Critic this build please.

Boston

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz S775

Gigabyte S755 Intel P35 Express DDR2 ATX Audio Lan

MSI ATI R2600XT 512MB PCIE DUAL DVI HDTV TVO HDMI HDCP

Kingston KTC DDR2 667Mhz FB DIMM 2GB

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB S300

Antec P182 Advanced Super Mid Tower - No PSU Black

ZALMAN ZM600-HP ATX12V 600W Power Supply 100 - 240 V - Retail

Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme CPU Cooler - Retail

Am I missing anything with this system build, its been afew years since my last.

astrofool

Don't get an FB-DIMM for a start

Look up standard DDR2, and you're probably best off going for pc6400, what site are you ordering off?

+ What is the machine going to be running?

No DVD-Writer?

Boston

Why should I not buy the Fully buffered Dimm? also why pc 6400 when the mother board doesn't support that clock speed?.

As for Dvd-Writer, I may pick up on at some stage or just use a dvd rom. i've had dvd-writers for the past 4 years, and I've used them in total maybe 10 times.

In basic terms this computer with be used for CAD applications. So multi-threaded and cpu intensive. As well as memory intensive.

astrofool

Well, FB-DIMM's won't work, but by all means

That board supports DDR2 speeds up to 1066mhz if you want to go there, 800mhz (PC6400), is the standard these days.

When I said DVD-Writer, I was really referring to optical drive, as there's no difference in price whether it writes or not these days.

What OS are you going for?

I develop myself, and just built a Quad 6600 with 4GB PC6400 RAM, 2 x 750GB in RAID (+ seperate backup drive), 8800GTS (I play games sometimes, a 2600XT is fine for everything), and running under Vista x64 and it runs like a dream. Motherboard I'm using is an Asus Blitz Formula.

Do you really need a big tower like that? Would an Antec sonata 3 not suit better? (comes with a PSU that supports everything you want) and save a bit of money.

Boston

Right,

You're telling me this ram will not work with that mother board despite the fact that its DDR 2 SD Ram which is listed as supported and despite the fact that PC2 5300 is another name for a for DDR2-667mhz ram with is what I have there. Additionally You realise that

a) the motherboard is rated at 1333mhz.

b) When you see something like DDR2 800 that board FSB speed will be 1600hz, (double the ram frequency as the ram works on both the rising and falling edge of the clock, which is the entire principle behind DDR)

c) If you did put 800hmz ram into a 1000mhz fsb motherboard you'd have to under clock your cpu substantially to get it to work.

You seem to be confused with the term DIMM, if you like replace it with the term module or stick.

OS: Gentoo, Vista will never get near this build.
Tower: Yes I want a tower, and The PSU was selected for low sound.

8T8

FB-DIMM is a variation of DDR-2 technology is not compatible with regular DDR-2 based chipsets you need a motherboard that supports FB-DIMM in order to work which is typically Intel Xeon server/workstation boards. Look at the fine print in that Dabs link notice how all the motherboards are server based ones it recommends it for.

In short it wont work with that Gigabyte motherboard & you definitely don't want it as it performs worse than normal DDR-2 RAM.

Any of this RAM which is PC6400 aka DDR-2 800 is the correct RAM you need.

astrofool

Boston, you don't have to be an ass on every board you post on

As 8T8 said, you're wrong.

Since the 486 the CPU and RAM have been able to operate asynchronously, having the RAM running at 800mhz rather than 533 will usually decrease the latency slightly as the RAM is running faster, and 800 is fast enough that the latency decrease from running it asynchronously in the first place is overcome. It also means there's extra bandwidth there for devices which use DMA bypassing the CPU entirely.

The sonata 3 will probably be quieter than the P182, and it's PSU is also low sound, and it's a tower. It's also cheaper.

As you're using Linux (and I assume 64bit), it will mean that you can get 4GB of RAM rather than 2GB.

Also, komplett.ie is usually cheaper and has a better selection than Dabs. Overclockers.co.uk have a better selection than komplett, but are uk based, so need a fax for VAT exemption.

Boston

8T8 wrote:

FB-DIMM is a variation of DDR-2 technology is not compatible with regular DDR-2 based chipsets you need a motherboard that supports FB-DIMM in order to work which is typically Intel Xeon server/workstation boards. Look at the fine print in that Dabs link notice how all the motherboards are server based ones it recommends it for.

In short it wont work with that Gigabyte motherboard & you definitely don't want it as it performs worse than normal DDR-2 RAM.

Any of this RAM which is PC6400 aka DDR-2 800 is the correct RAM you need.

And thats because it's fully buffered?

