My First Build -Please Reply

[qazwsx]

Originally Posted by Wargazm

Thanks so much for the quick feedback guys. I'll look into this more over the weekend but i got a couple quick questions that sprung to mind.

First I seeing that im on a bit of a tight budget is the Q9300 worth the 50 bucks extra over the 6600? As long as i get the zalman cooling system will i have any problems with keeping the 9300 cool?

Second, I'm hesitating between sticking with the 2 250gig HD and using the raid setup (with the motherboard) or just using the money to buy one larger drive such as
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
or Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3750330AS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

also if i chose not to use a raid setup should i stick with the GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard - Retail mobo or go with the GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Dynamic Energy Saver Ultra Durable II Intel Motherboard - Retail

Thanks again for the great feedback guys

first question- its up to you. If your planning to overclock this CPU then its worth it, if not then im not sure. Hopefully someone else can point you in the right direction here. As for cooling, the Q9300 is cooler than the q6600 so it will be fine.

second question- I'd go for a larger, single drive.

Thridly- I would stick with the DS3R, it leaves the RAID option open down the line and the E in there is because its more energy effciant

[screwballl]

1st: yes, the 9300 runs cooler and faster since it is newer cores, the Q6600 is older technology.


2nd: raid really is not worth it unless it is in a server or mission critical setup. I would suggest the 640GB or 750GB over dual 250s anyday

3rd: I would still suggest the DS3R witht he RAID so that if you ever chose to add a RAID setup for backup hard drives down the line, you will have it available.

[gvblake22]

Originally Posted by Wargazm

First I seeing that im on a bit of a tight budget is the Q9300 worth the 50 bucks extra over the 6600? As long as i get the zalman cooling system will i have any problems with keeping the 9300 cool?

If you're trying to save as much money as possible and gaming is the primary use, then I would definitely recommend a faster clocked dual core processor over a slower clocked quad core. Gaming still doesn't offer noticeable enough performance benefits to be worth while compared to a dual core. Since the dual cores are cheaper, you can get a faster clocked part for the same (or less) money.

Originally Posted by Wargazm

Second, I'm hesitating between sticking with the 2 250gig HD and using the raid setup (with the motherboard) or just using the money to buy one larger drive such as
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
or Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3750330AS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

I like Seagate hard drives because they have a longer warranty. Between the two drives you mentioned, the 750GB Barracuda 7200.11 is a better drive because of its 32MB cache. That is a HUGE hard drive, so make sure you really need/want that much space before plunking down the extra cash for it. You can find 320GB drives for super cheap now, and I think some might even be available in 32MB cache flavors.

As for RAID, that is personal preference. I tried the RAID 0 thing for a bit but was not impressed enough with the performance to justify the cost and complexity.

Originally Posted by Wargazm

also if i chose not to use a raid setup should i stick with the GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard - Retail mobo or go with the GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Dynamic Energy Saver Ultra Durable II Intel Motherboard - Retail

Any typical motherboard available today is going to have at least basic RAID options (like RAID 0, RAID1, and maybe RAID 0+1 or RAID 5), so you could get away with either board.

[Boy'nBlack]

I was replying, and then I saw Blake had already typed basically what I had wanted to say!

With the usage as a gaming machine and then general computing, I'd suggest not going with a quad and something like the Penryn E8400.

I'd also look for something besides an 8800GTS superclock. I've liked the HD3870's for a while, and while they may appear behind the game in FPS-only benchmarks I believe in the higher technology making the pictures than all out high frames of the 8800's. The ATI cards still give great amounts of frames, well over playable for sure. They're really stable, and a google doesn't show a fraction of issues nVidia superclock type cards are giving. And if you get into media at some point, I feel the picture is of a much higher quality and accurate. The 8800's with HD make movies feel like dayglow.

Gigabyte recommendations have spiked in the last quarter with this series of boards. It's been mainly for the overclocking feats from what I can tell and not really on much else. Asus and MSI still make boards and should be factored into the decision process.
Asus P5K EPU = $130, MSI P35 Neo2-FR = $110

The 250G Seagate drive is really good, and still fairly large. When there's 630G drives for $100 though, I see these as much better alternatives to buying two smaller drives at a higher price point.

[screwballl]

based on BoynBlacks comments, if you ever should decide to use linux, nvidia has always been more friendly than ATI has with the Linux community...
just tossing that out as ya never know whos going to run what

[Wargazm]

im planning on using Windows XP Home for gaming. I kinda wanna stay away from Vista until microsoft have worked out most of its tweaks. That actually brings up one other question i had. On newegg there are 2 window XP home products, one at $100 and one at about $180 (sry i dont have a link but if u plug windows xp home into the search bar they should both come up). I couldnt figure out what the difference between the two was so if any of u guys knew that'd be awesome.

Thnx agn guys for all the great feedback. I still havent had a chance to give all your suggestion an good look but ill be sure to get to them later tonight. I'll put up a revised list asap :-) Thanks 4 ur time

[stinger608]

One is probably retail, and the other is OEM.
You might want to look into the middle of the road with XP pro!

Somewhere around the $140 area, and has the ability to do remote desk top, web server, and auto backups.

[Wargazm]

Ok so heres what i whipped up real quick before i leave for dinner :-)

- Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
- Western Digital Caviar SE WD5000JBRTL 500GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive - Retail
- EVGA 512-P3-N801-AR GeForce 8800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
- Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail
- G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
- ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink - Retail
- GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Dynamic Energy Saver Ultra Durable II Intel Motherboard - Retail

After some thought/research i concluded that I won't be needing more than a 500g HD. I dont download movies at all and although i plan on using this for games the number of games that'll be installed on it at once shouldnt be more than 10. Other than that i agree with all of ur advice and chosen accordingly. The only thing im still have some doubts about is the mobo and i still havent gotten to take a look at you suggestions boynblack.

See u guys later

Edit: sorry the links dont work, idk what i did differently last time :-)

[One4yu2c]

Originally Posted by Wargazm

Ok so heres what i whipped up real quick before i leave for dinner :-)

- Western Digital Caviar SE WD5000JBRTL 500GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive - Retail

Everything looks good except the hard drive. Skip the IDE Ultra ATA100 interface and be sure you're getting a SATA drive - IDE/PATA uses the thick ribbon cables (see pic below), has a slower interface, and most modern motherboards only have one IDE port nowadays. Also, don't settle for 8MB cache and instead look at either 16MB or, more recently, 32MB cache drives.

Also, keep in mind the bang-for-buck factor. Ignoring the gimped interface and cache, you're paying $117.29 shipped for 500GB, when a 750GB runs $119.99 shipped (and yes, it's a SATA drive with 16MB cache).

If you're looking to stay around the 500GB threshold, take a gander at this Seagate Barracuda 32MB for $86 shipped.
______________________

IDE/PATA on the left, SATA on the right:


EDIT: And if nitpicking, I'd opt for the ZEROtherm Nirvana over the CNPS9500...

[Wargazm]

Great suggestions thanks.
So I'll go with ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 120mm 2-ball UFO Bearing / Transparent CPU Cooler - Retail
for cooling and i like the looks of the Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3750330AS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Still lingering on which mobo to chose: got my eye on 3 in particular:
- ABIT IP35 Pro LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
- GIGABYTE GA-EP35C-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Dynamic Energy Saver Ultra Durable II Intel Motherboard
- GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Dynamic Energy Saver Ultra Durable II Intel Motherboard

main concerns are whether the IP35 is worth the xtra money over the EP35C and also if the EP35C has any other advantage over the EP35 besides its extra memory capabilities (which i dont need with the RAM im buying)

free to throw out any suggestions. Thanks!