Advice on New Build

[ahnirv]

I've got a system that is getting up on 5 years old now, and is time to replace it before it craps out on me unexpectedly.
I did 90% of the building of my current system, however I was not the one who got it to run for the first time, a friend helped me with the initial startups. So I would consider this next build my 1.5(th?) build? Ha.
This time I want to do it from scratch. As late as 2 weeks ago I was almost totally clueless as to where to start for building a new computer, but I've put some serious time into researching, so I feel I've got a good grasp on components that are out there.

Here's what I'm after.
The most demanding application for the computer will be gaming(WoW, UT3, D3 when it comes out, etc.). I also use it for all school work and am an Engineering student so CAD programs are in my future, as is computation software, Matlab, maple, stuff like that.
My price limit is $1500(not absolute hard caped at that, but for core components it is)
I have a great Wireless card/antenna that I really want to keep.
I'm definitely not looking to future proof this machine, especially considering the new Intel chips that are coming out that will throw a wrench in everyones gears as far as their current upgradeability. Plus, regardless of the system, I will be done with school and working a real job when I need to upgrade again. I am looking to make a smokin' hot system for <$1500 tho.

So enough theorizing, this is what I've got on the table as of right now.


Case - Antec Twelve Hundred Black ATX Full Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129043
Its bigger than I need, but its got plenty of space for me to work inside of, and lots of room for expansion and front bays.


HDD - Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218
Question: RAID setup if I get more? Is it worth it, is it easy enough so that I won't screw it up? Not a pressing issue as I don't need more than 1 drive right now, but this is a good place to ask I guess.



CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 Wolfdale 3.33GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8600 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115054
I have seen people respond to this choice of processor with a "get the E8400"
but I don't plan on OCing as far as I know right now. Any thoughts?


MBoard- GIGABYTE GA-X48-DS4 LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128336
This is the area where I know the least, but this one seems to get good reviews and has good feedback of all the people who bought it.


Memory - OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2RPR800C44GK - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227267
Again, up with the MBoard I'm not as confident in my knowledge of memory.


PSU - HIPER Type M HPU-4M730-SS 730W Continuous @ 40°C (Maximum Continuous Peak: 780W) ATX12V V2.2 & EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817128008
It's way more than I need currently, but it's not disgustingly over powered, and I am designing the system to one day run HD4870 Crossfire, so it's probly not a bad idea.


GPU - SAPPHIRE 100243-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102795
Probably will get another one of these sometime down the road.


Heatsink/Fan - ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118003
Again, probably overkill considering I don't plan on OCing as of now. But it can't hurt, especially if I do decide to OC a bit. Plus it gets to 100*F commonly in the summer where I live, so I'm working with a smaller temp difference than I would like.





All this totals to about $1290, so I'm well under my budget.
Although I've got a few other toys on the list that aren't realy pressing issues that total up to about 150 more, but I'm not counting that towards my price limit.
Namely- Front LCD display/Fan controller
DVD/CD drive
Multifunction front panel(15in1 card reader/usb/firewire/audio)
Nice keyboard

I originaly had a system designed with DDR3 which was right at my price point, but after doing some research the 2%ish end benefit of using the DDR3 without a core 2 extreme processor I decided that it was not nearly worth the extra dollars to go with DDR3, especially since DDR3 on a current MBoard is no more future proof than DDR2 on a current Mboard. I can spend that extra $200+ on a second monitor or something fun like that.

Another question is OS. I know xp 32 bit will only acknowledge 4gb of ram total, including what is integrated to the system board, and I think GPU? So would it be worth it for me to go to vista 64 yet to utilize my full memory, considering only about 2.2gb of my DDR2 DIMMs would be addressed? This would be further compounded if I went to Crossfire of the GPU that I have selected.

Any thoughts or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you

 

[ahnirv]

Oh, I forgot to add that I currently have a copy of xp 32bit that would go on the new box if I don't find a reason to get vista 64bit

 

[Shadow703793]

Case, HDD, CPU, GPU, RAM looks good. Looks like you have done research on those parts.

PSU is not the best of quality. Get a Corsair or a PC Power & Cooling. I recommend the PP&C 610.

