$2200 - how would you spend it?

k i'm personally an amd guy but w/ this much money it might be worth going w/ a kentfield.

here's what i was thinking:

-2 gig's of ram (any suggestions?)

-Q6600 kentsfield

-3 500 gb hds in raid 5

-mobo????? what have ppl been happy with when it comes to quads? (i'm a dfi guy but i don't know that dfi has the same rep w/ intel as it does w/ amd)

- prob only an 8800 gts (prob only gonna go w/ the 320 mb edition (it's for a friend and there's no point on wasting $ on something he won't use)

-thermalright ultra extreme

-case?????

-also factor in a 21 inch widescreen so take that much out of the budget

ram: get the new geil ram. pc6400 comes with d9 ics.
case: antec 900?
8800GTS 640mb > 8800gts 320mb at high res.
make sure you get a G0 for the Q6600. You can get one for 5bucks more than normal Q6600 at TankGuys!
Mobo: prolly a P35. Gigabyte ds3r or a p5k deluxe.
get the 7200.10 hdds by seagate.

Not that I do not want to give advice, but this guy is looking for a similiar setup and the experts have guided him already...
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=519753

TDubbs05 said:

-3 500 gb hds in raid 5

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That is interesting choice and there is no dedicated raid controller in your list, my suggestion you should consider matrix raid, check this thread.

Edit : Geez, Brolloks you're right.

RAM: http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=519342

For a mobo, look out for the p35 chipset. (Asus P5K, P5K-D, Gigabyte DS3R, Abit IP35)

well i'm thinking i can just use the raid controller on the mobo.

well we'll see if he wants the 640 version of gts cause he won't use it for what i should be used for.

now i'm thinking 3 seagate 320's in a raid 5 btw

thx for the mobo suggestions i'll check em out as well as that thread

lets hear more suggestions on mobos. basically these 3

GIGABYTE GA-P35-DQ6 LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard

ASUS P5K DELUXE/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard

ASUS P5K WS LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

-also lets hear what ppl suggest for ram (only 2 gigs)

-and lastly do ppl know if the egg has been shipping out G0 steppings for kentsfields?

TDubbs05 said:

lets hear more suggestions on mobos.

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the mobos that inkfx posted are pretty much about as good as it gets but GA also has the GA-P35-DS3P, and a bunch of other, and all these P35 mobos are really good, even the cheaper GA-P35-DS3R. Just look for the one that has the other "extra" features you need like firewire, seat warmers, etc

any suggestions on ram? (i was thinking Patriot eXtreme Performance or Crucial Ballistix)

any final more final suggestions on a mobo?

decided on the Crucial Ballistix and the GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R after reading around the OC. now the debate comes down to whether or not it's worth the wait to make sure to get a G0...

anyone know how long the wait is for tankguys?

Update: Newegg hasn't updated the prices for the 6600.

TDubbs05 said:

decided on the Crucial Ballistix and the GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R after reading around the OC. now the debate comes down to whether or not it's worth the wait to make sure to get a G0...

anyone know how long the wait is for tankguys?

Update: Newegg hasn't updated the prices for the 6600.

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Tankguy wait is how ever long it takes for the G0's to become fully in the pipe of sales. Getting a quad now compared to waiting for G0 I think is a silly mistake. Expecially if he wants an OC'ed comp, the G0 will be cooler, which is a plus and use less power default so it will make OCing it easier and can reach higher speeds with it.

As well price drops not til the 22nd so you'd have to wait til then.

As for 3 drives in Raid 5 with onboard raid controller.... Don't. I had my drive in raid 5 and it was horrible... 20-30MB/s transfers it was like the stone age. Some get better but overall any Raid 5 on the system without at least a dedicated raid card for it is not the best choice at all. If you want to get 3 drives and still have backup potential, either use Raid 1, Matrix Raid 2 drive togeather and have Raid 0 for the first half and a Raid 1 or 0 for the back half and use the 3rd drive as a dedicated backup drive (this is what I do).

For system...
Asus P5K-D
Q6600 G0 stepping only, otherwise I'd just stick to Dual Core E6420 and OC it.
HDD Seagates 250-320Gigers 500 if space is really needed
Case Antec 900 is great little loud, if he wants something quieter get the Antec P180 series case.
PSU: The corsair 620-HX should more than hold him over on that system.
Ram: G.Skill ram is the only way to go IMO, best ram I've had to date and thats coming from different builds/different ram modules (DDR and now DDR2).

mobo = asus p5k deluxe

drives = 2 drives in Raid 0 for speed, and 3rd drive on a scheduled back up. Seagate 7200.10 320 gigs. I don't like instant backups because every mistake is instantly copied...argh!

memory = almost anything pc6400 because the Q6600 is limited to about 3.2 ghz and that memory is overkill anyway.

case = ThermalTake Black Matrix - the whole front is filtered for good CLEAN air flow, two 120mm fan bays, looks nice.

http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Specific.aspx?ArticleId=16838

PSU = OCZ stealthxstream 600w - black, quiet 120mm fan, mesh exit for good air flow, top notch components, cheap at $69 www.ncix.com

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/451

Swiftech water cooling kit H20-220, quiet, cool!

http://www.swiftnets.com/products/H20-220-APEX.asp

imma say skip the P5K-DLX over priced for what you get. the mobo's i would suggest is either a Gigabyte P35-DS3R or Abit IP35-pro. as for ram im a fan of Gskill latly so either the PC2-6400-2GHK's or PC2-6400-2GHZ's. i have a set of HZ's doing ddr2-1140 5-5-5-14 @2.25v. i still have 4 gigs of HK's to test.

I spent $2200 yesterday; heres how I spent it!

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=519632

nightelph said:

I spent $2200 yesterday; heres how I spent it!

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=519632

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Should be a great rig, let us know how it performs/OC and send some pics once you've assemble it... Good Luck !

wow with that much money to spend. you can really go overboard

might as well get 4gb of ram XD

I would buy 2 opteron 1207's and Tyan Thunder K8WE S2895 Opteron Motherboard and 8 GB of ram or a new pentium 6850 and new p35 chipset and 8 GB of ram

Gigacloud said:

I would buy 2 opteron 1207's and Tyan Thunder K8WE S2895 Opteron Motherboard and 8 GB of ram or a new pentium 6850 and new p35 chipset and 8 GB of ram

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RAM only goes so far, dude.
I don't even use 1gb of ram fully. The only time I've seen my system use any swap is when I was running 2 instances of World of Warcraft at the same time.
Edit: oh, and I would probably go with a Q6600, 2gb of ram, 8800gts 640mb, and 2 22" monitors.

If I was to spend $2200 on a machine I would go with 4GB and be done with it for a while. 2GB is a sweet spot in price right now but 4GB is not that bad right now and will hold you much longer. Oh yeah and it will help feed that quad better.

Pie-rate said:

RAM only goes so far, dude.
I don't even use 1gb of ram fully. The only time I've seen my system use any swap is when I was running 2 instances of World of Warcraft at the same time.
Edit: oh, and I would probably go with a Q6600, 2gb of ram, 8800gts 640mb, and 2 22" monitors.

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Ram is dependent upon apps used.

I have 2 GB of ram and still need more