Hardware Order - Advice ASAP!

[GunnerMan]

I wont repeat myself

[MOUSY]

OK. Think I've come to an informed decision. I'll be going with the EVGA 8800GTS 320MB. The GTX is way out of my wallet's league and the extra memory provided by the 640MB version only seems to be necessary when running very high resolutions like 1920x1440. I doubt I'll be going that high, so this seems to be the one for me. Along with the benefit of being DX10 compliant, its presently the cheapest GTS on Newegg after the $20 rebate ($260).  All the better if the price falls even lower before July 22nd when I will be ordering.
The XFX 8800GTS was $10 cheaper after rebate, but out of stock.  :(

I've spent hours doing homework today but these are the issues I still need help with. Right now my present concerns are:

1) the size of the card... Since it is 9.5 inches long there has been advice to be wary of the card pushing up on other components of your PC and out right not fitting into your case. It looks like it'll be my only PCIe card, so there'll be no problems sideways, but lengthwise, will this be a problem for my present case and mobo (see above)?

2) The really big bugger up my arse is that I've read more than once that the GTS requires 26A on a single +12V PSU rail. My PSU only has 20A on 4 rails available... yet I've still read that builders have ran there GTS with no problem of this PSU... seemingly 2 pieces of contradictory info...

3) Reviews on my present case choice state that there are problems fitting in large PSUs (I thought there was a standard size for all). Will this be a problem with my ATX PSU?

4) The Asus DVD Drive is a PATA optical drive. Are the standard SATA cable connectors suitable for a PATA as well?

Thanks for all help again.... soon enough I'll be concentrating on suitable peripheral devices...

[GunnerMan]

I wouldnt worry about the power draw on the video card. I think it was Nick that said engineers like to give themselves at least a 20% margin of error, like the 6800U saying it required a 350W psu but really only used about 150W max load. Then Xtremesystems PSU calculator saying I need a 680W PSU for my current rig? BS I run it on a 530W OCZ with no problems my rails are rock steady even when overclocked. A quality 500W psu will outperform many 800w psus. Remember it's not all about the watts, look closer at the amps it provides. If you have a 1000W psu with a 16a 12v rail it is a waste of money. It's all a marketing hoax, and I don't buy it. Good homework will yeild what power you really need, if you have a volt metre at home probe the card at full load and see what it really draws for yourself.

I am sure your PSU will fit as long as you case and your psu is ATX form factor. Some PSUs are a little longer than others but they all give dimensions so if unsure take a ruler and measure will take you 2 mins and save you a lot of heartache. Same with the video card, unsure? Measure it. You could give me your case size and specs and I could look up the card length and figure out if it fits for you but thats something you can do in 5 mins as well while you have the ruler in hand.

[MOUSY]

Thanks for the help Gunner. My problem is that all the parts will be coming in at the same time. No time to measure anything before I order. Thus, if something doesn't fit... I'm screwed...

As for my PSU... yes, I've learnt that the total power rating is not as important as the current ratings on the individual rails... thats why I'm concerned that my GTS will be missing 6 amps. But I guess since others have said that the GTS runs fine on this PSU, I can put my confidence in those reviews.

And finally, is PATA symply a synonym for IDE? (should have googled that earlier). If so I can just get myself a few (extra-long) IDE cables and connect them to the ill-placed IDE ports on my mobo...

As of right now, It's 4AM here... just got back from clubbing and I'm tired like shiznit... C you guys 2mrw... I mean... later today...

[jimcooper1]

Thanks for the help Gunner. My problem is that all the parts will be coming in at the same time. No time to measure anything before I order. Thus, if something doesn't fit... I'm screwed...

As for my PSU... yes, I've learnt that the total power rating is not as important as the current ratings on the individual rails... thats why I'm concerned that my GTS will be missing 6 amps. But I guess since others have said that the GTS runs fine on this PSU, I can put my confidence in those reviews.

And finally, is PATA symply a synonym for IDE? (should have googled that earlier). If so I can just get myself a few (extra-long) IDE cables and connect them to the ill-placed IDE ports on my mobo...

As of right now, It's 4AM here... just got back from clubbing and I'm tired like shiznit... C you guys 2mrw... I mean... later today...

As long as your Case and MB are Full ATX compatible then the Graphics card will fit. ATX is 12"x9.6" so a 9.5" graphics card is supposed to fit!!

[GunnerMan]

Ahh ok, well as Jim said as long as your case is ATX you should be fine. Thats why I buy full towers, big a clunky but they have lots of room and if you like attention they are a hit at LAN parties My full tower is not much longer than an ATX Mid and I measured and 9.5 is still OK for my rig. I think PATA Is Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment so you have multiple lines running parallel to eachother, IDE runs on a parallel line. Serial is a single lane. So I am pretty sure that your IDE cables true name is a PATA cable but it has just adopted the shorter term IDE. So yeah a long cable or get the converter.

[MOUSY]

OK cool. I found what looks like a suitable round SATA cable. I'll be ordering 2 of these instead... found an identical SATA model to my previous PATA optical drive... so all my drives will now be SATA.

