Plans for the future!

[magibeg]

Ok so i've been biding my time and saving my money and its about time to start planning out for a new (NOT DELL) rig. Currently these are the parts i have set out:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Processor LGA775 Conroe 1.86GHZ $243.00

Different Mobo? (was DFI LANParty UT ICFX3200-T2R/G RD600 XPRESS3200 Motherboard $299.98 )
OR Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6 $272.46
OR ASUS P5W DH Deluxe $277.59

OCZ Platinum XTC REV.2 PC2-6400 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-800 CL4-4-4-15 $266.22

320GB SATA2 3GB/S 7200RPM 16MB Cache Hard Drive Seagate Barracuda $129.40

Insert Mid-high ranged directx 10 video card here $347.72

Coolermaster CM Stacker 830 E-ATX Brushed Aluminum Case $267.90

OCZ GameXStream 700W SLI Ready ATX Power Supply 120MM Fan Black $166.88

Zalman 9500 $62.57

Cooler Master Neon Blue LED 120MM Case Fan 22DBA 1220RPM (x5) $38.25

Total $1,825.94

Now keep in mind these are all canadian prices. I'm also toying with the idea of going with watercooling instead of air and maybe changing the case to compensate as i dont want to spend much more money than $1800. I definately plan on overclocking this rig so keep that in mind (also plan on getting a 2nd video card at one point down the road as well, the motherboard may change based on if i go nvidia or ati but i defaulted to ati). So thoughts and suggestions are welcome!

[bruins004]

Looks pretty good.
The only thing I would say is consider getting an E4300, they are suppose to OC even better and are cheaper.

Also, look for other RAM, esp. if you want to OC.
OCZ uses PROMO modules which suck at OCing.
Maybe look for some G Skill (who use Epilida) or some Bufallo (who useus Epilida or Micron).
Much better for OCing.

[magibeg]

OCZ ram sucks at OC eh? I didn't know that, thanks for the info! Will definately have to change that and yea i've been meaning to read up on the e4300 a little as well, preferably i want to run it around 3-3.4ghz 24/7 if possible. Also why i'm considering going for a watercooling setup as opposed to air.


-edit- I looked up the e4300 and it seems theres only a $20 difference from the e6300 so i think i might just pay the extra $20 for it unless the e4300 clocks higher somehow

[Frogger]

I'v done alot of reading on that MB and unless you plan on spending mega hours on your oc'ing you might want to reconsider read .. http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mainboards/display/dfi-lanparty-ut-icfx3200_16.html
"The main drawback of the DFI LANParty UT ICFX3200-T2R/G mainboard is its relatively low performance determined by the chipset it is based on. Unfortunately, DFI engineers couldn’t resolve this problem." from x-bit labs.
another read... http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=127475...
hope they help ...F

[k0rn_h0li0]

yeah it looks cheap but making money these days for those things take forever. i'll hold off till things get a little cheaper and gaining some more expierence experimenting with other components before buying those ^^^^^

[Chewy]

Ncix.ca throws that hd on sale alot, I got mine for $109 from them. Ocz´s ddr2 is not the greatest ram for overclocking but mine runs stable @ 450fsb 2.1v (its rated for 2.0-2.1v), I think that gives me 3.2ghz with my e6300... I dont have my comp with me on my vacation, but I think those numbers are right. Ocz will work for your overclocking needs I think but if you want to go for higher overclocks for testing you´ll need some better ram.

[WarEagleAU]

Id change that motherboard and either go with an Asus Extreme Commando ( I think they use ATI Xfire) Striker Extreme or any other of their extreme gamer boards or the EVGA Nvidia board. Thats just me, everything else looks gravy though. Oh, I may go with the Zalman 9500 for you instead of the Zalma VU 7700. That, again, is just me.

[Alcpone]

Ncix.ca throws that hd on sale alot, I got mine for $109 from them. Ocz´s ddr2 is not the greatest ram for overclocking but mine runs stable @ 450fsb 2.1v (its rated for 2.0-2.1v), I think that gives me 3.2ghz with my e6300... I dont have my comp with me on my vacation, but I think those numbers are right. Ocz will work for your overclocking needs I think but if you want to go for higher overclocks for testing you´ll need some better ram.

