New Rig - comments \ review please

paul8200

New to the forum but would really appreciate anyone running an eye over this below. Upgrading from an ancient Dell 8200 - want a system that will last 4-5 years again..uses are fileserver/photo & video editing/ media system/limited gaming/ home hub etc... most of my family run latops themselves

Struggling with a mobo for the conroe. Not a lot of info out there compared to the establised knowledge base for AMD.

this is my first self build. Was to use IDE HDDs from my 8200 also - what is the limitation here with number of devices and conflict with optical drives etc..


From komplett.ie

323082 Bundle with NZXT LEXA Black Aluminum Mid Tower & XION 600W Powersupply
312371 Crucial DDR2 PC4200 2048MB CL4 Kit w/two matched DDR2 PC4200 1024MB CL4
323508 Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3, P965, Socket-775, ATX, SATAII, GbLAN, DDR2, 1xPCI-Ex16
322633 Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4GHz Socket LGA775, 4MB, BOXED w/fan
323847 XFX GeForce 7600GS 256MB DDRII, PCI-Express, 2xDVI/HDTV, 400/700Mhz

PogMoThoin

If your using ide drives, look for a mobo that has 2 or more ide ports. I know my dfi has only 1 which is used up on my 2 dvd drives.
All else looks cool.
If u get retail version of chip, i've got a stock conroe cooler here i'm not using, cover postage or collect & u can have it. Only thing u miss out with retail chips is the fan & intel sticker. Dont know if retail chips are out yet tho.

paul8200

Thanks Pog - does such a conroe board exist?

All 975 mobos I've looked at have a single IDE port, which as you say would be used by your optical drives.....Is it time to ditch my IDE HDDs?

TomCo

The msi "power up" motherboard has two.

paul8200

Thanks guys....I've also found the ASUS P5W DH Deluxe http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?id=1958&cid=6&pg=1

which takes up to 4 standard ide devices and looks like a great mobo. Think I might bite the bullet and go for it...bit pricy but great feature set also

conzy

I think you would be better off getting a E6400 and a 7600gt instead of a E6600 and a 7600gs..

You will lose a tiny bit of CPU power (it ill still be amazingly fast ) and you will gain a lot of Graphics power...

L31mr0d

why not sell the PATA drives on adverts.ie? (i'm guessing you meant PATA, as SATA are also IDE) and use that money to get a faster SATAII drive or a raptor (keep an eye on kompletts weekly deals)?

What is usually useful is if you give us your budget and we'll come up with a system to your spec that meets your needs and doesn't have any bottlenecks from the get go.

P.S: Get a good CPU cooler with your order from Komplett, the whole point of getting a 6600 is that they have the best overclock to price ratio of the conroes, so you'll want to be overclocking it to get its true performance, a decent cooler will allow this.

lonnbeimnech

L31mr0d wrote:

P.S: Get a good CPU cooler with your order from Komplett, the whole point of getting a 6600 is that they have the best overclock to price ratio of the conroes, so you'll want to be overclocking it to get its true performance, a decent cooler will allow this.

At less than half the price of the X6800 it's tempting, how long can one expect this chip to be overclocked for?

Anti

to early to tell.

Anti

paul8200 wrote:

Thanks guys....I've also found the ASUS P5W DH Deluxe http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?id=1958&cid=6&pg=1

which takes up to 4 standard ide devices and looks like a great mobo. Think I might bite the bullet and go for it...bit pricy but great feature set also

It will take only 2 devices on the southbridge. The other 2 are on a Jmicron controller which will be fine. But i would reccomend some sataII drives

lonnbeimnech

I want to live in a world where overclocked chips live forvever

Anti

Well ive only ever had chips die on me from pushing them to far and going way over the top with voltage. If you stick to a resonable overclock things will/should be fine.....hopefully.....maybe

paul8200

OK thanks for the advice and useful comments. Here is my finished spec

6600 Core 2 Duo http://komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=322633
Asus P5W Dh Delux http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?id=1958&cid=6&pg=1
2GB PC4300 http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=312371&cks=ACC
NZXT LEXA/600W PSU http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=323082
Samsung SpinPoint T133S 300GB SATA2 http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=313322
Gainward GeForce 7600GT 256MB https://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=319688
LG DVD +/-/RAM DL etc https://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=321103

All arrived last week and built now. Very happy so far.
Being able to attach my old HDDs made the move very easy.

One last question....I'm using the standard fan that comes with the conroe chip and when I run ASUS PC Probe (mobo software utility) it shows my CPU temp as 65c...rises to 70c - which is obviously too hot.

I haven't o/c'd yet and am wondering if these software utils are reliable or if the temp check is wrong? Case and mobo seem nice and cool to the touch.

PogMoThoin

Try speedfan. That temp cant be right, even on stock cooling. Also check your idle cpu temp in the bios & post back.

WizZard

Is the HSF mounted correctly?

CarefulNow

I have heard that there is problems with the temperature sensors on those motherboards.
Look in the bios to see if they are any different.

TomCo

Try RightMark CPU clock utility.

I think it gives the most accurate temps.

paul8200

checked the BIOS which agreed with the utility temp check- CPU was 65c immediately upon startup.

I removed the fan and indeed the top of the chip did seem to be fairly hot about 5 minutes after powering down and showed signs of running fairly hot (you know that baked dull look like matt aluminium). Replaced (I mean reseated) the fan and powered up and low and behold...35c

So i assume I didn't have the fan mounted correctly!!!

While I'm glad it's now sorted I'm wondering what kind of damage might have been done in the 10 ish hours the system was active running 65-70c CPU temp?? Or maybe have I reduced the life expectancy of the cpu?

Seems fine now...

PogMoThoin

Wouldn't worry bout it. I've mine hittin 64' max load at 3.2ghz. Ran orthos at that temp for 12hrs no probs. I've it left 24/7 at that speed. The chip downclocks itself if it gets too hot. I even ran mine for a short while at 3.29Ghz and was hittin 71' max load.

Edit: some peeps at xtremesystems have their conroe stable hittin over 70'. check it out yourself: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=106321&page=16

paul8200

Excellent! Thanks (again) Pog

WizZard

paul8200 wrote:

So i assume I didn't have the fan mounted correctly!!!

Always the first thing to check in these instances.

paul8200 wrote:

Or maybe have I reduced the life expectancy of the cpu?

You did, but not by any length of time that you'll notice it.