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New Plan

PostPosted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 12:13 pm
by Mike..
Well I rethought my previous thread (Think she'll turn and burn) to building one myself. As I built my first one prior to the 8400 I have now I realize it's cheaper to build than it is to finance for the almost exact same thing. No payments, straight cash to get what I need to fly again and soon. So here are my new proposed specs.

Raidmax ATX mid tower w/500 watt PS
Corsair XM52 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel memory ( I know you only to 2 for vista but this is a great deal at 160.00 US)
Seagate Barracuda 7200 250 GB HD 16MB cache SATA 3.0GBs
GeForce 8600GT 256MB 128 Bit GDDR3 PCI-E X16 SLI Supported
Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6 LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Ultra Durable 2, Ultra Cooling Intel Motherboard
Intel Core Duo Quad Q6600 2.4 Ghz 2 X 4MB L2 cache LGA 775 Processor
DVD burner
Windows Vista Ultimate DVD OS ( Going For 64 Bit)


As of right now this is all tenative and a thing or two may change except for the mobo and cpu. I found all of this stuff last night on NewEgg.com. I could of posted the links to all of this stuff but I'm sure most of you guys into building no about some of these products or can go to the site and see for yourself. I feel this a better and more cost effective plan to getting back in the air again with FSX the right way and not upgrade my 8400 for next to nothing results.

The CPU I chose from what I was reading in the reviews at NewEgg is over clockable to a little over 3Ghz. The mother board as 2 PCI-E slots in case I want to bridge another 8600GT later on down the road. Maximum supported memory on the mobo is 8 gigs. (amoung othernice stuff on the board).

So, what do you all think. A better choice I feel. I hope to take pictures and do some sort of step by step thread as I get the parts to do so. I await your replys.


Mike

Re: New Plan

PostPosted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 12:17 pm
by ThatOnePerson
Unless theres something I dont know, no current x38 mobos support sli, so no second graphics card

Re: New Plan

PostPosted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 12:28 pm
by Mike..
This is it. Read toward the bottom.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductPr ... 6813128066

Maybe it's the vid card I have to change if i'm bridging 2. If I don't I suppose later I could upgrade to a bigger card. The one I chose should be good for now though.



Mike

Re: New Plan

PostPosted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 12:44 pm
by ThatOnePerson
Theres no mention of sli.  Crossfire will involve 2 ati cards. None of which I'm a fan of atm. ATI has really fallen behind the 8 ball. IMO

Re: New Plan

PostPosted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 2:37 pm
by Mike..
No matter. I should still be good to go with the 8600GT. Not a big fan of ATI period. I think I built a pretty decent rig for what I want it to do and should last me awhile.






Mike

Re: New Plan

PostPosted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 2:43 pm
by MWISimmer
If you wish to run a dual graphics card set up I'd advise getting an ATi card over the 8600GT... you can always add another later. If you must stay with Nvidia then choose a different motherboard.

Re: New Plan

PostPosted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 3:22 pm
by Mike..
If you wish to run a dual graphics card set up I'd advise getting an ATi card over the 8600GT... you can always add another later. If you must stay with Nvidia then choose a different motherboard.



So board good with ATI, not good with nVidea?


Mike

Re: New Plan

PostPosted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 3:31 pm
by MWISimmer
It's a Crossfire board, made for ATi's SLi equivalent.

Re: New Plan

PostPosted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 4:38 pm
by Mike..
Hmmm. I guess my biggest fear with that is the bad time I had with an ATI card on my first build. It was an extacy something or another. You could download the drivers and make the card work but if you evere put another card in, say an Nvidea it wouldn't let you uninstall the ATI drivers. Then later they came out with a patch tool to remove them.


I like the cpu i have picked out.........maybe I should rethink the motherboard.... I really love nVidea. I've owned too many of their cards to go back to ATI..........hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm


Mike

I think my father is going to help me out in the Vista Ultimate section of my build for Christmas. I need to start building soon, while I still have my wife on my side before she pulls the plug on my op.......

Re: New Plan

PostPosted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 6:50 pm
by Mike..
Ok. So I think I have my board now. An Asus P5E Intel X38 ATX LGA 775. I don't understand something though. The specs say that the mobos memory standard is DDR2 1200. The memory I have picked out for the build is Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800 (PC2 6400). Is that a bad thing? Will it still run correctly? Or does this mean I can put memory in up to DDR2 1200 and the 800 will work fine. The Corsair memory I have chosen currently comming as a 4GB (2X 2 GB) set up for 160.00 US with a 40.00 mail in rebate.

:-/ A little help here guys :-?


