New build check and two technical questions

[BurninSun]

I'm building a new comp solely for gaming. My current system is going on 4 years old and is in desperate need of replacement. While researching all the latest hardware, I ran into a few questions that I can't seem to find answered anywhere. I'll start with the build and leave the questions for the end.

I rarely do part upgrades as my old systems get brought down to my work and the old work systems are usually so ancient that they're scrapped. So salvaging and future upgrades will be kept to a minimum until its time to replace the entire thing.

Mobo:
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813128050
Gig abyte's boards have been getting good reviews and lots of recommendations lately. This is the lowest end model with Ultra Durable 2, ultra cooling. The higher end models have SLI support, extra SATA connections and DDR3 support, none of which I need.

Processor:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819115029
For the price/performance, the 2.66GHz chips seems to hit the spot. I plan on doing some minor OC'ing of this, at least to 3.2GHz with a 400MHz FSB.

CPU Cooler:
Stock.
This is something I'm still toying with, but I've read that what I'm trying to OC is relatively mild and doesn't require a better cooler than stock. This goes along with my 2nd technical question below

RAM:
OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820227231
Good brand and cheap ($78 after rebates). The 800MHz vs 1066MHz is my 1st technical question below.

Video:
EVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814130072
Good reviews for the brand & prices of the GTX are all more or less the same. I tend to want high FPS more than high resolution so that ruled out the 640MB GTS, and I want this system to last 2-3 years minimum so that ruled out the 320MB GTS.

Monitor:
Salvaged 19" LCD, nothing special.

PSU:
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610 EPS12V EPS12V 610W Continuous @ 40°C Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, cUL, CE, CB, TUV
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817703005
This will be $120 direct from manufacturer, not the $150 after rebate as listed on Newegg. For that price plus the brand, I couldn't find a better way to go.

HDD:
I'm going to salvage 2x 36GB Raptors from my old system and raid 0 them in the new build. If it weren't for that, I would have gotten a single 72GB Raptor instead. I need very little storage for gaming and have enough other computers around my house to move any bulk storage items elsewhere.

I'd really like to throw in a 16GB (or 2x 8GB) desktop grade SSD for speed, but all I can find are product descriptions, nothing for sale. The only ones I can find for sale are slower but power saving for laptops or industrial grade 64GB+ for $1500+.

Case:
Rosewill R6425 BK Black SGCC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811147071
For $21 I get a piece of reinforced aluminum foil shaped like a box.
I wanted something with enough air vents (my current system hasn't had a side cover in 3+ years due to heat) This has a 120mm front vent, and a CPU side air duct. It will be sitting on the back of my huge (3' x 5') desk, so no worries of damage from abuse and no need to be pretty since I'm staring at my monitor, not my box. If sound is a problem, I can DIY some sound proofing for it.

OS:
Win XP Pro for now. I don't plan on installing Vista until its required or somehow vastly improves, which probably won't be until my next computer build.

Keyboard, mouse, floppy, CD/DVD drive, case fans, thermal paste are all salvaged from previous builds. (Obviously I'm salvaging whats remaining in the tube of thermal paste, not scraping it off the old CPU and smearing it back on the new )

Lastly, theres the sound system. I've always wanted to hear what a better sound card sounds like, but from what I've read, I'm not going to do much better than onboard sound until I upgrade to a $100+ X-Fi which is plagued by compatibility problems (not the least of which is their jack setup). I'm assuming just stick with onboard, but I have to ask.

After shipping, tax and rebates, I'm around $1200 (remember no HDD or monitor) While I'm not on a budget, this is the ballpark I was shooting for, If there's anything better I can get for price/performance, please let me know.


Now for the technical questions:

First, the E6750 runs stock at 8x333MHz = 2.66GHz. I plan on bumping the FSB up to 400MHz for a 8x400 = 3.2GHz. Then my memory will be running at its rated 400x2 = 800MHz. Is there any advantage of getting higher clocked memory? Obviously if I wanted to OC the processor higher (without lowering the multiplier), I would then be OC'ing the memory over spec and it would be a toss up as to which fails first. Or I could run an asynchronous 5:4 timing with the memory, but from what I've read, memory runs best as a synchronous 1:1 ratio. Have I completely screwed up my numbers here or is there really little return for getting those higher clocked memory chips?

