Pretty much decided to switch to Intel, need advice/info :)

[Careface]

Okay, well Ive decided to go with a modified version of several people's advice Ive realised that my hunger for Nehalem is mainly due to SETI, and the whole e-peen thing.

Its only dawned on me that Nehalem only supports DDR3 (correct me if Im wrong though - tbh, I wish I was).. and DDR3 is insanely expensive in NZ.. so my best bet would be just to sit down with a Penryn or something until Nehalem has matured, decent boards are out, DDR3 has dropped to reasonable prices.

So, anyway, Ive decided Ill start slowly piecing together a Penryn system. I know that my PSU is badly need of an upgrade, so thats possibly something to come first. Ill buy some decent RAM as I guess this system would end up lasting me probably a year or more (I like sitting on hardware.. hence why Ive kept my Venice 3000+ for pretty much 2 years)... Im thinking Ballistix Tracers? If not for the quality of RAM, those lights on the ramsink sure are pretty what do you guys think?

Decent-ish mobo for OCing Penryn quads? Not top of the line with OMGWTFBBQHAX features, but enough to get a decent OC with stability..

Cooling I would guess would just be the SI-128? Sounds fairly decent, and Ive seen the XP-120 in action, so I can trust Thermalright Id say..

On a slight side note, what PSU would you recommend for an Intel Penryn quad system? Ive heard some good things about Silverstone Strider.. what wattage would I be looking at?

Sorry for being a pain in the *** with all this lol. I just like to be thorough

 

[Immortal_Hero]

For the PSU you can't go wrong with a Corsair HX520 or HX620 depending on how high end you go with GFX. Sliverstone also makes pretty solid units.

Ballistix are great RAM for the money. My DDR-800 does 1000 MHz pretty easily.

For the mobo I would go with Asus P5K or Abit IP35.

For the HSF go with a Thermalright Ultima 90 (NOT ULTRA 90) instead of the SI listed above. The mounting system for the 90 is tight!

Personally I would get a low end dual core and wait for Penryn or grab a Q6600 and sell it when it comes time for Penryn.

 

[Careface]

Hmm.. it appears the Ultima 90 isnt sold anywhere in NZ.. Thanks for the +1 on the ballistix Always wanted a pair tbh lol.

As for the mobos, which would you more recomment? P5K or IP35? The P5K is about $30 NZD cheaper.. would they give equal-ish OCs?

Yeah, I was orginally thinking get an E2160 and then replace it with a Penryn, though as Itll be a couple of months before I can get the spare cash (gf's bday soon, I want to spoil her ) to chuck together the other parts (PSU, RAM, Mobo) I may as well just go straight for the Penryn depending on the price.

 

[Immortal_Hero]

P5K has slightly better voltage regulation and a feature to counter vDroop. The IP35 Pro is what I am using and I have build 2 other systems with it and they all OC and run like champs! In the socket A days I swore I would never touch another Abit board again but I am glad I did. I have never personally used the P5K but plenty of members here swear by it. Since the P5K is cheaper you may as well get it. The one thing that might be nice about the P5K is that you can get built in WIFI if that interests you.

That sux about the Ultima 90. You may not want to rule out some of the Zalman 9X00 coolers or the old stand by Artic Freezer 7 Pro.

For the CPU you may be happy with a dual and not need a quad in the near future. I am not pushing Quads yet as there isn't a lot of software that can use all 4 cores. Yes there are advantages of back ground process getting pushed off to the other cores but it may be something to consider. If you decide to go with a dual get an E6750. I have built 3 systems with them and 2 of them were running rock solid at 3.6GHz within the first couple of hours. The third is not OCed nor has OCing it been attempted. A lot of people get great results with the E6750. The sweet spot seems to be 3.6 GHz. In Crysis my E6750 @ 3.6 GHz has both cores setting at bout 80% usage (just for a refrence). But since you are going for longivety you may be best with a quad.

 

[AlabamaCajun]

Good move, any way we can help in getting what you really want, that's what counts.

Corsair has become popular but I went with OCZ stealth which is one solid performer on my Q6600 then there are the PC-PnC silencers another solid performers.

For sink, I used the Ninja but the Themalrights seem to have a little better performance. What I did like about the ninja is the steel spider and brackets that mount on Intel boards providing one solid mount that I can't get on AM2.

