Building my second system!

[blardle]

Hi everyone,

I'm planning to replace the machine I built two and a half years ago. New machine will be mainly used for multi-tasking, audio editing and a spot of gaming. I seek stability, durability and semi-quietness (well, lack of noisiness). That last point may relate to the fact that I'm presently shooting for a boxed CPU - might it make more sense to get an OEM + custom fan or is the bundled one OK in this regard?

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 (2.13ghz) Socket 775 FSB1066 2MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor

Mobo: ASRock CONROEXFIRE-ESATA2 SKT775 945P PCI-E 7.1 channel audio ATX

Memory: Crucial 1GB 240 Pin DIMM Unbuffered DDR2 PC4200

HDD: Seagate ST3160811AS 160GB 7200.9 SATA II 7200RPM Drive - OEM

PSU: Hiper 530W Black Type M PSU - ATX v2.2, Silent/Temp Control, Active PFC, SLI/Crossfire Certified

GFX: Sapphire X1950Pro 256MB 256bit GDDR3 Dual DVI TVO HDCP PCI-E

Case: undecided.

+ floppy/DVD etc.

Hope I pasted all of that right. Any and all comments are very much welcome!!

 

[sailormonz]

IDK if its in your budget but I recommend 2 gigs (2 X 1 gig) of ram, crucial is kool but ive heard super tallent and team xtreme make awsome modules. Personally the most recent PC i built for someone had 2 gigs of corsair DDR2 800 and I overclocked the proc (e6600) to 3.4 and it was screaming. Also with harddrive prices the way they are u can get a 320 gig HDD for less than 100 bucks just make sure u partition a small portion for windows and the rest for data just incase you have any system errors and have to reformat. Im not keen on the motherboard either but I dont have any personal experience with it so hopefully another person will post about it. Good luck

 

[skyguy]

Get the Barracuda 7200.10, not the 7200.9.....10 is faster and really won't cost hardly any more

If you EVER plan on overclocking, then don't get a 945 motherboard, get a 965. But I doubt you'll be overclocking because your RAM won't take it. So in that case, that mobo is fine for your intended use.

DVD writer. Take a look at the Samsung SH-S182.....solid and cheap.

Floppy. Don't bother unless you have a very specific need or don't mind spending $4 LOL

Case. Get one with 120mm intake front fan if possible, and definitely a 120mm exhaust rear fan. Alot of people here swear by the Coolermaster Centurion for a budget case that's roomy and has good airflow.

PSU is good. Vid card is good.

Any questions, post back.

 

[akhilles]

The only 2 most important features of your selected mobo are:

http://www.asrock.com/mb/cpu.asp?Model=ConRoeXFire-eSATA2&s=

& CrossFire. Unless you plan on running 2 identical Ati cards, don't bother with CF/SLI. Any P965 mobo with 1 PCI-E would be a better choice, especially if you o/c. Like these:

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/117623
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/117732

The 530w hiper has 30-32a combined. Plenty for x1950pro.

http://www.hipergroup.com/English/products/hpu-4m530.html

This case easily:

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/114826

& this fan:

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/65697

 

[blardle]

Thank you all very much for your input!

I can confirm that I will not be overclocking, and also that I have absolutely no intention of ever making use of CF/SLI. Might this mobo be a better bet taking into account my purposes?

MSI 945P Neo3-F i945P Socket 775 SATA 8-channel audio ATX

Thanks for the case/fan recommendations - I may well go with them, budget permitting.

Also, Skyguy, interesting about the 7200.10. What makes it faster than the 7200.9?

sailormonz, I have comparatively little need for storage, but I will consider opting for a larger capacity HDD.

Again, thanks!!

 

[tekzor]

Get the Barracuda 7200.10, not the 7200.9.....10 is faster and really won't cost hardly any more

"faster"
hahahah good laugh.

nice rig. Id recommend the cheaper E4300 for a good OC and performance.

 

[skyguy]

What's the joke? You're saying that .9 is "faster" than .10? So everyone here that owns and recommends a .10 is wrong? What am I missing?

Educate me, O Wise One. :roll:

 

[james11ace]

What's the joke? You're saying that .9 is "faster" than .10? So everyone here that owns and recommends a .10 is wrong? What am I missing?

Educate me, O Wise One. :roll:

i think what hes saying that the difference is not significant

 

[Habber]

haha funny :lol:

a change of 0.01 rounds per minute wont make a big difference.

anyways the stock cooler on the core2duo is noisy when it goes above 70% depends on how hot your system gets, but for my part the stock cooler was to noisy for me.

 

[blardle]

What confuses me is that Intel charge you more for the E6400 yet as far as I can tell it's the exact same thing as the E6300 except with a higher clock speed! I've heard there's some good OC'ing potential to be had.

Of course, I'd have to go with the more expensive mobo if this was gonna be my plan...

 

[alcattle]

The only thing I see are the stock speeds. If you o/c the change you make should be relative to the stock speed. I think most people are saying instead of a e660 or e4300, they say get a e6400 when getting either one would work.
On the drive difference, I have read that Seagate upgraded some of the electronics to solve problems on the .09 series.
my .03 cents

 

[blardle]

I'm now leaning towards buying an OEM processor along with this fan:

Zalman (CNPS7700-ALCU ) 120mm Super Flower Cooler (Al/Cu)

It's large, and it adds to the cost, but I'm willing to go the extra mile for quietness... Would there be any objection to this?

EDIT: This one's copper actually, it's probably better from a heat conduction perspective:

Zalman (CNPS7700-CU) 120mm Super Flower Cooler AMD and P4

Though if I'm not OC'ing and it's a relatively cool C2D chip anyway, perhaps that's overkill? Choices, choices!

 

[akhilles]

http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_cpu_support_detail.php?UID=754&kind=1

Doesn't support quad core.

OEM cpus have shorter warranty than retail ones. I'm not sure how short it is. Maybe 3 months - 1 year.

 

[skyguy]

The 6400 has a higher multiplier, that's why it has a higher clock speed than the 6300. So overclocking a 6400 is "easier" than a 6300 to achieve the same speed, and it puts less strain on your motherboard and RAM. However, if you have quality parts, the 6300 will still overclock like crazy.

The stock cooler on the C2D is fine, nothing wrong with it. It does the job and does it quite well actually. However, if you want a VERY quiet heatsink and/or one that keeps your temps lower, then get an aftermarket one. If you don't have the budget now, then go with a stock one for now and get another one later.

The Zalman 7700 is good. Not the best, but is better than stock. There are better options, but they also cost a bit more too. So it depends what you plan on doing and what you want to accomplish. If you plan on doing some good overclocking, then skip the 7700 since there are better options.

The 7700's style is such that it blows down on the motherboard, which helps keeps other mobo components cool. The tower style heatsinks don't do this, except for the Zalman 9500/9700, which do it indirectly, but better than the other towers.

So if you're looking for a "blow down" model, then the 7700 will work, and there is also a couple offered by Thermalright as well, check them out.

 

[blardle]

I've finalised pretty much everything in my mind with the exception of the cooler, and therefore the motherboard. There are a lot of people who have found their mobo to be incompatible with the 7700 Flower Cooler because it won't fit on, and I really don't want that. I do, however, want to use that cooler.

Zalman's website isn't a lot of help in this regard as the compatible mobo list was compiled in Feb 2005.

Bearing in mind the mobo I'm now considering is the Asus P5l 1394 Skt775 I945p Atx - Snd+gln+u2+1394 Fsb1066 Sata In, is there any way of knowing whether or not the Zalman CNPS7700-ALCU will fit?

Again, thanks for everyone's help so far - I couldn't have got this far without you!!