new build list, comments & advice welcome

DamoKen

Hi, have decided to give up the ghost on my current machine after a few months of intermittent faults that could be caused by a number of different things. As it's the agp socket 939 I don't see the point in scouring around for new parts for what is essentially a technological dead end and hence have decided to go with a new build.

This is what I'm looking at so far, suggestions etc welcome and appreciated

Zalman ZM600-HP Heatpipe Cooled 600W Modular PSU - Retail £84.69
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-009-ZA
Not sure if this PSU is powerful enough overall. Preliminary setup would be the parts below plus 3 sata drives, one of them a raptor plus 2 dvd drives plus a audigy sound blaster 7.1 pci & floppy.

Mayeb something a bit bigger, reckon I'll probably be upgrading the graphics card(s) as well as the processor within the next 2 years so suggestions welcome, something quiet and modular preferably.

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £151.24
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-128-IN
Looking for a core duo with good overclocking potential if I choose to dabble in that, but at stock speeds is still very good without paying crazy prices.

BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC 320MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £193.59
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-039-BG
No main reason for choosing this card other than the mobo I've chosen is the same brand.

Thermaltake VA9003BWS Kandalf Full Tower - Black Retail £113.73
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-005-TT
I've read great reviews on this case, ease of access, excellent watercooling included which is supposedly very easy to set up. Haven't worked with watercooling before so was thinking this would be a good case to start with.

2 * GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit - Retail £116.14
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-058-GL
Reviews say this is very fast ram and highly overclockable. If I choose to overclock the processor I don't want it to be limited by the ram.

BFG nForce 680i SLi (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard - Retail £157.29
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-001-BG
Again this board has very postive reviews regarding overclocking as well as layout which is important to me, I've always got my head in the case so hence looking for a board and case that cater to the tinkerer

Total Cost incl tx & shipping = €1,287.44

Cheers!!

Anti

all looks good, apart from the psu, i would personaly change it to the 620w corasir hx psu. Its much quieter, the cabling is more managable, and is actually mad by zalman for corsair.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-004-CS

If you are looking to overclock you will need a good cooler, the two best are the Tuniq Tower, and the Thermalrite ultra 120 extreme
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-039-TR&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=821
, though for the second you need to buy a fan as none are included. So a 1600rpm scythe s-flex will be great
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-005-SY&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=4
, The tuniq comes with a fan, which is a noisy bitch at full speed.

As for overclocking, its now very different from when you probably did it last, nowa days the ram and cpu overclock differently, and the ram does not effect how the cpu will do. I can have my ram at 800mhz, and the cpu will still do 3.8ghz. And it will go no further even with my ram overclocked to 950mhz.

The rest of the spec is very good.

But for the graphics card, do you have a big widescreen? or a normal 17/19" monitor. As if you have something like a 22" widescreen then you will need the 640mb version for the higher resolutions. Also, all the standard non overclocked cards are identical to the nvidia reference board, so just get the cheapest one you find.

As for the ram i would change it to this:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-066-GL&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=813

GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Black Dragon DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GB22GB6400C4DC)

Its a awesome overclockers, and because it has a thicker 8layer pcb, it stays cooler, and has no need for those daft heatspreaders which do nothing anyway, maybe reduce temps by 1/2c. Getting this:

Corsair Memory Cooler (Dominator Fan)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-123-CS&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=399

This will lower the temps nicly, just make sure you connect it to a fan controller, and only turn it to full speed when you are gaming/benchmarking. As they do create quite a bit of air turbelence.

As for the case, forget about it. The watercooling in it is pathetic. As a rule when waterclocking, never buy a all in one kit. Just go with the cpu hsf i reccomended, as they are better then alot of watercooling setups out there.

A case like this:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-024-LL&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=187

Is a absolute joy to work with, my last case was the bigger brother of it, was easy to put watercooling in it, and the airflow through it is simply amazing.


Best of luck with the build, and keep us informed.

DamoKen

Hi Anti, cheers for the comprehensive reply. I've had a look at all the components you listed.

I'll go with the psu you listed unless I can scrounge up a bit more cash and get something beefier. If I leave out the watercooling for the moment the Thermalrite ultra 120 extreme sounds like a good choice coupled with the scythe s-flex.

Question on the ram, it's quite a bit more expensive than what I listed (+€41). Is it really that much better, didn't see any reviews on it. Bit too pricey for me to go with the 4GB I was thinking of, one of the reasons I choose the other one which is on special offer this week.
Not that I would need it all right now I suppose as I'm still using Winxp home 32bit (I'll give Vista a bit more time to sort it's act out). With WinXp 32 I think you can see 3.25 right?

Agree with you on getting an all in one solution regarding case+watercooling, normally wouldn't think of getting anything like that (case+psu for example). It's just the reviews I read on it gave very favourable results for the watercooling, both installation and cooling. Not doubting what you say, just wondering where you heard that .

