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Would like to build a screamer , need advice

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J

jgreeno

New Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2008
The company I work for has graciously discarded 2 NIB 3GHz Dual Core Xeon 5050 processors and 4+ Gigs of DDR2 PC2-5300F for me to build a test/dev rig at home.

I'd like to build a rig around these components.
I don't have a ton of $$ to spend so I need to keep things as cheap as possible.
This "PC" will be used for gaming, MP3's, web/application dev, and video editing/copying.

I have WinXP Pro or Win2K3 Server (Std and Enterprise).
I can get Vista but I don't think I really want it, I've just heard too many horror stories so far.
XP would be my OS preference but I'm not clear on the memory limitations of XP.
I don't know if my games (SOF2,3; CoD1,2,4) will run on Server 2K3, I know that software for my creative Zen will not.

The Xeon's are dual proc only.
Looking at this mobo --> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131170
Looking at this video card --> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150247
The obvious thing is that I want to maximize the speed and reliability, I don't intend to overclock.

I'm just looking for pointers on what might be my best route for OS, memory configuration etc.

Thanks!
 
Last edited:
first, welcome :)

2nd, I don't know much about server setups, but I'm 99.9% sure you can forget about overclocking. So, it's best to just get any old board that is in your budget and is stable.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131169 and http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131152 still have 1x PCI-E 16 slot for the vid card and would save you a little over the board you linked.

3rd, to build a "screamer" with this hardware, you're going to need a good card like the 8800gt, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814122040 or a G92 based one if you can afford it: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143119

and make sure you get a case that fits the mobo, and get a quality PSU that has all the plugs for the mobo and provides enough juice for everything (probably EPS12V and ~600w or more) like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817163108

edit: oh and I'd run windows xp, even if it can't see all 4gb of the ram.
 
if your company is cool with it, you could sell the hardware to get something more compatible. those processors price in the $200-300 range and i imagine you could get a bill or two for the ram. though i don't know what pc2-5300F is.
 
djrussell said:
if your company is cool with it, you could sell the hardware to get something more compatible. those processors price in the $200-300 range and i imagine you could get a bill or two for the ram. though i don't know what pc2-5300F is.
Click to expand...

Can you define "more compatible"?..
So far the only drawback I see is the need to buy a server motherboard. But with the PCI-e x16 slot, I can get a decent vid card for gaming, video, etc.
Even if I get top $ for the procs and mem, I'd be looking at $1000 at most.. I don't think (and I've not built a PC in awhile so I may be wrong) that I could build a machine with this kind of horsepower for that kind of money.. Maybe I'm wrong... :bang head

I did manage to add 5x 160GB SATA HD's to the mix. Looking to run RAID 5.
 
for $1000 you could put together a nice q6600 rig. I'm pretty sure that F on the end of the ram means that it is FBDIMMs and ECC, which is typical server ram, which is more expensive than standard desktop ram.

you can make a decent desktop system with what you have there, as long as you can drop a nice vid card in with it (if you intend on gaming). Otherwise it will be a great, stable workstation, like a mac pro.
 
Here's the supporting cast thus far..

CHENMING ATX Full Tower Computer Case LINK

TYAN S2696A2NRF LINK

EVGA 512-P2-N773-AR GeForce 8600GTS 512MB
LINK


It won't quite be a "screamer" I don't guess but it should do fine for what I like to do and will be far and above my AMD Athlon 2700 and FX5700.

Yes, you're right it is ECC mem. Also, one thing I'm not clear on..
Dual dual-core Xeon's at 3GHz, is that each core at 3GHz or each core at 1.5GHz for 3GHz total for the proc?

Thanks for your input on this!
 
each core is 3ghz...are you planning on gaming? get a 3850 if your going mid range...higher end would be 8800GT 512, and low end (around 100) would be used 7900GT/GS or X1900XT.
*edit* Oh and I'd get XP pro 64bit so you can use the 4gb of RAM.
 
Ok, after searching around on Newegg, I pieced together what I think would be a decent system.

Here it is, please comment -

Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 (should OC nicely)
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS4 Rev. 2.0
Crucial Ballistix 1GB PC28500 x 2
HIS Hightech H385F256NP Radeon HD 3850 256MB
APEVIA X-Plorer ATXB8KLW-BK Case

I have a decent 500W PS.

Assuming I can sell the Xeons and the mem, I should be able to cash-flow this build. Once I get 'em sold I can add on a ZALMAN CNPS9500 for OCing..

Will the E4500 OC straight out the box? I remember back in the day when you sometimes had to actually modify the CPU to make it OC-able..

Current price is about all I can justify to my wife..

Thanks again!
 
They can do 3GHz easily no modding needed.


You don't need PC8500, and with the money saved get a 3870, ALSO, get an IP35-E or P35-DS3.
 
So, what am I missing here?
The proc lists FSB as 800MHz, the mobo lists its FSB @ 1333/1066MHz
Does that mean that I can get away with RAM at 800MHz? Why would I not need or want mem @ 1333/1066MHz?

Looks like that would be PC2-6400.. Is this correct?

Thanks,
-J
 
when it says that it is at 1333/1066 mhz it is not actually that fsb it is magically"quad pumped"... so 1333 is actually 333mhz IIRC...
 
jgreeno said:
Can you define "more compatible"?..
So far the only drawback I see is the need to buy a server motherboard. But with the PCI-e x16 slot, I can get a decent vid card for gaming, video, etc.
Even if I get top $ for the procs and mem, I'd be looking at $1000 at most.. I don't think (and I've not built a PC in awhile so I may be wrong) that I could build a machine with this kind of horsepower for that kind of money.. Maybe I'm wrong... :bang head

I did manage to add 5x 160GB SATA HD's to the mix. Looking to run RAID 5.
Click to expand...

it sounds like everyone else already hit on this. you have some nice server hardware there but the problem with server is that it's inherently more expensive. you can cash it out and build a much faster desktop system. this is about how you would want your money allocated:
mobo - $100-300 depending on features you want. make sure to get atleast a p35 if not an x38 chipset.
cpu - $125-200 for a nice C2D
ram - $50-100 for 2-4 gigs of ddr-800
video - $250-300 if gaming is a priority, don't cheap out here.
case - $50-100
psu - $80-100 (if yours decides it can't handle it)
drives - $350 for 5 250gig seagate 410AS's in raid 5

that's $1000-1500 for a sweet machine. you could cut out the raid 5 and really make it cheap. if you decide on going c2d for this, you should consider waiting for the 45nm wolfdales. i'm pretty sure they're already released from intel and just not in stores yet. from what i've read, they're coming in at similar pricepoints to the current conroes and will be 15-20% better.

whatever you do. good luck. :)
 
Great!
Thanks again for all of the help.. I feel like an old dog who's been stuck on the porch for awhile.. :)
 
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