Are these parts compatible - advice needed!

[larryindetroit]

Hey all i have just purchased some new hardware but because i'm a total nub i don't really know if everything is compatible. maybe someone in the know could look it over and let me know if i made a mistake somewhere. thank you kindly!

Mobo: ASUS P5N-T Deluxe LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor
Video: EVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported
RAM: Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

Links:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131247
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115017
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130072
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146565

so, do you think i should have gone with a PCIe 2.0 video card? Should i have chosen different RAM? I looked all over ASUS dot COM, and i couldn't find any RAM recommendations for the P5N-T. most of the information i read doesn't make sense to me yet. This is my first build! Any recommendations you have are welcomed! Thank you again!!!

 

[Maziar]

Hello and welcome to the forums mate
Thats a solid build mate i dont see any problem at all
8800GTX (PCI-E 1.0) > 8800GTS 512 (PCI-E 2.0) > 8800GT (PCI-E 2.0) so u did the best thing going with the 8800GTX, also dont worry about the RAM, because in ASUS site u will find a list about RAM compatibility for the motherboards and there are many brands that arent in the list but they will work fine (Like mine, OCZ REAPER isnt he P5K-E WIFI list but it works very good)
That RAM that u have choosed is very good and has good timings
(4-4-4-12)

are u sure u are a nub ?

 

[emp]

As always I am never convinced with having people buy ASUS mobos, but that's besides the point. You did pretty good on everything (In my opinion Crucial Ballistix, then Corsair XMS2 are the best memories), but the only thing I would've done differently was to buy a 8800GTS 512MB (G92) to save some money for about the same performance, either way it is still a fine system, just make sure your PSU is up to the task.

 

[akhilles]

^^^ I'm with emp on the GPU. Price/performance-wise, GTS512 is the best. I would even overclock the GTS512 to about or over GTX speeds.

 

[Maziar]

Crank up the resolution and add some AA and AF, and the 8800GTX beats 8800GTS 512
http://www.hothardware.com/articles/NVIDIA_GeForce_8800_GTS_Refresh_Asus_and_XFX/?page=11

It is little difficult to summarize the new GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB card’s performance. In games or benchmarks where fillrate and shader performance are the limiting factors, these new cards are excellent performers and can outpace even a GeForce 8800 GTX. But in situations where memory bandwidth and frame buffer size are more important, like say at high resolutions with anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering enabled, the GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB can’t quite keep up with the more expensive GTX due to its narrower memory bus and smaller frame buffer. Generally speaking though, the GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB’s performance is better than the original 640MB GTS and the relatively new 8800 GT and on-par with the GeForce 8800 GTX at lower resolutions. Crank up the resolutions, however, and the GTX (or Ultra) is still the king of the hill.

 

[larryindetroit]

Hello Thank you kindly for the response, i already feel better about it

Yes, I'm a total nub, and this will be my first build, And because of that I'm so worried I will never see the full potential of my new machine, but i know it's a learning experience, so I just tried to read as much info as possible.

My only concerns after the purchase was 1. whether or not i was utilizing the PCIe 2.0 slot on my mobo. I just didn't know if that would bottleneck me. And 2. I didn't know if i should have bought DDR2 1066 RAM to match the MOBO.

I trust the outstanding advice i see from people here, so i'm good to go.

well, i still need a PSU! i was thinking about a 650w would that be sufficient? And could i get away with stock CPU fan and heatsink?

I did wax over the 8800GTS and thats where my nubness came into play, because as embarrassing as it sounds, i couldn't tell you why i chose the GTX. I just did. My only technical question about that was, was mentioned above: should i be utilizing a PCIe 2.0 card instead.

Thank you for the welcoming response talk to ya later!

 

[Silverion77]

There will be no bottleneck with PCI-E 1.1 with a 2.0 card. The cards dont use the full 1.1 bandwidth yet.

Quick suggestion....the Crucial Ballistix Tracer has cool LEDs and at the moment is $10 cheaper than the regular stuff. Save money and get cool ram. Ballistix also performs very well

Edit: NVM on the RAM. Theyre out. CRAP, I wanted some

Edit: 2) Back in stock!!!!!

 

[chuckm]

Here's a 750 watt power supply;
http://www.pcclub.com/product_details.cfm?itemno=A6296671

 

[emp]

Never buy any Cooler Master units, they are among the worst in the business along with Rosewill, Apevia, and most of the other crapmaking PSU companies. This is currently the BEST PSU deal on newegg available, it is a top quality unit, with amazing 12V rail amperage for only $130 from PCP&C.

PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610 EPS12V EPS12V 610W Continuous @ 40°C Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, cUL, CE, CB, TUV - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...7703005&Tpk=PC+Power+%26+Cooling+Silencer+610

Another great deal is the Antec Neopower Blue 650W at $140, it might be $10 more expensive than the PCP&C 610W, but it also has 5A more on 12V rail and is modular, which is more than enough to warrant the extra $10.

