New to forum, New system build! Help needed! Cheers!

[Nickolie]

I've been slowly bulind up a system over the past few months because im a student and have limited budget. I've spent just over 1k on this new system including monitor, new tower and peripherals.

But what i need are opinions on the inside stuff! lol, so comments will be greatly appreciated. The only thing i dont have yet is the RAM and GPU because im undecided.

The specs are as folows:

Asus P5K3 Delux
Q6600 Intel w/Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler
Now...this is where im stuck...

RAM im looking at either
OCZ 2GB DDR3 PC3-10666C6 1333MHz ReaperX (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-106-OC&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=923)

OR

OCZ 2GB DDR3 PC3-10666C7 1333MHz Platinum (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-092-OC&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=923)

Im not fussed about the price difference i just want the best RAM

and now with the new ATI 3870X2 card im wondering if it would be worth getting 2 x HIS ATI Radeon HD 3870 XT ICEQ3 512MB or one HIS ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 1024MB GDDR3

Help would be greatly appreciated and comments about the system would be welcome.

Cheers.

PS Im new to this forum aswell!

 

[Nickolie]

PS sorry for double post but sorry about the crappy post with crap spelling/grammer/punctuality etc...as a student i am also very hungover today! :lol:

 

[Lanessar]

If you've got the space for the reaper, I'd go for that. Make sure you have clearance in your case for the heatsink thing on the top. But it's pretty well-reviewed memory and I'd have gone with it if I was not doing an SFF case myself. Actually, I had space for it - I skipped because I was skittish on clearance.

On your video card, I'd go with the single-slot dual card, personally. Unless you're running 64-bit OS, you're hitting the RAM cap in a 32-bit OS with a 1GB card. Honestly, except for bragging rights (unless you're running 2500 or higher resolutions), 1GB does not really jump your performance that much, and I believe the RAM is not used in an XFire setup on the second card.

Also, don't expect to run two cards in XFire (granted, this happened to me with SLI, so it might be different) on two monitors. I found that out the hard way.

All things to consider. Honestly, grabbing 3GB RAM and one 512MB 8800 GTS might give you better actual results - but you have to do your homework on it. Dansdata.com has a good explanation of 32-bit limitations and how memory (and video memory) count against it. He explains it pretty well, so even non-techies can understand and optimize their systems.

I hope this helps! Looks like you have a beautiful setup, and should have a lot of fun with it.

 

[Nickolie]

Wow very much appreciated.

Thanks alot for your help, I will deff check out that website.

Thanks again.

 

[Nickolie]

Wow very much appreciated.

At the moment Im just going to be running XP. I have Vista Home Premium on my laptop and I dont rate it much. Hopefully soon most of the bugs will be worked out and I may convert.

I've been looking at NVidia Cards and they look spot on, but im quite the fan of ATI cards and find them reliable. Ive had a 9700pro in this system for about 4-5 years now so its doing well.

Its quite a contradiction of terms actually as ive gone the intel route but still used ATI, but I didnt reckon much to the phenoms.

I would love to have 4gb DDR3 ram in my system but i think it comes to atleast £400+ :lol:

I will be going for the Reaper and I have pleanty of space in the case, and one last thing, something that has confused me is the PCI-E and PCI-E 2.0. I know the new 3870X2 are PCI-E 2.0 will this card run on my MOBO and will there be any loss in power?

Thanks alot for your help, and I will deff check out that website.

Thanks again.

 

[rickpcnerd]

you might want to replace Q6600 to Q9300 for same price (available in a few weeks. This are faster than Q6600, and overclocks better.DDr3 are not worth. They are more expensive and no performance improvement. I will go with DDR2 6400 memory. Why do you need like the best ram? wont bring that much improvement, only when it comes to overclocking.

 

[aevm]

@rickpcnerd: he bought first and asked later. He's stuck with the DDR3 motherboard already

@OP: next time ask FIRST. You could have saved £100 or more from that DDR2/DDR3 issue.

Get the X2 rather than two HD 3870s in Crossfire. It's faster, cheaper, consumes less, and it gives you the chance to add another card later.

The X2 cards do work in Crossfire and at the same time allow multiple monitors. That was in a review of the X2 and I must say I'm impressed. nVidia hasn't figured that one out yet. I hope they do, since I have an 8800 card myself.

 

[Nickolie]

Lol yeah im practically stuck with DDR3. I learned this about 1 week after i bought the MOBO, I could have saved quite abit of cash!

But lesson learned...the hard way!

I will take your advice and switch to the Q9300, cheers.

Its been some time since i last updated/built a system so ive slowly lost track with the new tech and stuff, but i vow to keep with it all this time round! :lol:

Cheers

 

[Nickolie]

But looking into it, iw ont be able to get the new Q9300 as my MOBO doesnt support 45nm tech...lesson number two learned...!

 

[aevm]

I suspect you'll be able to fix the Q9300 compatibility with a BIOS flash.

Still, if you've already got the Q6600, no worries. It will do nicely, and you won't see a difference in real life compared to Q9300. That is, it's 5% or so, and even that only applies to CPU-bound games like FSX. The Q9300 should overclock better, but even the Q6600 can reach 3.7 GHz some times.

BTW, the Q9300 has an ETA of March 17 AFAIK.

 

[Nickolie]

I do have the CPU but i can send it back within a week i think.

Are you sure a BIOS flash would work, as i thought that with the chip being 45nm technology the chip wouldn't fit in the slot on my mobo? Or does the 45nm tech apply to the internals of the chip and is backwards compatible with mobos supporting core 2 quad?

I don't mind waiting till march cos' thats when I'm getting the rest of my system (GFX card and RAM)

But really if I'm not going to see any real performance boost i may as well stick with the q6600?

Ahh the wonderful world of technology - where everything gets faster and then becomes obsolete in a matter of days! Lol!

Cheers

PS: Sorry if I'm bugging you with my stupidity!

 

[aevm]

Yeah, the 45 nm is about the internals, it's the distance between two consecutive transistors or something like that. Physically, the Q9300 should fit in the same slot as the Q6600.

I'm NOT sure a BIOS flash would work. That's the theory, but in practice nobody has a Q9300 yet so they can actually try it and tell the world. I guess we'll know that in March. If the Q9300 really shows up in stores on March 17 I expect Anandtech and others to have samples reviewed and tested by March 14 for example. In the meantime, if somebody tells you he's sure it would work, 95% chances he's an idiot.

If you send back the Q6600 you'll probably have to pay restocking fees and shipping back, and another shipping fee for the other CPU. Probably not worth it.

Performance boost: well, let me put it this way. With my configuration (Q6600 at stock, 8800GTX OC2, 4GB RAM, 3 WD5000AAKS disks, GA-P35C-DS3R, no RAID), the Q6600 has NEVER ever reached over 81% usage. And I tried hard. For example I even tried compressing two DVDs at once after having already ripped them on hard disk. All 3 disks were busy, and still couldn't keep up with the Q6600.

The games I have don't benefit from quads and don't stress the CPU much. FSX is the only game I know where the Q9300 would make a difference, but I don't play it. If you do then yes, get a Q9300 and overclock it until it cries for mercy.

 

[Nickolie]

Well I will be using the system mostly for video editing and digital design and effects. But I will also be using it to play games and just general computer stuff. :lol:

I think I will just stick with the Q6600 for the mean time, and if i ever do need to upgrade the CPU then at least I know that there is a chance I could use the new 45nm CPU's in my mobo.

Well I must say, I'm really glad I found this site! You've all been a real big help!

Thanks very much, and thanks for your time.