New member after 4 years - need new build help

[k5cad]

About 4 years ago I didn't go to a graduation party or anything but I did follow get my inspiration here for my first build. It was/is an AMD Athlon xp-m 2400 + 35 watt mobile chip in an Abit NF7-S V2 OC to 2200ghz. It was stable at 2.7 but after about 6 months I figured out that this was a good system and I decided to treat it a little more kindly and it has be hovering around 2205 every since. So, I have finally registered. Can I now claim to be a graduate of this astute institution? I hope so because I am going to start another build and I need your help.

In the meantime I have had a not too small medical problem that has left me with a high CRS (cant remember stuff) level. At first I thought it would be foolish for me to attempt this But after coming back to visit this site I decided that there is a lot of help if I stumbled and besides my wife thinks it would be good therapy for me so here goes.

I am not a gamer. My most intense use will be Photoshop and Lightroom 2. Here is where I am right now:

Case - Antec Sonata III w/500 watt Earthwatts psu. $90 someplace
CPU - Core 2 quad 6600 2.4 GHz Quad-Core Processor $189 at Newegg
CPU cooling - Zalman or Thermaltake, haven't decided yet
MB - GigaByte GA EP35 - DS3L $85 at Newegg See a pix and specs here http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128337
Graphics card - NVidia 8600 GT 512 $80 Newegg
RAM - 4 gb ddr (haven't yet figured out what the MB would be happy with.

I am not a fan of Raid and am not bothered by the fact that Raid is not supported on MB tentatively chosen. My tentative plans for storage include 3 drives (One for OS and applications, one for data and, one for Photoshop and system swap files.

As soon as this part of the list passes muster I will talk about storage. My biggest concern right now is, at my age I know there are no free lunches. So I must have missed something with that $85 Gigabyte MB.

I will lurk now and invite your critique and ideas. Please add logic to your opinions. Thank you for your help.

Ebert Steele
Brenham, Texas

[Damlite]

Hi Ebert,

First of all, welcome back and congratulations on the build that you successfully created those years ago. Looking at your build, everything looks pretty much as perfect as they can be.

The sonata III case should be fine. Just make sure the 500W powersupply that comes with it is at least 80% efficient or more and has Active PFC, which allows for more system stability.

Your CPU choice is also perfect. Multimedia programs like Photoshop love quad core processors and fast ram. The q6600 should be more than enough to suit your needs, and if you ever need your computer to be slightly faster, the q6600 is also a very overclockable cpu. I'll just note to you that all intel processors come with a stock cooling fan and heatsink for it, and it performs very well (I have a Q9450 with its stock cooler equipped). You won't need a branded cpu cooler unless you're going to be overclocking your cpu, but none the less if you have the spare dollars go ahead and purchase a Zalman 9700 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118020&Tpk=zalman%209700) or Thermaltake DuOrb (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106114). It never hurts to keep your cpu as cool as possible.

I'd probably suggest a motherboard with a P45 chipset, seeing as it's the new standard and you can get a P45 motherboard identical to your one for pretty much the same price. Perhaps something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128345

If your strictly not going to be playing many games, or not too graphically intensive games, then the 8600GT will be fine for your needs. Just note that if you do start gaming, there may be a need to upgrade to a more high performal cards, but at the moment it will be fine. This 8600GT has a pretty good deal on it: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130085

Most people these days get about 4GB, since RAM is becoming as dirt cheap as internal hard drives. Getting fast ram will also supplement your needs as well, so you'll want about 2-4GBs of memory running at around 800Hz or more. Just make sure if your getting anymore than 3GB RAM, that your OS is a 64-bit version and not 32-bit. Something like this will work very well on your new setup (4GB running at 1066): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227289

I like your hard drive plan, in this situation you would have a lot of options. Other than RAID, you can also pertition hard drives which saves you the purchase of additional drives for about the same performance. You can also purchase 1 particularly fast drive made only for your OS and then purchase a second drive for your programs and data, and others. The cheapest option would be to purchase a large internal and reasonably quick drive and pertitioning it into parts allocated for your needs. For example, I own a WD 640GB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218&Tpk=WD%206400AAKS) running at 7200RPM. I've partitioned it into three parts: 40/400/200, 40 (D: ) for my windows XP system, 400 (C: ) for my programs and 200 (Z: ) for my datadump and it runs perfectly. Then again, if your budget is a little more you can also purchase a faster drive for your essential programs and OS. The WD Velociraptor at the moment has a monster speed of 10000rpm, so it'll be booting your computer in a matter of seconds if you solely install your OS onto it, as well as your essential software. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136260

Hope this helped. Good luck with your second build.

