C2D Motherboard Suggestions

[lunyone]

Actually, I said that wrong! I was anticipating quite a bit more... :lol:

I'm still teetering a bit on the PSU. I'd like to have a modular design of at least 600W, but still be able to keep the center fan in the lower compartment of the P182...

Well we could've recommended a Cooler Master case and saved you over $50 more. And then also recommended a different GPU and saved you more there, etc, etc. Hehehehe. No I think you have a decent build. I'm not a OCZ PSU kinda guy, but that is me. I'd go for Seasonic, PC&C, Antec for starters but I'm sure th OCZ Game series is good too.

 

[tlmck]

Corsair modular 620HX PSU. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139002

 

[w2sjw]

I've been looking more at PSU's this morning, and more often than not, the OCZ has 6 SATA power connetctors (the 4 HD's + the SATA DVD burner I want to run pretty much defines my needs).

Again, I want to thank you guys for your time & patience while helping me out!

 

[rockyjohn]

Here's an older review at Anandtech on some of the differences with DDR and DDR2. There are other links, but this is what I've found so far. The Intel setups w/C2D's don't have a memory controller built in, so if you use 533mHz or 667mHz memory, you don't see much difference. The only difference that you see is when you start to OC the FSB to get your CPU OC'd.
http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=2741&p=4

The article you cite only compares AMD socket 939 using DDR memory with AMD socket AMD using DDR2 memory. It says absolutely nothing about Intel CPUs nor offers any comparison with them. It is totally irrelevant to your contention that "The AMD's still need the faster RAM to operate to the maximum. The current C2D's can get by with the slower DDR2, since it's not so dependant on the memory speeds."

I still think you contention sounds very strange and would appreciate a source that is to the point. If the AMD needs, and therefore is making good use of, faster memory than C2D can, then the AMD must be processing faster.

In addition. now I don't understand your new point that "Intel setups w/C2D's don't have a memory controller built in, so if you use 533mHz or 667mHz memory, you don't see much difference. " While the C2D does not have a built in controller, is still requires and uses a memory controller on the motherboard. If the C2D does not see much difference between 533mHz and 667mHz I doubt that it has much to do with having a controller on the motherboard versus one on the chip, unless you are saying the channel from the controller to the cpu bottlenecks the CPU? Does the design archtecture of C2D systems include this design flaw?

 

[w2sjw]

Follow-up

Well, I ordered everything last Thursday night, and had everything in 1 big shipment on Monday the 29th.

So far, I'm astounded by the system's performance! Getting things set up on the mobo with the Antec case & the Zalman 9700 cooler took some serious pre-planning (like the ATX12V plug), but I got it all in without issue. The 9700 is keeping the CPU at room-temp while idle, and that downright amazing (to me)! I recorded the lowest core temp I've even seen in my life this morning (13 C), as it gets quite cool in the fall & winter down here in the den.

My biggest two surprises where the results of the Half-Life 2 video stress test (285.3 fps) and my score on 3DMark06 at 1280x1024 (11535). The 3DMark06 score really blew me away - is that 'normal' for a build like this, or is that an 'exceptional' score?

 

[lunyone]

NICE!!! Way to go, looks nice <drools>