E8400 Build. Please review!!!!

[maniac779]

I have been agonizing over this build for weeks and finally pulled the trigger on it.

I plan on running at stock initially, but maybe overclocking in the future.

I don’t ever plan on running Crossfire. I may upgrade to 9800 & Q9450 later on in the year.

Currently running dual 19” monitor. Will probably upgrade one to a 22” later as well.

What does everyone think? I didn’t screw up anywhere, did I?

Antec 900
E8400
Maximus Formula
8800 GTS G92
PC Power and Cooling 750w
4GB Crucial Ballistix as per QVL
2x 500GB WD AAKS (Raid 0)
2x 250GB WD AAKS (Raid 1)
Zalman 9700
Pioneer DVR-212D

Thanks for the responses.

 

[badge]

Maximus Formula needs BIOS update 907 to post with E8400. When installing MB system/utilities drivers do not install AiSuite. Has a bug and will lock up your keyboard. Fix at product website. Most Crucial has to be set up properly in BIOS to work with board. Built with the Antec 900 recently. Above average cooling solution. Should be a super fast and fun system. Board does Crossfire at PCIE 2.0 16x2. 3870X2 would be nice. Two if you want to go extreme.

 

[maniac779]

Any recommendations you can make with regard to setting up the RAM properly?

 

[badge]

You can run the Maximus Formula throught the Crucial Configurator and get recommendations if needed. For PC6400 set the memory voltage to 2.0-2.1v and timings to DIMM specs. You can also boost the NB voltage to 1.4v if to stabalize the system if needed.

http://crucial.com/


If you click on 'forum' on this product webpage, you will see people have had difficulty with Crucial DIMMs. I think most of it is user error.

http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us&model=Maximus%20Formula&type=map&mapindex=2

 

[badge]

Actually, it Corsair DIMMS that seem to give the most problems for inexperienced users with this board.

 

[maniac779]

Thanks for the replies.

I have been looking through the recommended forums and haven't found anything about the 6400 RAM yet.

Are those settings for the RAM going to be absolutley required, or is it a possiblity that things will run fine without doing any tweaks?

Also, is it true that I won't need to flash the BIOS to 0907 (I think) in order to get the E8400 to POST? I have been reading that some boards will post with the BIOS as delievered.

 

[KyleSTL]

I have been agonizing over this build for weeks and finally pulled the trigger on it.

I plan on running at stock initially, but maybe overclocking in the future.

I don’t ever plan on running Crossfire. I may upgrade to 9800 & Q9450 later on in the year.

Currently running dual 19” monitor. Will probably upgrade one to a 22” later as well.

What does everyone think? I didn’t screw up anywhere, did I?

Antec 900
E8400
Maximus Formula
8800 GTS G92
PC Power and Cooling 750w
4GB Crucial Ballistix as per QVL
2x 500GB WD AAKS (Raid 0)
2x 250GB WD AAKS (Raid 1)
Zalman 9700
Pioneer DVR-212D

Thanks for the responses.

I'm not sure I understand your hard drive configuration. Any reason for this rather odd setup?

Otherwise, it should rock.

 

[maniac779]

The pair of 500GB drives are for my primary file system.

The pair of 250GB a for all my important stuff. (pictures, documents, etc)

 

[KyleSTL]

If you really want performance for you file system get two 7500AAKS hard drives. They're (currently) the only ones with PMR in WDs lineup. The 7500AAKS smokes all its WD siblings as well as the Raptor in some benchmarks. The only other drive that comes close is the F1, and apparently it's been having major "bad batch" problems (i.e. customers have RMA'd multiple drives in a row). The 7500AAKS has an equal $/GB as the 500GB, but MUCH better performance.

My $0.02.

 

[maniac779]

I've been doing some more reading and it seems to me that this board is very finicky when it comes to memory.

I haven't done a built like this in a while. What are the chances I am going to have to RMA the memory?

 

[KyleSTL]

Personally, I like Gigabyte. The DS4 and DQ6 boards (X38 and P35) are pretty awesome and you'd probably struggle to find bad review or someone displeased with them.

Edit:
Links -

GIGABYTE GA-X38-DS4 LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard - $200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128080

GIGABYTE GA-X38-DQ6 LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Ultra Durable 2, Ultra Cooling Intel Motherboard - $260 w/ free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128066

GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS4 Rev. 2.0 LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - $170
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128064

GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - $127
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128050

All are solid boards with very good reviews.

 

[scryer_360]

(Looks at Build Specs)
(Wipes Jizz off hand)


Holy Hell! Thats one great build, let me know how it works out!

 

[vince251]

i got the 680i and it works fine