Complete Noob :) - X6800 System

[david86]

Hi all,
Every 3-4 years I normally go all out on trying to get some of the best stuff I can. I'm not really bothered about OC things since I honestly don't know how to do it.
I've tried reading up on the components to see if they are compatable with each other and now I am just completly confused, bah!

Well here is what I have so far...

CPU - Intel X6800 (Stuck beween this or FX-62)

Mobo - MSI Platinum PowerUp Edition

GFX - GeForce 8800GTS

HDD - Western Digital Raptor 150GB (Not sure if compatable with Mobo with it being a ATA-150)

RAM - Corsair XMS2 6400C4 (Got no idea about RAM)

CASE - Thermaltake Aguila

Sorry about the lack of detail, I'm hoping to just get the lay of land and see if anything sticks out as hideously bad.

Hope you can help,

Many thanks.

 

[apt403]

Sorry about the lack of detail, I'm hoping to just get the lay of land and see if anything sticks out as hideously bad.
.

first of all we need a budget and what your going to be useing this comp for.

ok now with that out of the way.

alot of money could be saved if you got your feet wet with oc-ing, the E6700 could be easily clocked to X6800 speeds, so could any other C2D for a matter a fact, but you might need to invest in some better cooling, and it would be harder to obtain that speed with something like an E6400 its still easy. but if you can afford the 6800, go for it.

video card looks good, what about getting a bigger hard drive for the system? 150GB is going to start to seem pretty small a year to from now, depending on what you store on it. not going to say any thing about the ram because that doesnt seem to be one of the stonger areas of my computer knowage.

instead of the msi board go for either a P5W or P5B deluxe, eoending on what chipset you want, there kind of pricy but since you where considering the X6800 im assuming that price isnt one of your main conserns.

thats all ive got right now, oh and ditch the FX proc, the higher end C2D will run circles around it, then beat it to death will a broom.

 

[fatcat]

I have only one thing to say, if you're going to dump that much money on a CPU, C2 Duo is the way to go right now. It's not to say the AMD is making crappy processor but right now they are not the best you can get for the money.

Within this ending year, I have bought 2 systems. Mine bought in febuary is AMD 4200 x 2. Last week we bought a C2D 6400 for my wife. Had I known at the time that C2D would be so good I would probably just have wait for it.

 

[david86]

Thanks for the great advice so far.

The main problem that I have is that I definetly want to get the x6800 and a 8800gst and a speedy hard drive (150gb should be about right for what I need it for), then I'm completly stumped on the correct motherboard and ram.
I'll take alook on the suggested motherboards.

Price range I had was between £1500-£1800, dunno how that relates to US pricing.

 

[WR2]

HDD - Western Digital Raptor 150GB SATA Will be compatible with any motherboard you're likely to get that supports C2D.
We're assuming the Mobo - MSI Platinum PowerUp Edition is the MSI 975X Platinum: THG Editors Choice
I agree with the recommendation to get the E6700 vs X6800. Even if you don't plan to overclock the E6700 to X6800 speed (or beyond) the savings outweigh any performance increase. X6800 is the choice for hard core overclockers. If you ARE one of those, let us know because the motherboard isnt the best choice for TOP overclocking.

 

[david86]

It's why I hate motherboards and ram because when I check the specs it said ATA-100 & 300, not 150 like the raptor is.

I'm not a one for always upgrading as better things come out. I like to just get the best system I can at the time and when the entire thing becomes dated in a few years then I go all out again. Admitidly not the best thing to do.

Like I mentioned before I have no idea how to go about this OC stuff so won't be doing anything like that. With my luck with computer I probably blow the house up.
So if you feel that the E6700 is a more suitable choice then I can't disagree

 

[WR2]

ATA has two flavors P-ATA (p=parallel) and S-ATA (s=serial).
PATA is the older version and you're probably familiar with IDE drives which are PATA drives. SATA is the newer standard and you'll see most HDs are SATA 3.0 and are the types you want.

Mild overclocking is actually quite easy. Very high overclocking is a lot tougher of course.

To overclock the CPU you just raise the FSB (front side bus) frequency. Default its 266Mhz as in the screenshot of the bios settings. Changing the CPU FSB Frequency from 266 to 300 will have your E6700 CPU running at 3.0Ghz.

Here is a High-End Buyer's Guide - October 2006 that makes recommendations on how to order up a new system. It also lists upgrades in various areas as well. Of course that guide was made prior to the 8800x GPUs going on the market.

 

[david86]

Ok then so a little few tweaks to the list then:

CPU - Intel Core 2 DUO E6700 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.67GHz

GFX - BFG GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB GDDR3 (Price differnce on the CPU made up to get a GTX instead )

MoBo - Asus P5WDG2-WS Professional Intel 975X (Socket LGA775)

RAM - *Um suggestions 2GB Paired ones preferably*

HDD - Western Digital Raptor 150GB WD1500ADFD

Case - Themaltake Aguila

PSU - Antec TruePower Trio 650W PSU (CA-063-AN)

 

[horstmann]

Let me start off by saying that system will kick a$$. I am so jealous that I cannot afford a computer like that, but anyway....


Your first thought about RAM is correct. Get some corsair XMS DDR2 800. You could go with slower ram, but 800 will help any overclocking that you might do and doesn't cost a whole lot more.

THIS would rock in your system.

