New Build UK

[lameness]

Well i think im going to be making myself a new PC ready for when the next line of gfx cards arrive. At the moment a have an 8800gt so i will carry that over and then trade up. Basicaly im undecided on practically everything. I like the idea of a quad, but don't really like the idea of a q6600 as its old tech, but im right in thinking the new quads eg.q9450 offer little real improvement? The e8400 would make most sense...but i want that quad core feeling

PSU, MB, case and cooling are the the major things i need help on.......

When the new cards arrive i will be looking to get a good fairly high spec solution, whether its crossfire 4870 or single 9900gtx....just letting you know for power concerns

I will be OCing and i have a flexible budget.... but im not going to spend silly money.......maybe about £500-700?
Bearing in mind i live in rip off uk...thats about 1200-1600 us$

oh and i already have a monitor etc....so its just the tower minus the gpu

Almost forgot...it will be used for gaming, vis studio...and possibly a little lightwave.max

 

[Andrius]

These are my general recommendations.
CPU :
I'd say get Q6600 and overclock it but that's just me.
Q9450 would offer benefits for video encoding and maybe later for SSE4 extension specific usage.

Cooling:
XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 with backplate mounting kit ACK-I7751

Motherboard:
If you are sensitive to driver/video corruption/data corruption issues avoid the 7x0i chipsets from NVIDIA. P45/X48 is the way to go. Either X48 for CrossFire or a cheaper P45 board for a single NVIDIA/ATI card.
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=819510

RAM:
4GB Corsair DHX 800MHz C4 (for Q6600)
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=766626
4GB Corsair Dominator 1066MHz (for Q9450)
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=782925

PSU:
I recommend a Corsair VX 450W/550W for single graphics cards and Corsair TX 650W/750W for dual card configurations (within reason).
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=664337
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=684732

HDD:
WD6400AAKS 640GB
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=798906

DVDRW: Samsung/NEC SATA model (IE: AD-7203S).
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=808583

CASE:
Cooler Master RC-690 (or RC-590 or Antec Nine Hundred or NZXT Tempest) for high airflow cases. Antec P182 for low noise.
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=644041
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=604059

I didn't track the subtotal and it's probably above 700GBP with RAM and shipping.

Good luck with your build.

 

[lameness]

Thanks for the suggestions i cant find that cooler so i was thinking about the
Tuniq Tower 120. Im sure this will be a cool cooler....but my only concern is that it appears to be the size of a small moon. It will fit in the antec 900 case right?....and it wont pull apart the motherboard if its put on its side?

 

[Andrius]

Basicly as long as it has a backplate you won't have issues with motherboard bending/warping/tearing. The Tuniq tower has a backplate so that would work also.

Alternative : (expensive).
I have a ThermalRight Ultra 120 eXtreme (with backplate) with a Scythe S-Flex Fan and it's perfect. Q6600 under 50°C most of the time (and under 55°C for Prime95) when overclocked.

LINKS:

XIGMATEK (no backplate kit, you'd have to find it elsewhere)
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=700899
kit: http://www.xigmatek.com/product/accessory-crossbow-adk-i7751.php
http://www.scan.co.uk/ and http://www.aone.co.uk/ are listed under "Where to buy" so maybe they could get you one anyway.

The expensive option :
Thermalright
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=676579
Scythe Fan
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=533394

 

[lameness]

Oh and is this hdd drive a good un?

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB SATA-II 32MB Cache

Just its got bigger cache than WD and im not gonna be filling 500gb any time soon, let alone 640

 

[Andrius]

The Seagate drive is of the 7200.11 series so it's a good (new) drive.
I would pick the 640GB WD because it's a bit faster (it's based on the newer 333GB platters and has higher data density and hence better transfer rates). You can't go wrong with either so pick what you like more.

 

[lameness]

Hmm thanks for the help Andrius...i really appreciate it. However im still not sure what you mean with the back plate....do you mean whether the mb has a backplate??

This is what i was thinking about...

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-002-SB


along with this board

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-121-GI

i dont see any mention of a backplate...will they be ok?

