Thoughts on this e6750 Build? (Its my first)

[newbuilder3]

This is the board that im strongly leaning towards ( EVGA 122-CK-NF68-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail). Being my first build and all, i have noticed that you either get an sli board that can handle two pcie x16 slots or you can get a p35 board that can handle ddr2 and ddr3 but only one x16 slot. Are there boards that can do sli and also ddr3 or have i just missed something? Also the build includes an e6750. Will there be a problem fitting a Zalman 9700 with this board? Also how do i find out if the board has the right 3pin or 4pin connector for the cpu cooler as i can't seem to find that in the specs? Finally, will a 700w psu be enough to handle 2 8800 gts 640mb?

Here are all the components, opinions on compatibilty and anything else would be greatly appreciated

* GIGABYTE 3D Aurora 570 GZ-FA1CA-ASB Black 1.0 mm Aluminum body ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail
* EVGA 122-CK-NF68-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
* EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail
* OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI ATX12V 700W Power Supply - Retail
* Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6750 - Retail
* CORSAIR XMS2 DOMINATOR 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400C4D - Retail X2 (I will need vista 64bit to recognize 4 gigs of ram correct?
* Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
* ZALMAN 9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler - Retail


thanks in advance

 

[Dior]

There are no P35 boards which support SLI. You have two choices: pick the 680i board (like the one you did) or wait for X38 chipset to arrive in mid September or so.

Personally, I wouldn't bother with SLI at all, I tried once but I'm never going there again. Way too much hassle, it's not as automatic as you might think, but the main reason is because the video card market is advancing extremely fast nowdays, for example, approximately in November Nvidia is going to release the next monster card which is expected to be atleast 2x faster than 8800 Ultra, which is basically twice faster than 8800 GTS 640mb in SLI, it's unreal.
If I was you I'd do the following: Get an EVGA 8800 GTX which performs close to 8800 GTS 640 in SLI sometime in mid August (closer to the end preferably), and then when the nvidia 9 series arrive, use the 3 months step up program and get a card which is twice faster for only about $150 + your "old" 8800 GTX.

The board I'd pick is Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R, DDR2 & DDR3 support, future 45nm cpu support, rock stability, nice overclocking features.

I'd also consider spending a little more on your CPU and getting Q6600 instead. Future DX10 titles like Crysis and UT3 fully support 4 cores, that's what everything is headed towards anyway. With decent cooling, by the way I'd recommend getting Tuniq 120 Tower instead, it costs less and cools a little better, you should expect a stable overclock to 3.2Ghz easy.

Rest looks fine, good luck.

 

[newbuilder3]

so the nvidia 680sli chipset does not support the 45nm cpus then right?

 

[newbuilder3]

Also, i assume you either have to go with ddr2 or ddr3, but not both on the mobo at same time right? i know its probably a stupid question but im new to alot of this

 

[Dior]

I think the 680i board you listed also support 45nm with a newer BIOS from the official website, not 100% sure on this though. There are no 680i boards which support DDR3, DDR2 only. You basically have to pick one of those:
1. 680i SLI but no DDR3
2. P35 DDR2&3 but no SLI

I'd go with #2

 

[newbuilder3]

what about the power pin connector for the zalman? zalman is 4pin but i dont know if board supports, can find info on it

 

[newbuilder3]

i mean zalman is 3 pin.....my bad

 

[newbuilder3]

Any thoughts on Vista 64bit vs 32. I mean what are the benefits other than being able to use more ram?

 

[aevm]

Also, i assume you either have to go with ddr2 or ddr3, but not both on the mobo at same time right? i know its probably a stupid question but im new to alot of this

Right, you take out the DDR2 when you put in the DDR3. Can't have them both at the same time

 

[aevm]

Any thoughts on Vista 64bit vs 32. I mean what are the benefits other than being able to use more ram?

You get to boast about your 64bit OS. That's about it... In fact drivers for 32bit are better.

 

[labgeeksteve]

what about the power pin connector for the zalman? zalman is 4pin but i dont know if board supports, can find info on it

I also have a Zalman, the board will support it. But it has 2 speeds off and 100%. I myself am moving away from the Zalman and going for the Thermalright 120 Ultra. I haven't got it yet, but hope to test it out tomorrow or the next day. The reason I went with this HS is that you can attach your own 120mm fan, and I found a fan that supports the PWM connection of the MB.

 

[hheiber]

Right, you take out the DDR2 when you put in the DDR3. Can't have them both at the same time

Part of me thinks that you are almost better off going with a DDR2 only motherboard in this case. I assume DDR2 will still have a decent shelf life and then if you want to upgrade from 2 GB to 4 GB, it is easy to just add two more sticks. Otherwise you have to do a full memory swap. Thoughts? How long do you think DDR2 will be a viable solution?

 

[aevm]

1 or 2 years until DDR3 is a better solution as far as price/performance. 4 years until it really doesn't make sense to add 2 more GB of DDR2 to a PC that already has 2. Just guessing... Right now DDR1 is still available, and in some cases it still makes sense to buy more.

 

[Piercey]

I want a mobo out right now that supports SLi and DDR3, this sucks.

It makes perfect sense to use 1066mhz ram when your cpu's fsb is 1066mhz.
Same goes for the new E6850 which has an fsb of 1333mhz, ddr3 running at 1333mhz would be perfect...but with SLi as well, that would be mint, imho.

Frankly it sucks you can't have both just yet, but give it a few months and I'm sure Asus or Gigabyte will bring something out.

 

[Gh0stDrag0n]

The E6850 has a quad pumped FSB (333.25mhz x 4= 1333mhz), DDR2 runs at 2 times the fsb (333.25 x 2 = 667mhz) If you do not plan on overclocking DDR2 667 would be what you need to run a 1:1 ratio with the E6850. DDR2 800 would be 400mhz FSB (1600mhz processor FSB), DDR2 1066 would be 533mhz FSB (2132mhz processor FSB **good luck** )

 

[Maziar]

u play @ 1920x1200 or higher ?