 

[WR2]

I can't say I think the Asus P5WDG2-WS is a good choice. Its a workstation/server type motherboard.
The ASUS P5W DH DELUXE would be a much better choice.
Match it with some good DDR2 800 RAM CORSAIR XMS2 2GB DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) or Patriot 2GB DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) or any other major brand RAM with 4-4-4-12 Cas Latency/Timing rating.
Thermaltake Aguila = Awesome Case Review
One thing to keep in mind is that the 8800GTX is 11" long (vs the 9+" of the GTS) Since the ATX motherboards are usually 12.0" x 9.6" that means the GTX will hang off the back of the motherboard and might be a conflict with the case internals - the Aguila's hard drive cage in this case.
Internal case picture
In the Aguila case that HD cage can be removed and the HDs placed in the 5 1/4 drive case above it. There are adapters that let your 3.5" hard drives slip into the 5.25" drive slots.
Also there is an optional (P/N:A2407) Upgrade kit for installing Western Digital hard drive that might fix the issue with the longer video card. Check the Thermaltake Aguila website

 

[david86]

Hehe well it's taken long enough to save up.

I was kind of puzzled between the Corsair Dominator RAM and the XMS2, let alone the 4300,5300,6400 buisness, completely over my head.

I was just looking on the BFG site and the requirements for these cards seem to also puzzle me.
Is there some kind of new power connector for them that a particular PSU must have?
It also mentions that the card requires a SLi ready board and I'm not sure if the one I have chosen is - also seemed to suggest that you needed 2 cards straight away.

About the case, it looks like I might be able to get away with moving the HDD to 5.25 with the mentioned adapters.

 

[WR2]

The more powerful video cards take 75W of power from the PCI-E bus (slot) and the rest of the power feeds in through through connectors to the card (right side end of GTX card above.)
The connectors come with the video cards accessory pack. Right side of picture below.

The GTX takes 2 power connectors and the GTS only requires 1 connector.
The PSU Antec TruePower Trio 650W PSU is an excellent choice.
Dual video cards (SLI) require a SLI motherboard and none of those one's we've listed so far are SLI motherboards.
What monitor will you be using with that 8800GTX video card?

 

[david86]

It would be my current one: Viewsonic VA2012w

I'm now thinking perhaps a GTX is a bad idea, since it requires a SLi motherboard which I'm even less sure about since I havn't seen one yet.

 

[david86]

I should actually state that I'm not intending to get 2 cards and Sli them, i'm asking on the basis that the BFG website said that one card seemed to require a SLi motherboard, whether I have read it wrong, here is the link:

BFG 8800 GTX - Minimum system requirments in lower left

 

[WR2]

Nice monitor and a great match for a 8800GTX or GTS.
And no you dont need a SLI motherboard for a Single video card.
For a SLI -dual video card- setup .. yes you need a SLI motherboard.
There are SLI motherboards out on the market including the soon to be releases 680/650 chipset motherboards.
The 975x motherboards are actually Crossfire motherboards - which is the ATI version of SLI.
Again... single video card not a problem in 975X motherboards.

 

[david86]

Thanks very much for your help so far.

I think i'm almost set, slightly concerned about the reviews on the Asus P5W DH Deluxe you suggested, people seem to have bother with bits and pieces being recognised and given my lack of expertise I might cry if something goes wrong in a motherboard realted disaster!

 

[WR2]

bother with bits and pieces

It's amazing what some people try to get away with. More often than not is an issue with older hardware, outdated drivers and/or unfamiliar setup procedures ("but it's how I set up my old AMD system"). In a home build you're always going to run into the possibility of "gotcha" moments. Saving 10-15% total cost building it yourself compared to buying from a VAR (value added reseller) means added risk. You have only to look at all the "Please Help" topics in this forum to realize that not every build goes smoothly.
You minimize your risks going with system review guides that you trust, plus using some common sense and of course, going about the build very carefully.
You may want to look at the ABIT AW9D-MAX motherboard if the Asus isnt in your comfort range.

 

[david86]

I suppose common sense prevails, with that in mind here is a kind of final list:

CPU - Intel Core 2 DUO E6700 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.67GHz

GFX - BFG GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB GDDR3

MoBo - Asus P5W DH Deluxe WiFi (Socket 775)

RAM - Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2-6400C4

HDD - Western Digital Raptor 150GB WD1500ADFD

PSU - Antec TruePower Trio 650W PSU (CA-063-AN)

Case - Themaltake Aguila

Once I get the green light I'll start to shop around

 

[david86]

And this is the list from the site that I intend to get the parts from:

MY-108-CS Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2-6400C4 TwinX (2x1GB) (MY-108-CS)
£179.99
CP-129-IN Intel Core 2 DUO E6700 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.67GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (CP-129-IN)
£314.99
GX-035-BG BFG GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-035-BG)
£419.99
HD-069-WD Western Digital Raptor 150GB WD1500ADFD 10,000RPM SATA 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-069-WD)
£142.99
MB-152-AS Asus P5W DH Deluxe WiFi (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-152-AS)
£134.99
CD-054-SO Sony AW-G170AB2 18x DVD±RW x12 Ram Dual Layer DVD-Writer - (Black) OEM (CD-054-SO)
£18.99
CA-032-TT Thermaltake VD1000BNS Aguila SuperMidi Tower - Black (CA-032-TT)
£55.99
CA-063-AN Antec TruePower Trio 650W PSU (CA-063-AN)
£77.99
Subtotal £1,345.92
Shipping (City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)) £14.95
VAT £238.16
Total £1,599.03

 

[Qeldroma]

Sounds like an awsome system. I think your making the right choice going with the GTX. Its suppossed to be faster than dual ati 1950XTX's, which are the fastests cards on the market till Nvidia came by and ate them alive.

I also would by the BFG Just for this little extra feature!
OMGWTFBFGSAUCE!

 

[Qeldroma]

BTW Apt403... I hope you dont mind me quoting you in my sig.

apt403: "C2D will run circles around it, then beat it to death will a broom."

 

[david86]

Ok then I'm guessing everythings ok then to go ahead, well I hope everything will work together lol!

 

[rwaritsdario]

What are you gonna cool down your CPU with?
Why not 680i?