New Computer Specs

[Natoma]

1.) I'd certainly not go with one of the "Extreme" models from Intel, its simply not worth the price. Instead I'd suggest either the Q6600 or Q6700 depending on if you're willing to overclock or not.

Depends on how easily those processors clock up to 1333Mhz fsb I suppose.

2.) Going with DDR2 would be my suggestion as well. It simply doesn't make any sense to go with DDR3 as it offers no performance enhancements but a very substantial increase in price. In fact, since you seem to be very concerned about editing performance, I'd suggest going for 4GB of DDR2 for less than 2GB of DDR3. While the bus line up "issue" might annoy you, in reality its a complete non-issue.

The memory isn't tied directly to the FSB?

3.) Personally I think I'd go with the two times 1TB drives. No real reason other than better value and the three drivers offer nothing over the two 1TB drives.

That'd be $720 worth for 2TB vs 3 500GB drives for $360. I could get 2TB there for $480.

I was just considering the expansion ability when looking at the single TB drives. 4 slots full for 2TB vs 2 slots for 2TB.

4.) I'd highly recommend a higher quality PSU. Anecdotal or not, I simply don't put much faith in Antec power supplies anymore, especially when you're looking at a very high end system. SeaSonic and SilverStone is where I look these days.

When I took a look at the box at Best Buy, it says rated for Nvidia SLI, so I figured that the PSU was high quality. That and Antec cases are pretty good. hehe. It also has a 5yr replacement warranty.

The reviews on it seem to be favorable. http://www.google.com/search?q=ante...avclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1B3GGGL_enUS224US224

 

[Natoma]

ddr2 pc5400 should be for 1333. My friend has a core2duo 6600 @ 3 (or was it 3.2?)Ghz with a bus @ 1333 and he says he got 5400 for that because that is rated at 1333Mhz.

I think you should get the quadcore, its cheap and probably the fastes one for video compression as that will probably scale very well the more cpu's you have.

Yea quad is definitely what I'm looking to do now. I was going over some Anandtech reviews on the Intel CPUs and the quads kick the duos arses all over the place in video editing.

I know that many people in this thread have been shying me away from the Core 2 Extreme's, but while video editing is very important to me, so is general PC performance. While the Q6600 kicks the E6850 in video editing, it gets creamed in general performance and gaming.

That's why the 3Ghz QX6850 is so appealing. Best of both worlds.

What is the possibility/probability of OC'ing a Q6600 to 3Ghz with the same multiplier at 1333? That'd be a 25% overclock. Pretty high if you ask me.

 

[Natoma]

Oh, and I forgot to tell you that I'm afraid I'll have to hate you once you get/build this beast.

Yay diggers hate!

 

[Natoma]

Are you planning on running 2 or 4 dimms? You should really plan on running a minimum of 4Gigs total via 2 2Gig dimms. The 975X chipset doesn't perform so well with 4 dimms and high FSBs. The P965 performs a bit better within those constraints. I think the P35 performs even better than the P965. I don't have a reasonable idea how well the Nvidia i680 performs.

I generally think 2 DIMMs. Easier to deal with I think. There are 2x2GB kits available that are extremely low latency, high clocking DDR2? What would you recommend? The Mushkin?

Oh, the mobos I'm looking at are P35 Bearlake which support the 1333Mhz FSB officially.

 

[Natoma]

You don't need DDR2-1333, with DDR2-800 the P35 chipset will use a 4:5 ratio to run the CPU at 1333MHz FSB and the memory at DDR2-800 speeds.

Recommend any low latency, high clocking DDR2 then? Particular on the low latency bit.

 

[Skrying]

Depends on how easily those processors clock up to 1333Mhz fsb I suppose.

All of the Core 2 processors overclock very easily and I would imagine the FSB is much more of a motherboard limitation than a CPU one. Therefore a recent chipset would have no problems with it. 25% is actually very common for these processors, more is actually very common.

The memory isn't tied directly to the FSB?

Memory divider. The FSB and memory don't have to be at the same clock speed, they haven't for a very long time actually the gain just use to be larger than it is now. Motherboards/memory controllers are better than they were before.

That'd be $720 worth for 2TB vs 3 500GB drives for $360. I could get 2TB there for $480.

I was just considering the expansion ability.

Oops, I misread what you posted. I'd go with the 3x500GB actually. Might want to check price on the 750GB models as well and see where they stand.

