8 GBs of Memory!!1! Can you dig it!!?!

[Atomic Dawg]

Finally pulled the trigger on my new system...

From NewEgg:

(1) $313.00 - Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 - Retail

(1) $122.99 - GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

(2) $859.98 - G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ - Retail

(1) $89.99 - Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

(1) $64.99 - ENERMAX ECA3052B Black SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

(1) $39.99 - MSI NX6600-TD128E Lite GeForce 6600 128MB DDR PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail

(1) $41.99 - SAMSUNG 18X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write, LightScribe Technology Black SATA Model SH-S183L - OEM

(1) $139.99 - Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 SP2B with Vista Upgrade Coupon - OEM

(1) $6.99 - SAMSUNG Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive Windows 98SE/ ME/ 2000/ XP - OEM

(1) $29.99 - Rosewill RCX-Z3 Ball CPU Cooler – Retail​

From ZipZoomFly:

(1) $96.00 - Corsair HX Series CMPSU-520HX 520W Power Supply Retail​

Thoughts and Reasoning

Intel E6600 - Can’t go wrong here…

GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 - I will never run SLI/Crossfire. I like the three PCI slots and legacy ports. It’s got S/PDIF IN which is rare. (…and I need.) I’ve read many good reviews concerning overclocking. I just remember the days when I checked NewEgg’s refurb section every night when they used to practically give stuff away. There was so much GigaByte stuff in there it turned me off to the brand. This will be my first GigaByte product. I got the latest Rev. 3.3 board so we’ll see how it goes.

G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ – First, thanks to dominick32 for being the guinea pig! I know I’m going to take a bath on this deal. I think dominick32 already lost $100 when the price dropped from $529 to $429. I need this RAM for VPC 2007 / VMWare. I plan on running many virtual guest OSes at once. When you think about it, it’s cheaper than four separate computers with 2 gigs each and a KVM switch. (less space too!) So the real question everyone wants to know: how does it handle overclocking? Stay tuned!

Seagate Barracuda 320GB 7200.10 ST3320620AS – Good…nothing special. I plan on running a second hard drive externally through eSATA. Gotta let the credit card cool off first.

ENERMAX ECA3052B – For a $65 dollar case, this thing is beautiful. First, I wanted USB and audio ports on the top! Second, no doors! And third, I like my cases to look subtle. I dislike gawdy, pimped out, bling, alien space craft cases. This thing fits the bill. As a bonus, I’ve got this massive 250mm fan and front side eSATA. The only downside of the fan is my new heatsink might not fit. The case is roomy and very, very easy to work with.

MSI GeForce 6600 – I know… You’re all going WTH?!? I struggled with this one for a little bit. I could get a 7600GS for $40 more and 7900GS for $80 more. Here are the games I play in alphabetical order: CS 1.6. Once in a while I bring up MAME to kick it old school. As the DX10 cards drop, who knows…

SAMSUNG SH-S183L – I’m 100% SATA baby! If it gives me any problems, I’ve got plenty of ATA drives around.

Microsoft XP Pro x64 – Necessary to support 8GB of memory. The reviews on NewEgg were claiming they had a hard time registering for the Vista upgrade. I didn’t have a problem. We’ll see if I get my upgrade. (I better because they already charged me for shipping.)

SAMSUNG Floppy – who cares…

Rosewill RCX-Z3 – Don’t laugh! This shipped from NewEgg’s TN warehouse and hasn’t arrived yet. I’ve installed the stock cooling so I can do a comparison.

Corsair CMPSU-520HX – I was going to go with something cheaper but you guys on this forum talked me out of it. I hope you’re all happy. (I hope I’m happy!) This hasn’t arrived yet either.​

I’m not going for a massive overclock. I’ll be stoked with 8*400=3.2 with memory at 5 5 5 15 running 1:1. At these settings, the memory is running in spec. Of course, I’ll push it just to see what it will do. My power supply and heatsink should arrive on Monday. I’m pretty excited about this build. I’m coming from an Abit AN7, Athlon XP 2500, and 512MBs of Kingston HyperX DDR. This should be a step up, eh?

Long post… Making up for years and years of lurking!

 

[dfonda]

Welcome to the OC forums

Good luck with your new parts. Running that many vmwares you'll be looking to upgrade to the new Quad cores when they come out(The cheaper ones)

I wish I had two more cores and I'm only running one instance

 

[Vulcan]

Welcome to the OC forums

Good luck with your new parts. Running that many vmwares you'll be looking to upgrade to the new Quad cores when they come out(The cheaper ones)

I wish I had two more cores and I'm only running one instance

That would actually be a good upgrade come April. Last I heard the low end quad is supposed to be near 500.00 after the price drop.

 

[dfonda]

Off Topic but $266 according to this, but if its true I'll be amazed.

