New Homebuild Question of the day

[jasej]

I've seen on here that nearly everyday someone asks a question for suggestions on their choice of components of a new system they are building. So here is mine. I want a mild gaming system and something for multimedia use. Here's what I'm leaning to:

MB: Asus Maximus Formula
CPU: Intel Q6600
PSU: PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610
Video:EVGA Geforce 8800GT Superclocked (512mb and PCIe 2.0)
RAM: GeIL Value Series 2x2GB DDR2 800 (will upgrade to 8GB later)
HDD: Two Seagate Barracudas 500GB in Raid 0
OS: Win Vista ultimate 64 bit
Case: Cooler Master RC-690-KKN1-GP

I really have no justification for the case, other than it is fairly simple looking (no too gaudy with all the alien looking stuff that other brands advertise.

I'm not going to over clock right away so I'm thinking I'll stick with the stock cooler for now. Later on I'll switch to liquid cooling. I haven't built a computer since the old ones that had jumper settings, so if anyone can see compatibility issues or a better case please yell them out to me. I think this will be bit overkill for what I'll do with it, but I'd rather spend more money now then get something I'll be disappointed with in a few months.

Also, I considered waiting until the Penryns came out to get a lower price on the Q6600 but I read a rumor that Intel delayed their released until the new AMD's will come out and I'm kind of anxious so I might not wait that long.

Thanks in advance guys!

EDIT: These screwless cases sound a little cheesy, I'd rather have the traditional screw design but I have no experience with the screwless?

 

[Conumdrum]

Thats a pretty nice rig, and the case is good. You might want to budget for aftermarket Air cooling right away on the CPU and GPU and a few more 120mm fans. That will give you great Air cooling which is really enough unless you want to go water for the fun of it.

May I suggest the CPU cooler. The Thermalright Ultra 120 xtreme, none better hands down. No fans included. There are other nice CPU coolers out there.

GPU cooler? Dual Orb or the Thermalright HR03 GT. Many many posts on these units, satifactions.

To check the PS, try looking around on these two true enthusiast boards. OCforums and xtreme forums. It's got a LOT more experianced peeps there.

 

[Shadow703793]

^Agreed

 

[fjabad]

The Thermalright Ultra 120 xtreme, none better hands down. No fans included. There are other nice CPU coolers out there.

Well, there is one that is better; made by Thermalright of course:
Thermalright IFX-14 Inferno Fire Extinguisher
http://www.svc.com/ifx-14.html
no fans included

 

[Conumdrum]

Well, there is one that is better; made by Thermalright of course:
Thermalright IFX-14 Inferno Fire Extinguisher
http://www.svc.com/ifx-14.html
no fans included

Yea, that one! The Mutant!!!! Did any reputable forums do a review or solid comparisons on it?

 

[jasej]

Another Question, can anyone tell me or provide a link to a review for what the best SLI motherboard is, how does it compare to the Asus Formula Maximus?

I read in another thread that if one plans on using a 24" monitor he/she should go SLI? Any Opinions?

I can see it would be a full time job answering all these "new build" questions but let me tell you we all appreciate it. I feel these are unbiased opinions. If I went to a retailer and asked them these questions I'd be affraid they would just talk me into whatever has the highest proffit margin. Here, it's a meeting of the minds!

 

[emp]

The best SLI board right now is a 780i board such as an XFX or EVGA 780i, quite honestly if you're not using dual cards the Maximus Formula is a waste of money, and even if you were using dual cards the Maximus Formula cannot do SLI only Crossfire, since you want 8800s this makes it an even less appealing purchase in my eyes. (Other than the fact that it's an ASUS product)

Depending on how much you can tolerate lower minimum framerates and the type of games you play you should consider SLI, if you're into racing /sports/flying sims or that kind of light gaming, you might not need it, however if you want to play some of the latest FPS, RPGs, and even Strategy games you might want to go SLI to keep framerates acceptable in heavy combat situations (Which happen more often than not).

 

[jasej]

The Asus website does not list the Maximus Formula on their Vista compatible chart (http://usa.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=0&l3=0&l4=0&model=0&modelmenu=0&share=txt/11) yet newegg claims vista certified, anyone have any experience on this?

Will someone please give a link to an adequate RAM compatibility Chart?

Thanks guys

 

[jasej]

Yet Another...

I am thinking RAID 0 will give me faster access times. I have another external HDD for redundancy of important personal files so security is slightly less important. If I go RAID 0, do I need to create a seperate partition for Vista? Can I create two partitions from two HDD in RAID 0? There is probably a link to an FAQ of RAID questions for noobs, I couldn't find it. I know the fundamental differences but this will be my first RAID configuration.

 

[geofelt]

For a mild gaming system, why are you spending extra for a sli mobo when you have not yet exhausted the better single vga card upgrade route? For games, I would suggest the slightly faster 8800GTS-512-G92, particularly from EVGA. If it is not fast enough for you, then you may be able to step-up if a higher end nvidia card appears within 90 days. The real value to me of that card is the direct exhaust cooling system which will keep the other components of your system cooler. Current high end 8800GT/S/X cards should have no trouble giving a good game experience on a 24" monitor. Look at the benchmarks on the games you will play at 1920x1200.

The E6850 will cost the same as a Q6600. There are very few games out there now that can take advantage of more than two cores. That is not likely to change much in the next year or so when nehalem launches and makes many things obsolete. Why not take advantage of the higher clock speed today of the E6850, or even spend a bit less, and mildly overclock a E6750? It will run cooler than a quad. Do wait for feb 20, when the duo 45nm pricessors might be launched. The delay is supposed to be for the quad penryns.

I like the 4gb and vista-64. Look at the extra features you get with the ultra version of Vista. Get it only if they are of real value to you. Most people will be very happy with the lower cost home premium version.

I would consider an oem cooler up front. It is much easier to install it initially while the mobo is outside of the case. Pick one with a slow turning 120mm fan to keep things quiet. The thermalright ultra 120 extreme will give you cooling almost as good as water cooling. It will be more than you need unless you are going to try for record overclocks. The hottest component today is the vga card, not the cpu. I see little extra value in liquid cooling, and lots of potential problems for the normal user.

Go to the memory manufacturer's web site, and run their memory selection application. You enter in your mobo, and they will give you a list of the modules that will run properly. This will be more up to date than the mobo maker's validated memory list.

You are likely to be disappointed in the speed value of raid-0. Read this: http://faq.storagereview.com/tiki-index.php?page=SingleDriveVsRaid0 Partitioning is of no performance advantage unless you can articulate a problem you want to solve. The best usage I know of is to create a dual boot system. I am waiting for flash based SSD's to become more affordable, and a bit faster. Not much else will really help.

I looked at the case, and it seems useable. What are you looking for? Personal preference is important here. For the case in question, I don't like the side/corner mounted power buttons. If you want a quiet, well ventilated case, then I can recommend the Antec Solo which I use and love. It has sound deadened side panels, and a three speed fan. I have no problem with screws for the case, and non-removeable motherboards. How many times do you have to get at those things?