Need help building new system...

[McKenzy]

Hi guys,

I'm setting up a new system primarily used for gaming and some video encoding/editing.

I have pre-selected the following components:

Asus Maximus Formula Mainboard
GeIL DIMM 4 GB DDR2-1066 Kit Black Dragon Series (2 x 2 GB) CL5 5-5-15 PC2 8500
3x 750 GB Western Digital WD7500AAKS (Caviar SE16)
Intel Q6600 - 2.4 GHz x 4
MSI Geforce NX8800GTX
ICP5045BL PCIE SATA-Raid controller
Samsung SH-S203B DVD RW
Creative X-FI Platinum (still built in the old system)
Windows Vista Ultimate 64

I will not be using SLI or Crossfire. I rather buy a new faster single graphics card in the future.

I will be using the raid controller to set up a failsafe hard disk environment with raid 5 or 6.

Is the combination ok?

Should I go for the Q6600 and overclock to 3.0 GHz or get the E6850?

Are the memory modules compatible with this system configuration? I'm not sure about 1066 or 800 MHz.
Are they overclockable?

I would appreciate any comments/recommendations!

John

 

[akhilles]

I'll let someone else comment on the raid setup.

No, go for quad. You're doing gaming and some video encoding/editing.

O/c the cpu if you're up to it. Yes, the ram is fine for o/cing. Basically, the faster the ram, the more headroom you have for o/cing. For 3ghz, you can get 800mhz ram.

If you haven't, pick out a case. These are good deals:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119138

 

[McKenzy]

Ok, thanks for your reply.

Why not use 1066 MHz ram? Should I get 4x 1GB or 2x 2GB?

John

 

[akhilles]

Here's another case deal. The list price is misleading. Checkout is $99.99. Minus $50 rebate.

http://shop2.outpost.com/product/4843800?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

You can use ANY ram. Wouldn't you want the best deal? See, to get 3ghz, 400 x 8 or 333 x 9 will do. The 400/333 is FSB. The easiest way is run cpu/ram at 1:1 ratio: 400:400. 400 x 2 = 800Mhz ram.

Until you understand how to o/c, you will keep asking why not this why not that. Or you can take a look at the sticky in o/c forum. That'll solve the mystery.

4 gigs or more since you're getting 64-bit os.