another core 2 duo/mobo recommend thread...

[pik4chu]

Well now that the green is flowing again its time to upgrade again. The article in the recent Max PC mag peaked my interest at putting together a duo rig for not much money. Of course since some things I wont need I want to put the money toward more machine. This will be a very heavy gaming machine, monitor is a low end 19" LCD and 17" LCD as 2nd monitor. (these are planned to be upgraded as well, likely to something like so http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824001226 )

Originally I threw together the following in a wish list on the egg.
Asus P5B Delux 965
Antec TruePower Trio TP3-650
Intel Core 2 Duo E6300
Corsair XMS2 1GB (512x2)
(1)eVGA 640-P2-N825-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 (unless you find a better GTS card dont bother with this, my e-peen isn't such an issue that I need a GTX )

Revised System:
Asus P5b Deluxe 965 (what would be a more SLI capable board?)
Intel Core 2 Duo e6400
G.Skill 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400
Zalman CNPS7700
(1)eVGA 640-P2-N825-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16
corsair 540 PSU (or the sparkle FSP550)
case im liking the antec nine hundred from the article, going to replace all the fans though.

the rest of the parts are irrelevant to ?'s at hand so ill leave them out.

Now, that works as a decent 'budget' system but I was wanting a bit more beef (since I have more cash to work with than the article). For a ballpark guess assume the budget is <1500$ just for what I listed above, so gpu/cpu/mobo/ram/psu (the less the better of course ^^b but anyways I have 2 big questions regarding my first duo system.

1) the processor, the e6300 is definitely a good budget proc I see but the e6400 is calling to me and the e6600 sitting over there quite jealous of not being picked. So the question; is that extra 100 bucks (difference between the 6400 and 6600) really worth it for that much larger L2 cache in regards to performance? This performance is in regards to gaming, while I will be folding 24/7 not going to drop an extra 100 bucks to make it fold a little better. Since 315 bucks is quite the chunk for a proc (given my current rig was 2 xeons +board for about that much )
I think nevermind, I'm going to go with the e6400 and use the 100bucks on some nicer RAM and such


2) memory, I really like the 2gigs(and use a moderate portion of it regularly) I have in my current machine so I want to get 2gigs in my next one but the question is, I read an article where some of the dual(quad) core mobos are kind of finicky when it comes to RAM configuration. So the question is should I get 4x512 or 2x1024? And if so how is the memory above in regards to bang for the buck? Now I don't have unlimited funds (or I would be going SLI right now instead of later lol) but if its a little more cash for a much better choice then I'm all for that.

other notes: I will be doing RAID 1 for main partitions with other drives tossed in probably not going to be 10k rpms though.. meh and I have plans to go SLI (with another 8800GTS) in the eventual future, monitor upgrade and other non-comp purchases will come first though. Overclocking will be minor, not intending on anything but stock cooler at the moment, supposedly its OK @stock isn't it? I'm leaning more toward the quieter PC, each upgrade is making my main rig quieter lol but it is still too loud for 'guests' and since I will be folding on it 24/7 that will be a minor factor in that regard.

 

[batboy]

Yes, go with the e6400 and use the 100 bucks on some nicer RAM.

Two sticks of RAM is preferred over four sticks. If you want to max out your O/C, spend some bread on RAM with D9 chips, they are awesome. Otherwise, these G. Skill will do just fine and have decent timings for the price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231087

The motherboard you picked is a good one, but won't work that well for SLI.

Want a cheap, but super quiet cooler that will easily let this E6400 rig do 400 FSB? Check out the Zalman 7700 (see link). I put one in my wife's computer and it's nice. Probably not the best for hardcore overclocking, but it's way better and quieter than the stock cooler.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835118114

In my opinion, this is a better PSU (36 amps on a single +12v rail). I have a buddy with this PSU in his E6300 rig and it's very good.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103517

 

[SteveLord]

my buddy and i also got that issue of MaximumPC! we started toying with possibilities as well.

the PC they feature, if you shop around, its actually around $1400 now.

 

[greenmaji]

Im not partiularly fond of that PSU its a seasonic OEM but Antec had them go cheap on the caps.
The Corsair's are the same OEM but they are there strongest units.

Definatly go with the E6400 and the nicer ram..
I wouldn't consern myself with SLI for the monitors your running you can always upgrade the single GFX down the road.

 

[SteveLord]

yeah that Corsair powersupply is looking remarkable. seems hard to find other than newegg though?