Same FSB as me chewy, its 3.15Ghz to be precise lol

It will run happily 24/7 @ 475FSB 1:1 but I dont see the need in pushing it too its max and killing it prematurely ;)

[magibeg]

So the ocz ram should be fine going up to 475? (i assume its a x7 multiplier on the e6300). Also i think i'll splurge on the zalman and go for the 9500 instead of the 7700. I looked up the E4300 and it looks like they clock pretty darn well, but i think i'll end up going for the E6320 which is comming out in not too long which will have the full 4mb cache and cost the same amount. Also it seems the motherboard i've chosen might be a little rough to o/c. Does crossfire still run on nforce boards? i was never really sure about that.

[SlipSlice]

Insert Mid-high ranged directx 10 video card here $347.72

What kind of DX10 card are you looking to get for that price? Kind of confused here, I dont' know if that is you limit your wanting to spend on a DX10 cark, or one that you tryed to put a link for.

herrm.

slip

[PVTCaboose1337]

I disagree with mobo, go lower end. Disagree with the case, come on, thats alot for a case that just "looks cool." Yes different mobo 100%

[magibeg]

Well i need to pick out a new mobo, and the price i pulled form the directx 10 video card was just for a 8800gts but i'm really gearing towards an ati offering and since ati and nvidia usually go about head to head in terms of pricing it'll translate to something along the lines of x2800XL or so with the idea of buying a 2nd at a later date for crossfire.

As for the case i was looking for something impressive with good cooling and the stacker seemed to fit the bill, everything i listed there is subject to change though as i try to mash together the best setup possible for the least amount of cost, i may choose another case if money proves to be tight.

As for the motherboard i'm finding it difficult to find a good intel ati board that supports crossfire and will allow a decent overclock. I'm wishing for complete 24/7 stability at around 3.2ghz in a best case scenario.

-edit- keep the input comming, i appreciate any help anyone can give me

[SlipSlice]

I disagree with mobo, go lower end. Disagree with the case, come on, thats alot for a case that just "looks cool." Yes different mobo 100%

I agree with you here. u can find some really bada** looking cases on newegg for way cheaper than that. But its you money get what you want. That is how i feel about it.

:rockout:

[magibeg]

Yea newegg doesn't really ship to canada unfortunately. So i'm stuck with more of a tigerdirect.ca and ncix.com type approach to buying. While its true that its my money and i get what i want, i also want everyones opinion in the hopes of making the optimum possible rig. I used what knowledge i had to create the base idea for my rig and using the knowledge of the forum i've decided i need to find a new mobo and i changed my cpu heatsink. Everything is ultimately my decision its true but i'ld rather make the correct decision based on information than an incorrect decision based on some of my faulty knowledge

[SlipSlice]

Well i need to pick out a new mobo, and the price i pulled form the directx 10 video card was just for a 8800gts but i'm really gearing towards an ati offering and since ati and nvidia usually go about head to head in terms of pricing it'll translate to something along the lines of x2800XL or so with the idea of buying a 2nd at a later date for crossfire.

As for the case i was looking for something impressive with good cooling and the stacker seemed to fit the bill, everything i listed there is subject to change though as i try to mash together the best setup possible for the least amount of cost, i may choose another case if money proves to be tight.

As for the motherboard i'm finding it difficult to find a good intel ati board that supports crossfire and will allow a decent overclock. I'm wishing for complete 24/7 stability at around 3.2ghz in a best case scenario.

-edit- keep the input comming, i appreciate any help anyone can give me

the 8800GTS is supposed to be a kick** card for sure, but if you want the latest in technology on you graphics card, go wait until the X2800 series of cards rolls out.

but that is up to you of course.

:cool:
S1iP
:toast:

[Frogger]

Well i need to pick out a new mobo,
As for the motherboard i'm finding it difficult to find a good intel ati board that supports crossfire and will allow a decent overclock. I'm wishing for complete 24/7 stability at around 3.2ghz in a best case scenario.

been reading reviews all day looking for a MB [for a client] that would fit your bill too.. And I can say "i'm stumped" sure found lots of SLI boards but x-fire ???

