First of all, the definites: I used to be a big fan of flashy cases, and currently have a Thermaltake Xaser III sitting under my desk. However, my tastes have matured over time, and I now fancy something a little less... gaudy. I fell in love with Silverstone's TJ09B the moment I saw the pictures and read the reviews, so it's pretty much a dead cert. Black, doorless, and aluminum. For power, I'm shooting for 700W provided by a Tagan Easycon. I have the 550W version of this, and I loved the modular design and cable finishing, so I'll be going with them again. Hopefully it should be enough wattage for my needs. Obviously, a Q6600, but I'll be waiting until we hear from Scan about G0 availability. I'll see how I go with the stock HSF, but it would be a crime not to at least try to overclock this beast, so perhaps after I've assembled everything I'll look into some more serious cooling. Now for the maybes: When it comes to motherboards, I've always gone with Asus, and as my last mobo had an nVidia chipset, I have been looking at the 680i boards. The Striker Extreme did look very nice, but we've seen some really great boards come out at lower prices these past few months, and after reading Bit-tech's recent Q6600 overclocking article, I have started considering other brands, such as XFX. I was also very interested in the P35 chipset results, which seem to be the way to go for Intel overclocking. Do I stand to lose anything other than SLI support if I choose a P35 board? I think I read somewhere that EPP only works on nVidia motherboards? Is that right, and if it is, anything to cry about? Unless someone can give me a compelling reason to pick a 680i board (I doubt I'll be making use of SLI), then I'll probably go with the Asus P5K Deluxe. That is, unless the upcoming Blitz Formula SE is any good. I have to admit, choosing RAM is something that has always confused me slightly. Can anyone offer me any pointers here? Would I be better off buying 800MHz RAM or 1066MHz RAM? The latter seems so much more expensive. Looking at Scan's PC8500+ range, they don't seem to have a lot to choose from, and the prices are all over the place, from £120 to £470. Could I do a lot better than these Corsair Dominator modules, at PC8500 with 5-5-5-15 timings? For storage, the last time I checked, everyone seemed to like the Samsung Spinpoint range, and I was thinking of hooking three 250GB drives together in RAID 5, with perhaps a separate large disk for the storage of movies and stuff. Hence the upgrade to a higher wattage PSU, as I fear 550W might just not cut it for four disks, four cores, and a decent GPU. For graphics, I'll be holding on to my current nVidia 7800 GT, until there are enough DX10 games out there to warrant an upgrade.
I'm also thinking of getting a Q6600 and I was looking at overclocking it using a 333FSB. For that I'm going to be using PC5300/5400 memory and running it in sync with the FSB. It'll be cheaper for me (on my limited budget) and, in my opinion, better than spending out loads on PC6400/7200or higher for a <5% increase in performance. I would say that a decent quality PSU, such as yours, would be more than capable of powering your proposed rig. A hard disk only draws something like 20W, the GPU at most draws 80W, the CPU 130W tops, and the mobo 60W at most. Add in the DVD drives at ~15W each and you're well within your power budget. I'm looking at a Hiper 580W PSU myself for a rig that isn't too different to yours (albeit with only 2 HDD and 2 DVDs). Andy
What does it mean to sync the RAM with the FSB? If the FSB of the mobo is 1333MMHz, what kind of RAM would get the best "bang for my buck"? Yes. If that's the case, then it does seem that 700W is a bit OTT for my requirements. Which is great, as that saves me having to shell out £100 on a new PSU.
The FSB quoted by most people is the quad-pumped FSB, i.e. for a 1333MHz quoted FSB, the actual FSB is 333MHz. DDR memory is double data rate memory, so 667MHz DDR (or DDR2/3) is actually using a FSB of 333MHz. That's why I'm going for PC5300/5400 memory, it is DDR2 memory running at 667MHz double data rate i.e. 333MHz FSB. Hope that clears things up. Andy
I've got the striker and PC6400 with mine if that helps, running at stock for everything at the moment, I had two dodgy sets of OCZ flex xlc 9200 and the striker killed some of my 6400 when I tried playing with timings, it was my fault though.