With regards to the case, it was more the look and size that I liked, good watercooling was a bonus. One thing I don't like about it is it's meant to be quite noisy, but I would imagine I could replace the fans on it with the scythes you linked to yeah?

Anyway, the case I'd be looking for would be around this size, big enough for future upgrades to say an 8800gtx sli config and such. Ease of installation, access to hdd bays without removal of other components, removable motherboard tray would be nice but not essential on such a big case, and finally looks (yes I am shallow, I do like my shiny stuff ). Haven't got a great deal of time at the moment to research it, damn machine at home is crashing with depressing regularity prompting fresh OS installs so mostly looking in work when I get the chance.
If you can think of any cases that fits the description above that would be cool.

Screen wise I'll be using my current screen which is a 20" Viewsonic, native resolution is 1600*1200. Anything over the 8800GTS 320 would be wasted with this wouldn't it? Sorry it's one area I'm not that clear in, screen resolutions and the relationship with graphic cards.

Anti

Hey,

The 41extra for the ram will be well worth it. but you are right in saying that a 32bit os will only see 3.25gb, and then it will take more off for the graphics card ram. so just about 3gb or below. Which is just wasted. So you coul just go for a 2gb kit. The reason i recommended the geil black dragon is because they have a 8 layer pcb, most ram has 4-6 layers, the more layers the cooler the ram stays.

I dont know where you have read the reviews, but all the ones i see say it is no good for a highly overclocked and over volted c2d or c2q. Changing the fans wont make a big difference, unless you stick some delta screamers on it.

And with a resolution of 1600*1200 i would seriously consider the 8800gts 640mb if you plan on playing at full details with some aa and af. The 8800gts 320 will do if you only plan on medium-high with no aa or af.

The case i linked you to is very nice inside. loads of room for your own watercooling, seperate hdd bays, and more then enough room for the 8800gtx cards.

DamoKen

Hi Anti, ok you've convinced me with the ram, can always get another 2 sticks when I finally upgrade my OS. I'll also go with the 640MB card, games would be my main reason for upgrading (that and a buggered machine).

Thinking a bit more about the psu, I know this is expensive but as I'll be planning on adding to this machine as time goes on might be a less expensive option in the long run -> Enermax Galaxy 850W EGX850EWL ATX2.2 Modular http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-030-EN.

On the case, yeah I know the one you linked too is good for building, reviews speak very highly of it, I don't know though, it doesn't do it for me for some reason.

As to the Kandalf reviews, here's a few of the ones I read ->
http://www.overclockercafe.com/Reviews/cases/Tt_Kandalf_LCS/index.html .
http://www.tweaknews.net/reviews/kandalflcs/
http://www.xtremecomputing.co.uk/review.php?id=298

Also read the feedback reviews from users who bought on overclockers, admitedly some hadn't tried water cooling before so had no comparision but still looked ok.

Blazer

Never believe the reviews on overclockers...they're well known for only posting the good reviews..not the bad ones..:mad:

DamoKen

didn't realise that! still all the reviews I linked to gave favourable reports. I think I might still go with this case, sure if the watercooling provided turns out to be kack I can always just use the stock cooler and then order a better one .

Was just looking a bit more at processors, and doing my usual which is to exceed budget :rolleyes: .

Anyway, was wondering if it maybe worthwhile to go with this -> Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient 95W Edition" http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-161-IN&tool=3.

I'd definitely be upgrading to quad core at some stage anyway and it's only €47 more than the E6600 so wondering if it would make more sense to just get it now.

Any thoughts? Would an 850watt psu be able to handle this no problem, and either an additional 8800 gts or 8800gtx sometime next year?

Toolbag

Mathew Reilly wrote:

Never believe the reviews on overclockers...they're well known for only posting the good reviews..not the bad ones..:mad:

Too true, look at the amount of 5 star rated products, you might occasionally see a 4 1/2 rated one :eek: There's a surprising lack of criticism on the forums too, the censoring ba$tards.

That 850W PSU is overkill. The corsair 620 is powerful and is reported to handle 2 8800 GTXs, OCZ have some good 700 & 850 W PSUs for a better price then enermax.

The processor choice is up to you, the G0 Q6600s supposedly run cooler. bear in mind that true quad core 45nm intel parts are on their way

Hendrix89

DamoKen wrote:

Anyway, was wondering if it maybe worthwhile to go with this -> Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient 95W Edition" http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-161-IN&tool=3.

Yes they would be the G0 revisions, definately worth it.

I have mine running at 3.3GHz on stock volts. Actually a tiny bit under..:)

DamoKen

cheers for all the replies guys, ordered last night so expecting delivery sometime this week

will post back if I've any questions.

thanks again