Parts suggestions

[polobunny]

Originally Posted by azianai

btw if you do get the P5K + wifi, make sure its got a draft N one, you dont wanna spend the $$ and have a G just to have to buy a new card. Although honestly a USB port Wifi Card is just good enough and less hassle imo.

I don't even need WiFi, but the price difference is so ridiculous (Varies from 10 to 5 dollars) that it would be somewhat ridiculous to get the non-WiFi ap enabled one.

Edit: Oh and it's 802.11g only, not that it really matters to me. I'm also still using my years old D-Link 802.11g + La Fonera for my wireless internet needs here.

[RangerXLT8]

Yeah I don't think they have built in wireless N into any MBs yet. Wireless G is still the most used. Think wireless G is 54mbps, who even has a DL near that? lol I mean I bought a wireless N router for the future.

And Polobunny you picked out some nice parts especially that MB. Asus has ALWAYS had a great reputation for being the OCers board. Asus and Gigabyte are about the only boards I will use or recommend. Intel made boards are good for people who are not interested in OCing.

[Capper]

Actually the new ASUS boards are using 802.11N (P5E3 Deluxe WiFi).
As to the tuner card, check out some of the Hauppauge offerings, I'm gonna pick one here next month for an HTPC article I'm working on:

Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1800 1129 NTSC/ATSC/QAM/FM Tuner Card PCI Express X1

As to that cooler, the Big Typhoon should be fine. i'm still using a Zalman CNPS9700 on the QX9650 and its fine.

[polobunny]

Originally Posted by RangerXLT8

Yeah I don't think they have built in wireless N into any MBs yet. Wireless G is still the most used. Think wireless G is 54mbps, who even has a DL near that? lol I mean I bought a wireless N router for the future.

And Polobunny you picked out some nice parts especially that MB. Asus has ALWAYS had a great reputation for being the OCers board. Asus and Gigabyte are about the only boards I will use or recommend. Intel made boards are good for people who are not interested in OCing.

My only problem with Asus has been with the most recent years. They used to be rock solid boards but for the socket 462 to socket 939 era they've had some of the most flakey and overpriced products out there. Combine that with a less than stellar warranty service and you had the recipe for something I wouldn't buy myself, much less recommend.
I remember the fiasco with new socket 939 process and how Asus boards would refuse to boot and update the BIOS while you could boot the cheapest ECS easily (CPU staying as unknown processor though) and flash the BIOS from inside Windows using winflash...

With AM2 they seemed to get back to rock solid products (while keeping their bad warranty services though :S) so I'm a tad less scared, and with companies such as ECS and Foxconn mass producing decent boards, Gigabyte getting some fame and other companies offering similar products, Asus decided to opt for a more competitive pricing on their mid to high-end motherboard products.

Hopefully I have no problem with this motherboard, and if I do it's a DOA and I can RMA by NCIX.com instead of going through the process with Asus.

The memory deal makes me extremely happy to say the least. I've been a bit strapped for cash lately (currently unemployed and starting a web design project with a friend) and I'm glad it's so cheap for 4GB. I have a hard time believe those DDR2 prices. Heck, I'm selling my DDR500 2GB kit for a bit more than half of what I'm paying for this DDR800 4GB kit (after MIR obv.) to my dad. Also, it's quite better than the blue colored kit available from Gskill...
I was interested in the Viper edition, which is quite a bit more expensive than the "non-Viper" one I'm choosing, seeing as there's no MIR nor a V-day deal.

Talking about MIR, I wonder how long will it take to Patriot to honor it. Anyone had any experience with them and MIRs?

[polobunny]

Originally Posted by Capper

Actually the new ASUS boards are using 802.11N (P5E3 Deluxe WiFi).
As to the tuner card, check out some of the Hauppauge offerings, I'm gonna pick one here next month for an HTPC article I'm working on:

Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1800 1129 NTSC/ATSC/QAM/FM Tuner Card PCI Express X1

As to that cooler, the Big Typhoon should be fine. i'm still using a Zalman CNPS9700 on the QX9650 and its fine.

Will look into the TV tuner. I'm mostly scared of the lag that can occur with TV tuners. I've had success reducing lag on the majority TV tuners I've played with (~15 models in my whole life maybe) including Hauppage ones, but I clearly remember some of them still having a pretty distinct lag, rendering lots of games unplayable.

About the cooler, my mind is pretty much set already, sorry. :P
I'll let the Typhoon on the 939 to keep it running at what it's currently is.

Only "question" per se goes toward the Ultra-120 Extreme orientation. As you know I have an Antec 900 and I'm wondering whether I should put the cooler to blow the hot air up to exit through the 200mm fan on top (probably what I will do) or toward the back to blow air through the back. Blowing the air toward the back of the case would somewhat benefit of cool air coming from the front-middle rack 120mm fan (which has no hard drive) and likely a somewhat better overall flow while sucking the hot air through the top would not only cool the processor but take the hot air away from my 8800GT which is outfitted with a Zalman VF1000LED (blows air on the sides of video card).
I'm not too worried by my 8800GT heat production though, as I've yet to see it break the 60 celsius barrier (GPU temp) when fan is at high. Most often it will stick between 49 and 53 celsius when playing intensive games.

[polobunny]

Ordered on 16th, at night. Chose Purolator ground (normally they're decent, better than UPS and CanadaPost for sure) up to 6 business days.

Final countdown:

I'll need to order at Petra's.

[azianai]

honestly the board im using now isn't officially released in the US yet (i have no clue how microcenter's got it when the egg and even asus' website don't have it listed lol) but I think its the most solid Asus board i've used yet. Cost USD135+tax and was gonna suggest it as oppose to the WiFi since you have no use for it.

[Elysium]

Nice Polo, can't wait to see how it turns out!

[RangerXLT8]

Polo: In the last 4 years most of Asus's enthusiast MBs for Intel chipsets have been stellar compared to the competition. In the last year or so Gigabyte has come out with some very nice boards as well. Trust me you will not be disappointed with the P5K.

And @ Capper, I did not know Asus had Wireless N on their Newest MBs. The next MB I buy will have Wireless N. I just want the new socket to be released before I go to DDR3...

[polobunny]

Update on everything. Received an email, my order has been shipped (6 hours ago), except for the TV tuner which needs to be transfered then shipped. I won't be charged anything "more" for that. They're just telling me it won't be in the same box. Purolator Ground, up to 6 business days.

Talked with representative over @ Petra's. The model of fan I was looking to buy is not in stock anymore. ¬_¬
Can't find anywhere to get them at a decent price (less than $14.99 CA). At 6 fans, $14.99 per fan is a bit over what I'm expecting to spend. I'll wait till someone restock them or I can find a decent replacement.