Designing New Cruncher

[Morpheus]

I don’t game much, so my 2.4G Northwood & Asus P4C800-E have served me well for a few years now. My horsepower has been spent mostly crunching as I Crunch SETI, browse and work in Word primarily.

Anyway, I am looking to build a reliable (most important) and strong cruncher with expense as a consideration; so here are my thoughts (your comments would be much appreciated):

CPU: Conroe E6300 1.8ghz duo ($180)
MOBO: Asus P5W DH Deluxe ($250)
DDR2: Corsair XMS2 CAS 4 (2x512) 1gb ($188)
DRIVE: WD 80G SATA (X2 for Mirror Raid) ($88) I have plenty storage on my local network so 80G is primarily for software.
VID: Asus EN7600GS 512mb ($135)

From what I gather my trusty Enermax 550W power supply will not support the new mobo. So:

PS: Enermax WhisperII 535w ATX12V ($85)

I am assuming that my CD-ROM & DVD Burner (both IDE) will be supported by the PATA interface.

Total = $926.00 (and, of course, these are Newegg prices, so I may very well shave a few bucks off this total).

I use aircooling and have not even considered a heatsink/fan...????

I am also assuming that I will gain significantly crunching power over my hyperthreading 2.4@3.4ghz

Thanks for your help!

Crunch on!

[SeasonalEclipse]

Why pay so much for the 7600GS? I believe the 7600 GTs are down around that price now.

[Alexhk]

Well Core 2 is definitely solid, mine is pushing 1550+ RAC now.

I'm not sure on that motherboard but it may be possible to just plug in your current power supplies 20 pin connector and go. Assuming you'd just rather buy a new power supply and want to stay enermax check out the 485 Watt noisetaker II (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817194009) Same price, little more efficient, slightly higher rated 12v rails. Another PSU that would every bit as good (and a little cheaper) would be the Enhance 400 watt 80+ model.
(http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=PS-E5140GH&show=p#)

For the price of that 7600GS you'd be much better off with this 7600 GT (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130062)

Those are just some quick thoughts =)

[TC]

Hey Buddy - good to see you're still crunching along. You can't got wrong with a conroe. AMD had their day, but this chip plain dominates for now. Your setup looks good to me, with the exception of the video. Could save money there.

[hallen]

Here is my suggestion:

1) AMD - Opteron 165 Dual Core - 1.8Ghz - 2MB Cache -64/32-bit Socket 939 Monarch $146.99 plus FedEx Saver: $2.79

http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=M&Product_Code=120339&AFFIL=pricewatch&NR=1

2) Stock AMD opteron hsf
Classifieds $20 shipped or ebay for around that price

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=475066&highlight=Stock+AMD+opteron+hsf%3A+%2420+shipped

3) G.SKILL 512MB (2 x 256MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 600 (PC 4800) Samsung TCCD Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model F1-3200DSU2-512LA - Retail
Newegg $93.25 plus $4.99 Three Day Shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231007

Note: Never in stock but you can find them on ebay for less.

4) Open Box: DFI LANPARTY nF4 SLI-DR Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - OEM
Newegg $104.99 shipped

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136151R

5) FSP Group Blue Storm Series 350W Computer Power Supply FSP350-60THN-R, Supports SATA. Retail Box
$46.99 plus UPS Ground $6-15

http://www.directron.com/fsp35060thnr.html

Note: I think 350W will do it but I have a 550W Blue Storm just in case (add $30.).

6) Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Promo
viosoftware.com $69.70 shipped

http://www.viosoftware.com/Windows+XP+Professional+x64/Windows+XP+Professional+x64+Edition+Promo.html?osC sid=ed15706624eb87c407a621e4bf33a2d3

Note: This was listed as Promo but ended up student
Note 2: Just dynamite with IE7 RC1

7) Video PCI and DISK 40gb IDE. Free.

Total $499.70



I don't think it's top 10 or even top 100 ranked computer but I will try it 50/50 E@H and S@H and double the numbers to see how it ranks.

[Morpheus]

Good call on the power supply... I missed the noisetaker, and it does look like the specs are good. I have enough if I did want to try SLI.

Speaking of video, thanks!, I found an Asus 7600GT for $5 more... and DDR3 and full reatil box goodies... unless things have changed dramatically, I like Asus and have never been disappointed by their quality in vid cards or mobos (and I have been through several other brands).

Tim & Harvey, good to hear from you... Harvey, you know I've been dyed-in-the-wool Intel fan forever... but thanks, too... TC, I do like to install Diablo II or Unreal Tourney or Halflife every now and then... hence the grahpics card to drive my 21" LCD...

So what's the format for the Conroe (socket specs)? Can I use an older HSF or do I need something new? Ideas anyone?

And, yes, still crunching... a little more aggresively now that the cooler temps are here... :D

Thanks again everbody...

[eaglescouter]

Good to hear you are cranking up the crunchers again, I too am looking forward to the coming cooler weather :)

Off topic, it might be time to update the links in your signature ?

[TC]

Kris - the conroe is socket 775. You'll need a new hsf because of the mounting method now in use. The conroes run so cool that just about anything will do. You could probably tape some aluminum foil to it and it'd be fine ;)

[Stryfe]

The first thing that pops into my head is at this stage of the game I wouldn't build a machine with less than 2gb of ram (2x1gb). Vista's coming out soon and promises to be a RAM hog. Even if you're just running XP, if you want to play any games at all you'll be happy you went with 2gb.

[Daewood]

The first thing that pops into my head is at this stage of the game I wouldn't build a machine with less than 2gb of ram (2x1gb). Vista's coming out soon and promises to be a RAM hog. Even if you're just running XP, if you want to play any games at all you'll be happy you went with 2gb.


I've run vista release one from work and it uses just a tad bit more than XP (were talking like 100mb at the MOST)

But that will be a killer cruncher... you will need a 24 pin plug though... I do not believe any core2duo's use the 20 pin anymore.

And yes your IDE stuff will be supported by the PATA interface.