How's my build look to you all here?

[nerr]

This'll be my first build, and I'm really excited to actually buy and build this sucker. How's it look?

http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=8207528

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.

 

[Saedeas]

Not sure about the motherboard, but rest looks decent. No videocard though? Are you not planning on gaming or anything graphically intensive?

And also, might want to see if you can get a Xeon e3110 for cheaper than an e8400, as they're the same exact thing.

Edit: Consider the Corsair 550vx from buy.com as your PSU, its way cheaper than the Antec and higher quality.

 

[guanyu210379]

Agreed, not sure about the board...why not looking at Gigabyte or ASUS and if I were you, I would choose the X38 and not P35. P35 is old you know?
The others are good.

But I have a question. I am living in Germany right now, and I don't have a clue 'bout this Xeon e3110. I can't seem to found it anywhere here. Is that new? Can I use it with normal X38 mainboards?
Is it good? Well you know..I am thinking about buying a new system too...and I wanna use E8200....but this Xeon e3110 has around the same price like the E8200...hmmmm...I think I have to think over it again...

 

[Newf]

The Xeon E3110 is exactly the same as an E8400.

 

[nerr]

Okay guys, I have a few questions/statements about your comments:

1) My graphics card is an EVGA 8800GTS (G92). I don't know why, but it keeps disappearing off my build. That is my current card selection though, as I do plan on gaming.

2) Could I get a few recommendations on X38 boards? I wanted to buy a DFI X38 board, but the northbridge cooler was too big, and would interfere with my Tuniq Tower. I want a board that will be able to support and easily overclock 45 nanometer processors, such as the E8400 (or Xeon E3110!) or possibly the Q9450.

3) I'll take a look at the Corsair 550VX PSU.

Thank you all for your thoughts.

 

[ThrillerGTX]

I love my Asus Maximus Formula, so many OCing options, my E8400 is at 3.9ghz and 800rams at 1038 and i never touched the voltages. The only cons is that you have to flash the bios to the latest versions to make it POST with the 45nm processors. If you don't mind paying more for a good motherboard, id suggest that one. If you cant get a hold of a E8400 id wait and get an X48 motherboard when they come out along with the 45nm.

 

[nerr]

The only Maximus Formula on Newegg is Open Box unfortunately, and I'm not really interested in buying open box. Are there any X38 boards that will support 45 nm processors WITHOUT a BIOS flash? Because y'know... What's the good of buying a processor if your board won't run it and allow you to flash the BIOS to a newer version?

Hmm... How are Gigabyte's X38 offerings? I know their P35 DS3L board is a favorite for a nice cheap board with good specs, but I haven't heard much about their X38 DQ6 or DS4. The DQ6's heatpipe coolers and eight SATA ports would be good for me, but I'd like a few second opinions.

 

[ThrillerGTX]

I know it sucks that you have to flash the bios first, and i had to find out the hard way. I wouldn't recommend an Open Box product either. i don't know much about Gigabyte motherboard but i guess they can't be bad boards, i've been an Asus fanboy for 14 years and never had any issue with them at all. I hope not all X38 board needs a flash bios as i really have no idea

 

[nerr]

After looking on Gigabyte's site, apparently their newer X38 boards (including DS4 and DQ6) should support 45 nm processors right out of the box. Looks like I'll probably go with a Gigabyte then, unless somebody can show me a really nice board that supports 45 nm processors, and has some great features onboard.

 

[boonality]

If your looking in the $200~$250 price range for motherboards (which I assume you are due to the consideration of the GA-X38 DS4 and DQ6) you should not completely rule out the 750i and 780i SLI boards just yet

 

[nerr]

I'm more than willing to spend decent money on a motherboard. It's the glue that holds the whole system together, y'know? I won't cheap out on it.

And as for the 750i and 780i... I've been considering them, and also considering a pair of 9600GTs in SLI. Supposed 150% performance of a single 8800GTS is very tempting, and it doesn't cost that much more. That being said, I've heard bad things about the overclocking power of nForce boards, so I'm really not sure. What should I do? If an nForce 750i or 780i board can be used with an E8400/Q9450, and give me the option of SLI, should I go for it? Again, cost is not really an issue. Higher cost just means that I might have to work an extra week or two before building.

 

[guanyu210379]

I say...choose a X38 or X48 motherboard instead of ones with nVidia 750i or 780i.
I wanna build a system for me, and I only consider these babies :
1. Gigabyte Ga-X38-DS4 (cheap).
2. Gigabyte GA-X38-DS5 or ASUS P5E X38 (medium).
3. Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6 or ASUS Maximus Formula ( a little expensive).
4. Gigabyte GA-X48T-DQ6 or ASUS P5E3 X48 (expensive, require DDR3).
So there you have them. All of them are good. So choose them according your budget.

About going for SLI or Crossfire, hmmm...I don't wanna go for it because I think if I pay for 2x VGA card and I have to put 2x power consumption, but if I don't receive 2x as a result, it is a waste of money and power. And it is, you don't get twice if you pay twice with the SLI configuration. But again it is your choice. But if you insist on going for 2x VGA Card, please don't forget to recalculate your choice of PSU.

 

[nerr]

Alright... Well... I'm still trying to figure this whole thing out, but I just realized something. I'll be gaming on a 22" monitor. Native resolution is 1680x1050, so that's probably where I'll leave it. At this point, SLI won't give me much of a benefit, will it? Maybe it'll allow a little bit more AA/AF, but that'd be about it. So I probably SHOULD go with an X38, as it'll give my whole system more stability with an overclocked E8400/Q9450 in the rig. Looks like I'll probably just stick with either the DS4 or the X38-DQ6 for now. Maybe I'll find myself some of those "hacked" drivers that let a Crossfire board use SLI. >.>