Mike

Re: New Plan

PostPosted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 9:02 pm
by ctjoyce
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad !6600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115017

Motherboard: ASUS P5N32-E SLi nforce 680i
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131073

RAM: Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800 4GB (2x2GB)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145184

Graphics: eVGA 8800GTS 640MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130304

Hard Drive: Western Digital Scorpio 320MB SATA 3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822136074

Optical Drive: Samgsung 20x SATA DVD+/-CD-RW
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827151153

Cooling: Zalman CNPS-9700Cu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835118019

Thermalpaste: Artic Silver Ceramique
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835100009

Power Supply: Thermaltake Purepower 600W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817153049

Case: Thermaltake Matrix
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811133007

OS: WinVista Ultimate 64bit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6832116215

All the power you need now, should hold you till christmas next year, and the ability to drop in a second 8800GTS if you find yourself needing the graphics power. This is basically the system I have been building for gamers for the past few months, and its a very high performer. Also you have the ability to overclock like no one's business, I usually send these off to people with a 3.2Ghz overclock which you can get and maintain very easily. Also because you are using Ceramique instead of AS5, you aren't going to need to reapply paste every 6 months, instead you only need to do it every 18.

Oh yes and one final remark. Never use a power supply that comes with a case. they are cheap and breakdown very very quickly. And more importantly never use a Raidmax or Aspire power supply.

Cheers
Cameron

Re: New Plan

PostPosted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 9:26 pm
by GunnerMan
I read somewhere today but havent seen any benches to prove it that crossfire underperformed compared to SLi as well. Once AMD gets their new chipsets out the door nVidia will probably have a run for their money. Oh and don't buy the 8600, buy the 8800GT ;)

Re: New Plan

PostPosted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 10:57 pm
by Mike..
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad !6600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115017

Motherboard: ASUS P5N32-E SLi nforce 680i
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131073

RAM: Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800 4GB (2x2GB)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145184

Graphics: eVGA 8800GTS 640MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130304

Hard
Drive: Western Digital Scorpio 320MB SATA 3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822136074

Optical Drive: Samgsung 20x SATA DVD+/-CD-RW
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827151153

Cooling: Zalman CNPS-9700Cu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835118019

Thermalpaste: Artic Silver Ceramique
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835100009

Power Supply: Thermaltake Purepower 600W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817153049

Case: Thermaltake Matrix
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811133007

OS: WinVista Ultimate 64bit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6832116215

All the power you need now, should hold you till christmas next year, and the ability to drop in a second 8800GTS if you find yourself needing the graphics power. This is basically the system I have been building for gamers for the past few months, and its a very high performer. Also you have the ability to overclock like no one's business, I usually send these off to people with a 3.2Ghz overclock which you can get and maintain very easily. Also because you are using Ceramique instead of AS5, you aren't going to need to reapply paste every 6 months, instead you only need to do it every 18.

Oh yes and one final remark. Never use a power supply that comes with a case. they are cheap and breakdown very very quickly. And more importantly never use a Raidmax or Aspire power supply.

Cheers
Cameron



A nice setup and suggestion Cameron. However, I gotta cut a few expenses with this set up. I'm keeping the mobo,mem,cpu,heatsink,paste, but have to find some cheaper means of vid card, psu, and I'm not a big fan of the case although it is a decent case I am looking for something with a little more style. I have champagne taste with a beer budget so to speak. If I go for a case psu combo that saves money off the bat. I am aware of the psu issue but can upgrade in little to know time in the future. If I keep with my original 8600GT, with this board you recommended I can bridge it with another with ease later. By the reviews, the 8600GT I chose is overclockable as well. I'm trying not to make foolish choices, but with the ones I am making at this point in time lead to an easier upgrade down the road and it keeps the wife on my side of the fence. If my father kicks in for the Vista Ultimate that will knock a few hundred off my budget,ergo, I can put the money saved aside, wait for my next bonus (which is monthly) and upgrade then. You have been very helpful Cameron and I greatly appreciate your influence in my build and input and interest in my project. I look forward to your suggestions in the comming days,weeks of my build.

Again many thanks for pointing me in the right direction.


Reguards
Mike

Re: New Plan

PostPosted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 12:11 am
by ctjoyce
Well I managed to find one in stock and the 8800GT is an amazing medium. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814121099 but on the side of saving money http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130290 there you go.

In regards to the case, you are on your own, personally I'm not a fan of much except Lian Li and Silverstone cases, but those way break the budget.

Finally Vista. To be honest you don't need ultimate. You will never use half the features unless you are setting it up to be a server, or as part of a business. You would be fine with Home Premium x64.

Cheers
Cameron

Re: New Plan

PostPosted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 12:29 am
by ThatOnePerson
I 2nd the vote for a 8800gt. Just put mine in today, bloody fast card.