Unless doing CrossFire you don't need X48. You probably don't want to waste money on CrossFire unless you have a LCD with 1600*900 or better res and you plan to game at that resolution.

Swap HSF to XIGMATEK S1283 (+ bolt in kit)
See: http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm#INTELHEATSINK


As far as OS goes, if your printer,etc works/has drivers for Vista x64 get Vista x64.

 

[Proximon]

Vista 64 is really nice. I set up a dual boot thinking I would use both, but guess what? XP pro 32 goes unused now.

Hiper type M is a good PSU choice in general, but at that power range I would recommend the Corsair 750TX. That would also be more comfortable with a second card down the road.

The Zalman cooler was considered good at one time. Just do a little research first... if you want looks over performance I'm OK with that, but for cooling there are better solutions.

http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

The 800Mhz Reapers will work fine, although generally we recommend these for the voltage and timings:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146731

 

[huron]

+1 to what Shadow said. You won't need the X48 unless you decide to crossfire. You could get a P45 and save $$ that way.

I wouldn't spend the extra $100 or more for only x1 more multiplier. You can get the E8400 (333x9) for less than $180, the E8500 (333x9.5) for $185-189, but you're only getting x10 for an extra $100. That doesn't seem worth it to me, but it's your money.

The CPU cooler suggested is a good one.

The PSU suggestions are on target as well.

Your choices do look good. I'd swap out the board and the PSU, as well as think about the CPU.

Shoot, with the money you save on the board and the CPU, you could get a 4870x2 instead of the 4870 - crazy (that might be overkill on anything less than 24", but that'd still keep you under budget)

 

[megamanx00]

Build looks good but a couple of things. First, get a different PSU. I know some people have already said it so do it. Since you want to crossfire latter look at something like a 700W PSU from Corsair, Antec, or Fortron. You should also consider getting an X38 board instead of an X48 board. Since your using DDR2 800MHz your not going to get much, if any, benefit from the X48 board over the X38 board. Many of the X38 boards can be overclocked to run the 1600FSB just fine. The supply of good X38 boards does seem to be dwindeling though.

Also, consider getting a Q9550. If you're going to spend that much money on an E8600 you may just be better off going with a quad. This quad has a decent clock speed and will be better in the long run when applications come out that better use quad core CPUs. DX11 is suppose to have some better threading capabilities, but we'll see.

 

[ahnirv]

Ok. Adjustments made.

Here's how it looks now.

** means its changed


Case - Antec Twelve Hundred Black ATX Full Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811129043
Its bigger than I need, but its got plenty of space for me to work inside of, and lots of room for expansion and front bays.


HDD - Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136218
Question: RAID setup if I get more? Is it worth it, is it easy enough so that I won't screw it up? Not a pressing issue as I don't need more than 1 drive right now, but this is a good place to ask I guess.


**CPU - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600 - **Retail
**http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017
**Switched it from the E8600, saved $80, probly will perform better way down the road also.

MBoard- GIGABYTE GA-X48-DS4 LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128336
I don't have a time-line for going to crossfire, but I don't want to box myself out of it.

**mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory **Model 996587 - Retail
**http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146731
Any seconding of the opinion that this Mushkin is better than the OCZ that I had, and the reasoning behind it please.


**PSU - CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active **PFC Power Supply - Retail
**http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006


**GPU - VisionTek 900250 Radeon HD 4870 X2 2GB 512-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready **CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
**http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814129114
Yah, that's right, x2. Fastest card out there right? - crazy!


**Heatsink/Fan - Sunbeam CR-CCTF 120mm "Core Contact Freezer" CPU Cooler - Retail
**http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835207004
I am not into looks > performance. 'Tho the Zalman does look cool.


It may very well come down to a coin toss as whether I go for the 64 bit OS, any thoughts on waiting for windows 7? I have a feeling that I'm not gonna feel pinched by not being able to utilize all of my Memory, at least until the next level of games come out, or I have an unbelievably large CAD project to work on(not likely till I graduate).