Second, how well do heatpipes work when laid horizontally? The physics is that the liquid inside vaporizes, the hot gas rises to the cooler top of the heat sink where the vapor condenses and drips back down with gravity. However, this requires a vertical orientation and since I'm building a tower, any heatpiped CPU cooler will have the pipes laying horizontally. I've read that if the pipes are built specifically for it, capillary action in the pipes replaces the need for vertical orientation, but are CPU cooling heatpipes built for this? It's a tough question to answer because if its shown that the heatsink dissipates heat the same in any orientation, it might be due to the heat transfering along the copper pipes themselves in a damaged system where the coolant has leaked out. I guess without getting into too technical of a discussion my question is: do people see things like the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 (of which I've read many rave reviews) working well when installed horizontally in a tower case? And do I need one?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134

Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

[Wgfalcon]

sounds like a quality build i prefer full tower cases but it's just a personal preference. as for your questions with that overclock the 800mhz will be fine and as for the cpu cooler heat pipes they are designed for tower cases and work fine even though they are horizontal. i would recommend you go after market for your cooling because 8 to 10 degrees cooler for less than 50 bucks is a little extra peace of mind especially if you go 3 or 4 years between builds. i'm using an arctic freezer 64 on my amd 6000+ i got for around $30. the arctic freezer 7 pro gets pretty good reviews. you didn't specify what kind of thermal paste your using so i'll recommend arctic silver 5(or arctic ceramique) and if thats what you have and it's more than a year old i'd buy another tube because i read the silver suspension breaks down over time.

 

[WR2]

I can't confirm the 8800GTX will fit in that Rosewill case. It might be a good idea to choose a case where the hard drive cage is removeable. If you don't see any customer notes about GTXs fitting you'll need to take careful measurements and consider where the HDs will be located. You can get an adapter to fit a 3.5" HD in a 5 1/4" cage slot. Rosewill R6AR6-BK

"Is there any advantage of getting higher clocked memory?" Not really. Any slight slight memory performance penalty of running a FSB/RAM ratio other than 1:1 is offset by the higher CPU speed. The same is true above or below 400Mhz FSB.

The horizontal orientation of the heatpipes is not a problem. You want heat transferred to areas where the case airflow can pass over the widest area possible. Check the orientation of the CPU fan cooler. You can get by without an aftermarket CPU cooler with only light-moderate overclocking. The stock Intel cooler is decent but gets loud enough to be annoying before it looses the ability to keep overclocked CPUs cool. The AC Freezer 7 Pro cooler is a good choice, not least of which is the pre-installed thermal compound and ease of use. No need to use your salvaged thermal paste. The MX-1 paste is high quality and its got the right amound on the cooler heat sink. It's also quiet when overclocked in the 400Mhz (and beyond) FSB area you're considering.

The sound system can always be upgraded later if you're not satisfied with the onboard sound.

 

[sharp910sh]

Get a P182 or a antec 900, a very good full size case, will fit anything you throw at it.

 

[BurninSun]

I added the AC Freezer 7 Pro, hoping it'll let me push the OC a bit farther, or at least it will cool better for the OC I'm planning.

The GTX being able to fit in the case was something I hadn't thought of. A few quick measurements and a phone call reveals it will in fact fit, but barely. There won't be enough space for a HDD in one of the bays, but this case has more bays than I need anyhow (and I have some 3.5" -> 5.25" adapters if necessary)

As for the choice in cases, I couldn't find a full tower that had everything I liked until the $100+ range, and for that kind of money, I can bend some aluminum around myself to make something that fits exactly (I could care less what the thing looks like)

Thanks for the input.

 

[WR2]

Hopefully you won't need to do a "dremel mod" to make it fit.
Give us an update on how the install goes.

 

[Newf]

There's always the upgraded Chieftech dragon type case:
Chenming CMUI-P-601AEB-0 Blk SOHO Tower w/o PSU $60+16 8/18/07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811125480

 

[BurninSun]

There's always the upgraded Chieftech dragon type case:

Unfortunately, I'm running 2 WD Raptors (and old revisions at that) that combined probably put out more heat than my CPU. I absolutely need an open drive bay between them and a fan blowing through.

And what's so bad about a dremel mod? Its a good way to "personalize" a case, bloodied metal splinters and all. :lol:

 

[BurninSun]

Parts are ordered, should have it built by the end of the week.

New question popped up though, whats the difference, if any, performance wise between using the ICH9R for raid 0, or Gigabytes own raid chip? Or more generally, whatever non-southbridge raid handling thingy-ma-bob which might be on the board.