Antec NeoPower 650 Blue ATX12V / EPS12V 650W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, CE, CB, FCC Class B, TUV, CCC, C-tick - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371010

As far as Maziar goes... we usually see eye to eye on things, but to be quite honest on this particular subject, even though I agree that the GTX is in fact the better of the two, for over $150 it's just not worth it. Even if you factor in the high resolutions (1920x1200 / 2048x1536 / 2560x1600), which in my opinion are exclusively GTS 512/GTX SLI territory, since we still haven't seen the day where we can one of the latest titles on a big resolution with a single card... at least not to satisfaction.

Bottom line is either GPU that you choose will give you outstanding performance, one is a better bang for the buck than the other, but if you're not too concerned about it you should be just fine.

 

[larryindetroit]

Do you think i should go with DDR2 1066 RAM as opposed to DDR2 800?

 

[Maziar]

DDR2 800 doesnt have alot of difference with DDR2 1066 and also
DDR2 800 OCs very well too and its cheaper

 

[larryindetroit]

TY

 

[Maziar]

No problem mate glad i could help u

 

[larryindetroit]

BTW, I did go with the Antec Neopower blue 650 and Antec Nine Hundred

Thank you for all the input fellas!!

 

[emp]

Have fun with it... I have the Antec Neopower 500 (650's little brother) and Nine Hundred myself!

 

[larryindetroit]

Hey, do you think a Zalman 9500 will fit with all my hardware choices?

 

[emp]

it should fit perfectly fine, however if you can I'd try to get the 9700, it's a little bigger and helps the CPU run cooler. If not, then the 9500 is perfect.

 

[larryindetroit]

I did get the 9700 thank you for the advice

 

[krillz]

One thing I could recommend you to do is to download all the latest drivers and burn them down on a cd, instead of installing the ones that come with the CDs.

Old drivers caused me a lot of headache, with crashes and BSODs every 5 minutes. Turned out that realtek built in audio on the asus mobo was causing this, and also for some strange reason my graphic card was interfearing with the floppy (and I didn't have a floppy unit), had to turn this off in the bios as it was activated.

And the CPU you are buying is great, I have the same one, and have overclocked it to 3.6 Ghz (3,2 with the original fan higher than that required a new fan in my case).

 

[akhilles]

krillz has excellent advice on diying your own driver cd. I do the same. While the hardware manufacturer sites offer the drivers, they're outdated. I get mine from nvidia, realtek, etc. They're the latest.

 

[larryindetroit]

so, i would not even need the discs that come with the hardware?

I would just visit the websites of all the manufacturers and burn the drivers onto one cd? when do i install the drivers?

I have an oem 32bit vista cd coming also.

i need to read up, because i have no clue what to do after i put everything together and hit the power button for the first time

 

[larryindetroit]

Tragedy? maybe. So i installed the CPU today and when i was pressing the clamp down i herd a snapping sound, so i opened the latch up and pulled the CPU out and the pins in the socket are slightly bent over. is this normal?

The pins aren't totally bent over just slightly.

also, what slots do install the ram sticks in?

 

[akhilles]

DIY drivers cd:

1 - visit your mobo manu's site for specs:

http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=1981&l1=3&l2=11&l3=610&l4=0

Find the chipsets:

NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI
Marvell 88SE6111 RAID
Marvell 88E1116 PCIe Gigabit LAN PHY featuring AI NET2
ADI® AD1988B 8 -Channel High Definition Audio CODEC

Then google the brand &/or model + "driver" for the drivers for you OS. You might need one more from MS.

Microsoft Universal Audio Architecture Bus driver

Don't forget gpu driver from nvidia.

2 - burn them all on CDRW (reuse many times).

Bent cpu pins:

Place the mobo on a non-slipping surface (cardboard on bed), put some light on, get a hobby knife or very small tweezers or the tip of a ball pen, use one hand to hold the other hand that holds the object, carefully & very gently bend the bent pins back.

You should try it first on something else like a toothpick. Try to bend it & not break it.

Ram slots:

See your manual for details. Usually, the slots of the same color closest to the cpu socket, or furthest from the cpu socket if the other way doesn't work.

 

[larryindetroit]

will i be able to test the PSU without hooking the MOBO and everything else up?

I plugged it in and it just hummed and the led and fan did not work. does this mean it's DOA?

 

[akhilles]

Yes, but you'd need to short 2 pins together. I wouldn't recommend it. Hook everything up just to be safe. If you must test the psu alone, get a psu tester for $10. It does the same: short the 2 pins.

The psu alone won't work at all. It needs some draw of power from parts.