Will this mount kit work on the Ultima 90? http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/thlgrmrebr.html

 

[Immortal_Hero]

Why would you need that mount kit for the ultima 90. The Ultima 90 mounting mech is totally redesigned and better than any mount I have seen. Basically you mount a back plate, then a retention bracket on each side of the socket then it uses a 2 point mount to mount the HS. It is very similar to the Zaman mount but much more thought out. It can be oriented any direction on an LGA 775 socket.

This page shows some pics of the Ultima 90 mounted: http://images.google.com/imgres?img...gbv=2&ndsp=18&svnum=10&hl=en&safe=active&sa=N Very slick just put one on a system I built for a friend.

I am personally not a fan of Scythes mounting system as most of them use plastic pins. They are just hard to work with. I am not sure about the Ninja but I know the Infinity is pretty easy to mount but you almost have to pull the mobo to remove it.

I have a PC P&C Silencer 750 and I only bought it over the Corsair b/c I didn't know how good the Corsairs were and I got it for the price of an HX620 at the time. I have had it about 6 months now and it is an awsome unit. It is not modular though, for me this is not a big deal but for you it is.

I have never used the OCZ so I can only base my opinion on what others say and it seems PC P&C, Corsair and other Seasonic mades PSU are recommended over OCZ. They are made by a reputable OEM and I am sure they are solid uints.

 

[AlabamaCajun]

The ultima 90 I saw did not show the mount kit. That is definitely a good mount so no reason for anthing else As for my Ninja 775, its all steel and solid as the TR U90s mount, rotates in four positions and has four point mount. On the AM2, most mounts are plastic which bend your mobo into a taco. As for PSU, they are all top performers

 

[Immortal_Hero]

Does the Ninja use the plastic pins w/o a back plate?

 

[hUMANbEATbOX]

My Ninja uses a backplate. It's the original Ninja+, the one that comes with the fan.

 

[Careface]

P5K has slightly better voltage regulation and a feature to counter vDroop. The IP35 Pro is what I am using and I have build 2 other systems with it and they all OC and run like champs!

Sweet, Ill have a look at some reviews and see what I can do

For the CPU you may be happy with a dual and not need a quad in the near future. I am not pushing Quads yet as there isn't a lot of software that can use all 4 cores.

Oh, believe me.. I have a use for the quads <--- SETI member

Though I agree, a dual core for now until I can afford a quad later on. Thanks for the advice!

 

[AlabamaCajun]

Does the Ninja use the plastic pins w/o a back plate?

Not in my rigs, plastic pins are for big box store toys! You don't want to mount to that bracket. For 775 use the metal X backer with the four bolts an the two metals bars on top. For 939 use the 2 opposing legs of the X back with 2 threaded posts. For AM2 get a thermalright bracket if your AM2 bracket is crap or boards like the Gigabyte with a strong backplate you can use the AM2 mount or get the thermalright version with the four corners.

 

[Careface]

Another quick question - what wattage would I be looking at for this particular build (so I know which PSU to get)?

Q9350
4x1gb ballistix tracers (if 4x1gb doesnt see much performance loss over 2 sticks)
7600gt (upgrade to 8800gt eventually)
6*SATA HDDs (upgrade to another 1 or 2 HDDs eventually)
All OC'd.. might chuck in some h2o cooling eventually

Would I need an 850W or could I get away with a 750W?

Please note Ive never actually bought myself a PSU lol.. Ive only ever ran "generic psu that comes with case" kinda thing.. but Id like to at least feel safe knowing I have a PSU that can handle what I chuck at it.

Oh, also itll be running 24/7 under full CPU load if that makes a difference (apparently PSUs get hot ! *shock*)

EDIT: Bah, another question popped into my head. I really know little about FSB on Intel.. seeing as the Penryn (Id likely go for Q9350, 7x multi) is at 333mhz actual fsb, if I was to be looking at say 3.2ghz (fairly doable? Again, I know almost nothing of Intel ocs >_<.. I just know they kick some serious *** for SETI), Id need to be running an FSB of what 430? Would the IP35 be able to do that? What is the roof of stock standard IP35 mobos? Would 4ghz oc be completely out of the question with a 7x multi on the CPU? If so, would it be worth getting the Q9450 instead?

