New system build! Advice please!

[w3tw1lly]

Tommorow is boxing day in Canada and...

Well, I have been reading about how the next gen 45 nm Intel chip seem to be running into problems and how they probably won't be ready so unless I am wrong I think I will be buying a PC tommorow...
* denotes MIR


Q6600 - $274.99
2 x OCZ DDR2 800MHz 2GB (2 x 1024) Platinum Rev. 2 - $39.98
Antec Nine Hundred Chassis + Antec TruePower Trio 650W PSU Bundle - $119.99*
LG GSA-H22L 18X DVD-Writer, Black, Internal, LightScribe - $30
BFG GeForce 8800 GT 512MB PCIe Video Card - $249 (was gonna get GTX but there are new nvidia cards coming)
Seagate Barracuda (ST3250410AS) 7200.10 250GB SATA2 8.5MS 7200RPM 16MB - $74.99 (will prob do raid0 later)
Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R Socket 775 Intel P35 + ICH9R Dual-Channel DDR2 1066/800/667/533Mhz GigaLAN 8-Channel Audio Support 1333Mhz FSB - $161.99


Total: $951.94
+ 14% Tax: 1,085.21

Any problems with the build or addition? I'm a little worried about the 8800GT getting too hot. Another mobo I was looking at was the ASUS P5K-E Wifi/AP

 

[Noya]

It looks great to me.

I'm not a big fan on Antec, but with the bundle it seems like a good deal.

I don't think you need to worry about the 8800GT overheating with the 900 case, but add the optional fans if you are.

One thing I would add is an aftermarket tower cooler and Arctic Silver 5, a MUST if overclocking to 3.0ghz (and why wouldn't you? lol).

 

[w3tw1lly]

I'm not really sure how to OC.

 

[w3tw1lly]

I looked in the manual of the P5k-e wifi/ap board and it says that they do not recommend installing 4 gig in winvista 32 or xp 32 because it will only show 3 gig because of PAE or soemthing like that. I kinda wanna put 4 gig in my board but do I need winxp 64 or vista 64 to do that?

 

[aevm]

Change the GA-P35C-DS3R to GA-P35-DS3R. (You don't need to pay for DDR3 support.)

Don't worry about overclocking. My Q6600 has never reached even 90% usage in 6 months, so overclocking wouldn't bring any benefits at all, at least in my case.

With that video card, getting 4 GB of RAM would mean you see 3.5 GB if you use XP 32 or Vista 32. That's still a lot better than 2 GB and DDR2 prices are very low, so I'd go for 4 GB. If you choose XP Pro get the 32-bit version. If you choose Vista you might as well get the 64-bit version. The thing is, 64-bit is more future-proof and lets you use all 4 GB, but xp 32 is safer than xp 64 because lots of people use it and games and drivers are well tested on it.

Since you're in Canada: www.futureshop.ca sells Z-5500 speakers for $230, regular $500; www.bestbuy.ca sells MP610 all-in-one printers at $150, regular $300. If you're in Ottawa check out www.shoprbc.com, add the $10 CHEO donation to the cart and then the prices shown are at cost - you can save hundreds on a PC.

If you're worried about the 8800GT:
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=25020&vpn=ACCELERO-S1&manufacture=Arctic Cooling
I agree with Noya though that the Antec 900 can take care of cooling the 8800GT, no worries. Just make sure the fan is not stuck at 29% - we've had threads about that. Or get the newer 8800GTS G92 512MB, that has a decent cooler and is faster too. Or get an HD 3870.

 

[w3tw1lly]

How would I overclock my Q6600 to 3 ghz and does it require aftermarket cooling? Noise isn't really a problem.

 

[shadowduck]

How would I overclock my Q6600 to 3 ghz and does it require aftermarket cooling? Noise isn't really a problem.

Increase the front side bus to 333 (in BIOS) to overclock your CPU to 3.0. Increase it to 400 to go to 3.6. I hit both with the stock cooler and a G0 Q6600.

Stock cooler is fine, but an aftermarket cooler will keep temps down. Just to note- I get rid of the thermal crap that Intel includes and put on some Arctic Silver 5.