Took the Plunge!

[EasyEd]

Hey All,

I just ordered:
Q6600 $250 (B3 or G0 stepping I'll see when it gets here)
OCZ GameXStream 700W PS about $70

I'm kicking myself for not jumping on this sale yesterday and getting an anatec 900 case for $50 - oh well

Need to order:

RAM I've read about Micron D9 RAM failing and not working well (high voltage needed) in P35 MBs so I'm thinking this kind which has been used in P35 MBs and with Q6600 pretty well.

- G.SKILL F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ PC2-8000 4GB 2X2GB DDR2-1000 CL5-5-5-15 240PIN Dual Channel Memory Kit. Cost $115

- SATA2 Hard drive. Anything to watch out for here? I'm thinking 320 gig Seagate Barracuda and add another drive later if needed. Cost $89

- Case Whats good? No opinions right now.

- DVD CD Read Write Drive Anything good (and cost effective) out there or are they all the same?

- Video Card Prefer ATI but they are behind the curve. There seem to be "issues" with NVidia drivers and will there be a price drop coming? Don't know what to do here. Buy cheap and upgrade soon? What?

-OS Hmmm XP Vista 32 64 What? good question!

- MB Most likely (95% probable) DFI P35 but still suffering from sticker shock!

I expect to get everything within the next 3 weeks or so and build in late January. Hope to have everything running right for the RTW.

Comments and advice welcome!

-Ed-

[Roger]

Similar set-up here Ed. After advice from Ted,
I went for the Asus mobo and their 8800GTX Nvidia video card. I went 32 bit Vista for my OS (to take advantage of the Dx10 preview). 64 bit would allow 4 gig of ram whereas 32 bit effectively only allows 2 gigabytes (although 3 is possible). However I was advised that only MS certified programs (drivers etc) will work with 64.

Using sata drives check where they emerge from the mobo. On my Maximus extreme mobo the metal hd carrier prevented me using right-angled downward pointing sata leads as one of the carrier's brackets got in the way in my Centurion case. A bit of metal working saw this bracket removed:d. Also check if sata leads come with the mobo (you may have to order them separately). I also used sata DVD rom drives btw (keeps the wiring looms neat as sata cables are much narrower).

Good luck.

Roger.

[Dangerous Beans]

Roger, its not true about the certified drivers for Vista 64.
I'm currently running uncertified beta drivers with my 8800GTX with no problem.

[Roger]

Interesting. I have Vista 64 too but only for the future when there are better drivers available.

[eagle17]

for the Case I really like my Antec P182, very nice cool and quiet

I am not ready for the challenge of vista but when I do go that route it will be 64bit only.

I just purchased the 8800gt for $259 from newegg. if you want something faster get the the 8800gts. It will run you about $359 at newegg.

I would recomend two sata drives one specificly for FSX you can do this easy by mounting the drive as the FSX directory. then when you install addons they will automaticly install on the other drive without just as if it was the default location.

I have been very happy with abit motherboards. always rock solid stable for me.. although I have heard of some issues when they came out with some "value parts" motherboards... But I have stayed away from those. I like asus also the last DFI I had did not support any overcocking but it was a "value part" and not an enthusiest board.

sata dvd is the way to go if not for cables alone.

looks like a great system... what are you going to cool the q6600 with?

[txnetcop]

I would only run vista 64 so that you can utilize all of your memory options if you are going to run Vista. Test at TechCorp, Tom's Hardware, Extremetech still show Windows XP Pro to be faster than Vista 32 and 64 by a significant margin in gaming, but if want DX10 capability you might as well go Vista 64 bit, Dangerous Beans is right, you may use uncertified drivers quite well in most cases.

Ed, if you scrimp on your motherboard for Intel products you will reap an unhappy reward. The three key areas of power computing are PSU, motherboard, and memory. even a mediocre Core 2 Duo or AMD dual core will run fairly well with these three in place. If you are planning to move to Penryn in the next year or so you only want an x38 chipset motherboard. Only two of the P35s will run Penryn and not very well.

Invest in a great motherboard. Cases are subjective I will stay out of that one.
Ted

[EasyEd]

Hey All,

Well an update! I ordered a Q6600 and an OCZ PS but have neither yet. This may be a GOOD thing! Seems some companies have a problem with my credit cards being US bank based while I live in Canada. My CC bank company seems to have no problem with that though. Suffice to say that it's given me some time to think twice. I may cancel this order even though I do have a way to get it to go through.

What do I have - well a new in the wrapper 500gig WD SATAII drive and a SATAII Samsung DVD CD writeable etc lightscribe drive. With respect to the Q6600 I've no idea what stepping I might get (or have gotten) B3 or G0 - B3 isn't very overclockable but may work for awhile. As for MBs I had my heart pretty well set on DFI X38 MB but at $284? As much as I believe in DFI - $284?? Again $284?? And to hear it's "upgradeability" may be limited? Now I'm wondering - should I save $70 and just buy E6750 and a DFI BloodIron saving $160? I can afford to spend some money say $900 to $1100 more than the $160 I've spent but if I get no real solid cheap future proofing upgradeability - why bother? I do confess to being in an absolute quandry at the moment. Not afraid to spend a few dollars but absolutely don't want to "waste" money.

