zenmaster

Splendid
Feb 21, 2006
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I'm Building an E4300 System to do system intensive tasks that acts as a backup gaming system if my play system is down.

My Goal is to configure my E4300 w/ a FSB of 1066 for an effective speed of 2.4Ghz for normal operations. I also plan to up the FSB to 333 when the system really needs power for a speed of 3.0GHZ.

The 2x2GB memory was chosen to allow for expansion to 8GB when I move to Vista in 6-12months.

The 7600GT Video card needs to drive both of my monitors for very good 1280x1024 output in office productivity. I will be staring at them for 8hrs a day. Game performance is less critical since I know it will work fine for one Monitor if need be until I upgrade to a DX10 card in 6-12months w/vista.

I see DVI Cables are included with the System, but I wanted to get some longer ones in case I needed them since the monitors will not be real close to CPU.

DVD-COM/Keyboard/Mouse not listed but on order.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E4300 = $189.00
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819115013

GA-965P-S3 =$115.00 ($105 after rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813128017

eVGA 7600gt - $120 ($100 after rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814130073

GSkill DD2-667 2x2GB - $430
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820231110

(2) Seagate ES 320gb Sata drive - $200.00 (Enterprise Model for 24x7)
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822148215

Coolmaster Case - $50.00
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811119068

Thermaltake 600W PurePower - $100.00 ($75) after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817153042

(2) HansG 19" monitors - $380.00
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16824254013

(2) Two 10' DVI Cables - $4.00
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16812189132

Arctic Cooling Freezer - $30.00
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16835186134

Arctic Silver 5 - $6
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16835100007
 

AdamBomb42

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Dec 7, 2006
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IMO 4 Gigs is more than you'll need, even in vista. I suggest for you to save some money a get 2 Gigs. I've been running vista with 1 Gig in one machine and 2 in another and both run great. By the time that 4 Gigs would make a noticeable performance difference, the price on RAM will have dropped.
 

akhilles

Splendid
*sanity meter blew out*

I'm sorry but you'd have to put a bullet in my head to pay that much for ram. I know it's 4 gigs. What do you do requires 4 gigs? Minimal Vista req. is 512mb ram. Right now vista's not out, you're gonna use XP 32-bit which sees up to 3.5 gigs. I don't even know if vista 32-bit will see more than 3.5gb. 64-bit os will.

The only worthy Thermaltake psus are the Toughpower series. Forget the rest of TT psus.

Everything else looks good.
 

zenmaster

Splendid
Feb 21, 2006
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I use a lot of VMWare with lots of Virual systems.

So on my desktop System I may have Linux Servers, Windows Servers, NetWare Servers, Windows 98 -> Windows XP virtual sesions etc...

Lots of software development and regresson testing for software running on just about any NOS or desktop OS.

So if you have a Linux box running an SQL Database and a Windows 2003 SR2 server running a IIS service running against the SQL database, and a Windows 2000 Client talking to the IIS service and this is all running on top of your XP PC you can see how memory goes fast :>

All of the Virtual systems is why I really want the dual monitor.
Far easier to work on two systems at the same time, even if they are on the same device.

I also have some permanent servers running full-time in my office, but they are for the stable setup and the VMs for patch testing, troubleshooting, beta testing, etc.. etc...
 

zenmaster

Splendid
Feb 21, 2006
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0
22,790
Do you have a PSU that you like?
Anything with "Quiet" in some of the reviews would be nice.
I have lots of systems so I like keeping the noise pollution from each one down.

Yeah, the $$$ for the RAM is a $&%$, but I need it.

*sanity meter blew out*

I'm sorry but you'd have to put a bullet in my head to pay that much for ram. I know it's 4 gigs. What do you do requires 4 gigs? Minimal Vista req. is 512mb ram. Right now vista's not out, you're gonna use XP 32-bit which sees up to 3.5 gigs. I don't even know if vista 32-bit will see more than 3.5gb. 64-bit os will.

The only worthy Thermaltake psus are the Toughpower series. Forget the rest of TT psus.

Everything else looks good.
 

zenmaster

Splendid
Feb 21, 2006
3,867
0
22,790
This should make you a bit happier :>

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817151027

I bit out of the price range I was looking at, but based on system price, not a big deal and it looks nice.


I dont mind you mentioning the memory thing, most folks dont realize that going from 2-4gb will not buy you much and that in many cases anything over 3gb is lost due to OS limitations.

I actualyl have access to all MS software thanks to a MSDN license so I will upgrading to Vista as soon as all of the kinks are worked out.

Dual booting is likely for a while. I've heard real nasty things about bad VM performance with Vista since many of the VM drivers now reside outside of the kernal due to new MS security in Vista. This helps protect Vista against bad drivers, but really hurts Vista in regards to quality drivers/software.
 

akhilles

Splendid
Excellent choice. The minimal psu for 7600gt is 350w. That one will make the next psu upgrade a long time later.

I found Vista's User Control(?) too annoying. Click a button every time a certain program like registry cleaner runs. Other than that, Vista looked very hot, very animated & very clean/organized (it loaded stuff before going to desktop; kinda behind the scene).
 

Brutuz

Distinguished
Jan 16, 2007
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18,530
IMO 4 Gigs is more than you'll need, even in vista. I suggest for you to save some money a get 2 Gigs. I've been running vista with 1 Gig in one machine and 2 in another and both run great. By the time that 4 Gigs would make a noticeable performance difference, the price on RAM will have dropped.

Not to mention DDR3 will probably be out.

I agree about User control, I turned it off, its the biggest time waster.
 

AdamBomb42

Distinguished
Dec 7, 2006
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Sorry i didnt' realize it's a server. In that case, 4 gigs will be needed. VM or any sort of software os emulation cuts the computer performance in half. Plus all the servers you run.

I'm sure you'll be able to get your hands on Windows Server 2003 32/64-bit or something like that to make use of 4 gigs of memory.

Pick any psu from this list:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article699-page1.html

I agree, I was not aware that you are running VMWare. In that case 4Gigs would be useful.