Appreciate advice for my upcoming build

[Jarlax]

Well it has been a long time since I have built a new rig and although I have been reading up I know you guys are much more in tune with what is good and bad. That being the case I would appreciate your comments on the rig I plan to build in March.

Motherboard
- ASUS P5B Deluxe LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard


Processor
- Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4GHz 4MB Cache 1066MHZ FSB

Is there any real reason to instead get a:
- Intel Xeon 3060 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor

I would like to clock to 3.6+


Cooling
- Tuniq Tower 120 P4 & K8 CPU Cooler


Memory
Based on evilsizers comments I am going to go with:

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

well since psu's are covered here. BB touched on ram some but here are some i am looking at to replace the current 2gig kit i have.
these are D9 based ram from gskill
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231065

these here are proMos based ic's ocing just as well as some of the D9 ic's. the promos are maxing out about 30mhz lower then d9's are.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231087

Case
- Antec Performance One P180 - I already own this case.


Hard Drives
I would like to take advantage of the MATRIX raid that is available on the P5B Deluxe. I am planning to get 2 of the following (each split first 50gig raid 0, other 200 raid 1):

- Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s

Are there better drives I should get instead to gain even better performance?


CD ROM / DVD ROM
I have a Sony 18x DVD-RW I plan to move, I don’t have a link.


Graphics Card
Trying to decide what to do here, depends on cost and availability
One of these:
- 8800 GTS
- 8800 GTX
- R600 card from ATI….if they ever get released! This is one of the biggest things preventing me from pulling the trigger on the build (sigh!)

Not sure if I should be concerned about my case choice as far as fitting a card in it. I will measure before making a purchase.


Power Supply
*** I would appreciate your recommendations here ***
I know that that the p180 case has limited room at the bottom so that is a factor but I can measure the space and compare that to any ideas offered to help me pick. So if it fits I am thinking:

PC & Cooling Silencer 610 EPS12V
(Thank you batboy)


Sound Card
- Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic - I already have this card


Thanks you in advance for your input!

 

[CGR]

If you are going to do Raid 0 and 1 in the same system, I would suggest you use separate drives for each. So four drives total.

As for the graphics card, thats a tough call, have not seen too much info as to when the R600 will be released.

 

[squashfx]

If you are going to do Raid 0 and 1 in the same system, I would suggest you use separate drives for each. So four drives total.

As for the graphics card, thats a tough call, have not seen too much info as to when the R600 will be released.

get the xeon they are known to have lower VID

 

[batboy]

You've done your homework, we just need to give you some ideas on RAM and PSU. Not sure what your budget is, but since you want to hit at least 3.6 gig, you'll want decent components.

G. Skill or Crucial Ballistix or Mushkin with D9 chips is the best bet. Basically, any high quality DDR2-800 RAM with CAS 4 will work fine in an E6600 rig.

I still like the OCZ 520W Powerstream PSU. Some people recommend the Zippy. Seems like high amp single +12v rail PSUs work the best.

 

[Jarlax]

If you are going to do Raid 0 and 1 in the same system, I would suggest you use separate drives for each. So four drives total.

As for the graphics card, thats a tough call, have not seen too much info as to when the R600 will be released.

But the whole idea behind the Intel Martix raid is getting both raid 0 and raid 1 from 2 drives. At least that is what I got from the post: Enter the martix

You can expand the Matrix to more than 2 drives but it is not needed. It is different then typical raid where I would have to use seperate drives for raid 0 and raid 1.

 

[Jarlax]

I saw in another thread where the following power supplies were recommended. I was already thinking about the PC&C 610 but I need to make sure it will fit in my case as I heard that it was tight because the length was longer than normal.

Here are a few power supplies to choose from:

Zippy HP2-6500PE 500W - $119
http://store.myaopen.com/hp26500pe.html

Zippy GSM-6600P 600W - $169
http://store.myaopen.com/gsm6600p.html

Silverstone SST-ST75ZF 750w - $184
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817256006

PC Power & Cooling 610w - $169
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817703005

Not sure what your budget is, but since you want to hit at least 3.6 gig, you'll want decent components.

I am figuring to spend $1500 to $2000.

I still like the OCZ 520W Powerstream PSU.

I had heard of this one before and had it on my list of things to look into. I noticed in your sig you have a PC&C, seems like a popular brand.

 

[squashfx]

I am figuring to spend $1500 to $2000.

you should be in good shape as far as money goes for a nice rig i got a little over 2k in mine seen in sig
btw if you get a gts you can overclock it to the same speed as a gtx and still have cash to spend on other stuff

 

[CGR]

But the whole idea behind the Intel Martix raid is getting both raid 0 and raid 1 from 2 drives. At least that is what I got from the post: Enter the martix

You can expand the Matrix to more than 2 drives but it is not needed. It is different then typical raid where I would have to use seperate drives for raid 0 and raid 1.

Sounds exactly like software OS raid.

I still like separate devices my self.

I still like the OCZ 520W Powerstream PSU. Some people recommend the Zippy. Seems like high amp single +12v rail PSUs work the best.

I have the 520 powerstream myself, however it may be taxed with the system being put together. I would probably look to get minimum 600w

 

[batboy]

I love my PC & Cooling PSU, but they are a bit more expensive. Sometimes you do get what you pay for though. If you don't mind spending $155 for a PSU, here is an awesome unit (49 amps on a single +12v rail):

http://www.pcpower.com/products/viewproduct.php?show=S61EPS

 

[hUMANbEATbOX]

Sounds exactly like software OS raid.

I still like separate devices my self.

if you read through the link he provided, it will all become clear.

you cannot get matrix level performance with software.

 

[Evilsizer]

well since psu's are covered here. BB touched on ram some but here are some i am looking at to replace the current 2gig kit i have.
these are D9 based ram from gskill
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231065

these here are proMos based ic's ocing just as well as some of the D9 ic's. the promos are maxing out about 30mhz lower then d9's are.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231087

 

[Jarlax]

well since psu's are covered here. BB touched on ram some but here are some i am looking at to replace the current 2gig kit i have.
these are D9 based ram from gskill
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231065

these here are proMos based ic's ocing just as well as some of the D9 ic's. the promos are maxing out about 30mhz lower then d9's are.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231087

Interesting to see that the 2 RAM prices are about 50 bucks apart.

Thank you for the information Evilsizer, I will consider both for my final build...in fact I am going to add them to my build list now.

 

[hUMANbEATbOX]

really with a e6600, the ram choice is a lot easier. i would go with whatever will run ddr2-800 speeds with 4-4-4-12 timings or better (there are lots of suitable rams).

 

[Evilsizer]

really with a e6600, the ram choice is a lot easier. i would go with whatever will run ddr2-800 speeds with 4-4-4-12 timings or better (there are lots of suitable rams).

if he choose to he could lower the multi to get the higher fsb esp if his cpu will do 3.6ghz. esp since the p5b-dlx is known for high fsb oc's.

 

[NinjaZX6R]

Might I recommend the Abit QUADGT over the P5B-Dlx? Should have a pretty decent bios come March. 3.0v on the ddr2

-Collin-

 

[Jarlax]

That Abit QUADGT looks to be a very similar board to the P5B-deluxe except for the mention of some better power options and the on-board LED and reset options.

I am not opposed to trying something newer but I have seen a lot of BIOS issues mentioned and that means I would be buying it with the expectation of ABit fixing it for me.