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=503727

 

[Big Mike]

Wow, should be a nice system, though before i started buying water cooling parts i probably had less money in my whole system than you have in ram, lol

 

[SuperDave1685]

Dang dude... I can dig it.. I wanna see some numbers! Congrats on your new system... You couldn't donate a couple GBs to me could ya? lol

 

[lekyiscool]

daaayyyum 8gb =)

 

[Airbornederekc]

too bad i read this thread too late. xp 64 bit sucks. dont even bother with that damned os and go straigh to the vista ultimate. that os is so horrible.

 

[xnewnx]

I was absolutely amazed at the whole system...until i saw a 6600(not even a freaking GT) was powering the graphics in that. I nearly crapped my pants. 8 gigs of ram is insane, i went back to double check that the 6600 was the ONLY G-card you were getting, i thought it was a secondary or something for a bit.

And that case? i'd buy it nearly for the 250mm fan in the side alone...let me know how that fan runs.

HUGE step up from your old system, congrats.

 

[nd4spdbh2]

8 gb of ram.... wow can you say waste... i mean ya if your running a bunch of virtual machines but really what do u need that many virtual machines for... and a 6600... if your spending 850 on ram at least spend 350-400 for decent gfx.

I have never IN all my computer building life have ever seen someone spend 22x more on ram than graphics... hell if you spent that much on a e6600 u should gone quad core. for all ur supposed virtual machines...

IMO 8gb is a waste considering ppl are having problems with vista ultimate registering more than 3.... and xp pro 64 bit LOL funny

not to bash u or n e thing but even your cpu cooler choice leads me to believe you havent done ANY research on what would be good.

 

[Big Mike]

Most people running VMs don't play games on them, they're using them to serve multiple file types/systems/etc at once from once central machine. Also any 64 bit OS can recognize more than 3 GB of ram, thats one of the biggest reasons to use a 64bit OS, 64 bit addressing allows you to address 128 GB of ram if memory serves. The only point I might agree with is why not a quad core.

 

[IAmMoen]

dont worry about them big mike. I run xp64 and i dont have any problem with it. If they can point me to the review that shows that it decreases performance then i will switch back but as long as all your stuff works with it i say why not. And good luck with your virtual machines. I wonder how well that mobo will overclock 8 gigs of ram. By the way i run xp64 and only have 2 gigs of ram so I dont get ANY benefit from it. But i dont really have a reason not to. Everything works for me.

 

[Neuromancer]

Wow your RAM costs more then my PC

 

[Moto7451]

64 bit addressing allows you to address 128 GB of ram if memory serves. The only point I might agree with is why not a quad core.

Its actually more. The current 128GB limit is there because the CPUs we have now actually have 48bit memory addressing and 64bit registers (thats the important part when people talk about 64bit performance). True 64bit memory addressing has some gigantic completely impractical (by today's standards) limit.

 

[Douken]

8GB of RAM looks menacing, but well what I don't like is your CPU cooler, choice of OS and CPU. If I'm throwing that much money for a new system I'd rather buy a Quad, Vista 64bit and a Thermalright Ultra 120+ when they arrive or if you're desperate an Ultra 120 should be the one you want with a Scythe S-Flex fan.

@Moto - The ball in your sig. reads Ｎｉ－Ｈｏｎ　Ｋａｒａ－Ｔｅ　？－Ｋａｉ，　ｒｉｇｈｔ？

 

[Clockwork_Apple]

You've justified the excessive RAM and the extremely dated graphics card... but why did you go with that heatsink?

Your RAM costs more than my PC

 

[RedDragonXXX]

Talk about overkill

 

[hafa]

My only comment would be that if you're planning on running multiple virtual machines, stability, accuracy and reliability would be paramount. With that in mind, you may consider enterprise-level components, i.e., Tyan or Supermicro motherboard, redundant PSUs, ECC RAM, and a Xeon or Opteron SMP setup.

Enterprise components are designed for higher I/O, 24/7 operations over long periods, and a general longer life cycle. Your cost would not be much higher, but the results would likely be much better.

Another consideration is that many server-level motherboards are designed to handle upwards of 64GB of RAM, so your upgrade cycle would also be much longer.


***Addendum***

I've been running XP64 for 5 months now on our main production machine (see sig) for 5 months now, and the only problem has been our Microtek scanner. We've been able to find alternatives or work-arounds for all other software and drivers; we are currently running over 40 software titles without a hitch.

XP64, like Vista, requires a bit more attention than XP32, but you're unlikely to find any insurmountable obstacles. Keep in mind that for now, you're likely to find XP64 drivers more easily than Vista-64 drivers. Of course, the inverse will likely be true a few months from now.

 

[striker85]

I like XP64. Drivers aren't that hard to find and with my A64, I think it runs faster than 32 bit XP.

 

[lekyiscool]

Talk about overkill

you never know what his job is could be for running calculations and such