Updated List:

Intel Q6600 Conroe - approx. $260 on July 22nd
ASUS P5K OEM - $140
EVGA 8800GTS 320MB - $280
2GB Corsair XMS 6400C4 DDR2-800 RAM- $131
320GB Western Digital SATA3 - $75
OCZ GameXStream 850W PSU - $195
ASUS 18X DVD Burner/14X DVD-RAM Write/LightScribe - $33
COOLER MASTER Mystique/SECC ATX Mid-Tower Case - $80
TOTAL: $1,194 :-/

Now I'm satisfied that I have everything need for my system, except peripherals.

[GunnerMan]

Everything looks fine but I would not buy that sata cable. What he meant by Round cable was a round IDE cable. IDE cables tend to be flat and are like putting up a wall in your case. Since SATA cables are so small, maybe 1/4" wide you dont need to find a round one. And that build in power thing, your PSU will have plenty of power connectors made for SATA drives. You don't need that concerter. That is an 4 bucks well wasted on that thing.  The 1,200 price tag is very nice, look back a few years that kind of system would be in the 2,000 range

[MOUSY]

Everything looks fine but I would not buy that sata cable. What he meant by Round cable was a round IDE cable. IDE cables tend to be flat and are like putting up a wall in your case. Since SATA cables are so small, maybe 1/4" wide you dont need to find a round one. And that build in power thing, your PSU will have plenty of power connectors made for SATA drives. You don't need that concerter. That is an 4 bucks well wasted on that thing.  The 1,200 price tag is very nice, look back a few years that kind of system would be in the 2,000 range

What about these cables Gunner?

And no doubt, this is a super-PC for an even more super-price... Its just the fact that I'm already $200 over without peripherals thats bugging me... o well... you can't have it all...

[GunnerMan]

They look like good cables but you probably don't even need to buy them. I don't know about OEM mobos but retail mobos come with them. I am also sure any retail HDD or DVD rom will come with them. If you want them because they look cool or are a good color then by all means but if you don't care about that and like red(thats what most default sata are) then you should be fine.

Yeah going over budget kind of sucks but it will be worth it. If you really need to go cheaper check Ebay out for your perifrials, PSU, HDD, DVD rom etc.  So many people are afraid of Ebay but I use it all the time, it is a great place with some killer deals on things. I used to buy name brand PSUs on there for 10$.

[MOUSY]

O... my bad.... I meant to link to the retail board (which is 5c more expensive ). And I only now noticed that there are included SATAs. Thanks a lot... U just saved me 8 bucks.  :D
Good... I'll fix the list.

And when it comes to ordering PC parts, I'm a better safe than sorry kinda guy, I only have one window of opportunity to get these parts to me... so i rather pay a bit extra and rest assured.

And coming to think about it I may just switch to a case that's half the price later on... but the present one looks so sexy mehn... :-/

[jimcooper1]

And coming to think about it I may just switch to a case that's half the price later on... but the present one looks so sexy mehn... :-/

Its probably half the price for a reason...check the size and more importantly check how many fans and what size they are...very often the cheaper cases have smaller fans or no fans.  Remember you're putting in a big PSU , a powerful processor and a huge GPU....= lots of heat....you'll need space and airflow to keep that lot cool.   When recommending that case it was for its cooling ability not its ability to look cool!!

Regards

Jim

[MOUSY]

Its a Cooler Master as well... for $45, virtually the same size, and its got some cool reviews. Compared to the previous case however the front fan is 80mm instead of 120mm...

[Nick N]

Use Micron memory chips for P35 and X38 chipsets.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820146565

0r

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820148069


Corsair is not a good choice for P35 chipset motherboards. Crucial is because they only use Micron chips for their memory modules (they are owned by Micron)


Asus and other manufactures are fine tuning the P35 chipset BIOS for Micron chips

I would get a Q6600. The new 1333 bus processor is nice but the Q6600 will run the 333MHz (1333) easily with a simple BIOS setting change and you can get 4 cores for about the same price.

If this is a FSX machine or if you intend to do any type of A/V production, you will want 4 cores


Just a comment about something that was said earlier in the thread.. The vanilla and deluxe model motherboards ARE different in the way the BIOS and supporting hardware for that BIOS is designed into the units and therefore the vanilla board will not run as fast. This Gigabyte board http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813128048 is a good choice because it will allow upgrades to DDR3 and the Pr processors next year and will run DDR2 today. How good the board is I do not know. I have the P5K3 Deluxe and that board was the most stable clocker, without a ridiculous BIOS designed for an engineer, I have ever seen. If you intend to clock, you need the deluxe version of the P5K that comes with the heatpipes and special cooling/components


If you intend to go budget DX10 I would go ATI when they are released this month instead of Nvidia. Budget DX10 is where ATi beats Nvidia hands down until ATI gets their 65nm card on the market in August/September.

As for the 8800 cards,. They are being phased out but if you intend to get one EVGA would be the manufacture to go for. Also, make sure it

[JBaymore]

Mouseace,

I can give you some good advice here too..........

Listen to everything that NickN has to say.    ;)

best,

..................john