buildling new rig, need some help

[sgvnut]

Hello all,

I am in the process of building a new system and would appreciate any advise. I want to make sure that all the parts i get will be compatible with one another. I want to try some minor OC on this rig but not anything that will require water cooling. I usually leave my computer on 24/7. Some of these might be a little overkill but i would like to build a good system so it could last me awhile.

Things I've already purchased:

Monitors: 2 Samsung 226BW

HD: 2 Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB Serial ATA150 Hard Drives
I was also thinking of a third hd for storage.

Things I plan to purchase:

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

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield w/ G0 stepping

Case: Antec Nine Hundred Case

Graphics Card: EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS Superclocked 320MB GDDR3
I'm thinking about adding another one in the future so that i can have 2 more monitors. Would that be possible? I would want to connect one DVI port to an additional monitor and the other port to my TV.


Not sure, need help:

Memory - I read somewhere that the p5k3 is picky with memory so i want to make sure i get one that is compatible. I want to get 2 sticks of 2gb.

PSU - I used the psu calculator at this site http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp and it recommended me to get a 550. Is that enough. I was still going to get at least a 650 just in case. I'm not really familiar with which brands are good and if single rail or multi rail psu would suit my system more.

CPU Heatsink - I just want to do some minor overclocking as this is the first machine i'm going to attempt it on. Can someone recommend a good heat sink that fits on the Mobo?

DVDRW/CDRW drive - Can someone recommend good brand? I was thinking getting one that uses IDE instead of Sata to make use of the single port on the mobo.

What do you guys think? Any advise or comments will be appreciated.

Thank you

 

[coldmeat]

why are you purchasing the P5K3 over the P5K? do you really need the DDR3 slots?

for a power supply the most highly recommended one is the Corsair 620HX, it will be more than enough for you and its a great PSU, i have one

the thermalright ultra-120 extreme is a very good heatsink, and it works well with the P5K mobos, i have both the heatsink and a P5K deluxe

your best just to go with a SATA drive, and whichever one you gets just depends more or less on personal preference... there isnt much difference between brands. i personally have an LG

as for RAM, the links at newegg arent working for me at the moment, but just pick from either OCZ, Corsair, Crucial, or Patriot and you will be fine... i personally prefer Crucial

the Q6600 is a good choice, as well as the antec 900 (i have that cpu and case)

 

[sgvnut]

My mistake, i copied the wrong part on there i meant to put p5k. I am not planning to buy ddr3 ram. I'm just going to stick with ddr2 for now. I fixed the post, thanks for catching that.

 

[djrussell]

that's a nice system so far. what are you going to use it for though? it makes it hard to judge without an intended use. budget? there doesn't seem to be too much of one yet.

 

[sgvnut]

Well, i would like to be able to play some games like WOW and WC3. I'm waiting for Starcraft 2 to come out. I plan on learning web design and would like to use photoshop and other editing programs as well. I spend most my time in front of my computer and like to learn and try out stuff that interest me so i would like the system to be able to handle whatever i throw at it. I don't really have any specifics.

As for budget, i don't really have a set one. I guess whatever the cost ends up being at after i get everything. I just want a good system, for a reasonable price. For example, i picked the q6600 instead of the qx6850, and looking to get ddr2 instead of ddr3. I want to get the parts where the next step up from it, the price doubles. I hope i explained it right. Are you guys following me?

Thanks your input guys. I don't really post in forums much, just read a lot, so forgive me i'm not very good at this.

 

[djrussell]

yup. i think i know what you mean. new tech but not bleeding edge stuff.

you probably don't really need the quad but it'll future proof it more for you. it's good for graphic and calculation heavy programs.

2 x 150gb raptors might be a little overkill but they're great drives. you could probably get away with 74gb versions and save yourself $80.

the corsair hx520 and hx620 seem to be really popular around here. just make sure you get a good solid brand and it will last for years. others are pcp&c, fortron, seasonic, ocz.....

the 8800gts 320 is probably a smart choice too. if you game at higher resolutions, it'll be slower than the 640 obviously. for a part time gamer though, it's fine. it'll handle older games like WOW and WC3 without a hitch.

 

[Thund3rball]

I would up the graphics card to a 8800GTS 640. The 320 will be ok at 1680x1050 until you kick in the AA, then it will seriously choke.

other suggestions..

RAM: Cruicial Ballistix
PSU: HX620
HSF: TR 120 Extreme or Tuniq Tower 120
DVD: If you want SATA get LG. If you want IDE get Pioneer.
LG
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136120
Pioneer
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827129007

 

[billb]

Graphics Card: EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS Superclocked 320MB GDDR3

Don't buy a factory overclocked card. You can overclock it to where thay do in 2 minutes...well maybe 3 with a reboot.

 

[sgvnut]

The reason i chose to get the 320 was because i read somewhere that the extra memory does not improve anything besides on games that take up A LOT of memory and that there are not many games that use that much. I may have read some inaccurate info. But if the 640 card can benifit me other than in games i will reconsider. I'm not familiar with what AA is, just a guess is it anti-aliasing or something like that?

 

[djrussell]

for older games and occasional new games, the 320 is fine.

 

[Thund3rball]

The reason i chose to get the 320 was because i read somewhere that the extra memory does not improve anything besides on games that take up A LOT of memory and that there are not many games that use that much. I may have read some inaccurate info. But if the 640 card can benifit me other than in games i will reconsider. I'm not familiar with what AA is, just a guess is it anti-aliasing or something like that?

