Questions regarding my build

[zzzrByte]

Hey guys and girls.

I'm currently researching my next computer purchase, and would love some feedback on the build, as well as answers to a couple of theoretical questions.

I should point out that I will spend most of my day on this machine - working, gaming, doing graphic work, etc. A bit of everything.

Here's my proposed build:

■Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66GHz, 1333FSB, 4MB Box
■Abit IP35 Pro Intel P35 Chipset Socket 775
■OCZ 2GB DDR2 PC2-6400 800Mhz Special Ops Edition Urban Elite XTC 4-4-3-15
■eVGA GeForce 8800GTS 640Mb Superclocked
■2 x Western Digital 250GB 7200Rpm 16Mb SATA II WD2500YS
■Corsair HX Series 520W PSU

I would appreciate comments, as well as answers to these issues:
■Is the 640MB on the graphic card overkill? (I could get 320Mb for a lot less). My resolution is 1680x1050
■Will spending more on a Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz 8Mb BOX Stepping G0 give me a big boost? Or should I spend that money someplace else?
■Is this relatively cheap mobo fine or should I go for something like Gigabyte GA-P35T-DQ6 Intel® P35 Express Chipset LGA 775 (which costs twice as much)
■Is 2GB mem enough (running Vista) or should I go for 4?
■Would I gain much speed by running the two drives in RAID?

Lots of questions, and one confused, grateful guy here.

Thanks.

 

[chookman]

* I personally dont see the point in the 640Mb version, IMO go with the 320Mb or fork out a little more for the GTX (keep in mind the G92 is comming)
* With a Q6600 you will be a little more future proofed and have more multitasking ability as well as when games start to utilise more cores you will also see a boost. IMO get the Q6600
* The M/B is relatively cheap, however, ive heard good things about this board, up to you in the end but i would think we will not loose anything with this choice.
* Are you going to run 64bit is the bigger question, you will see lots around on 32bit not coping with 4Gb of RAM properly and in general you are better with 2Gb but if you are going 64bit go with 4Gb if you have the dough.
* RAID-0 you will gain performance as you can go twice as many read/write jobs as compared to single drives. Keep in mind if one drive fails you loose the lot.

Hope this helps

 

[Solariscs]

That motherboard seems to be really good, or you could try the Gigabyte p35 DS3L. Its a pretty cheap good board.

For graphics it would be good to go with the 8800 320mb and start saving up for some upgrades in the future.

Like chook said, if you have the money go with the quad core to be more future proof.

good luck with your build

 

[raptorxt]

also keep in mind that the brand new intel 45nm processors are coming out in november along with the geforce 9800
so if you can wait a little longer i would, but if you absolutely want it now here is what i would do

-i would go on and get the q6600 because you know that future games will use more cpu power more efficiently

-spend some more to get the 8800 gtx

-i've heard great things about that mother board and would keep it

-i wouldn't get ocz but go with patriot or supertalent pc2 6400 ddr2 800mhz in a 2X1gb setup (read some articles about ram on Tom's and you will see that if the ram is the same kind it really doesn't matter what brand it is. The performance timings are so close that their really isn't any advantage.) 2gigs is enough. i agree with what chookman says, though, about the 4 gigs.

-your hard drive setup is fine (raid 0 doesn't offer as much of a performance boost as you might think, though.) I would put anything into a raid 0, but just remember it is definately not twice as fast as a single hard drive.

-i would go with a much more powerful power supply to power the 8800 gtx. +750w

other than that it sounds like a great build

in the end it is your decision, but I would wait just a little bit longer and see if the prices drop when all the new stuff comes out.
just an opinion

my build
p5w dh deluxe, 2X1gb supertalent ddr2 800mhz pc2 6400, core 2 duo e6600, 7950gt 512mb superclocked, 2x147gb SAS seagate cheetah 15,000rpm hard drives in a raid 0, 630w power supply

 

[chookman]

raptorxt:
-your hard drive setup is fine (raid 0 doesn't offer as much of a performance boost as you might think, though.) I would put anything into a raid 0, but just remember it is definately not twice as fast as a single hard drive.

Yet you have 2 SAS drives that would have set you back in RAID-0 obviously you see some advantage in RAID-0?

 

[zzzrByte]

Thanks for all the replies.

Following your comments, I have updated my build like this:

■Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz 8Mb BOX Stepping G0
■Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R Intel® P35 Express Chipset LGA 775
■OCZ 2GB DDR2 PC2-6400 800Mhz Special Ops Edition Urban Elite XTC 4-4-3-15
■eVGA GeForce 8800GTS 640Mb Superclocked
■2 x Western Digital 250GB 7200Rpm 16Mb SATA II WD2500YS
■Corsair HX Series 520W PSU

I'm still not sure if I should go with Vista 64 or 32. Any thoughts?

chookman: I just saw that the recommended system req. for Bioshock is a video card with 512MB of RAM. This convinced me to with the 640MB 8800 GTS instead of the 320MB. The GTX however is really, really expensive.

 

[Maziar]

well if u dont need DDR3 but a better OC'ng boad , go for GIGABYTE P35 DS3R , also about vista 64 vs 32 , well i say go for 64

 

[raptorxt]

@chookman
is that true?
have i actually decreased my performance in a raid 0 with 2 sas drives?
i just though if i could do it why not?
i didnt know i actully lost performance

no sarcasm i am actually asking

 

[pous]

If you're going to spend the money on vista anyway, you might as well get vista 64 and go with 4gb ram and get it over with.

Everything else looks good... the 8800GTS 640 is awesome, I've got one, but like everyone says, the new series is coming out soon, so you might want to look at the 320 version (EVGA) and then take advantage of their 90 day step-up feature...

Good luck with your build.

 

[chookman]

raptorxt:

I was just pointing out that you basically ragged on RAID-0 not being any better for performance, yet you spent a hell of a lotta money doing just that. 15K Cheetah drives dont come cheap and being they are SAS you would have had to buy another controller to connect them up.

Of course there is a performance increase on RAID-0 you can draw the same info from 2 sources instead of one, which theoretically doubles your thoughput.

You will have a nice setup there, but i saw what you said as a bit contradictory.

 

[raptorxt]

chookman:

no all i was saying is that raid 0 doesn't offer twice the performace of a single drive

"(raid 0 doesn't offer AS MUCH of a performance boost as you might think, though.) I would put anything into a raid 0, but just remember it is definately not twice as fast as a single hard drive."

- i wasn't saying there isn't any performance boost; just not double
-from what i have read raid 0 does increase performance, but through my experiences it doesn't seem to be twice as fast.

 

[chookman]

raptorxt:

My apologies i slightly miss read your first post.
I would have thought you would have noticed a big increase with a pair of those drives though.
I know ive got a RAID-5 in this machine on im now and its lightening to what im used to

 

[raptorxt]

chookman:

i wouldn't know the performance difference of a single SAS drive compared to 2 striped ones because i have never had a single SAS drive setup

i just understand the difference between one sata compared to 2 striped.

but yes i would put anything into a raid 0 just to get more performance