I think I'm beginning to understand. If I wanted to learn more, does anyone have a good article of resource to recommend for me to read? Something that measures the performance benefits of RAM with clock speeds above 667MHZ? Looking at Scan's selection (I'm trying to get everything from a single retailer), I could get 2GB of PC5400 RAM with 4-4-4-12 timings for just over £50. The same RAM but rated at PC6400 is just under £80. If the performance gains of RAM above PC5400 are minimal, then I can't see there being a compelling reason for spending a great deal more than fifty quid.
Actually I think I can answer my own questions on the value of RAM clocked higher than PC5400. If I intended to overclock my FSB beyond 333MHz, then I would have to overclock PC5400 RAM for it to attain synchronisation with my new FSB. With PC6400, I can safely raise the FSB up to 400MHz (assuming I could push it that high), and not have to worry about overlocking the memory. I can't see a good reason to go beyond PC6400 though. Now, to make a decision...
for 100£, you can get a much better power supply than the tagan. It's just a blah topower. Voltage regulation leaves much to be desired. Try these: Non-modular: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=565198 Modular: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=475254 http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=602505 http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=446787 http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=499627 They're much better.
Really? I had assumed from bit-tech's own findings that the Tagan was actually quite good. Those are quite nice, but as I mentioned above, my current 550W should suffice. I'm currently pondering over what PC6400 DDR2 RAM I should be getting.
That case seems helishly expensive for what it is. The Lian Li PC7 SE has most of the same features, looks better imo and is £100 cheaper. I would say that though as i have one. Add some of MNPCtechs billet aluminum accessories and it will be a very nice looking case.
http://www.jonnyguru.com/review_details.php?id=18 Try that review; Voltage regulation fun times. Granted not the same power supply, but same manufacturer. You Should be fine with your 550, unless you plan on upgrading to SLI.
Actually that is one of the other cases I looked at when I started hunting. I do agree with you, it is quite nice, but as you say, it's a matter of opinion. I think after narrowing my choices down to that Lian Li, the Silverstone, and the Antec P182, I decided to pay the premium and go for the one that looked best to me.
For my most recent build I had a CM 830 which I was happy with, then I saw the TJ09 and had to have it. When it arrived I was stunned at how well designed and constructed it was. It's expensive but with Silverstone you get what you pay for....with the TJ09 you get a lot.
Yikes, I see what you mean. Those figures are for the 530W, which I think is actually what my current PSU is, rather than th 550W I've been stating. I'll have to check when I get home. Regardless, it's done its job well for over two years, and I shall continue to use it for my next machine. If I do get extra paranoid, I can get a new one at a later date.
Aha, I knew there was a reason I picked that particular power supply: http://www.bit-tech.net/bits/2005/08/22/on_our_desk_1/5 I guess the guy in the other review must have received a dodgy PSU! Or maybe bit-tech received a particularly good one? Who knows...
WHAT? Tagan MAKE TAGAN PSUs. They are one of the best you can buy. I used a 700W in my own system for a while (til I started using a P190 ) and ourselves and TR use them in the labs with the 700W OCZ's all the time. JG knows his stuff about PSUs too, haven't read his site in ages though.
Right, Scan have just announced they have G0 Q6600s in stock, so it's time I looked at my spec again. Since I last shopped around, Asus have released their latest RoG board, the Blitz, a P35-based mobo available in both DDR2 and DDR3 flavours. Anyone know of any reliable reviews of these boards yet? Particularly the DDR2 "Formula" version, as I'm not made of money and won't be interested in DDR3 for a while yet. Being something of an Asus fan, I'm tempted to pay the premium over other P35 boards if it looks like a solid package with lots of potential. Also, what's the latest on X38? Does it look like it's worth waiting for? The thing is, if I wait for a nice X38 board (September-ish? Or later, once the problems with the first revisions have been ironed out), then the new 45nm CPUs from Intel will be just around the corner, and Barcelona will be upon us. If I wait for those, then affordable DDR3 won't be far off... The other thing that's preventing me from dropping a new PC on my credit card is the wait for the second generation of DX10 cards; the GeForce 9xxx series, and whatever ATI will be on (X2xx?). When are those expected to appear?
Ha! Don't I know it. Yes, I'm fully aware of the fact it's never the right time to buy a PC, but some things are worth waiting for. Intel's recent price cuts, for example. Well let's assume for a moment I thought £230+ for 2GB of 7-7-7-20 PC8500 DDR3 was good value. Does the Blitz make a good motherboard? Can we expect a review soon?