Yup that's exactly what AA is. If you want newer games to look good and run well on your 22" LCD for a couple years, I wouldn''t skimp on the gfx card. That's my $0.02.

Here are some excellent comparisons of the GTS 320 & 640. I linked to where the graphs start, there are more on subsequent pages and you can use the menu to go to the beginning of the article if you like.

http://hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTM4NCwzLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==

For photoshop and web design you don't need a fancy gfx card. I do all that on a daily basis. But you will like lots of RAM and that Q6600

 

[ffzen]

psu: http://www.buy.com/prod/corsair-520w-sli-certified-modular-atx-power-supply/q/loc/101/203270716.html

or http://clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=A6200027

 

[sgvnut]

If i want to add additional monitors, do i just add another video card to the other PCI-E slot? Do i have to get an identical card? Also, will the card perform the same as the first one? I don't really understand the 16x, 8x, and 1x PCI-E slot works.

 

[djrussell]

i'm kind of confused by that board. it appears to have two pcie x16 slots but one operates at x4 or x1? this might be a better question for the display and sound tech section.

 

[Drew@PSU]

You are correct djrussell, you can have two cards, but the second will only run at 4x.

The 4x, 1x, 16x are in terms of whatever mystical number they picked to represent "one" unit of PCIe bandwidth. For example, with one card in my A8N-SLI, I would be able to use that PCIe slot at the full bandwidth possible, or 16x. However, when I put in a second for SLI, both slots drop down to 8x. This is because of that particular northbridge I believe.

In your situation sgvnut, it would be easiest to add an ATI card in there and use that to have multiple monitors. I say ATI because nVidia control panel has a nasty tendency to want to control that one too, and not necessarily in the fashion you want ( now that I think about it, this may only be an issue for SLI situations, more research is needed... ). You don't need the latest or greatest for more monitors, unless you plan to do like 4-screen gaming ( ). A simple, simple card with just enough DVI/VGA ports should do just fine.

Hope that helps,
Drew

 

[sgvnut]

so drew, you are suggesting i get an additional ATI video card to go along with the nvidia 8800gts right? Or are you suggesting i just get an ATI in place of the 8800gts? And your correct, i'm not planning on doing any multi-screen gaming. Just want the additional monitors for convenience while i'm browsing the web, comparing stuff, following tutorials, etc.

I went ahead and purchased the corsair 620hx psu and the q6600 from clubit. Now i still have to decide on the mobo, hsf, and memory.

 

[billb]

so drew, you are suggesting i get an additional ATI video card to go along with the nvidia 8800gts right? Or are you suggesting i just get an ATI in place of the 8800gts? And your correct, i'm not planning on doing any multi-screen gaming. Just want the additional monitors for convenience while i'm browsing the web, comparing stuff, following tutorials, etc.

I went ahead and purchased the corsair 620hx psu and the q6600 from clubit. Now i still have to decide on the mobo, hsf, and memory.

An 8800 card will have two (or three) outputs. A DVI, An Analog (and maybe an S-Video). You can run two (or thrre) monitors off of any two (or three) outputs. Windows will see them and manage then for you. Others are right, the Nvidia multi monitor software is ...well...not the best. Of course for SLI you'll ned two cards, but the you could run 6 monitors, but only one in SLI.

There is a theory that if you have two mvidia cards (running is SLI) and add an (old?) ATI PCI card that the drivers will not step on each other and you can get one monitor in SLI and also a second off the PCI card.....Hav'nt had a chance to try it...but it sounds intresting......anyone?

 

[Drew@PSU]

Yes billb, that's correct. That's how you get SLI with more than one monitor, thanks for clarifying that, I'm terrible sometimes...

And I'm not suggesting replacing the 8800GTS with an ATI card, not by any means. But aside of getting another video card, you could grab a Matrox TripleHead ( here ), you could get 3 or even 6 monitors!

Puts the Matrix setup to shame

 

[sgvnut]

Yes billb, that's correct. That's how you get SLI with more than one monitor, thanks for clarifying that, I'm terrible sometimes...

And I'm not suggesting replacing the 8800GTS with an ATI card, not by any means. But aside of getting another video card, you could grab a Matrox TripleHead ( here ), you could get 3 or even 6 monitors!

Puts the Matrix setup to shame

hmm very interesting. So would you say i'd be better off getting another 8800 and run SLI and use the matrox triplehead2go? Would the video card be able to handle that high of a resolution for 2 or even 3 monitors? If i am understanding this correctly, it uses one input and splits it into 2 or 3 separate output monitors. So the video card thinks its only 1 monitor. Would it make a difference if i SLI 2 cards. Or would 1 8800 gts 640mb be just fine to run this setup?

I'd also like to add one more question. If i ran the above setup, and i maximize a window on lets say the middle monitor, the window maximize on only 1 of the monitors? or is it going to take up all 3 screens? I'm guessing there might be some software that would manage it and let windows know that there are 3 monitors instead of 1 big one?

Thanks guys, really appreciate all the advice.

 

[Drew@PSU]

The thing with SLI is that the benefits are only on 1 monitor, not two or more. The TripleHead lets you split off more monitors independent of the SLI set. Another 8800 would let you run EITHER 4 monitors OR one in SLI, not both at the same time.