 

[ahnirv]

Oh, also, any recommendations for Multifunction front panels?
I really would like a clock, temp readouts, usb2.0/audio/other connections, & card readers, but pretty much every one I've seen on the interwebz so far has fairly poor reviews. That antec 1200 has oodles of real estate and I will never be running a 10TB storage setup.

 

[Shadow703793]

New list looks good. Can't help you much with the front panel stuff as I never use them.

 

[megamanx00]

The Aspire X-Dreamer and X-Dreamer II have a good front temperature LCD as well as two USB and the mic and audio jacks. I like it . The only thing is, if you want a front firewire plug you have to take off the front panel, hard to do without scratching it, and put one in yourself. You can also just get a separate front panel fan controller with a temp LCD like this one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999174

I'm not sure how well the 4870X2 handles CAD programs so you may want to look into that. Also that power supply is enough for one 4870X2 but not for two of them. I say you shouldn't use anything less than 900W if you want to crossfire two 4870X2s.

 

[ahnirv]

To be honest, CAD performance is a secondary concern, as I don't use it to any large degree right now, and until I've got projects that are enormous in scale, it won't be an issue. And if I do need to see a large rendering manipulated I have access to workstations at school.

Also, I guess I will probly step the card back down to the single version. The HD4870 X2 really is overkill for what I've got. Plus I am very hesitant of going over the 750w psu that I have, that's already a ton of juice.
One other thing about the PSU, I am slightly confused about the 24 vs 20 pin main connector? Is that going to be an issue? Should I find a legit 24pin PSU or can I just use an adapter?

I do plan on getting a larger, (24-27") monitor so I can have 2 monitors, I bet Crossfire 4870s will do the job just fine. But the dual monitor setup can wait, I'll save the 250$ right now.

 

[ahnirv]

If I did go with 64 bit Vista, what version should I get, and would it be worth it to go with 8gb of ram?
I have heard there is some stability issues when all 4 DIMMS on a MBoard are filled up.

 

[Shadow703793]

^If using 4 DIMMs you need to mess with voltages.

 

[ahnirv]

Purchase has been made.


Antec Twelve Hundred Black ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail
$164.99

GIGABYTE GA-X48-DS4 LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$224.99

SAPPHIRE 100243-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
$299.99

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600 - Retail
Item #: N82E16819115017
$189.99

Mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model 996587 - Retail
$82.99

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
$84.99

Saitek PK17U Black/Silver USB Standard Cyborg Keyboard - Retail
$79.95

Arctic Silver Ceramique Thermal Compound - OEM
$4.99

Sunbeam CR-CCTF 120mm "Core Contact Freezer" CPU Cooler - Retail
$39.99


UPS Ground $16.55
Order Total $1,189.42

I ordered the Corsair 750TX before the sale ended(60$ off the top, 20$ rebate)
119.00
Ive got a SATA DVD drive coming too
$20


System Total:
~$1350

Thanks so much for the suggestions and advice on the build.

 

[ahnirv]

First Post from the new rig. Put it together, started right up. In the progress of updating all my drivers and getting essential software installed. Will run memtest 86, 3dmark06 and other fun stuff over the next few days.

I can't belive I haven't been building my own computers for years....
so fun

 

[ahnirv]

just got cpu-z
I got the GO stepping.
whoo hoo!

 

[Shadow703793]

^So now go OC! NOW!

 

[ahnirv]

I'm working on it, this is the first time I've ever OCed anything.
Plus I had to get all the fun software, cpu-z, PCwizard 2008, 3dMark'06, prime95, ATI fanspeed controler and a couple games before I wanted to start messing with speeds.

I just got done running tests at stock settings.
At stock i got 11910 score on 3dMark'06
Prime95 ran for 40 minutes without error and temps stabilized at 54,51,52,55 with the cpu fan on low.
Temps are right around 30*C at idle

I'm still pretty unsure as to what actual settings I need to change in the bios.
I am going to re-read the how-2 OC sticky in the OC forums.

I'd realy like to run my cpu at 3.2ghz so I can run 1:1 with my ram if temperatures permit. But anything above 2.8 would be fine so my GPU always has stuff to do.