Ready to order!

[Awake]

Well, I think I'm going to order this as soon as I hear that everything looks good... I would love it if someone could thoroughly look everything over for me one last time, to make sure I didn't do anything stupid!

CPU -
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor

Motherboard -
MSI P6N SLI Platinum LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard

Power supply -
OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI ATX12V 700W Power Supply

Case -
Antec Performance One P180 Silver cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

RAM -
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

Video card -
EVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card

Sound card -
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card

Hard drive -
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

DVD drive -
Sony NEC Optiarc 18X DVD±R DVD Burner

 

[FallenSniper]

Looks good. The PSU is a bit much, unless you intend to OC it to death

 

[Awake]

I was going to get the 600W version before, but then I figured this one only costs a bit more and then I can add another video card in the future... but then again... is 700W enough for 2 8800 GTXs? I guess I'll go with the 600W for now...

Also, I had one other concern, I believe that when this board is set up for SLI, each PCI-E x16 slot only goes at x8, right? Will that mean there will be a loss of performance? Or something?

 

[mrbbq]

I would go for the p182 instead of the p180. Also, you could get a faster processor if you could wait a month for Intel price cuts.

 

[3Ball]

Looks good to me, though I would go with the Antec 900 since I just built a system for a friend very similar to urs and I personally have a Antec P180 and his temps are much much better than mine. Also if you are going to OC i would get an after market CPU cooler. Hope this helps!

Best,

3Ball

 

[Awake]

I would go for the p182 instead of the p180. Also, you could get a faster processor if you could wait a month for Intel price cuts.

I would if there wasn't a $40 rebate on the p180 until the 24th, and unfortunately I can't wait for the price cuts next month, which really sucks...

Actually... I may just go for the p182... even though it's $60 more for a couple days... tough decision...

 

[FallenSniper]

Also, I had one other concern, I believe that when this board is set up for SLI, each PCI-E x16 slot only goes at x8, right? Will that mean there will be a loss of performance? Or something?

Correct, the board does go into dual x8 mode. Technically there will be a loss in performance compared to a 680i where both lanes are x16. Will the loss be noticeable: No. There may be like a 1% decrease in performance, but remember, you will be in sli. Therefore instead of getting your 300 fps in a game, you will only have 297, how sad.

As it goes for cases, I still recommend buying one that might not have the best cooling for like $100 less, then buying a case fan or two for around $6 or $8 each. if you are set on the p180 or the p182... I say the p180.

Unless you want this Silver Beauty: p182SE
So Pretty! Too bad it isnt even close to worth the price

 

[Awake]

Errr... one last thing I've been wondering about... which mobo?
MSI P6N SLI Platinum LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-P35C-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard

With the Gigabyte one I'll be able to use a Penryn and DDR3 memory, I believe, but with the MSI board I'll be able to use SLI...

Is SLI really all that useful, or will it be better to just upgrade to a single one of the latest and greatest video card when the time comes?

Also, this is my first build, I believe that if I use the board with the Nvidia chipset all my ram info will be automatically detected thanks to EPP? Or something... but if I'm using the board with the Intel chipset will it automatically detect all my ram specs? Or will I have to set all that myself? And will that be difficult to do?

Thanks for all the help!

 

[aevm]

If you really want SLI consider P5N32-E SLI Plus, it allows both cards to work at 16x. Or one of the 680i mobos (eVGA A1, for example, or Striker or GA 680i-DQ6).

If you intend to buy the second video card soon (say, before Christmas) then SLI makes sense. Otherwise I'd say sell the 8800 GTX in 2008 and replace it with the next high-end card, if you need more power. For example an 8800 GTX alone generally does better than two 7800 GTX in SLI, except in Flight Simulator for some reason. I discovered this by comparing the VGA charts on THG, btw, the 8800 GTX won in 6 out of 7 games. There's no guarantee that history will repeat itself with the 9800 GTX vs 8800 GTX SLI though. Decide when you have benchmarks of the 9800 GTX...

Good luck!

 

[Awake]

Ok then, I guess I'll be going with this motherboard, but can anyone answer me previous question about the memory?

 

[SEALBoy]

He should go with the P180B, not the overprices P182. The P180B has the wire-routing holes on the motherboard tray. I don't see any different between the two except maybe the paint job.

 

[Awake]

Also, this is my first build, I believe that if I use the board with the Nvidia chipset all my ram info will be automatically detected thanks to EPP? Or something... but if I'm using the board with the Intel chipset will it automatically detect all my ram specs? Or will I have to set all that myself? And will that be difficult to do?

 

[FallenSniper]

It should be automatically detected. The only thing you might have to do is change the timings.

 

[stabgotham]

Just something that I noticed. I thought you were looking to maybe run an SLI rig in the future? That Gigabyte P35 board only has 1 PCI-x16 slot. It's a really good board for the price though!

 

[humbe]

I'd forget about SLI and rather upgrade your card more often.. Unless you've got trouble wasting enough money.

It will always be preferable to have the better card instead of having two of the next best thing.. I'd rather not shell out for two of those over expensive nuclear powered cards, and rather upgrade the card more frequently.

 

[SEALBoy]

Also, this is my first build, I believe that if I use the board with the Nvidia chipset all my ram info will be automatically detected thanks to EPP? Or something... but if I'm using the board with the Intel chipset will it automatically detect all my ram specs? Or will I have to set all that myself? And will that be difficult to do?

The board should be able to detect your RAM automatically, but it probably won't run it at optimum speed. You will likely have to adjust the voltage, increase the speed, and tune the timings manually.