When I took a look at the box at Best Buy, it says rated for Nvidia SLI, so I figured that the PSU was high quality. That and Antec cases are pretty good. hehe. It also has a 5yr replacement warranty.

The reviews on it seem to be favorable. http://www.google.com/search?q=ante...avclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1B3GGGL_enUS224US224

A certification means little to be honest in this case. SLI rated or not, there have been a number of issues posted by people with Antec power supplies. I would also disregard all reviews that were not done with proper equipment designed to place specific loads on the power supply. You may however not have an issue, it was just a personal *ding* in my head that went off.

 

[Natoma]

Btw, anyone have any comment on the LCDs I picked out?

 

[Natoma]

All of the Core 2 processors overclock very easily and I would imagine the FSB is much more of a motherboard limitation than a CPU one. Therefore a recent chipset would have no problems with it. 25% is actually very common for these processors, more is actually very common.

So basically you're saying if I get a Q6600 I can be relatively assured that it'll clock to 3Ghz at 1333Mhz FSB?

Memory divider. The FSB and memory don't have to be at the same clock speed, they haven't for a very long time actually the gain just use to be larger than it is now. Motherboards/memory controllers are better than they were before.

Good to know. Now I just need some suggestions for highest quality DDR2s out there in 2x2GB configuration. Any thoughts?

Oops, I misread what you posted. I'd go with the 3x500GB actually. Might want to check price on the 750GB models as well and see where they stand.

Good thought. I'll check into that. Thanks!

A certification means little to be honest in this case. SLI rated or not, there have been a number of issues posted by people with Antec power supplies. I would also disregard all reviews that were not done with proper equipment designed to place specific loads on the power supply. You may however not have an issue, it was just a personal *ding* in my head that went off.

The Bjorn3D is the one at the top of the list. They seem to do what you suggest. That said, how expensive are those brands you mentioned; Seasonic and whatnot?

 

[Skrying]

SeaSonic and SilverStone might carry slight premiums. SeaSonic is actually a OEM for many brands out there (has made some Antec branded units actually) but they should fall into line with other brands. SilverStone the same. A power supply is certainly not the area to skimp on such a computer.

As for the memory, I have no hands on experience with 2x2GB kits and haven't done much research into them myself.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

There are a couple of things with the DDR2. I want to run my CPU at 1333mhz, and I do a lot of video editing and compression.

That's why the Quads really interest me. Can DDR2 do 1333Mhz?

Please don't get mixed up in thinking that your memory needs to be 1333Mhz. It doesn't. My Q6600 runs at a 1:1 ration and is at 1333Mhz FSB. Memory sits at 333Mhz @ 4.4.4.11 timings. At these settings, you get 3Ghz at 9x(default). I've also overclocked it to 3.2Ghz - 356Mhz. My memory is 4x1Ghz Team Elite 800Mhz DDR2.

Here's an example at 3Ghz and 3.2Ghz.
3Ghz


3.2Ghz


Remember that the memory is Quad-pumped for the Core2's thus default sits at 266Mhz x4 = 1066Mhz

US

 

[stevem]

Natoma, have a look at JonnyGuru's review of the Antec Trio 650. The latest [H] PSU reviews use the same SunMoon tester. Xbit's & SPCR PSU reviews are others you should consult for performant PSUs. I agree with Skrying that Seasonic & Silverstone are on top of their game right now. Also, have a look at the Corsair units that are OEM Seasonic.

 

[Mize]

WTF? The Q6600 is $375 at Newegg (after Intel cuts the price) but $295 elsewhere...why?

 

[Natoma]

Please don't get mixed up in thinking that your memory needs to be 1333Mhz. It doesn't. My Q6600 runs at a 1:1 ration and is at 1333Mhz FSB. Memory sits at 333Mhz @ 4.4.4.11 timings. At these settings, you get 3Ghz at 9x(default). I've also overclocked it to 3.2Ghz - 356Mhz. My memory is 4x1Ghz Team Elite 800Mhz DDR2.

Here's an example at 3Ghz and 3.2Ghz.
3Ghz


3.2Ghz


Remember that the memory is Quad-pumped for the Core2's thus default sits at 266Mhz x4 = 1066Mhz

US

Ok, so the Core2 cpus are quad pumped at 1333Mhz, which means a real 333Mhz FSB clock. That means that DDR2-800, which is double pumped and a real 400Mhz clock, is rated to run fine to feed the 333Mhz FSB.

Correct?