 

[AlabamaCajun]

Anything from 600 to 750 would cover it well since you don't have SLI on the map. You could probably get by on 450-500 but the cost difference isn't worth chancing the extra OC potential. Most of the 500+ PSUs we are barking at here are super efficient for running 24/7 which makes that that much more valuable.

 

[orion456]

Another quick question - what wattage would I be looking at for this particular build (so I know which PSU to get)?

Q9350
4x1gb ballistix tracers (if 4x1gb doesnt see much performance loss over 2 sticks)
7600gt (upgrade to 8800gt eventually)
6*SATA HDDs (upgrade to another 1 or 2 HDDs eventually)
All OC'd.. might chuck in some h2o cooling eventually

Would I need an 850W or could I get away with a 750W?

Please note Ive never actually bought myself a PSU lol.. Ive only ever ran "generic psu that comes with case" kinda thing.. but Id like to at least feel safe knowing I have a PSU that can handle what I chuck at it.

Oh, also itll be running 24/7 under full CPU load if that makes a difference (apparently PSUs get hot ! *shock*)

EDIT: Bah, another question popped into my head. I really know little about FSB on Intel.. seeing as the Penryn (Id likely go for Q9350, 7x multi) is at 333mhz actual fsb, if I was to be looking at say 3.2ghz (fairly doable? Again, I know almost nothing of Intel ocs >_<.. I just know they kick some serious *** for SETI), Id need to be running an FSB of what 430? Would the IP35 be able to do that? What is the roof of stock standard IP35 mobos? Would 4ghz oc be completely out of the question with a 7x multi on the CPU? If so, would it be worth getting the Q9450 instead?

Q9450 is the sweet spot with double the cache compared to the 9350.

If you are going for 4ghz you will need an excellent HS to deal with the heat load. At that point water is a better option which you can do with the Swiftech H20-220 kit.

600+ PSU like the OCZ stealthxstream should be available for a good price.

 

[Careface]

Okay, looks like Ill head for the Q9450 and a decent 750W .. any ideas about the using 4 sticks of RAM and performance loss question? Or if I should go for the ddr2 1066 over 800?

 

[orion456]

Okay, looks like Ill head for the Q9450 and a decent 750W .. any ideas about the using 4 sticks of RAM and performance loss question? Or if I should go for the ddr2 1066 over 800?

800's will only do 3.6 ghz, so you need 1066. If you use Vista, then 4 sticks, XP, 2 sticks are plenty unless you are doing video editing.

 

[FlahsMemory]

800's will only do 3.6 ghz, so you need 1066. If you use Vista, then 4 sticks, XP, 2 sticks are plenty unless you are doing video editing.

Isn't it better to get 2x2gb than 4x1gb for 64bit vista and overclocking? I think he should check to see what people are getting in this area. IMO 64bit is the way to go for maximizing your quad core. And 4GB is better for 64bit. In my reviews it seems that most people with 4x1GB have some trouble getting higher clocks. I haven't researched any 2x2gb overclocking however.

 

[orion456]

Isn't it better to get 2x2gb than 4x1gb for 64bit vista and overclocking? I think he should check to see what people are getting in this area. IMO 64bit is the way to go for maximizing your quad core. And 4GB is better for 64bit. In my reviews it seems that most people with 4x1GB have some trouble getting higher clocks. I haven't researched any 2x2gb overclocking however.

I wouldn't recommend 4gb as being useful and I havn't seen any reviews about big performance gains from 4gb with Vista. Are there any?

 

[Maverick0984]

I wouldn't recommend 4gb as being useful and I havn't seen any reviews about big performance gains from 4gb with Vista. Are there any?

It depends on what you do regularly. There are plenty reasons why some people might need 4GB of RAM.

 

[AlabamaCajun]

Go for some of that 1000 or 1066 and 2x2G while the prices are still low and availability is good. Vista chunks down a good 750M on a 2G system leaving only about 1G. If you are running the Dist Apps then thing will start bumping around when you use the system for other apps also. The difference is hardly noticed on fast drives but on a slower Allendale and a single PATA drive I can tell.

You do want the faster ram over lower latency as we have stated in other sub forums. The speed of transfer is more advantageous than reducing the wait states at a lower speed.