A few quick questions about my system input appreciated :)

[Alchemist023]

Hey everyone, just wanted to try to sort out the finer details about a system im getting built in a fortnight.

So this is what i wanna get built and rough prices i got online (Im australia if prices look high to US members lol)

CPU E6600 $320
Motherboard P5N32-E Sli (680i) $320
RAM Corsair Twin2x 2048-6400 $260
4-4-4-12
Monitor View Sonic VX2235WM 22" $440
Widescreen Monitor
OS Microsoft Windows Vista $170
Home Premium 32-Bit
HDD Seagate SATA2 16Mb $140
7200RPM 320gb
CASE Thermaltake armor black $260
DVD Lite-On $40
PSU Thermaltake Toughpower $180
600W
LCS Swiftech H20-APEX Ultra $400
Liquid CoolingKit . .
$2530
Graphic card 8800gtx (cheep one) OR $800 $3330
8800gts $620 $3150

Swiftech H20-APEX Ultra Liquid Cooling Kit $400 includes…
Apogee GT Water block: $89
MCP655 12 Volts DC: $139
The MCB-120 "Radbox $35
MCR220 QP 2X120mm Radiator $90
MCRES-Micro reservoir $35
SmartCoils 625 + 7/16" ID tubing ($6.30/m) $13
Swiftech HydrX Coolant $5.50

Maybe get either a sound card and/or a TV tuner if have money left over. What are good mid range cards to get which wont break the bank here? Do i really need a sound card never had one before so not sure if noticeable difference?

So what does everyone think any glaring problems with system as it stands. Im a semi noob and had to do alot of reading of reviews etc to work out what i wanted but a experience tech will be building system with me (2 yr min warranty etc).

My questions were...
1) Will i need anything extra for my water cooling setup all i have thought of is hose clamps? Is it a good kit to get i looked into parts individually and read reviews on individual blocks, radiators etc and swiftech always rated well. All i plan on OCing is the CPU so should do trick i hope (my first attempted OC im anxious lol)

2) Is a reservoir ok i read about T tubes not sure if they are better to have

3) Umm atm i have 1 HDD in the system i read a little on raid 0 array with 2 HDD and i know that performance increases are to be had but will i notice any difference buying a second HDD and raid 0 em. Im thinking in terms of significant fps increases in games, load times for programs etc. I just dont know how to put the data from reviews into real life terms.

4) The PSU i chose will it suffice and is it reliable brand etc. Im considering going sli (hence the 680i sli MB) in a year or so and tried to factor that into wattage. I also read that amperage on 12v rails was very important even more so than raw watt output. Just wanna make sure i have overlooked anything. I will need extra power for a sound and TV tuner if i slot em in also down track.

5) The OS. How is vista going has MS sorted some of the kinks id imagine that hotfixes have fixed some off reported problems but a SP is yet to come out. Also what is difference between 32 and 64 bit i read about. Which do i need i have no idea.

6) Finally umm i have 800mhz and i read somewere that i need to OC a fsb or something somewere in system to utilize that speed fully or i wont be getting true 800mhz out of system memory. Any comments.

Thankyou for feedback in advance. There is alot of knowledge in community which i like to get full benefit from and hopefully in 2 weeks i will be posting a reply on my new system.
Griffey aka potw druggist

[welshman]

I'll link this to the Lab Griffey that way one of the Tech Heads can have a look over the specs for yer

[CannonFodda]

griffey's not a member though mate

[welshman]

No CF I've put this link in The LAB that way they can click on it and come straight here and offer there input
(well I think it works that way)

[Pte_OMARK]

1. just check that there are clamps included they usually are, but some kits dont use clamps... (if thats the case i suggest putting clamps on anyway) also you will need 2x120mm fans to go on the radiator, again they may be supplied but maybe not. i recommend arctic cooling fans especially the PWM type, very effective very quiet.

2. resevoirs are recommended for most people, allows less frequent fluid fill ups/checks

3. i wouldnt really worry about raid setup if i were you it may give as much as 2% performance in some situations but i dont think you need the added risk, you already have a beast of a system there!

4. psu seems well suited

5. i cant offer any real opinion, i haven't saved up enough for vista yet....from all accounts though it seems pretty ok

6. when you overclock you understand the damage you can do to your hardware? you can also lose program stability, and suffer more crashes etc...the fewer things you oc they fewer potential problems. i dont think you'll need to oc this sytem at all to be honest, as i said it wil be plenty fast as it is.

imo i'd drop the water cooling for a good sound card, audigy 4 or x-fi. run the system at stock, for quite a while until games start to stress the system then worry about oc'ing, also recommend you look at the new gigabyte motherboards, currently seem the most recommended and getting great reviews.

hope this has helped a little

[Wongdai]

The Thermaltake PSU's don't get a good wrap around here. My recommendation is to go with another brand, say Silverstone for e.g. (or SeaSonic).

