Ordering parts today(maybe), hoping people will critique

[jaythe]

I wanted to get peoples thoughts on my list before making the plunge, I might order today depending on the results I get back.

Here are the parts I'm thinking of ordering:

Mobo: EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6813188024 $249 after instant rebate

GPU: EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS Video Card - FREE Crysis PC Game, 512MB DDR3, PCI Express 2.0, SLI Ready, (Dual Link) Dual DVI, HDTV, Video Card
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3514991&CatId=1826 $309 and comes with Crysis

CPU: E8400 Wolfdale Anyone know where I might pick one up? I've looked around and so far everyone is sold out.

Memory: CORSAIR XMS2 DHX 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820145194
or
CORSAIR XMS2 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820145176
I'm unsure which is the better choice, could anyone tell me which might be the better one?

Components I already have:
Case: Thermaltake Armor series VA8003BWS
http://thermaltakeusa.com/product/ [...] 003bws.asp

PSU: BFG Tech BFGR800WPSU ATX 12V Ver.2.2/ EPS 12V Ver.2.91 800W Power Supply 100 - 240 V CE, FCC, TUV, CUL - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817702004
(The one I got was on sale from CompUSA, might consider getting another one after hearing how this PSU isn't so great)

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar SE WD5000AAJS 500GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA-300 Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136178
(Plan to get either another 500gb or 350gb WD)


The pc i'm planning to build will be solely for gaming, i do plan to utilize sli down the road but not right away. Budget is roughly $1000-$1200. Already have moniter as well and will keep it for the time being, possibly upgrade it in the near future. I'm sure I missed some information that should have been provided but I hope this is enough for now. Thank you everyone in advance for helping to set me on the right path!

 

[yomamafor1]

Try Seasonic 700W. They are really solid, and SLI capable.

 

[jimmysmitty]

Here is the funny thing here.... look at the con this guy put:

"Lots of connectors, the +12V rails will not be sufficient to handle the next-gen cards which take anywhere from 22A-28A on the rail. Have to get a new one from newegg and sell this one. My Foxconn 8800GT 512mb card will not initialize and its not a mobo or video card problem."

I have this PSU running a HD2900Pro 1GB and it runs on it when set a default clocks and when I OC'ed it to 800MHz GPU/2200MHz memory. I also am running a Q6600 OC'ed to 3GHz, 1 SATA DVD drive, 2 Seagate HDs, 5 LED 80mm fans, 1 120mm LED fan, a Zalman CPNS9700 and a front panel display for temps. Have never had it lose power.

This guy must just have bad luck. Its not a bad PSU. Not the highest end but if it runs my rig it will run yours easily.

 

[hughyhunter]

Great build... I have pretty much the same parts... Get that extra card though. It will be worth it! I couldnt open the link to the card but make sure it's G92 as i'm sure it is.

 

[rickkipp]

If you can't find the E8400, check out the Xeon E3110. These are the exact same boards. I googled it yesterday, and there are lots of reviews.

 

[yomamafor1]

According to Intel's engineer, E3110's prefectch is slightly different than E8400, as E3110 is optimized for server applications, while E8400 is optimized for general common applications.

 

[evongugg]

I would recommend you get a Q6600, instead of the e8400.
The e8400 has temperature problems.
The decision to go either way is up to you.

 

[grieve]

I personally prefer the Q6600 also, $60 more but it is better in almost everything.

This is better HDD
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA-300 Hard Drive - OEM
New arrival w/ 32MB cache $119.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148288

 

[jaythe]

I was thinking about getting the Q6600 but in almost every response I read in other posts people recommend the E8400 for gaming. Could anyone fill me in on why this might be?

 

[grieve]

update...
I would go with these:
Motherboard –
ASUS P5N-T Deluxe LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131247R
$239.42

Processor –
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017
$264.99
(this processor or E8400)

Power Supply –
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad (Black) EPS12V 750W Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703009
$169.99
(Expensive but solid CPU)

HDD
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA-300 Hard Drive - OEM
New arrival w/ 32MB cache $119.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822148288

 

[SpinachEater]

I would recommend you get a Q6600, instead of the e8400.
The e8400 has temperature problems.
The decision to go either way is up to you.

Yeah I hear people have been returning them because they run too hot.

 

[yomamafor1]

Yeah I hear people have been returning them because they run too hot.

...or they think their CPUs run too hot...

 

[jimmysmitty]

I was thinking about getting the Q6600 but in almost every response I read in other posts people recommend the E8400 for gaming. Could anyone fill me in on why this might be?

The E8400 doesn't have temp problems. In fact most people who get them have yet to have any since they get a good aftermarket cooler. But with the stock HSF there is no guarantee it will keep it cool above 3GHz.

Reason why it recommended for gaming is b/c it is higher clocked stock and can be OC'ed higher. But I can tell you that the Q6600 is just as good and you wont notice the difference. In fact Crysis may benefit from the Q6600 a bit more since it is optimized for multi core CPUs and should take advantage of quad cores more once newer patches are out.

Either CPU is a great deal. I love my Q6600 as it is easy to OC and I have yet to be able to bog it down and I have tried trust me. I tried running 3 of one game and 2 other games while downloading, running WMP and DVDshrink and it just laughed at me. It was laughing at me as if I were a fool. Ahhh the fun of having a quad.

 

[hughyhunter]

I would recommend you get a Q6600, instead of the e8400.
The e8400 has temperature problems.
The decision to go either way is up to you.