*** Found it for 89.99 on buy.com nice!

 

[pik4chu]

Im not partiularly fond of that PSU its a seasonic OEM but Antec had them go cheap on the caps.
The Corsair's are the same OEM but they are there strongest units.

Definatly go with the E6400 and the nicer ram..
I wouldn't consern myself with SLI for the monitors your running you can always upgrade the single GFX down the road.

That is why I said monitors will be upgraded first
gonna add that to the main post so its more clear

Yes, go with the e6400 and use the 100 bucks on some nicer RAM.

Two sticks of RAM is preferred over four sticks. If you want to max out your O/C, spend some bread on RAM with D9 chips, they are awesome. Otherwise, these G. Skill will do just fine and have decent timings for the price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231087

The motherboard you picked is a good one, but won't work that well for SLI.

Want a cheap, but super quiet cooler that will easily let this E6400 rig do 400 FSB? Check out the Zalman 7700 (see link). I put one in my wife's computer and it's nice. Probably not the best for hardcore overclocking, but it's way better and quieter than the stock cooler.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835118114

In my opinion, this is a better PSU (36 amps on a single +12v rail). I have a buddy with this PSU in his E6300 rig and it's very good.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817103517

yep looked over things again and had decided to go for the 6400, I do like that cooler too, and a sparkle PSU is hard to go wrong with.

One funny thing is changing out all these various parts has made it cheaper to a point lol, not sure how that worked out but changing the ram, psu and adding the cooler brought the price down some I think works for me.

PS- I priced out the system from the max pc mag identically to start with and then started changing parts, buying all from the egg it came to like 1350 or so not counting rebates.(mainly due to the cheaper vid card)

These blue LED fans in the case have got to go as well lol. gonna replace them with undervolted WFBs me thinks. Im old enough that I dont need a night light when I sleep

 

[hUMANbEATbOX]

the sparkle batboy posted is nice, but for the money, i'd rather have the zippy g1 500w (like i've got ). the sparkle used to be a steal at around $80..now not so much. still nice, but for the money, you'd expect at least a power switch on the back.

 

[pik4chu]

the sparkle batboy posted is nice, but for the money, i'd rather have the zippy g1 500w (like i've got ). the sparkle used to be a steal at around $80..now not so much. still nice, but for the money, you'd expect at least a power switch on the back.

thats funny. though it seems buy.com has it for 89.

I just use the egg cause I like their wish list thingy for management, will shop around to find the best deals on things before I buy

*edit* n/m he found the corsair PSU on buy.com, but its for 99 now still 20 bucks less than the egg. looks like another good PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817139001

 

[hUMANbEATbOX]

the zippy 500w i think is like $119, and OCF members can get a $5 discount.

thread link here: http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=479745&highlight=zippy+discount

seems the store's site is down atm..

 

[pik4chu]

Revised System:
Asus P5b Deluxe 965 (what would be a more SLI capable board?) perhaps the P5N32 - premium/WiFi?
Intel Core 2 Duo e6400
G.Skill 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400
Zalman CNPS7700
(1)eVGA 640-P2-N825-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16
corsair 540 PSU (or the sparkle FSP550)
case im liking the antec nine hundred from the article, going to replace all the fans though.

 

[hUMANbEATbOX]

Revised System:
Asus P5b Deluxe 965 (what would be a more SLI capable board?)

any 975 with hacked drivers or the 680i, which can be tough to oc with.

 

[splat]

any 975 with hacked drivers or the 680i, which can be tough to oc with.

680i tough to oc with? really? I thought they were much better performers than the 975x boards. At least, all the ram tests I have read recently have been using the 680i to reach higher ram clocks than the 975x.

 

[greenmaji]

The only reason they would do better then the 975X that I can think of would be the Vcore in the bios..

And yes the 680i is more difficult to overclock.. The NB and the SB are connected with a HT bus, and there is seperate clock generatiors for the CPU and the Ram there are alot more settings to be tweaked and set properly to have a stable system.. They have had a habit of needing more Vcore for the same clock but that could be from the extra heat generated by the NB thats blown over to the CPU.

 

[pik4chu]

any 975 with hacked drivers or the 680i, which can be tough to oc with.

such as this guy? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131025

on an extremely funny note, pricing out the system with the above board and the corsair PSU the price before tax/ship is 1337.86 I think we have a winner! lol