 

[Andrius]

Check this review : http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2198

http://www.frostytech.com/articleimages/200711/tuniqtower120_all.jpg

You mount the X shaped (with a square area in the middle) metal plate on the underside of the motherboard under the CPU socket (hence it's called a backplate). You then mount the cooler over the CPU socket so that you screw it to this backplate. This ensures a proper mount (as opposed to pushpins which are very deceptive). It also reduces the strain on the PCB of the motherboard and prevents it from bending.

If the motherboard's underside is featureless as it should be they will fit perfectly. I also haven't heard of any issues with GA-X48-DS4 boards so far. So yes. They will be perfect.

And here's the reason why I recommended the XIGMATEK (even if you have to find the backplate kit) :
http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

 

[lameness]

Once again thnx..... installing the heatsink...whichever i choose is going to be a little different.

Well i would sooner buy everything from that one site i linked to...they do have the thermalite 120.....i can get it and the fan u mentioned for £46 ...or the tuniq tower for 42. Is there really going to be much diff in cooling....the tuniq glows blue!!!

This is what im thinking so far...

mb:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-121-GI

cpu:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-161-IN

ram:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-148-CS

psu:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-011-CS

case:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-065-AN

dvd:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CD-099-SA

hdd:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-198-WD

gpu:
current 8800gt then upgrade

os:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SW-037-MS

sat tv card:
http://www.terratec.net/en/products/Cinergy_S2_PCI_HD_CI_1892.html

and maybe a sound card in future if i have money not doing anything


The only things i think that i might regret are not going with q9450, and not getting a WD velociraptor....Are those raptors really worth it?...i mean how many secs might they take off the average level load?....

Also...will that case accomodate those coolers.....?

Any suggestions/chnages are welcome.

 

[Andrius]

A good selection. I have nothing to add.

Hard drives are the easiest thing to upgrade (you just add it).
A Velociraptor might be worth it (in 3-6 months when it drops in price a bit).
190GBP is just too much IMO. You can get 3 WD6400AAKS for that price and put two of them in RAID0 for likely better performance.

You can see just how much of a difference the cooler I have would make:
[fixed]Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme 18.4°C @ 44.5dB
Tuniq Tower 120 19.6°C @ 51.6dB
Xigmatek HDT-S1283 16.8°C @ 50.7dB
[/fixed]That's deltaT above ambient and a given noise level at maximum performance. They didn't use the same fan but like I said my Q6600 never reaches 60°C.

The Antec case is quite wide (8.1" or 8.6" or over 200mm so there should be no issues with either heatsink).
In fact there are several people on this forum who have a TR Ultra 120 eXtreme inside the Antec.

 

[lameness]

OK you have sold me with the TR ultra 120....nobody gonna see it anyhow. Total is £750 without the tv card so not bad really. Gonna order as soon as i get paid. Thanks for the help....one last thing....you know of any good sites that show how much thermal compound to apply...i have heard that less is more? Is Arctic sliver 5 the one to get?

 

[Andrius]

These are the instructions for AS5 on a quadcore CPU:
http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appinstruct/as5/ins_as5_intel_quad_wcap.pdf

I would however advise you to use something non-conductive for the first few attempts to get used to the procedure.
http://www.arcticsilver.com/ceramique.htm

quadcore instructions: http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appinstruct/cmq/ins_cmq_intel_quad_wcap.pdf

 

[lameness]

I see...

I will order the ceramique as well....this will be easier to clean up if i make a mistake i take it?

But the artic silver is the one thats gives the best results tho?

Also have you lapped ur heat sink?...im not going near my cpu with sandpaer but i might give it a go on the ultra.....will standard fine grain sand paper do?

 

[Andrius]

They are both quite easy to clean. But ceramique won't fry your CPU/motherboard if you mess up.

Aside from that I don't have much faith in AS5 and I'm not into aftermarket conductive paste. The 200hour cure/settling time is also a turn away. Arctic Silver MX-2 has a nice reputation and good performance. AS5 is said to offer the best results yes.

I haven't lapped mine. I see no need to for now.
There's a guide in the Overclocking forum by graysky here:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/235616-11-finished-lapping-q6600-with-pics-results
with details about sandpaper and methods used. I think he used standard 800 grit sandpaper for the rough part and finer 1000 grit for the end polish.