[k5cad]

Damlite,
Thank you for helping me get this thing started.
- Nice to know the fan in the Q6600 retail box was adequate.
- I learned about that the P45 MB bought a little more future for me.
- I really liked you RAM suggestion. Ocz pc3700 chips in my last build have never hiccuped.
So here is where I am right now:

1. MEM 2Gx2|OCZ OCZ2RPR10664GK $133

2. Video Card VGA BFG BFGE96512GTOCXFE 9600GT RT $110 with mi rebate

3. CPU INTEL|C2Q Q6600 2.40G 775 8M R - Retail includes cooling $189.99

4. Mother Board - GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3L 775 P45 RT - $99.99

5. Case and PSU - Newegg combo after rebates and Labor Day pricing $69.
WOW! I hate the case but for this price who cares. The PSU has very good specs. Over 85% eff and Active PFC as you suggested. I like the single 12v rail 41 amps and 120mm fan.

PSU -CORSAIR|CMPSU-550VX 550W RT
CASE - POWERTEK|EVILTEK-CASE100 S-SI

Thanks for your help. Have order coming from Newegg. Had to act fast to not miss several Labor Day specials prices. Hope this all plays together! Storage comes next.

Steele

[Damlite]

Build is now starting to look really good :)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143134&Tpk=BFGE96512GTOCXFE
Just making sure that this is the card your talking about, it comes around to 80 dollars after the rebate, 110 is after the $50 saving.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218&Tpk=WD6400AAKS
This hard drive's dollar vs GB ratio is pretty much unmatched. Just to give you an insight on hard drive purchases later on.

[k5cad]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143134&Tpk=BFGE96512GTOCXFE
Just making sure that this is the card your talking about, it comes around to 80 dollars after the rebate, 110 is after the $50 saving.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218&Tpk=WD6400AAKS
This hard drive's dollar vs GB ratio is pretty much unmatched. Just to give you an insight on hard drive purchases later on.[/QUOTE]

Damlite,

Yep, that is the same card. Its on its way along with ugly case and the rest. Thank you much for your help.

One more question before I go to drives. That MoBo says it supports 16 Gb of Ram but it only has four slots. Does that mean I will have to buy 4 gb sticks to get that? I had planned to use XP OS and 4gb of RAM now until PS CS4 was available. And then make the big switch to Vista 64 bit and then add RAM after I got a feel for the 64 bit system.

Now to drives. I like the specs of that WD drive but drives go on the back burner until I resolve a question I have. I am using a nice Maxtor Atlas 15K 36.7GB drive now. If I determine that it is large enough for a PS swab disk, it would be nice to dedicate it to that. ( The cons to that are that it and the controller add stuff to the case and the cabling is big. On the other hand I own it.) A big if is is it large enough. If so, I would need two more drives -- one for OS and applications and one for data. Well maybe want not need. But I really like the idea of keeping system stuff on separate physical drive from apps. I also already have 500gb external drive for backup.

I have never had good Photoshop machine. I am hoping this will do it. I would welcome thoughts from anyone who could help me untangle my thoughts about this part of my build.
Thank you.
Steele

[Damlite]

Hey again Ebert,

Awesome stuff. With regards to RAM, you are exactly correct, it has 4 slots and has the capacity to support up to 16GB RAM which would imply that you would need to have 4GB sticks on each of the four slots. Just note its not all about the total capacity as is largely advertised in Ram. While it is great to have a lot of memory space, there's no point in having Ram that is slow. Quick ram with low latencies can perform much more efficiently compared to standard retail ram (the suggested OC 1066 ram is reasonably fast compared to 800Hz standard). Most OSes these days, including 64-bit vista and xp don't even have the capacity to recognise and use all 16GB these days anyway (e.g. 32 bit XP will only see and use 3062MB of memory even if you physically attached more), which is why 4GB is generally the norm. As long as you settle with 4GB (there would never be a situation at this point in time where you would use all of it), buy ram as fast as possible without getting too pricey.

Windows XP needs a few gb space, while vista needs around 10-15GB depending on your version. So any partition or HD with that amount should cater for more than enough space needed.

with that capacity will be fine, just as long as the OS and OS alone is on the Hard drive or partition, it should be fine. The aim of placing your OS on a seperate drive is to ensure maximum performance and stability, as well as increase bootup and general speed. It is not advisable to place your programs where your OS is located.

I also am a multimedia and gaming orientated person. Your build looks pretty much perfect in terms of getting the cheapest price for a new build vs the best performance you can obtain (at this point in time). I personally wouldn't need 4GB of ram seeing as my computer never uses anymore than 1700MB at the highest load possible, but since memory is so cheap you may as well buy as much as is recognisable for the sake of it. My 2.66 quad with the 2GB ram boots up photoshop in 3 seconds, so you'll be having a lot of fun with your multimedia programs :D absolutely love quad core processors.