With respect to OS - I've heard nothing good about Vista! You no longer have control of C:\Program files directory, How often must you give permissions?, It's nightmare to figure out how to get programs to function when they need and want to write files to their own install directory (RTW required duenna for example), can I use old programs?, and who knows what else. So I'm thinking 32 bit XP for the time being. But can anybody tell me - is the following 32 bit XP Pro? I don't understand MS coding.

http://www.tddirect.ca/products/117233/E85-05040/MICROSOFT%20-%20OEM/

I have no problem ordering from these guys and their prices are totally competitive.

RAM - I still intend to buy this GSkill RAM. From everything I can tell it is great RAM for a good price. Not highly over clockable but solid and steady and absolutely delivers on it's rated capability.

G.SKILL F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ PC2-8000 4GB 2X2GB DDR2-1000 CL5-5-5-15 240PIN Dual Channel Memory Kit. Cost $114

My question is - can I use at least 2 gig of this with XP Pro 32 bit assuming I buy a blood iron MB?

On to video Cards. How good would an ATI 3870 at 2.4 ghz be compared to some kind of Nvidia based equaivalent? Say this one?

http://www.tddirect.ca/products/129218/EAH3870GHTDI512M/ASUS/

Nothing simple about these computer updates. At least I know to buy a well "airconditioned" case and a good PS.

-Ed-

[txnetcop]

Hey All,

Well an update! I ordered a Q6600 and an OCZ PS but have neither yet. This may be a GOOD thing! Seems some companies have a problem with my credit cards being US bank based while I live in Canada. My CC bank company seems to have no problem with that though. Suffice to say that it's given me some time to think twice. I may cancel this order even though I do have a way to get it to go through.

What do I have - well a new in the wrapper 500gig WD SATAII drive and a SATAII Samsung DVD CD writeable etc lightscribe drive. With respect to the Q6600 I've no idea what stepping I might get (or have gotten) B3 or G0 - B3 isn't very overclockable but may work for awhile. As for MBs I had my heart pretty well set on DFI X38 MB but at $284? As much as I believe in DFI - $284?? Again $284?? And to hear it's "upgradeability" may be limited? Now I'm wondering - should I save $70 and just buy E6750 and a DFI BloodIron saving $160? I can afford to spend some money say $900 to $1100 more than the $160 I've spent but if I get no real solid cheap future proofing upgradeability - why bother? I do confess to being in an absolute quandry at the moment. Not afraid to spend a few dollars but absolutely don't want to "waste" money.

With respect to OS - I've heard nothing good about Vista! You no longer have control of C:\Program files directory, How often must you give permissions?, It's nightmare to figure out how to get programs to function when they need and want to write files to their own install directory (RTW required duenna for example), can I use old programs?, and who knows what else. So I'm thinking 32 bit XP for the time being. But can anybody tell me - is the following 32 bit XP Pro? I don't understand MS coding.

http://www.tddirect.ca/products/117233/E85-05040/MICROSOFT%20-%20OEM/

I have no problem ordering from these guys and their prices are totally competitive.

RAM - I still intend to buy this GSkill RAM. From everything I can tell it is great RAM for a good price. Not highly over clockable but solid and steady and absolutely delivers on it's rated capability.

G.SKILL F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ PC2-8000 4GB 2X2GB DDR2-1000 CL5-5-5-15 240PIN Dual Channel Memory Kit. Cost $114

My question is - can I use at least 2 gig of this with XP Pro 32 bit assuming I buy a blood iron MB?

On to video Cards. How good would an ATI 3870 at 2.4 ghz be compared to some kind of Nvidia based equaivalent? Say this one?

http://www.tddirect.ca/products/129218/EAH3870GHTDI512M/ASUS/

Nothing simple about these computer updates. At least I know to buy a well "airconditioned" case and a good PS.

-Ed-


Ed, my decision was made because of economics. I could not afford the x-38 board I wanted and the Core 2 Quad and water cooling, so I stepped it down and got lucky. The Blood Iron is lightening fast with the GO stepping version of the E6850. I am an avid overclocker and have never burned a CPU or board so that argument never affected me. If you are not an overclocker, quad is better now that SP2 is here. It will turn out good for me anyway. I can sell mine in Sept as it will still be a fairly new board and start all over with a Penryn and whatever board is best then.

All the rest sounds fine. The Core 2 Quad likes fast RAM so remember that.

The video card you picked is the fastest of the ATI line. It got a very good write up. It was still and is still inferior to the EVGA 8800GT SSC and KO, but I liked what I saw of the graphics with FSX and it is a good midrange card, again if FPS counts the 8800GT beats it
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/amd_rv670_performance_preview/

ASUS has now come out with a very fast 700mhz core 8800GT that rivals the EVGA 8800GT and GTS SSC:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121220

This is the DFI site that discusses Blood Iron and what it supports:
http://us.dfi.com.tw/Product/xx_product_spec_details_r_us.jsp?PRODUCT_ID=5496&CATEGORY_TYPE=LP&SITE=US

I use XP PRO and Vista, when using Vista I had to get a BIOS flash from DFI but no problem otherwise.
Ted

BTW GO stepping cores have their multiplier unlocked for a better overclock

[txnetcop]

Hey Ed this review by Tweaktown may help you with your decision. Crossfire does no good in FSX, but would handy in other gaming and Blood only allows for one video card. If you can live with that, and I can, then this is a great little board for the the money. It allows me to save enough money for a future Penryn board and processor in Sept. Yep, I'm a penny pincher:costumes:

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/1245/1/page_1_introduction/index.html
Ted