just see EVGA's forums), and I would also not like to have to order. The normal 7900gt appears to satisfy my basic gaming needs much better than the 6600gt does, and I was actually happy with the way that card handled BF2.

One more question;
How would I be able to run Raid 5 if at all?
Also, if it's not possible to run Raid 5 is there a way of running a Raid 0 but without having the risk of losing all your data if one drive fails? I heard about something like 1+0 or 0+1 but I have no clue about any of this.

 

[TheMaster]

I donno much about raid 5, but i found this Tomshardware article that shows how to set it up:

http://www.tomshardware.com/2004/11/19/using_windowsxp_to_make_raid_5_happen/

Also talks about raid 0 +1. Basically its two Raid 0s that back up your data on one. So you have two copies in Raid 0.

I've heard somewhere that raid 1 + 0 is better, though. Not quite sure what it is. Hopefully somone more knowledgable will come along.

 

[177ine177ine]

Lol, hopefully being the word. No one around here seems to know a thing about setting up a Raid and no one has been able to give me an answer as to why I can't setup a Raid 5 on my system

 

[TheMaster]

Well according to the link i gave you RAID 5 (software) should work on your computer. You just need to get your hands a little dirty.

Hardware raid 5 would be faster, but you'd need a controller that supports it.

Any WindowsXP system is technically capable of running RAID arrays, as long as the desired amount of hard drives can be attached. It does not matter what hardware you are using. For RAID 5, merely three files need to be altered.

What's the reason for RAID?
Do you do a lot of video or audio editing?

You'd probably be better of getting another hd and using hardware raid 0 +1.\
I'm sure it would be faster than software raid 5.

 

[177ine177ine]

Recently, I started making some DVD's for my band which involved the whole video editing stage. Also, my computer was struggling on some of the newer games. My old system had a 74gig raptor which I actually really liked but someone mentioned that a Raid 5 would be perfect for what I needed because of the performance benefit. He recommened a Raid 5 setup with 3 7200RPM drives over the 150 gig raptor. Basically, I'm looking for the same hard drive speed as my old computer as I would of liked to feel as if I'm gaining something.

Also, my Asus p5w dh deluxe states on newegg that it supports:

PATA 2 x ATA100 up to 4 Devices
SATA 3Gb/s 6 x Internal Serial ATA 3.0Gb/s ports
1 x External Serial ATA 3.0Gb/s port
SATA RAID RAID 0/1/5/10 Matrix RAID
Additional RAID Controller Jmicron JMB363
Silicon Image 4723

 

[TheMaster]

Ok, X-bit says it supports Raid 5

the mainboard offers the total of 7 SATA-300 ports and 2 PATA-100 ports. And you will be able to create RAID 0, 1, 5 and 0+1 from the hard disk drives connected to this mainboard.

i donno why the other guy told you that you can't. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[177ine177ine]

:? Wow. Well thanks for all the help you've provided and also to SupremeLaw for his input. So, therefore, my motherboard should be able to handle Raid 5. Would I setup the Raid from inside my BIOS?

 

[177ine177ine]

Ok, thank you very much. This has cleared up a lot of things for me.
So my 3X Western Digital 250GB 7200rpm 16MB RAID Edition (WD2500YD) should be fine for running a Raid 5?

 

[177ine177ine]

Thanks once again. Unfortunately, it seems my store only has the OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC2-6400 Dual Channel Gold XTC (OCZ2G8002GK). In fact, it doesn't have any DDR2 Corsair memory at all. Odd. Must be because I'm in Canada. Hopefilly the OCZ will work fine.