[magibeg]

I know Frogger and thanks for looking(even if it was for someone else ;)).... I have searched high and low for something that fits my needs but theres almost nothing!! Tons of nforce boards though :( This makes me feel better in the sense that i feel less like a google newb for not finding anything :P. So far the board i've chosen looks to be the most promising though it is a bit expensive and apparently it isn't even that great at overclocking anyway! I'll be sure to tell you if i find anything.

-edit- it would be interesting to setup some type of TPU 'ideal' computer thread. Take a couple different price ranges (ie $1000, $1500,$2500) and create 3 best bang for your buck computers with mild overclocking taken into account. (though i think it could spur too much fanboy flammage)

[Chewy]

Same FSB as me chewy, its 3.15Ghz to be precise lol

It will run happily 24/7 @ 475FSB 1:1 but I dont see the need in pushing it too its max and killing it prematurely ;)

I couldent get a very stable 475fsb, even with 2.4v on my ram, I ran sciencemark2 with that though for my sm2 score. I see you have the same board as me :toast: grats lol

So I take it you guys looked at the gigabyte dq-6? There are better ocing board out there prob, but it should oc fine and support x-fire. I´m not sure if its 2x16 pci-e.

[magibeg]

Wow the Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6 actually does look like a really nice mobo! I just hope i can pump up the fsb high enough on it. I'ld prefer atleast 3ghz prime stable with my e6300 but maybe thats too lofty a goal :P. Just need to pull off a fsb of around 440 and i'ld be more than happy though.

[Frogger]

just reading extream on DQ6 looks like it might be the one will do more reading and repost .F

[Chewy]

I think I read it overclocks better than the ds-3, though its prob a 2x 8 pci-e in duel mode.

[magibeg]

I just read about a dozen articles on it, apparently it can hit 480fsb prime stable and both pci-e slots are x16 which is a big must. It has tons of bios features for overclocking so i think this is the one i want to settle on now. Its also a little cheaper than the one i had originally picked.

Thanks for the help Chewy :toast:

-edit- The pci-e slot information seems to be inconsistant. Depending on which site you go to its been listed as 2x16 or 1xpcie16 1xpcie4

[Frogger]

1xpcie16 1xpcie4.. looks to be reality will check with Gigabyte support ...

[magibeg]

Upon further review it seems the board doesn't support crossfire at all, it just has support for 4x monitors... :(

[Chewy]

eek... hey any of u guys know if Rome Total War´s gameplay was like turn for turn? I wasent to fond of Rome total War, but I´m concidering getting Supreme Comander.. I like Company of Heros.. fairly simple... supreme comander scares me cause it has so many things.

[Frogger]

1xpcie16 1xpcie4.. looks to be reality will check with Gigabyte support ...

confirmed

[magibeg]

I think i've just about come to the conclusion there is no such board that has what i want :(. I may have to scrap the whole crossfire idea altogether it seems.

[Frogger]

it's SLI 2x16 on 680i boards or x-fire 2x8 on 975 boards and hope that the r600 cards DON'T need 2x16 to run x-fire quess we'll just have to wait untill ait/amd release the card & see

[magibeg]

Anyone else have any more ideas for me? I think i might have to wait until a new crossfire mobo comes out before i can buy though... i'm afraid of the R600 requiring 2xpcie 16x slots which cant seem to be found on any intel crossfire motherboards :(

[Athy]

I think the ASUS P5W DH Deluxe is the board for you, it has the 975x chipset, and can hit a FSB of 450Mhz (i think that's more than enough for a E6300 on air cooling?), it has 2 PCI-e 16 slots, and that crossfire for what i know doesn't need the full 16 lanes (both at x8 is like 99% of full x16 in crossfire mode) And I saw somewhere that the new R600 is going to have something that will decrease performance loss when (in crossfire setup) put in PCI-e slots who are both at x8(even when put in x4)

[magibeg]

Oooh thanks for the info, i'll be sure to keep it all in mind. 450fsb is exactly where i want to be around with a possible R600 crossfire in the future.

[Frogger]

hey maqibeg : got one of those ASUS P5W DH Deluxe on the work bench will be installing it next week... if i can get all the parts!! will advise F

[magibeg]

Thanks Frogger, you've been an especially great help :D