[Alchemist023]

Thankyou for such quick replys and feedback is very helpful. I will look into what comes with water cooling kit more closely and obtain extra fans/clamps if needed.

I agree with you totally about OC risk Pte_OMARK. Ive read alot of forums on how much you can OC the e6600 especially with a good lcs. I would only go for a subtle overclock avg on "extreme OC forums" was to 3.5ghz and i reakon 3ghz would keep me happy for a year or more. i prob wont even need to do much to voltage to get to 3ghz. I dont intend on touching graphic card (why would ya 8800 series lol) or the northbridge, RAM etc. I wanna run the stability tests u can get on OC also to make sure its stable for 3hrs minimum and will go as low as needed to feel completely comfortable with performance to stability ratio.

I reakon i might use the money for second HDD for a sound card hey hehe. Wanna keep the lcs system cause im kinda hooked on concept ever since i first read about lol excited to give it ago.

Thermaltake PSU not decent bugger have to look into that also. Another enthusiest site suggest enemerax and ocz they are more expensive but if they going to be more stable definately will invest extra money.

Once again thanks for replys
PS Potw has a aussie cod2 server now (finally!!!) feel free to come play whenever you want. I will even kick non potw members to make you for ya's if u xfire me cause TOG really looked after potw clan on your TOGAU2 server last few months.
potw druggist

[OldnBold]

My answer, also posted in the LAB:

1) Will i need anything extra for my water cooling setup all i have thought of is hose clamps? Is it a good kit to get i looked into parts individually and read reviews on individual blocks, radiators etc and swiftech always rated well. All i plan on OCing is the CPU so should do trick i hope (my first attempted OC im anxious lol)

The Swiftech kits normally come with everything included.

2) Is a reservoir ok i read about T tubes not sure if they are better to have

In my view a reservoir (which you have included) is better than a T-line. Easier to fill and monitor the levels.

3) Umm atm i have 1 HDD in the system i read a little on raid 0 array with 2 HDD and i know that performance increases are to be had but will i notice any difference buying a second HDD and raid 0 em. Im thinking in terms of significant fps increases in games, load times for programs etc. I just dont know how to put the data from reviews into real life terms.

A Raid 0 system is a bit faster in load times but apart from that has a lot of disadvantages (loss of data if the Raid array goes wrong).

4) The PSU i chose will it suffice and is it reliable brand etc. Im considering going sli (hence the 680i sli MB) in a year or so and tried to factor that into wattage. I also read that amperage on 12v rails was very important even more so than raw watt output. Just wanna make sure i have overlooked anything. I will need extra power for a sound and TV tuner if i slot em in also down track.

The PSU is fine for one card but I would be looking at a beefier one for SLI. Nvidia themselves recommend a minimum of 750 watt for SLI 8800 GTX .. make your own conclusions.


5) The OS. How is vista going has MS sorted some of the kinks id imagine that hotfixes have fixed some off reported problems but a SP is yet to come out. Also what is difference between 32 and 64 bit i read about. Which do i need i have no idea.


Large and very complicated question. May I suggest you read this article:

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase...sta_ff_x64.asp


6) Finally umm i have 800mhz and i read somewere that i need to OC a fsb or something somewere in system to utilize that speed fully or i wont be getting true 800mhz out of system memory. Any comments.


If you want to overclock then bigger is better. If you are not overclocking your CPU then DDR2 533 or 667 is fine (it will also save you money)

[welshman]

There you go Griffey, Welshman Linketh and Tech heads replyth
You gotta love TOG

[Alchemist023]

ta oldnbold
- Alright im definately not going to worry about the RAID array.
- I will keep the Swiftech kit with resorvoir. Another enthuisest site said i would get better cooling outta 1/2 tubing i will see if the water block/rad/res are compatible and maybe consider just buying 1/2 tubing with that kit.
- PSU 750W wowwowowowowwowow dam. This area is quite confusing lol and ive got so many different responses on brands and wattage. One thing is clear so long as i get 18+Amps on 12v rails the PSU is decent (so im told). Umm i used a online PSU calculator eXtreme Outer Vision
For my system with a single 8800gtx = Tells me i need 515Watts (thats with CPU OC to 3.5ghz increasing it by 120watts roughly)
Exactly same but sli and jumps up to 615Watts. So if i plan to go sli down track should consider a bigger PSU maybe.
- The RAM issue thats 3 replys (between sites) and i dont really understand any of em (im bit of a noob lol). Umm so basically at factory stock the FSB and my CPU speed will only utilize 667mhz of memory because it bottlenecks at the other parts. And only way to get 800mhz used is to OC CPU right? Is that what that means?
- I think i will just slot vista 32 bit in for now (dont wont to worry about upgrading my OS in a few months) and with hotfixes and SP which i think is due sept/oct from reading it will upgrade and driver support should improve. I HOPE