8T8

Yes FB-DIMM's are a different kind of RAM they use DDR-2 chips on the DIMM as the actual RAM component but a chip sits in the centre which acts as you guessed it a buffer for the signals, FB-DIMM's are generally for servers or pro workstations were talking extremely large amount of RAM higher than 8GB with this stuff.

It is also keyed differently to regular DDR-2 RAM so there is no way it will ever work in any DDR-2 board period.

Boston

astrofool wrote:

Boston, you don't have to be an ass on every board you post on

You could explain yourself rather then saying 'it just won't work'. I had picked up on what 8T8 was saying about the server mother boards, its one of the reasons I posted this thread.

The sonata 3 will probably be quieter than the P182, and it's PSU is also low sound, and it's a tower. It's also cheaper.

Whats the basic of that your opinion that there will be less noise. Does the PSU that comes with the tower you recommend have heat pipe technolodgy

As you're using Linux (and I assume 64bit), it will mean that you can get 4GB of RAM rather than 2GB.

I can get 8 gb's of ram. I'm fully aware of windwos limitations.

Also, komplett.ie is usually cheaper and has a better selection than Dabs. Overclockers.co.uk have a better selection than komplett, but are uk based, so need a fax for VAT exemption.

Dabs is cheaper then komplett or the same for all the goods listed. Overclockers.co.uk are by far the most expensive company i've bought from.

Boston

8T8 wrote:

Yes FB-DIMM's are a different kind of RAM they use DDR-2 chips on the DIMM as the actual RAM component but a chip sits in the centre which acts as you guessed it a buffer for the signals, FB-DIMM's are generally for servers or pro workstations were talking extremely large amount of RAM higher than 8GB with this stuff.

It is also keyed differently to regular DDR-2 RAM so there is no way it will ever work in any DDR-2 board period.

Thank you for the succinct and precise reply. You've saved me substantial hassle. Unbuffered Ocz ram seems the logical choice.

astrofool

The sonata is designed to be a very quiet case, you'll have to look up reviews to find out exact noise differences, having heatpipes in a PSU doesn't necessarily make a difference, as the fan is already blowing across the elements being heated. As opposed to for a CPU, where the heatpipes are used to move the heat to where the cooling is most potent (it sounds a bit gimmicky tbh).

The P182 is a great case, just on the expensive side, where you mightn't actually get the benefit of it, it's also a flipped psu case (PSU on the bottom), so you'll have to ensure the PSU cables are able to reach the motherboard/other devices.

Boston

astrofool:
The only reason I can imagine for the smalled case to be quieter then the larger is that there will be more free space i nthe larger allowing sound to possibly resonate. I may go for a smaller case, but not the sonata, its last generation design. There should be no problems with having a flipped PSU. I actually like that feature.

You make a fair point about the PSU itself, I was a bit weary of the benefit of having the heatpipes contained completely in the PSU. Heatpipes have excellent thermodynamic properties adn are fundamentally used to transfer heat from one location to another, this bit is no gimmick, however without a massive heat sink I fail to see how they will be effective. I may just go for something more locally available. The Germany's make good passive PSU's

8T8 Mod edit: cleanup

8T8

Okay gentleman no need to take this any further, everyone just cool their heals and if anyones got a problem can deal with it through a PM to me I've issued warnings to both of you and if you cant stay civil then this thread will be locked.

I've removed various comments so this thread can get back on topic any deviation and it will be closed & bans handed out you have been warned.

astrofool

/me wonders what was edited out

Boston

Any opinions on the hard drive ?

Gonzovision

Checkout the Samsung spinpoint 500gb. Its 12 euro cheaper and is proven in many benchmarks to have very good read/write speeds, its also excellent value.
Have mine for a few months now, very happy with it.

Boston

I was actually lookign at the samsung but was weary of the brand. Was advised that seagate are the quietest, how would samsung compare noise wise?

Gonzovision

I moved from an older version seagate so I cant make any comparisons between the two but Im very happy with the noise levels from the samsung.Any one else using Samsungs?

uberpixie

Boston wrote:

I was actually lookign at the samsung but was weary of the brand. Was advised that seagate are the quietest, how would samsung compare noise wise?

Good fast harddrives and very quiet, have a 500gig and it is quieter than my old seagate 200 gig.

TBH just go with what you feel comfortable with.

If you go with the samdung, you won't be dissapointed.

astrofool

Samsung generally have a very good name, and are average performers (the top generally being Hitachi and WD), but are very very quiet. I'd be more wary of Seagate than a Samsung tbh, reliability wise, always had odd IDE controller problems with Maxtors and Seagates.