New Build, Please Advise.

[Windu]

I am getting ready go buy some parts and was just looking to see what you guys have to say, if there are any potential compatibility issues. Computer use will be gaming, music and internet use.

Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813136014

Processor
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819103771

Ram
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820145590

Graphics Card
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814143081

Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822148140

I have a psu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817103941

and was wondering if that would be good enough to run 2 of the 8800's in sli.
Was hopeing to keep build price around 1000-1500 max.
Thanks for your time.

[Cricket]

I am getting ready go buy some parts and was just looking to see what you guys have to say, if there are any potential compatibility issues.Component selection looks okay...no glaring incompatibility issues as far as I can tell.I have a psu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817103941

and was wondering if that would be good enough to run 2 of the 8800's in sli.If you're going to do SLi you're going to need a different power supply...that Antec won't cut it. Look here (http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_build_psu.html) for SLi certified power supplies.

:) Cricket

[Windu]

Would it be enough to do 1 640 for now? Maybe an upgrade later.

[flanzig1]

The Antec will power 1 8800 fine. As for upgrading for Sli, wouldn't wait too long because the new cards coming out will probably outperform the 8800s in Sli verses a single card.

[Windu]

Will that psu run a 8800 gtx?

[minsonngo]

The Antec in your first post will run the 8800GTX fine.

The requirements are: A minimum of a 450 Watt power supply and a minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 28 Amps.

[Windu]

Are there any other choices for a motherboard? I have heard that the 590 chipsets are the more stable ones out there.

[minsonngo]

The ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe is in the same price range as your original chosen board:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131011

[Windu]

I know almost everyone on this board are big Intel fans, why go with intel over amd? What intel chip does the 5600+ comapre to? I can't really decide which way to go.

[minsonngo]

Intel right now has the advantage... the Core 2 Duo lineup of processors are very popular... but you won't go wrong with either choice. More than likely... you won't even notice the difference unless you run benchmark tests and such.

[Windu]

Revised Build
CPU is still a questionmark. Go with the 6420, 6600 or spend the money on the 6700. Leaning towards the 6600.

Motherboard and Ram Combo
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813128012

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145034

Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814143092


Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822148140

[minsonngo]

The 6600 is what most people get.

Motherboard isn't bad... you could just go with DDR2-667 memory... DDR-800 will not be beneficial unless you are planning to overclock.

Video card is good.


The hard drive link is not working for me. As long as your getting a good SATA HDD from Seagate or Western Digital your fine.

[Staren]

The 6600 is definately the sweet spot for C2D processors right now. I'd only go down from there if you're on a tight budget. The 6700 however isn't really worth it. The 6600 can clock up to 6700 speeds very easily and $100 more there are other places to put the money.

[Windu]

The hard drive is a seagate from before. I re-entered the link.
The only reason i went with that ram is because it is part of a combo and it is under $100.

Any other options for a motherboard? I have heard the DS3 boards were good.

[Staren]

The DS3 is a good board. For the price though, the Asus P5B has become our standard suggestion because it's at least on par with the DS3 if not a little better built and runs a bit cheaper. Either would work fine, but we do have quite a bit of colective experence with the P5B series here.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131030

[Windu]

Would the deluxe be a better choice?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131045

I heard the nvidia chipsets are good for the AMD cpu's. Is this the same for the intel's?

[Staren]

Probably not worth the money. The features the Deluxe adds is an extra SATA port, Firewire ports (also available on the P5B-Plus and P5B-E cheaper), extra PCI-E slot (for multiple monitor set-ups NOT SLI), and dual eithernet ports. I'm almost tempted myself to run a 3 monitor set-up, but unless you have a use for one of those features; the plain p5b would be fine for you.

[minsonngo]

Would the deluxe be a better choice?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131045

I heard the nvidia chipsets are good for the AMD cpu's. Is this the same for the intel's?



If you go with Intel... go with motherboards with Intel chipsets.