Wrong buddy... mine is clocked at 4.05ghz and never breaks 45C! Thats at full load prime95 for hours. You are thinking that some are coming with bad sensors on the cores... who cares?

I was thinking about getting the Q6600 but in almost every response I read in other posts people recommend the E8400 for gaming. Could anyone fill me in on why this might be?

Mine will smoke a Q6600 anyday of the week on any game! Read the reviews people! Quad's are not quite there yet with gaming.

update...
I would go with these:
Motherboard –
ASUS P5N-T Deluxe LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131247R
$239.42

Processor –
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017
$264.99
(this processor or E8400)

Power Supply –
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad (Black) EPS12V 750W Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703009
$169.99
(Expensive but solid CPU)

HDD
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA-300 Hard Drive - OEM
New arrival w/ 32MB cache $119.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822148288

I have yet to read a good review on the Asus 780i. I have yet to read a bad review of the EVGA 780i. Go with what the people are saying! I own the EVGA and couldnt be more happy. I wouldnt recommend the Q6600... if you are going to get a Quad (I personally would get the E8400) I would wait until 45nm hit's the shelf like Q9450.

I have the Silencer and it's awesome... you may not need 750 watts though. PCPC makes a 610 watt version that's cheaper.

Great hard drive choice... 32mb cache is great!

 

[grieve]

Mine will smoke a Q6600 anyday of the week on any game! Read the reviews people! Quad's are not quite there yet with gaming.

hughyhunter there was a thread on Toms where a guy benched a Q6600 VS. E8400 @ stock and @ OC. His results were surprising.

Basically the E8400 got a couple frames in like 2 games, everything else he tested the q6600 was faster. The key to his testes are 2 simple things.
1) He is independent.
2) He used the exact same rig for both processors.

In the end, he returns the E8400 for the quad.

I will look for the link so you can see; I just couldn’t find it yet.

 

[grieve]

Mine will smoke a Q6600 anyday of the week on any game! Read the reviews people! Quad's are not quite there yet with gaming.

That’s an arrogant or perhaps ignorant comment, you don’t really believe that?

Here are some Facts...
1) There are some quad core ready games...(which your E8400 will be annihilated in)
2) Processors are NOT the bottle neck in gaming, GPU's are.

Quads ARE already there... The application programming is NOT.

*** I would bet an awful lot of money to say that my Q6600 will be within a couple frames of your E8400 in some games, and in EVERYTHING else the Q6600 will crush the E8400

 

[ryanthesav]

I dont usually tell people to wait but...I would wait a month for the 9800 to come out. Thats what I would do if I were building a new computer.

 

[yomamafor1]

I just like to point out a few things...

1. Only Supreme Commander takes significant advantage of quad core. Other games have their advantages within 5~10%, assuming same clock (E6600 vs. Q6600)

2. Most games are still single to dual threaded, but not quad threaded. Crysis does not take advantage of quad core. COD4 still do not take any significant advantage of quad core. And these two games are considered as "next generation game engines".

All in all, with Q6600 and stock cooler, it gets to about 3.0Ghz~3.2Ghz. However, the same amount of money will get your E8400 above 4.0Ghz. The difference is clockspeed is significant enough to offset the core count advantage (in gaming that is)

 

[grieve]

yomamafor1 I disagree…

Crysis and COD4 do not take advantage of Quads which you said, However It doesn’t matter if your processor runs 5000GHZ these games are GPU intensive and bottlenecked.

I firmly believe if the GPU could own these games then the difference in 2.4ghz and 3ghz would be substantial, however this is not the case right now.

My example…All stock values.
I run a Q6600/8800gt and get say 23 FPS playing Crysis
I run a E8400/8800gt and get maybe 26 FPS playing Crysis

Change the above GT to 8800GTX and get some results. The processor is irrelevant, they are so closely matched, but not all GPU’s are created equal.

Every notice when you run 3dmark you get like 2 FPS on the processor part?

 

[grieve]

It is like having a mclaren f1(processor) to drive downtown…. Kick as* car but pretty useless when there is a traffic bottleneck(GPU).

So you might as well get the processor that takes advantage of everything else your PC does.... like multi tasking.

 

[hughyhunter]

That’s an arrogant or perhaps ignorant comment, you don’t really believe that?

Here are some Facts...
1) There are some quad core ready games...(which your E8400 will be annihilated in)
2) Processors are NOT the bottle neck in gaming, GPU's are.

Quads ARE already there... The application programming is NOT.

*** I would bet an awful lot of money to say that my Q6600 will be within a couple frames of your E8400 in some games, and in EVERYTHING else the Q6600 will crush the E8400

Agreed to some extent... but just not right now... I would get a quad right now for the $$ considering the E8400 is just such a good proc. I would wait until Quad's are mainstream like duals are now. That way you can actually get one for under 300 (45nm that is)

 

[hughyhunter]

So... I'm wondering what you ended up doing OP??? Did you get the Quad or Dual?

 

[jaythe]

I ordered everything BUT the dual core simply because I can't find it anywhere other than on Ebay. I've been keeping my eyes peeled for the E8400 but haven't had any luck in procurring one yet.

 

[ImajorI]

I have a Q6600 GO running at 3.01 on stock voltages that I paid around $270 bucks for. I'm hoping to use it several years. I love it. I don't see it as worse than a dual core especially a couple years from now.

 

[hughyhunter]

This is true... you can get a Q6600 for pretty cheap now. Just over 200 I believe. I on the other hand would opt for the dual 45nm or Q9450 once available.