Also, since it seems that everyone is steering me to get 4GB DDR2 (2x2GB), can you recommend brands+model #s to buy that support that? I believe I'm going to put in the order for everything today.

 

[Natoma]

SeaSonic and SilverStone might carry slight premiums. SeaSonic is actually a OEM for many brands out there (has made some Antec branded units actually) but they should fall into line with other brands. SilverStone the same. A power supply is certainly not the area to skimp on such a computer.

Given the components that I'm looking to build into this machine, a 650w PSU should be fine right?

Should I go higher? I'm currently looking at SeaSonic and SilverStone PSUs online.

 

[Rolf N]

I'd give preference to the two-HDD solution over the three-HDD solution. Having many HDDs close together can lead to nasty pulsing idle-noise situations due to interference between just slightly different spindle speeds.

I second the notion of Seasonic over Antec.

650W sounds ample for the system you plan on building. Quad-SLI with 8800GTXes would explore the limits of such a PSU, but from the sounds of it you won't be doing things like that, right?

 

[Natoma]

I'd give preference to the two-HDD solution over the three-HDD solution. Having many HDDs close together can lead to nasty pulsing idle-noise situations due to interference between just slightly different spindle speeds.

The Cooler Master 832 case has rubber feet for the HD casing to prevent any vibrations. That what you're talking to?

I second the notion of Seasonic over Antec.

Yea the prices aren't that bad either. Only $50-$100 more than I paid for the Antec ($105).

650W sounds ample for the system you plan on building. Quad-SLI with 8800GTXes would explore the limits of such a PSU, but from the sounds of it you won't be doing things like that, right?

Nope, won't be doing anything like that. . 650w then should be fine for me. Thanks

 

[Skrying]

You really shouldn't have to much trouble with hard drive noise, especially with rubber mounts (though suspending helps even more and is just crazy cool looking). Also the spindle/rotation sounds really are not bad unless you've got a loud drive to begin with or the panels of your case are very thin. Not sure about the Stacker but with my Antec P180B the panels are purposely made very thick (with dampening materials) in order to greatly lower internal noise from escaping.

 

[Natoma]

After reading comments here and doing some additional research, I've come up with the following components. Please give your thoughts:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 ($283)
Memory: 4GB DDR2-800 (2x2GB or 4x1GB) (any brand/model suggestions? GigaByte board seems to do fine with 2x2 or 4x1 configurations according to reviews)
Motherboard: GigaByte GA-P35-DQ6 $228
Cooling: Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme $65
CPU Paste: Arctic Ceramique $5
Video Card: AMD HD 2400 Pro $49 (damn you Mize!)
OS: Windows XP SP2
Hard Drives: Hitachi T7K500 (3x500GB) $360
Case: Cooler Master Stacker 832 $240
Monitor: BenQ FP241WZ $730
Power Supply: Silverstone ST85F $180 + $20 mail-in rebate = same price as ST75F $160
CD/DVD Burner: Lite-On LH-20A1L-06 $40

Anything I'm missing other than memory?

[EDIT]
Added in Video Card

 

[Mize]

After reading comments here and doing some additional research, I've come up with the following components. Please give your thoughts:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 ($283)
Motherboard: GigaByte GA-P35-DQ6 $228
Video Card: onboard IGP. Will wait for G80/R600 refresh

Anything I'm missing other than memory?

No on-board video on that MB...cheap PCI-E will run you at LEAST $40
I'm about to go with the same CPU/MB and I'd recommend checking the Gigabyte site for supported memory...

 

[digitalwanderer]

After reading comments here and doing some additional research, I've come up with the following components. Please give your thoughts:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 ($283)
Memory: 4GB DDR2-800 (2x2GB or 4x1GB) (any brand/model suggestions? GigaByte board seems to do fine with 2x2 or 4x1 configurations according to reviews)
Motherboard: GigaByte GA-P35-DQ6 $228
Cooling: Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme $65
CPU Paste: Arctic Ceramique $5
Video Card: onboard IGP. Will wait for G80/R600 refresh
OS: Windows XP SP2
Hard Drives: Hitachi T7K500 (3x500GB) $360
Case: Cooler Master Stacker 832 $240
Monitor: BenQ FP241WZ $730
Power Supply: Silverstone ST85F $180 + $20 mail-in rebate = same price as ST75F $160
CD/DVD Burner: Lite-On LH-20A1L-06 $40

Anything I'm missing other than memory?

My burning envy?