The deluxe version is good only if you want the extra features that come along with it... otherwise get the regular P5B and save yourself some money.

[Windu]

Should anyone buy an open box from newegg?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131149R

And does the timing really matter that much? 4-4-4-12 vs 5-5-5-12?

What's the differnce between the seagate drives? AS, SV, NS?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010150014+50001305+103530105+1035915133+1035407760&Subcategory=14&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc=

[Staren]

An open box DVD drive or headset, something like that; maybe. A motherboard, NO. Take the mouse off the buy button and step away. There are two parts you don't mess around with if your putting serious money down, the motherboard and the power supply. Ask yourself, do you really need the features on these high end boards? Would you do a multi-monitor set-up, use two LAN ports, or need firewire ports for anything?

Heck I'm in the middle of a $1,600 build and I can't really justify more then a P5B-E because quite frankly I just don't need it. If I *was* going to go up to a higher feature set I'd go for a 975X chipset board but that's a totally different price bracket.

[Windu]

Whats the difference between the P5B and the P5B-E? All's I see different is the southbridge, and the price.

[minsonngo]

I believe the P5B-E comes with firewire ports also.

[Staren]

I believe the P5B-E comes with firewire ports also.

That's it exactly. It adds 2 firewire ports, and changes the cooling system a little. That's it.

[Windu]

How about this mb for my build? Close to the price that I am at now.
http://www.directron.com/p5k.html

[minsonngo]

How about this mb for my build? Close to the price that I am at now.
http://www.directron.com/p5k.html



That is a brand new board... we are not recommending it right now since there most likely will be some bugs to work out.

We advise the wait and see route on this one. In fact... brave forum member... Staren is buying the P5K Deluxe version and will post a review on it when his build is complete.

[Staren]

They look very good, but I'm going to give you fair warning. The P35 boards are absolutely brand new. The non-disclosure agreement that testing groups where under was lifted last week and the offical launch isn't even until early June. It *should* be perfect, but no one here has hand there hands on one yet so if it glitches we'll only be able to make a best guess. I'm going for it since I have enough builds under my belt to feel comfortable troubleshooting and have the time to deal with RMA if necessary.

[Windu]

Found this on a google search.
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=143133

[Windu]

They look very good, but I'm going to give you fair warning. The P35 boards are absolutely brand new. The non-disclosure agreement that testing groups where under was lifted last week and the offical launch isn't even until early June. It *should* be perfect, but no one here has hand there hands on one yet so if it glitches we'll only be able to make a best guess. I'm going for it since I have enough builds under my belt to feel comfortable troubleshooting and have the time to deal with RMA if necessary.

I have no plan at first to do any tweeking what so ever. This mb should work fine by just plugging components into it?

[minsonngo]

I have no plan at first to do any tweeking what so ever. This mb should work fine by just plugging components into it?


No one can really say until more of the boards are put into systems and all the bugs are discovered.


But in a perfect world... everything should be working fine and dandy right out of the box as long as the other parts you add to it are compatible.

[Staren]

That's just it, we don't know. One of the other early reviews over at xtremesystems says that the default settings on the RAM are very tight. Meaning that it should work fine with the higher end RAM (the stuff we usually suggest people not spend their money on around here), but that you might have to change some settings manually to get value RAM working or it might not work at all. If you want to spend your own money to test it of course you can, but if I was in your position I wouldn't. That's what us college nut jobs are for. Old enough to have the money, but young enough not to have the wives. :-P

[Mr.Ferrari]

I dont even know why so many stores are selling them, official launch isn't until June 4th. I'd also advise you wait.

[Windu]

Another review.
http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=644

[Windu]

If there is no plan to overclock, is the AMD a better choice than the C2D?

[Mr.Ferrari]

Not unless you really really want an AMD system.

[Staren]

Even at stock speeds the Core 2 is much faster for the money then current AMD chips. That might change when AMD releases their new line, but that isn't going to happen for awhile yet.