Building First Rig

[MAGS13]

Hi everyone.

For about 6months now I've been thinking about building my own computer system and I think I’ve finally come up with a system that will fulfil my needs (gaming and digital art) as well as allow me to upgrade easily in the future.

This will be my first time building a computer so (hopefully) everything I’ve selected will be pretty easy to install and setup. I just wanted to make sure everything will be compatible as that is my main concern, especially to do with selecting the right RAM as well as the CPU heatsink fitting onto the motherboard (as iv heard some of the bigger heatsinks have compatibility issues.)

Here are my system specs.

PC Case: Antec Nine Hundred EU gaming Case

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200rpm

DVD- Rom: NEC 18x DVD.RW

Processor: Intel E6750 2.66 GHz

Processor Cooling: Zalman CNPS9700 LED

Motherboard: XFX 680i LT SLI

Memory: OCZ 2GB PC2-6400 DDR2 Gold

Power Supply: OCZ 600W Active PFC GameXStream SLI Ready

Graphics Card: XFX GeForce 8800GTS 320MB DDR3 PCIE Dual DVI XXX ED

Operating System: Microsoft Win XP Pro 64Bit SP2C OEM


Any help would be great and please let me know if there could be any issues with this build.

Thanx for the help.

 

[Maziar]

Looks nice , however if u dont wan SLI , get a P35 board like P5K-E or GIGABYTE P35 DS3R and put that money and get 8800GTS 640
others looks fine

 

[tlmck]

Looks nice , however if u dont wan SLI , get a P35 board like P5K-E or GIGABYTE P35 DS3R and put that money and get 8800GTS 640
others looks fine

I second that.

 

[MAGS13]

Ok, I've just had a look at the two motherboards you suggested. I'm unsure about the Asus P5K-E as on a few reviews they mentioned that a lot of people are having problems with the headphone socket not working.
The other motherboard looks pretty nice though, so I may think about getting that one instead.

As for SLI I was thinking I would get another 8800GTS at a later date so there is a good chance I would be using SLI.
Also I have heard that the new 8800GTS' are coming out soon (the G92 ones) should I wait for these to be released (whenever that is) and get one of them instead?

 

[Maziar]

Dont listen to newegg reviews, i have P5K-E and its very fine
and also no one exactly knows how 8800GT will perform

 

[MAGS13]

I may very well go with the P5K-E then....It does have an extra PCI slot and a heat pipe instead of the fans which where the main negative points on the 680i LT.

Forgetting the new 8800GT then, how much more performance would I gain with a 640 GTS over a 320 one? Considering I may get a second one sometime soon and may boost the clock speeds a tiny bit as well.

(Don’t know if the information will help but I’m also planning on overclocking the processor to about 3.4Ghz)

 

[jive]

I own a p35c from gigabyte, be sure to get the right memory i mean the one list in support memory list from gigabyte. I have some problem with that.

 

[Maziar]

I may very well go with the P5K-E then....It does have an extra PCI slot and a heat pipe instead of the fans which where the main negative points on the 680i LT.

Forgetting the new 8800GT then, how much more performance would I gain with a 640 GTS over a 320 one? Considering I may get a second one sometime soon and may boost the clock speeds a tiny bit as well.

(Don’t know if the information will help but I’m also planning on overclocking the processor to about 3.4Ghz)

@ resolutions lower than 1600x1200 (or 1680x1050) a 8800GTS 320 is equal to 8800GTS 640 in most cases, and in resolutions higher than 1600x1200 , 8800gts 640 is better, however some games like GRAW2, GRAW... need 512 or more to run @ ULTRA quality , so if u have the money go for the 8800GTS 640

 

[aevm]

Another vote for GA-P35-DS3R.

Get the 8800 GTS 640 MB if you can, but the 320 MB version is good too.

I'd replace the DVD-RW with a Samsung or LG.

I'd replace the Zalman 9700 with a Scythe Ninja. It's better IMO and a steal at the current sale price at newegg.
With a SilenX or SFF21F fan you get 47 dB (as opposed to Zalman 9700's 57 dB) and better temps. BTW, 10 dB more means double the noise, that's how the human ear works.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Description=SCNj&x=0&y=0
http://www.anandtech.com/casecoolingpsus/showdoc.aspx?i=2965&p=7

If you can afford another $100 get a Q6600 instead of E6750.

If you can, replace the Seagate 7200.10 with a WD7500AAKS. That disk is incredibly fast, it even beats a Raptor in some benchmarks.
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=446

 

[TSIMonster]

Looks like a great build that should serve you well. Since you are getting such a nice heatsink, you could drop the e6750 to an e6550 and overclock it to save some cash? Maybe between the CPU savings and mobo savings by going P35 you can buy some more games or something!

