New builders confusion

[Starglider]

Hello mighty gurus!

Situation:

I am first time builder, and putting together a new rig this week. While I have upgraded PCs before, added graphics cards, extra HDs, memory, etc, I have never built a system from scratch before. Use of the rig is gaming and image editing mostly. Reading this board gave me lots of ideas / suggestions on components already.

First, list of parts:

Intel E6600 C2D
WD Raptor X 10000rpm 150GB
Larger SATA2 HD for storage. Brand/model to be determined.
EVGA Geforce 8800 GTX ACS3
Silverstone Olympia 1000 W PSU
2GB GSkill DDR2 800mhz 4-4-4-12
Coolermaster Stacker 830 case (or maybe TT Tai Chi or Kandalf)
Vista Ultimate OEM

Motherboard is yet to be determined. I am torn between 680i SLI boards, mostly IN9 32X-MAX or Gigabyte GA-N680SLI-DQ6 or if I should just go with regular Asus P5W. I have read chilling horror stories about 680i chipset and while the SLI intrigues me, not sure if its worth the hassle. What is your input on this ?

Actual questions are about the building itself.

Is RAID worth it? I am thinking between 2x Raptor in RAID 0 for games, OS, and big disk for a data storage, or just putting single Raptor for OS.

First boot up. Do I need to manually enter all the memory latencies, cpu settings into bios, or is it detected automatically? (I plan to OC later on, I mean just regular stock speed in this context)

Do I still need to have 3rd party SATA/ RAID drivers in floppy when installing Windows Vista Ultimate?

How do I exactly set the RAID in BIOS /OS if I choose to go for it?

Is paying extra 100 EUR on a factory overclocked EVGA 8800 GTX KO AC3 worth it?

Megaton of thanks advance!

Starglider

 

[jeff_2087]

Good choice on the CPU.

As for the board, my EVGA 680i has worked like a charm for about a month so far. I don't use SLi (yet, anyway) but it's still a high performing board. If you decide to go 680i, just don't waste your money on the Asus Striker.

Otherwise, the P5W is a solid enough board, but you should consider the Gigabyte 965P DS3 and Asus P5N-E SLi. Note that the E in P5N-E is VERY important.

Also the ACS3 is sometimes a lot more expensive than the vanilla or Superclocked, and it won't net you much more performance. Also if you intend to go SLi later on, a ACS3 might be tougher to find than a vanilla. But either is a good choice.

 

[akhilles]

Megaton? Sony Megaton to shaft European games... No! lol. I never understood why they didn't settle the rumble case out of the court before PS3 launch.

PC of the Day goes to...

One of the best PSU brands. 1000w 80a can last a lifetime. I couldn't find a review. Only the lesser models. From the specs, it says only one 80mm fan in the back. My Galaxy has that & a 140mm fan that drops my cpu temp by at least 2 degrees.

http://www.silverstonetek.com/products-op1000.htm

Evga 680i is good if you don't raid & don't use PS/2 keyb & mouse. 650i would be a better choice if SLI is your thing.

If SLI isn't needed, tons of choices out there. The flagship boards of the major brands are ASUS P5B DELUXE, GA-965P-DQ6, MSI 965 PLATINUM, etc. 965P is tried & true.

For large storage, go with Seagate 7200.10 any size.

Nope, you don't have to set up the bios to post. However, the ram settings may not be optimal. Set them to specs.

CPU will be detected out of the box. Hence, C2D compatiblity.

Don't know about driver floppy for Vista. Yes for XP.

Don't worry about setting up raid. The manual will at least give you a brieft run-down. Usually in the back of the manual.

To me, not worth $131 US for factory overclock, BUT, Evga has lifetime warranty.

 

[do_it_anyway]

Not sure I would go vista ultimate for a gaming PC yet.
If you buy XP pro before the end of March do you not get a free upgrade voucher?
Put XP pro on, get the upgrade and wait a few months to install it.
I'm doing that with MCE / Vista Home premium.

Otherwise, that looks like an envy inducing piece of kit there!

 

[august777]

if you are going with vista get 4gbs of ram. U may not need it right now but you will. So atleats make sure you have enough mem slots to go 4gb if u go 2x1gb for now

 

[deusex]

Unfortunately, RAM settings are never properly detected...XD

You will have to manually adjust the latency in the BIOS.

Be careful of Voltage problems!

 

[sanjiwatsuki]

Intel E6600 C2D

I like it! Great OCing and the 4MB cache!

WD Raptor X 10000rpm 150GB

Nice speedy HD.

Larger SATA2 HD for storage. Brand/model to be determined.

EVGA Geforce 8800 GTX ACS3

One of the best video cards on the market. Great job.

Silverstone Olympia 1000 W PSU

A little overkill but still, the PSU is the heart of the system!

2GB GSkill DDR2 800mhz 4-4-4-12

Seems like quality RAM.

Coolermaster Stacker 830 case (or maybe TT Tai Chi or Kandalf)

Good case.

Vista Ultimate OEM

Ah, OEM... Good for saving a few $$$

Motherboard is yet to be determined. I am torn between 680i SLI boards, mostly IN9 32X-MAX or Gigabyte GA-N680SLI-DQ6 or if I should just go with regular Asus P5W. I have read chilling horror stories about 680i chipset and while the SLI intrigues me, not sure if its worth the hassle. What is your input on this ?

Will you use the SLI?

Actual questions are about the building itself.

Is RAID worth it? I am thinking between 2x Raptor in RAID 0 for games, OS, and big disk for a data storage, or just putting single Raptor for OS.

After reading a few responses, I'm not sure how great Raptors in RAID 0 really are. I'd ask someone a tad more experienced in that field than me.

First boot up. Do I need to manually enter all the memory latencies, cpu settings into bios, or is it detected automatically? (I plan to OC later on, I mean just regular stock speed in this context)

CPU should be detected. Memory may or may not be.

Is paying extra 100 EUR on a factory overclocked EVGA 8800 GTX KO AC3 worth it?

I concur with akhilles.

Megaton of thanks advance!

Starglider