Planning New System...

[BFMF]

Hey Guys,

I'm planning a new system, and now that i'm home, i'm itching to get it ordered. I think i've got most of the specs narrowed down, but i'm not sure about a couple things, like the power supply unit or the CPU cooling fan. Is that a big enough power supply. Would you recommend more power, or a different one? How about the cooling fan? Is it a good choice?

Case: In-Win F-430 Mid-Tower Case
CPU: (Sckt775)Intel

[Celtman]

For the power supply I would recommend this one: http://www.pcpower.com/products/viewpro ... show=S75QB

Less watts, but a higher constant output at 40C.

The fan looks fine to me.

That CPU is fantastic, I just got one, and I love it!
Nice graphics card too - wish I had that kind of budget

[jimcooper1]

I have somewhat similar setup and have built a couple of systems with the Asus P5N32-E SLi.   The 680i chipset is very particular about memory..I believe BIOS revisions have improved this.  Ensure you download and update with the latest BIOS.  You may want to check out the Memory Qualified Vendors List (QVL) but it's quite limited http://usa.asus.com/100/download/produc ... 459_10.pdf

Are you intending adding another Video card and operating SLi?.If not you might be better off with a P35 motherboard

Regards

Jim

[BFMF]

Would something like the Quad-Core FSB1333 MSI P35 Neo-F P35 Chipset LGA775 Supports Core 2 Duo CPU FSB1333 DDR2/800 Mainboard w/GbLAN,USB2.0,&7.1Audio be a good alternate choice?


I'm not planning on throwing an additional video card for SLI right now.

[HugoCampos]

Change the Motherboard: p35 chipset is almost essential now! I suggest an Asus P5K (Deluxe or Premium if you can afford). I would also suggest you get the Silencer 750 from PC Power and Cooling. Finally, I'd get a Zalman 9700 CPU cooler instead of the one you posted.

PS: If you're going to be playing FSX, I think your system will be somewhat bottlenecked by the CPU... I would get a Q6600 (and clock it all the way to 3.2 or 3.4... You can easily do it with the Zalman cooler I referred above), a QX6700 or a QX6850.

[BFMF]

Change the Motherboard: p35 chipset is almost essential now! I suggest an Asus P5K (Deluxe or Premium if you can afford). I would also suggest you get the Silencer 750 from PC Power and Cooling. Finally, I'd get a Zalman 9700 CPU cooler instead of the one you posted.

ok, i'll go ahead with the 'Quad-Core FSB1333 MSI P35 Neo-F P35 Chipset LGA775 Supports Core 2 Duo CPU FSB1333 DDR2/800 Mainboard w/GbLAN,USB2.0,&7.1Audio'

PS: If you're going to be playing FSX, I think your system will be somewhat bottlenecked by the CPU... I would get a Q6600 (and clock it all the way to 3.2 or 3.4... You can easily do it with the Zalman cooler I referred above), a QX6700 or a QX6850.

How much difference would a Quad Core QX6850 perform than a Core

[HugoCampos]

Well, quad-cores are well worth it I think. I have Q6600 @ 3.0Ghz (I don't wanna push it too much) and it performs beautifully. I've also noticed that all of the cores are used in quite a few programs actually: Blender3d, 3ds Max, FSX, Photoshop, Avi2DVD encoders, World in Conflict, etc

When it comes to the Q6850... you get what you pay for. It has an unlocked multiplier and an 1333 FSB which is good because of the ratios. I think that the unlocked multiplier alone is worth the extra money... clocking my q6600 was a pain in the ass because I had to overclock my memories too.

[BFMF]

hmm, I have no idea how to overclock a computer, nor am I familiar with the multipliers you refer to

[HugoCampos]

Oh, ok... then just stick to a cheaper CPU because the X next to the Q won't be useful for you. Try looking at the Q6700 which is clocked at 2.6. The one you mentioned before is clocked at 3.0 and will be faster running most single threaded programs (not much though) but the Quad will be much faster on current and future multi-threaded programs.

[BFMF]

Oh, ok... then just stick to a cheaper CPU because the X next to the Q won't be useful for you. Try looking at the Q6700 which is clocked at 2.6. The one you mentioned before is clocked at 3.0 and will be faster running most single threaded programs (not much though) but the Quad will be much faster on current and future multi-threaded programs.

You're not saying that the Quad Core QX6850 is slower than the  Core 2 Duo E6850 are you?

[jimcooper1]

Oh, ok... then just stick to a cheaper CPU because the X next to the Q won't be useful for you. Try looking at the Q6700 which is clocked at 2.6. The one you mentioned before is clocked at 3.0 and will be faster running most single threaded programs (not much though) but the Quad will be much faster on current and future multi-threaded programs.

You're not saying that the Quad Core QX6850 is slower than the

[HugoCampos]

[quote][quote]

You're not saying that the Quad Core QX6850 is slower than the

[BFMF]

Ok, I understand. So how much better would the QX6850 perform with FSX compared to the E6850?

I was looking around the FSinsider website, and It mentions multiple core processors.

[quote]The latest processors are now shipping with "multiple cores." This means there are more than one processor per chip. For example, a dual core processor has two processors in it. A quad core has four.

[justpassingthrough]

I run a quad. I paid more for it than I have for any other processor and I am using the Xtreme quad since my system was purchased with overclocking in mind.

FSX responds to higher FSB and GHz but the quad allows terrain and a few other items to be sent to any available cores past the primary. The majority of the work in FSX will always be done on the first and second core. What goes to the rest of the available threads is terrain and some autogen work. Traffic is locked to the first core. None the less, nothing about the number of cores increases frames, but then again FSX is not FS9 and it does not need a frame boost, it needs more and better hardware to make it sing.

After seeing people gripe about upgrading from dual to quad I had the same questions. How it was explained to me is that you can

[BFMF]

Thanks for clearing it up. I think I might go ahead and get these specs...

Case: In-Win F-430 Mid-Tower Case
CPU: (Quad-Core)Intel