 

[MAGS13]

Ok, so from what advice I've been given I’ve made a few changes:

PC Case: Antec Nine Hundred EU gaming Case
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar 750GB
DVD- Rom: Samsung 20x Lightscribe DVD
Processor: ???
Processor Cooling: ???
Motherboard: Asustek S775 Intel P35 PCI-E ATX
Memory: ???
Power Supply: OCZ 850W Active PFC GameXStream SLI Ready
Graphics Card: EVGA GeForce 8800GTS 640MB DDR3 PCIE 2xDVI KO Edition
Operating System: Microsoft Win XP Pro 64Bit SP2C OEM

I'm now unsure about the processor, CPU cooling and the memory though.

I've always been a bit reluctant with the Quad Cores (i.e. Q6600) due to the fact that their gaming performance isn’t as good due to the fact that current games aren't designed to utilise the extra 2cores.

With the CPU cooling, I have actually looked at the Scythe Ninja Plus before but a lot of people have said how much of a pain it was to install and seems as this is my first build was put off (even though it is supposed to be amazing when it’s fitted)

Also, due to changing to the new motherboard, I don’t know if my current RAM choice will be compatible and have NO idea what I should get instead. Any help on the best RAM choice would be much appreciated.

 

[Maziar]

Q6600 vs E6850:
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/intel/showdoc.aspx?i=3038&p=8

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core2quad-q6600.html

 

[aevm]

Oops, true, the Ninja is hard to install.

You could try this:
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134

It's $26 including shipping, easy to install, quiet, and it will typically let your CPU run 5 degrees hotter than with a Ninja. If you're not going for record overclocks it's perfectly good IMO. I can't really recommend the most powerful air-cooling solution (Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme + SFF21F) here because it's about $100 and you don't really need that much.

Processor: basically, the smartest buys these days are E6750 or Q6600. If you plan to upgrade the CPU some time in 2008 then the E6750 is absolutely a smarter choice. For longer term though the Q6600 is better because games will start to catch up with hardware and quads will outperform duals even at lower clocks. Also, if you do any audio/video compression or Photoshop or database work or programming go with the Quad.

Memory: it depends on the motherboard,it has to be compatible. Here's an idea:
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 $66 after big rebate
ASUS P5K LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX $140 including shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131180
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231098

 

[MAGS13]

I think I’m probably going to go with the quad core then....seeing as this isn't going to be a pure gaming PC as I will be doing a lot of Photoshop and Illustrator work for my collage course (Interactive Media).

I’m going to also go with the Arctic Freezer 7 CPU cooler, as it seems to give great performance and also be pretty easy to install.

The RAM I’m still unsure about because although the RAM I was going to get runs at the right speed and everything for my motherboard it’s not actually on the compatibility list. Anyone know any RAM that’s 100% compatible?

Also I’ve just noticed that the Asus motherboard is Crossfire ready but it doesn’t say anything about SLI. Can anyone confirm if SLI will or will not work?

 

[aevm]

The RAM I suggested is actually used with that motherboard by the first guy who reviewed the motherboard at newegg

Motherboards support either Crossfire or SLI or neither. No motherboard will support both Crossfire and SLI (except maybe with special drivers, bad idea IMO).

Your 8800 GTS can do SLI, but not Crossfire, so focus on SLI. To keep the SLI option open for later you need a motherboard that supports SLI. The one I like most in this area is eVGA 680i A1. Asus P5N32-E SLI is also pretty good.

(And again, if you change the motherboard check the RAM again, etc etc )

 

[Avenger_K]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137
Check this case out, it's tool-less, not steel and cheaper than Antec 900. Many have also said that they like it better than the 900 and own both, but keep in mind that's coming from newegg reviewers ;-).

 

[MAGS13]

Thanx for the advice Avenger_K but I've actualy already bought the Antec 900 case.

Ok, new updated specs:

PC Case: Antec Nine Hundred EU gaming Case
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar 750GB 7200RPM S300 16MB
DVD- Rom: Samsung 20x dvd writer SATA BLACK LIGHTSCRIBE
Processor: Intel Quad Core Q6600 2.4GHz S775
CPU Cooling: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro 92mm
Motherboard: EVGA Socket 775 nForce 680i SLI ATX A L
Memory: OCZ Technology 2x1GB 240DIMM PC2-6400 DDR2 Platinum
Power Supply: OCZ Technology 850W Active PFC GameXStream SLI
Graphics Card: EVGA GeForce 8800GTS 640MB DDR3 PCIE 2xDVI KO Edition
Operating System: Microsoft Win XP Pro 64Bit SP2C OEM
Sound Card: Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer
Monitor: Samsung SM226BW 22" W TFT 2ms Swiv/Tlt

 

[tlmck]

Build it!

 

[aevm]

Nice!

Any particular reason for Windows 64-bit and not 32-bit? With 2 GB of RAM there's no difference, except that the 32-bit version is used by more people and may have better drivers. I'm not saying get 32-bit, just wondering. For all I know XP 64-bit has good drivers.

 

[MAGS13]

Actualy it's mainly because i can only find the OEM of the 64-bit version and not the 32-bit. Any 32-bit I've found has been a pack of 3 heh.

 

[TSIMonster]

build it!!!